The Repair Shop

American Wall Clock, Lustre Bowl, Semi Acoustic GuitarToday in the Repair Shop, Jay Blades and the team bring three treasured family heirlooms, and the memories they hold, back to life.Luthier Julyan Wallis gets to grips with a semi acoustic guitar that has spanned three generations. Pete Rout and his son Tom, put their faith in Julyan to save the beloved instrument that has been silent for over 40 years. First played by his father, then passed to Pete, who as a young man, learnt to play on it and Tom is now next in line, eager to continue the legacy. The guitar holds so many memories for this talented family. Sadly, it's now a shadow of its former self - the back panel is split, strings are missing, the pit guard is off and the frets are worn. Julyan has a long to do list - he strips it down, gets it structurally sound and then cleans and revives it but is careful to leave certain areas of wear to preserve the soul of the instrument.Feroz Jafferji is next to the barn, to see horologist Steve Fletcher. He brings with him a wall clock that was lost, then found forty four years later, across two continents. The century old clock, in its mahogany case, took pride of place in Feroz's family home in Zanzibar but a political revolution meant the family were split up and the clock was sent away for safekeeping. Now reunited with the clock by a twist of fate, Feroz dreams of hearing it tick and chime again. Steve removes the decades of rust from the scores of tiny mechanical elements, addresses the multiple worn teeth and malfunctioning wheels. Will Kirk works his magic on the mahogany case and the clock is brought back to life.And Kirsten Ramsay rises to the challenge when a beautiful but broken bowl is delivered from Cornwall by Charlotte Vellacott and her Aunt Mary. The bowl was Charlotte's mother's most treasured possession. Unfortunately Charlotte broke the bowl as a child and it was banished to a box for decades. Charlotte lost her mother recently and having the bowl repaired is hugely important to the family. The bowl has a lustre glaze, which is notoriously difficult to recreate but Kirsten's decades of experience and talent means she's the perfect woman for the job. Each piece of the puzzle is carefully cleaned, before being glued together with precision accuracy. The delicate colours and pearlised finish are impressively replicated and the family are overwhelmed to see it as it should be.