麻豆社

Jay Blades and the team bring four treasured family heirlooms, and the memories they hold, back to life.

Greg Silvester won numerous medals at Special Olympics events over the course of his career. In 2000, he was chosen to carry the Olympic torch as part of the build-up to the Sydney Olympic Games. Over time the torch has become dented, a piece has broken off and some of the Olympic Games lettering has started to peel away. Greg is hopeful silversmith Brenton West can get the torch shining as brightly as it did on the very first day he held it.

Next to arrive is Gemma Kent with her daughter Chloe鈥檚 toy cat Meowee. The cuddly toy originally belonged to Chloe鈥檚 dad Richard, who was gifted Meowee as a child. When Chloe was born, Richard passed the toy onto his daughter, and it quickly became a firm favourite. Richard sadly passed away in 2018, and Chloe and Meowee have been inseparable ever since. Meowee is beginning to show some signs of wear and tear. The barn鈥檚 bear ladies, Julie Tatchell and Amanda Middleditch, prescribe a new inner lining to help strengthen Meowee鈥檚 ageing seams as well as some new stuffing to fill out her sagging limbs.

Electronics whizz Mark Stuckey has his work cut out when a long-silent jukebox arrives at the barn. It belongs to Rachel Storr-Barber, who is accompanied by her daughter Jess. Rachel gave the jukebox to her vinyl-mad husband Chris as a Christmas present over 20 years ago. The gift was an instant hit, and with thousands of records in his collection, Chris would regularly change the selection. Sadly, Chris passed away in 2019, and the last time Rachel and Jess heard the jukebox play was at his wake, where it unfortunately caught fire. With such a huge job ahead of him, Mark calls for back-up in the form of fellow electronics expert Nigel Robinson. Together, the pair battle to get the burned-out jukebox back on song.

Signwriting expert Dominic Chinea has a tall task ahead. Peter Sunderland has travelled from the village of Aberfoyle in Scotland with a large painted sign of Nicol Jarvie, a character from Walter Scott鈥檚 novel Rob Roy. The novel is set in the area around Aberfoyle, and for many years the sign was mounted on the side of a local hotel, where it served as a focal point for the community. When the hotel was converted to flats 30 years ago, the sign disappeared and has only just resurfaced. Now Peter, on behalf of his community, is hoping the sign can be restored and mounted back on the old hotel building where it belongs.