The Repair Shop

[poliphilo]

A daytime TV show- filmed at the Weald and Downland Museum- in which a team of craftspeople restore beat up objects. The objects are interesting- of sentimental rather than financial value- and there's a pleasure in watching highly skilled artisans at work. This afternoon's objects were a leather belt carved by a German prisoner of war as a gift for the British soldier who befriended him, a bass guitar that once belonged to Tony Wilson of Hot Chocolate and a "What The Butler Saw" machine, more formally known as a mutoscope. Yesterday we had a mah-jong set in a broken box, a concertina that went through the Great War and a 1920s jigsaw puzzle with pieces missing. I love it that there's no element of competition (everyone's a winner) and money doesn't enter into the picture.