Monday 3 April 2017

The Repair Shop Rocks!

I stumbled on The Repair Shop quite accidentally, and now I'm hooked. We've been recording these BBC2  programmes and watching them together in the evenings. In contrast to much of the dross that's on TV at the moment, this show is a real delight. 
It ticks all my boxes

  1.  It is about restoring broken treasures 
  2. It involves reals craftsmen and women, not 'bodgers'
  3. The work is sympathetic conservation and reconstruction, not overdoing things to make old things look unrealistically new
  4. The team clearly take pride in their work, share their talents and appreciate their colleagues' gifts. 
  5. It is a happy show, and genuinely moving. 
The basic premise of each show is this - three members of the public each bring a cherished but seriously damaged heirloom to the Repair Shop [a barn at the Weald. 
and Downland Museum] where Jay Blades and his team work their magic. 
This Davenport Desk arrived with axe holes in the sides where it had been attacked by burglars. Now painstakingly mended, it looks stunning. 
In the first 5 shows [catch them on iplayer] there has been a diverse range of repairs including :
A travelling alarm clock which had been kept safe in a Japanese WW2 prison camp
A 19thC Italian chair
A 1920s accordion 
A completely shattered terracotta jug
A music bix
A magic lantern, 
and many more pieces... 
If you have missed it, do check it out [here ] 
But be prepared to be amazed by the results achieved, and to be moved by the responses of the owners when they are reunited with their refurbished and restored possessions. 



4 comments:

  1. Sounds like a nice program. I will look it up tomorrow and try an episode while I have lunch x

    ReplyDelete
  2. It sounds delightful! Alas, I don't have a tv or tv license so I cannot watch it!

    ReplyDelete

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