Episode 6

The expert team of craftspeople take on three more restoration challenges.

Teddy bear ladies Julie Tatchell and Amanda Middleditch brave the first job of the day, an enormous stuffed lion called Leo. The cuddly cat was purchased for Vanessa by her mother, Gail, when she was just one year old. Since her toddler days, Vanessa has loved the lion, which is just as well as her mother spent a whole week’s wages on him. But time has taken its toll, leaving Leo tattered and torn. With the ten-year anniversary of her mother’s passing fast approaching, Vanessa would like the bear ladies to bring the lion back to his former glory, so he can take pride of place once again.

Brothers Craig and Ross are next into the barn, bringing a vintage cash register once used in their grandparents’ Edinburgh pet store. The siblings now run the family business and are hoping Steve Fletcher can repair the register, which they played with as children. The machine is now seized up and rusted, so it’s going to take grit and determination for Steve to get the numbers crunching on this fix. But when the brothers return to take receipt of their item, there’s a surprise in store.

The barn’s final visitor is Alistair from Aberdeen, who was born and brought up in Scrabster Harbour on the northernmost tip of Scotland. During the 1960s, Alistair’s father was the port’s harbourmaster, and he has fond memories of him using his telescope. Sadly, his father passed away when Alistair was just a boy, and Alistair would now love to have the telescope restored to provide a tangible link to his much-missed dad. It’s up to optics expert Richard Biggs to bring the telescope back into focus.