The Repair Shop

S06:E57 - Ship Clock, Bird Bath and Jain Painting

Today in the Repair Shop, Jay Blades and the team bring three treasured family heirlooms, and the memories they hold, back to life.First to arrive are father and son Herbert and Joshua Klein, with a mantle clock in the shape of a ship for the attention of horologist Steve Fletcher. This treasured item was a gift from Herbert's late grandfather with whom he had an incredible bond as a child. Born deaf, his grandfather would communicate by pointing and gesturing while Herbert would lip read. The clock hasn't worked for five decades but Steve's determined to return it in ship shape condition and, when he comes back to the barn, time stands still for Herbert. A daunting task has ceramics restorer Kirsten Ramsay worried. Jayne Marston has brought in her parent's 4-foot-high heavy stone bird bath in the hope Kirsten can preserve it. For over 60 years wherever Jayne's family moved the bird bath would follow, uprooted and replaced at the new house with great effort by her dad. Jayne has lost both her parents over the last 3 years and during a long illness her mum would take comfort watching the birds at the bath. Jayne's mum made her promise to keep feeding the birds and to keep water in the bath telling Jayne, "Whenever the birds are near, so am I". However, the bird bath is now showing its age and with a huge crack threatening to break it in two Kirsten's restoration skills will be pushed to their limit.And paper conservator expert Louise Drover is pleased to meet Jaishmin Shah and behold her beautiful Indian painting, that represents an important piece of her family's heritage. Jaishmin and her family fled Uganda, due to political unrest, in the 70s and this painting was one of the few possessions they could take with them. The depiction of an Indian deity was cherished by her late mother, but it is now cracked and faded. Louise has her work cut out to repair and revitalise the piece.