Main content
Sorry, this episode is not currently available

Episode 12

Jay Blades and the team restore a tarnished rugby trophy, a Victorian sewing machine, an accordion that has lost its voice, and a 100-year-old surveying tool.

Jay Blades and the team bring four treasured family heirlooms, and the memories they hold, back to life.

Silversmith Brenton West and wood worker Will Kirk team up on a treasured rugby trophy dedicated to a Welsh rugby legend. It was presented to Chris Jenkins鈥檚 great-grandfather, Tom Evans, for his part in a grand slam-winning Welsh team in the early 1900s. Sadly, the trophy is a shadow of its former self, tarnished terribly and with the decorative dragons nursing broken wings.

A treasured item with a history of hard work needs the attention of metal expert Dominic Chinea. This beautiful Victorian sewing machine was left to Sarah Goodman by her dear Aunty Shorty, who taught Sarah how to use it as a little girl. The hand-operated design classic has completely seized up and not sewn a stitch in over 25 years, but Sarah would love to teach her own children to sew on it and is resting her hopes on Dom being able to get it stitching again.

The skills of musical instrument restorer Roger Thomas are required when Bill Clemens and his stepdaughter Kim arrive with a 1930s accordion in a sorry state. It belonged to Bill鈥檚 father, an entertainer who played in the clubs and pubs of the East End while Bill鈥檚 mother sang. Not one to shy away from a challenge, Roger takes on the mountainous task of working his way through the instrument鈥檚 64 inner components to try to restore the accordion鈥檚 voice.

Mechanics wizard Steve Fletcher takes on an instrument of a different kind. It's a theodolite, a beautiful piece of 100-year-old engineering that was used by David Brown鈥檚 father, a chartered surveyor. The brass machine measures distances and angles and was an essential piece of kit throughout his father鈥檚 career, and it now provides a cherished link to David鈥檚 departed dad. This is a first for Steve, who calls in the help of optics expert Richard Biggs to work on the lenses while he meticulously dismantles the 200 brass parts and soaks them in clock-cleaning fluid before reassembling them - the ultimate 3D jigsaw puzzle.

57 minutes

Credits

Role Contributor
Presenter Jay Blades
Series Producer Tanveer Bari
Executive Producer Rob Butterfield
Executive Producer Hannah Lamb
Executive Producer Alex Raw
Production Company Ricochet Limited

Broadcast

Take Part

If you have a treasured possession that needs restoring, please get in touch.