Episode 2

First into the barn is Sara from Crewe, with a remarkable relic of both sporting triumph and personal memory – her father Ronnie Cope’s 1958 FA Cup final shirt, when he played for Manchester United as one of the famed Busby Babes. Just months after the tragic Munich air disaster, Ronnie and his teammates defied the odds to reach Wembley. But the vivid red shirt was later left in a garage, used for painting and faded by sunlight. Textile conservator Rebecca Bissonnet faces the challenge of bringing the shirt back to the deep Manchester United red, while honouring its unique history.

Next, Judy and her daughter Laura bring in a small Bible with enormous meaning. It once belonged to Judy’s grandmother Florence, who was imprisoned with her children in the Lunghua Civilian Assembly Centre in Shanghai during the Second World War. When Florence fell ill, the three children – including Judy’s mother Mildred – were left to fend for themselves, and this fragile book was a source of comfort during years of hardship. Bookbinder Chris Shaw works delicately to preserve its battered pages and weathered covers, creating a fitting tribute to Florence and her descendants.

From Southampton, Munwar Hussain arrives with a beautiful but damaged Punjabi hookah once belonging to his grandfather Ghulam Farida, a farmer in Pakistan who lived to the age of 107. Munwar was very close to his grandfather and remembers this ornate smoking device as his constant companion. Silversmith Brenton West must repair its intricate metalwork and missing parts, while preserving the traces of Ghulam’s own repairs – the personal signature of a man who meant the world to his grandson.

Finally, brother and sister David and Lee from Huddersfield present an extraordinary automaton: a miniature watchmaker at work in his shop. Once the pride of their father’s clock repair business in Bradford, it sat in the window for decades, delighting customers and children alike. Now long silent, it is entrusted to the all-round talents of organ restorer David Burville to restore its complex mechanism and delicate movements and return this cherished figure to life.