Enter a workshop filled with expert craftspeople, bringing loved pieces of family history and the memories they hold back to life. A heartwarming antidote to throwaway culture.
Season 9 - Episode 14
Jay Blades and the team bring three treasured family heirlooms, and the memories they hold, back to life.
Today's first visitor, Sarah Readings, has brought in a very well-loved and well-travelled companion in need of help from soft toy experts Amanda Middleditch and Julie Tatchell. This sweet little doll of a sailor was named Fairstar after the ship he was bought on - the ship which carried Sarah and her parents to Australia in the 1960s as 'Ten Pound Poms', people encouraged to emigrate to Australia by the government with cheap fares. On arrival in Australia, Sarah fell ill, and Fairstar become an important comfort to her during her hospitalisation. Fifty years later, Fairstar is a shadow of his former self. He’s missing a foot, his arm is damaged, and his face is torn. Julie and Amanda are smitten by his blue eyes but face a tough task restoring him stitch by stitch.
Next to arrive at the barn is Graham Coleman from Buckinghamshire and daughter Caroline, with a story of survival and endurance. They have a mid-twentieth century camera for the attention of experts Brenton West and Suzie Fletcher. The camera, complete with its original leather case, belonged to Graham’s father. It was bought during the Second World War in a prisoner of war camp in exchange for cigarette rations. He used it to document daily life in the camp, the end of the war and his journey back to his family in the UK. This interest in photography has continued in the family, and granddaughter Caroline, a recent photography graduate, would love to use it. However, it has not captured an image since the 1960s and needs a complete overhaul, with Brenton on the mechanics and Suzie on the case.
Furniture restorer Sonnaz Nooranvary and music box expert Steve Kember team up on unusual child’s chair. At first glance it appears to be a normal seat, but it contains a hidden music box that is triggered by sitting down. A delight for any child, it was one of Linda Niknam’s favourite possessions, and she kept it for many years so her own children, and now grandchildren, could experience the magic and surprise of hearing it play. But now the music mechanism has stopped and the chair is looking its age, so the barn’s expert duo roll up their sleeves to spruce it up and bring the chair back to life.
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Thank you,
skorpion.
