The Repair Shop

S08:E42 - Bugle, Mum's First Shoes, Matchstick Clock

At the Repair Shop today the team resuscitates a military bugle that is far from fit-for-parade, a clock shaped like Big Ben painstakingly built from matchsticks and a pair of children's shoes that represent a family's story of survival. Arriving first are Nicky and veteran Billy who've brought with them a military bugle that once belonged to Nicky's great-grandfather but is now in the custodianship of Billy. The bugle has seen better days, with a plethora of dents and dinks along its once shiny surface. Billy wants the bugle brought back to a condition that's fit for parade and the role it still serves in his work at a blind veteran's rehabilitation centre in Llandudno. Billy was in the army for 20 years before contracting a virus that left him blind. His subsequent involvement with blind veterans UK put him on a path to helping others during their rehabilitation and a newfound love of the bugle! Billy and Nicky are both hoping that the barn's musical-maestro Pete Woods can rescue the battered bugle so that Billy can play it with pride once again. On experienced cobbler Dean Westmoreland's job-list, is the restoration of a pair of children's shoes that are over 75 years old. The leather boots belong to 83-year-old Nechama from Tel Aviv, who has arrived at the barn with daughter Shir in the hope that Dean can put a halt to further deterioration of this important family heirloom. Nechama was given the shoes, her first ever pair, by her parents who left Eastern Europe in the 1930s as Hitler rose to power. The Jewish couple settled in Tel Aviv and raised Nechama – but money was scarce and these shoes – cut off at the toes to get a few more months of growth – are a poignant reminder of the tough times the family endured in the 1940s. Shir and Nechama are entrusting Dean to recolour the worn patches of leather all over the uppers of the tiny boots and strengthen this vital piece of family history for generations to come.Next to arrive is Charlotte who's brought with her a unique replica model of Big Ben made almost entirely from matchsticks. The model, measuring just over 5ft, was handed down to Charlotte from her grandmother Barbara – who in turn inherited it from her artist father Edwin Aldous who painstakingly built the clock in 1953 to commemorate Queen Elizabeth's coronation. The imposing clock holds fond memories for Charlotte of spending days at her beloved Nan's house, but it is now beginning to show its age. There are large pieces of matchstick exterior broken away and the clock mechanism itself no longer works – Charlotte can't recall the sound it made even as a child. Together horologist Steve Fletcher and furniture restorer Will Kirk have to divide and conquer, with Steve dismantling the clock to diagnose the problem whilst Will gets to grips with the fine detail work of matchstick construction.