Confronted with a contraption that has clearly seen better days, a daunted Dominic Chinea is taking on the barn's first assignment. All the way from Scotland, brothers Lewis and Ross have wheeled in their family's mobile ice cream trailer. Keen to share the inside scoop on the family business, they reveal that they've been serving up gelato in St Andrews, Fife since 1908 when their great-great-grandfather came over from Italy and started selling the yummy stuff from a shop in the centre of town. Passed down to their grandparents and then to their parents, the family shop is to be carried on by the lads, and part of their plan includes restoring the mobile trailer, which was bought at auction in the 1990s and used to sell ice cream at weddings and events before being left to retire outside. With the wood frame falling apart and a rotten steel chassis, but with the promise of free ice cream at the end, Dom pulls off a beautiful restoration with creamy ice treats a big hit in the barn.
Toy restorers Julie Tatchell and Amanda Middleditch are ready to triage the next repair as Fayez and son Jay arrive with a four-legged friend who's been through the wars. Bought in 1983 in Syria for his sons, Fayez's rocking horse was a favourite growing up for son Jay. Every time he visited the country in the summer holidays, his grandmother would show him the horse which she promised to keep safe. When the wars erupted, Syria became unsafe for the family to visit, but before she passed away, Fayez's mum ensured the rocking horse was kept safe in an apartment owned by Fayez and his wife. Years later, when they finally made it back over to Syria to inspect their apartment, it was a complete mess, but amongst the carnage was their precious rocking horse. With a baby on the way for Jay, it's never been more important to the family to see the toy returned to its original condition. The Bear Ladies enlist the help of Pete Woods to make this repair a real team effort.
Stuart Taylor is hoping to turn the page on an unfortunate incident that caused big damage to a pocket-sized book. The pocket dictionary belonged to his mum who sadly died from leukaemia aged just 38. Only four years old when he lost his mum, he doesn't have many memories of her, so the book - which his sister passed to him when he was 15 - is a tangible link to her. But sadly, during a house move, the book fell out of a box and was only found much later in the street - run over, covered in mud and virtually destroyed. Stuart has been overcome with the burden of guilt over the precious keepsake. For book-binder Christopher Shaw, it's a little book with big problems, but his expert hands - along with those of clock face expert Cindy Welland - ensure Stuart can treasure it forever, guilt-free.
Oyez, Oyez! Carpenter Will Kirk and silversmith Brenton West are on hand to do what they do best for the final fix. In search of sparkle is Kila and her bell. As the first ever female town crier for Lytham in Lancashire, she wants her dull bell to be as shiny as she is when dressed in all her finery. Passed down to Kila when she was inaugurated in 2023, the bell has seen better days and needs sprucing up. Also on Kila's wish list: a baldrick - or belt, typically worn over the shoulder to carry a weapon or instrument - in which she can keep her all-important handbell, which leather worker Suzie Fletcher is roped in to make. In one of the barn's grandest exits, Kila - in full town crier livery - has a go on her spruced-up ringer and gives the experts a bold thank you cry.
janv. 8, 2025
