BBC expert Steve Fletcher was given the task of restoring a sentimental item on the latest episode of The Repair Shop.
The Repair Shop guest was moved to tears on the BBC show(Image: BBC)
Emotions were at an all-time high during The Repair Shop as BBC’s Steve Fletcher and Dominic Chinea welcomed Robin into the workshop.
The guest had a large globe with him, which he explained was a ‘world clock’ and was built by his great-grandfather.
He commented: “It’s based on a grandfather clock mechanism. The idea is that the clock makes the globe rotate once every 24 hours. Then, using the numbers on the ring around the equator, you can see what the time is anywhere in the world.”
The BBC stars were blown away as they both called it ‘amazing’ before Robin confessed that he’s never known it to work in his lifetime.
Curious, horologist Steve asked if his great-grandfather was a clock-maker, as the guest explained that he wasn’t, he had been a mechanical engineer, but made the item in his spare time in the 1930s after retirement.
He added: “There’s a little newspaper cutting in here, according to the newspaper it’s supposed to chime every half hour. It took him five years to perfect.”
Sadly, Robin shared that his great-grandfather died when he was one year old, but he has memories of the item in his grandad’s dining room.
When asked what he wanted them to do with the unusual clock, Robin stated the idea would be to get it working, which is something his own father had wanted to do but never was able to.
He added: “If he’d have seen it working, I think it would have really been special to him if I could get it working now, in his memory, but also, grandfather and great-grandfather before that. Just to keep the family legacy going, as it were.
In the end, after the item was worked on by both Steve and Jonathan Wright, it was time for Robin to return to see the final restoration.
When the globe was revealed, which the experts managed to get working once again, Robin was blown away. He commented: “Wow! Well, it looks gorgeous, it really does look gorgeous. I’m… I am stunned, I really am stunned. Thank you. That’s a lovely sound, isn’t it?”
When Steve turned the clock strike on, Robin laughed as he struggled to hold back his emotions. He added: “Wow, that is so sweet. Sorry. I’d have loved my dad to have seen it and heard it. He’d have been thrilled. It’s really, it is emotional.
“Extremely emotional, but it’s magical, fabulous. We shall treasure it until it’s time to hand it on to the next generation.”
Steve added: “It’s been a real great challenge, so thank you very much for bringing it in.
The Repair Shop is available to watch on BBC iPlayer.
