Catch up TV

A Royal Visit

As part of BBC 100 celebrations to mark the BBC’s centenary, this special episode of The Repair Shop sees Jay Blades and the expert team of Repair Shop craftspeople visit Dumfries House in Scotland.\n\nRecorded between autumn 2021 and spring 2022, the episode follows the team as they are invited to meet Charles, Prince of Wales, before his accession to the throne, and some of the students on The Prince’s Foundation’s building craft programme - a training initiative that teaches traditional skills such as blacksmithing, stonemasonry and wood carving. Once the students graduate from the course, they go on to forge careers in their chosen craft, using their much-needed talents out in the real world.\n\nPreserving heritage craft skills and ensuring the training of a new generation is a passion both the prince and Jay share, and a skills swap ensues. Jay and the Repair Shop team of expert craftspeople (Kirsten, Steve and Will) pledge to restore two pieces that Charles has selected: an 18th-century bracket clock from the collection at The Prince's Foundation's Dumfries House headquarters, and a piece of Wemyss Ware made for Queen Victoria's diamond jubilee. The team take these precious items back to the barn to fix them.\n\nBut it’s not the only thing they take with them. They also borrow Jeremy, a graduate from the Dumfries House building craft programme, to help back at the barn with a third repair: a fire set in the shape of a soldier that visitor Nicola has brought in. The fireside soldier belonged to her late husband Ewan and stood guard on the hearth of the home he lovingly renovated by hand. Metal expert Dom joins forces with Jeremy to restore the keepsake.\n\nJeremy isn’t the only apprentice in the Repair Shop. Steve’s 21-year-old son Fred has been his dad’s apprentice for three years and is brought on board to help his dad restore the Dumfries House clock. Fred creates a new suspension for the clock, while Steve focuses on stripping down and rebuilding the mechanism in the hope he can restore the clock’s chime.\n\nMeanwhile, ceramics restorer Kirsten's task is to consolidate the very fragile surface of the commemorative vase, reuniting the two broken halves and meticulously recreating the distinctive coloured design.\n\nThen, Jay and the team are delighted to welcome the prince to the barn to be reunited with the items.\n\nThis programme was filmed between autumn 2021 and March 2022, before His Majesty became King Charles III.

Source: BBC 2