Tower and Town, May 2020

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Lockdown Thoughts

Why I get cross when people tell me they don’t watch The Repair Shop.

I say ‘cross’, prodding the keys on my computer in an irritated fashion, but it’s more a case of being inexplicably disappointed. I obviously don’t need to explain why I’m not reviewing an exhibition at the moment, so here’s my quarantined alternative about an equally important matter!

Do you need to go out? No. Wednesday’s/8pm/BBC1 is where you need to be to watch the new series of The Repair Shop. (There’s a whole archive of previous older episodes on iPlayer for when you’ve finished watching The News.)

Anyway, for those of you new to the club wanting to know a little more, I shall say this: this show has a lot to do with love.

We all have objects, items, family heirlooms that we love, cherish and treasure. A lot of us also own items that we feel are beyond repair and unsalvageable. This is where the extraordinary Repair Shop craftsmen and craftswomen step in. For every object brought into the barn, (the large workshop nestled in the South Downs) one of the experts will inquire into the story and provenance behind said object, understand exactly what it is the owner would like doing to it, and then get cracking with the restoration work. The experts range from horologists, teddy bear conservators, furniture makers, milliners, master saddlers and leather extraordinaires, blacksmiths, silversmiths, basket weavers and radio and wireless experts. (Plus many more.)

I suppose the reason why I adore and ramble on about this show so much, (and why I implore people to take time to watch it) is not only because the objects and the stories are wonderful; but it is the love, skill, dedication and determination of these experts which is what I find totally absorbing. They take time to intimately know and care for these items, deconstructing and reconstructing every crevice. They are immensely skilled, and yet so modest! They don’t need to act or put on television bravado – they genuinely love what they do. It is pure joy when the pieces are returned to their owners and they leave the barn, smiling from ear to ear, not only because of the transformation, but because of the memories it has brought back. Some are funny, some are sad, some are beautiful – but every one of them is in some way, about love.

Tissues at the ready everyone!

In ‘normal times’ Gabriella is our Arts Review

Gabriella Venus