The Repair Shop 255x6 - Episode 6

Arriving first is Claire from Manchester, who has brought withher a notebook that once belonged to her grandmother Jeanduring World War II. On first appearance, the notebookcontains nothing more intriguing than some handwritten recipesfor ginger cake and biscuits, but upon closer inspection, thenotebook reveals its fascinating dual purpose. Claire explainsthat her grandmother was in the ‘Wrens' (The Women's RoyalNaval Service) during the second world war and had a specificrole as a telegraphist, communicating Japanese code to theEnigma team at Bletchley Park. Claire was stunned to discoverthe handwritten notes about morse code and diagrams of radioequipment alongside a Christmas cake recipe. Jean had remainedtight-lipped about her service, having signed the officialsecrets act, and so much of her involvement in the vitalcodebreaking work remained a secret until 2009, when Jeanfinally revealed her part in the vital codebreaking work thathelped to end the war. Claire is calling on the help of expertbookbinder Chris Shaw to reinvigorate the notebook, which hasbeen battered and torn over the years, with its once vibrantcover now faded and peeling away. Chris has his work cut out torescue the cover before tackling the tricky areas where thespine of the book has disintegrated. Skilfully restoring thisprecious piece of history, Chris is finally ready to revealthe recipe/codebreaking notebook to Claire. Mechanicalmastermind Dominic Chinea has an appointment with Geoffrey fromSuffolk, who has brought with him a sizeable fire pump. Thecontraption, which is over 250 years old, belongs to theparish of Worlingworth, where, from 1760 to 1927, thehand-powered pump was the village's first defence against fire.But aside from a remarkable history, Dom also needs to get hishead around the malfunctioning pump. Decades of neglect haveseen the valves deteriorate, woodworm devour the handles andthe reservoir spring multiple leaks. Dom checks off each ofthese tasks on a mammoth repair job before applying the perfectfinish to give the pump a new lease of life. But will it workwhen Geoffrey returns to the barn to try it out? Next toarrive is 85-year-old Zarina from London. She's hoping ceramicsrestorer Kirsten Ramsay can piece together what's left of anitem of crockery that was gifted to her by a dear friend. Thehealing bowl is a large dish with beautiful Arabic textfeatured on the inside. The bowl was originally given to Zarinaby the daughter of the Sultan, Princess Amal. Despite beingthe royal princess, they became close friends at school, afriendship that lasted all their lives. When Zarina leftZanzibar to pursue further education in the UK in 1961,Princess Amal gifted her the bowl as a farewell present andsymbol of their deep friendship. Zarina has used it to drinkfrom many times during illness, but her sister accidentallybroke it whilst cleaning the house, and the bodged repair hasleft the bowl cracked and incomplete. Kirsten has a classiccase of breaking down before building up, first removing therough superglue fix before carefully recreating the bowlprecisely as Zarina remembers it from her schooldays inZanzibar. The last visitors are Dara and Anne from CountyArmagh in Northern Ireland, who have an equine challenge forwillow weaver Sarah Hatton. They have brought a large wovenhorse's head, which would be worn during performances ofancient Irish folklore. The puppet head is of Macha, the horsegoddess who dates back to the Iron Age, and Dara and Anne havededicated themselves to keeping these performance traditionsalive by taking the puppets to schools and public events. As anancient tradition, these Celtic mythologies were somethingshared by both Protestant and Catholic children, and so Daraused this shared history to help bring divided groups togetherthroughout the Troubles in Northern Ireland during the1970s. But after many years of good service, Macha is nolonger in fine fettle. Her ears are completely disconnectedfrom her head, there's a large hole in the wicker of her skulland worn-down material across the mouthpiece. Sarah has asubstantial restoration on her hands as she takes the reigns onthis one-of-a-kind repair and brings the giant puppet head backto performance-worthy condition.