The Repair Shop: Episode 25 (BBC One Wednesday 7 June 2023)

The Repair Shop: Episode 25 airs Wednesday 7 June 2023 on BBC One

Poet Laureate Simon Armitage stops by the barn in the hopes that organ restorer David Burville can bring back to life his cherished harmonium, the subject of one of his poems. Simon’s late father, Peter, was also artistic, and he encouraged his son’s pursuit of the arts, so the instrument holds special meaning for Simon. Both the father and son were choristers at their church in West Yorkshire, which is where they first encountered the harmonium. Simon hopes that playing the restored harmonium will bring back fond memories of his father and also give the instrument a more modern note. David gets to work so that when Simon comes back to the barn with his band, they can perform a nostalgia tinged set that still sounds fresh to the experts.

Valerie from Pontefract arrives next with a pair of leather clogs for children to put cobbler Dean Westmoreland of Yorkshire to the test. Iris, Valerie’s sister, was born six weeks early in 1946, so the clogs belonged to her. Her prognosis was so poor that she had to be fed with a tiny dropper. Iris defied the odds and managed to stay alive despite persistent health and mobility issues. Their mother had purchased the tiny clogs to aid Iris’s balance when she was about four years old, but the little girl detested them so much that she eventually threw them in the fireplace. The burned and useless footwear remained on the mantelpiece for the next four decades. Iris kept them on her own mantelpiece after their mother passed away because she could never get over feeling responsible for upsetting their grandmother. Dean faces a formidable challenge in reanimating Valerie’s miniature shoes because of the enormous pressure they carry.

Martin then goes to the talented sculptor Kirsten Ramsay with a priceless artefact documenting an extraordinary life. Vera, Martin’s mother, met and became friends with Milos Axman, another Czechoslovakian sculpting student, when she was 27 years old. Martin has brought a broken sculpture of his mother as a young woman, which was created by Axman in 1947. Vera had been sent to work in an ammunitions factory in Berlin before she began her studies at the outset of World War II, when the Germans had occupied Czechoslovakia. She and two male friends attempted to flee the country, but were killed by border patrol after being caught crossing the border. After being tried and given a life sentence at Nuremberg, Vera was eventually released in 1945. With the help of woodwork whiz Will Kirk, who sculpts a new oak base for the sculpture, ceramics expert Kirsten Ramsay is able to make the necessary repairs.

Kirsty, bringing Richard Talman some precious metal, is the last customer today. Kirsty’s silver charm bracelet has lost most of its lustre, but she brought it along anyway. Kirsty has fond memories of playing dress up with her mother’s high heels, makeup, and jangly bracelet that her father gave to her mother Linda in the early 1960s. After recently losing her mother, Kirsty is eager to have this treasured heirloom polished back to its former glory so that her own daughter can always remember her “Nana.”

Season 2023 Episode 25

The Repair Shop is a workshop of dreams, where broken or damaged cherished family heirlooms are brought back to life.

Furniture restorers, horologists, metal workers, ceramicists, upholsterers and all manner of skilled craftsmen and women have been brought together to work in one extraordinary space, restoring much-loved possessions to their former glory.

Many of these items have incredible stories behind them and a unique place in history: from an accordion played in the Blitz by a woman who is now in her 90s, to a beautifully crafted clock made by a father who was completely blind; a Pinball machine that is currently being used as a kitchen counter, and a Davenport desk with its trademark fake drawers which fooled burglars – and their crowbar.

The Repair Shop is an antidote to our throwaway culture and shines a light on the wonderful treasures to be found in homes across the country.

The Repair Shop: Episode 25 airs Wednesday 7 June 2023 at 20:00 on BBC One

Featured image credit: BBC One