A window signed by the poet Robert Burns and a life-changing historic Scottish canoe are both lovingly repaired as the team explore the world of craft beyond the barn.
Carpenter Will and horologist Steve are far from home today, exploring Ayrshire on Scotland’s west coast. Their first stop is the Scottish Boat Building School in Irvine, where Tom is waiting with a very unusual vessel.
It’s a three-piece canoe designed in the 1930s and small enough to fit in the guard’s van of a train, which meant tourists could bring their own canoes on holiday in the years before owning a car was commonplace. It represents a different kind of freedom for Ton though. His achondroplasia means a regularly-sized canoe is too difficult to manoeuvre, but if this folding version can be fixed, he’ll finally have the freedom to take his daughter out exploring the waterways of Britain.
Ayrshire is the birthplace of Scotland’s national poet, Robert Burns, and many of the towns and villages in the region can boast strong links to his life and works. So it’s no surprise that when Will is called to Barr Castle in Galston, he comes face to face with a very special artifact. It’s a windowpane with a hand inscription by Robert Burns himself. However, it’s suffered some damage in the past, so for decades its current custodians have had it hidden away in a cupboard for safekeeping. Now though, with the help of The Repair Shop’s ceramics expert Kirsten Ramsay, they hope to once again put it on display. Fixing glass is notoriously difficult though, and Kirsten is definitely feeling the pressure of getting such an important object looking back to its best.
Then Will’s off to Scone Palace, crowning place of Scottish kings, to meet a couple with a family heirloom in need of rescue. It’s a handwritten Gaelic piping music book, handed down from Ian’s great-grandfather Donald, known as the Hero of Alma after his actions in the Crimean War. Now severely damaged, the music in its brittle pages might be lost forever if bookbinder Chris Shaw can’t bring it back from the brink. Ian will never play the songs it contains, as he has been battling motor neurone disease for the past decade, but he hopes if Chris Shaw is successful that it can be ed down to his own son, also named Donald in honour of his ancestor.
Always in search of a new challenge, Dom s a Perth-based family business whose handmade sporrans are the perfect accessory to Scotland’s famous kilts. It’s a critically endangered heritage craft which dates back to the 12th century, and they’re turning to technology to keep up with the challenge faced by cheaper, mass-produced versions made abroad. As we know, Dom’s always eager to get on the tools, so what will his hosts make of his attempts at leatherworking?
