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00:00Here at The Repair Shop, countless treasures have been brought back to life.
00:07Deep breath.
00:08Oh, gosh.
00:10That reveal so much about who we are.
00:12It is.
00:13And where we're from.
00:15It's perfect.
00:16But there's so much more out there.
00:18Let's do it.
00:19That's not yet made it to the barn.
00:22Beautiful, isn't it?
00:23Absolutely beautiful.
00:24So the team are hitting the road.
00:26This is the perfect opportunity to meet some new people, learn some new skills, and maybe fix a few things on the way.
00:32Yeah, I'm up for that.
00:35On a unique adventure.
00:37Whoa!
00:39We're going to get some looks on the way back to the barn.
00:41To join forces with expert craftspeople.
00:44We're putting 130 hours just hanging on the hazels.
00:48On their most ambitious restorations yet.
00:50They all need replacing.
00:51Yes, hundreds of pieces of stone.
00:53Wow.
00:54Keeping heritage crafts alive.
00:56Good job with friends.
00:57I know, isn't it?
00:58And passing precious skills to future generations.
01:01Is he a good student?
01:02He is, yes.
01:03Does he listen to you?
01:04He does, for the most part.
01:06Sparking restorations across the country.
01:08You're part of the history of this now as well.
01:17Today, the team are heading to Scotland's oldest town to fix an important part of their local history.
01:24Whoa.
01:24Oh, that's really heavy.
01:27Ready for the community's traditional annual celebration.
01:31It's just such a massive part of our festival.
01:34Back at the barn, Becky fixes a marvellous musical oddity.
01:38Have you ever seen anything like that?
01:41Oh.
01:42And Will's celebrating the incredible skill of Scotland's oldest bespoke tailoring firm.
01:47It's a beautiful craft, and we're trying to really support that and celebrate the craft.
01:52Yeah.
01:59Today, the team are in the Lothians on the east coast of Scotland.
02:03Lying between the Firth of Forth and the more rugged hills inland, they're home to the capital.
02:09And some of the country's prettiest beaches, and all was up for some sun, sea and sandpaper.
02:15Will and Kirsten.
02:18Oh, look at that.
02:19Oh, look, look, look.
02:20Oh, that's stunning.
02:21This is quite familiar to me.
02:23Really?
02:24Yeah.
02:24Because Andrew, my husband, is from this area.
02:28He's a Scotsman.
02:29He's a Scotsman.
02:30He came to my wedding day when you were killed.
02:32He did, didn't he?
02:33I was a Scotsman.
02:34Oh, he was...
02:34An imposter.
02:35Exactly.
02:39This intrepid pair are on their way to historic Musselburgh, just six miles east of Edinburgh.
02:47They've been invited by the town to help restore a cherished piece of local heritage,
02:52a 19th-century carriage that's in dire need of repair.
03:00This sounds like a huge project.
03:03And it's a really sort of vital part of their local festival that they have in Musselburgh.
03:10Restoring a cart is no easy thing to work on.
03:14So much involved.
03:16Yeah.
03:16Wheels on there.
03:17Wheels, yeah, absolutely.
03:19Painting, I presume.
03:20I'm sure the carriage is going to be in safe hands.
03:24Yes.
03:24Many, many safe hands.
03:26Many safe hands.
03:27Yeah.
03:28Getting the carriage fixed is vital to preserving the community's time-honoured traditions.
03:34So committee representative and lifelong Musselburgh resident Margaret Elgin has asked our experts
03:40to help save their beloved but battered heirloom.
03:452022 was the last time it was used.
03:47Right.
03:47Because it's unsafe.
03:49The festival's special to Musselburgh people.
03:52If the carriage were here, it could be part of our tradition again.
03:57Yeah.
03:57It would be lovely to use it if it were repaired.
04:01It does sound like the carriage is very key.
04:04Can you tell me about the Musselburgh, is it a festival that you have here?
04:07Mm-hmm.
04:08Great traditions here.
04:10And there's been a festival every year since 1936.
04:13Really?
04:14It sounds like a very traditional place.
04:16It's very, very traditional.
04:17Yeah.
04:17Yes.
04:17Very traditional.
04:18And then the Saturday morning is the main ride where the Honest Lad and Lash ride.
04:23The Honest Lad and the Honest Lass.
04:25Who are they?
04:25Well, they're elected and the two people who are picked get to be the lad, the Honest Lad
04:32and the Honest Lass.
04:33Why are they called the Honest Lad and the Honest Lass?
04:36Well, Musselburgh is called the Honest Tomb.
04:39So, therefore, we have an Honest Lad and an Honest Lass.
04:42They're representing the youth of the town.
04:44Oh, right.
04:46OK.
04:46It's incredible.
04:47And it's not like a sort of Miss World or a kind of...
04:50Oh, absolutely.
04:51I was Honest Lad in 1967 and I was definitely not Miss World.
04:56Oh, my goodness.
04:57So, you have actually...
04:59I was Honest Lad 57 years ago, yes.
05:02What part does the carriage play in this?
05:05When you're elected from the town hall, you're pulled through the town after the election
05:10to let the people see who had been elected.
05:14So, what do you think it would mean to the people of Musselburgh to have the carriage?
05:17I think it would mean everything, just to see it being restored to its former glory.
05:23Yeah.
05:24It's a link, isn't it, from the past to the future.
05:28Yeah.
05:29To get the carriage back on the road, we'll take a host of heritage craft talents.
05:35And first, they need to fix those wonky wheels.
05:39Greg Rowland is the repair shop's go-to expert in the endangered craft of wheel writing.
05:45And he's going to get the Musselburgh carriage rolling again.
05:50This is it.
05:52It's big.
05:53Yeah.
05:53If this went out on parade now, is it a nice, smooth ride, safe?
05:59This is the worst one of the four.
06:00When we spin it, it's got quite a wobble on it.
06:04Yeah.
06:04And it's up and down a fair little bit.
06:06I think what we need to do is replace all this outside ring of timber, which is called the fellies.
06:12Then we can true the wheel, we can rebond it with the metal tyre here, and put the rubber back in, make it a nice, true wheel.
06:18Because you don't want to be going along in the carriage with it being like an egg.
06:22I'm bumping up and down.
06:22No, no, no, no, no.
06:23Do you know what I'm itching to ask you?
06:26Why the spikes?
06:27Is that to stop pigeons taking a ride on the back?
06:31Well, it would stop a pigeon, wouldn't it?
06:33Traditionally, those are called urchin bars.
06:36Street urchins.
06:37Street urchins.
06:37Street urchins.
06:38So an urchin bar.
06:39I can imagine the Victorian streets would have been quite something if you had to do that to stop kids popping up.
06:45Yeah.
06:45To be fair, I'd rather walk than take a seat on that.
06:49Yeah.
06:50There's so much to do here.
06:52Loads of work.
06:53Where do we begin?
06:55I've got a great spanner.
06:56What is that?
06:58It's got a cart spanner.
06:59So that goes in and we tighten it up on the nut and then we turn it.
07:04I've left you the right-handed nut so it's a normal undo.
07:08So undo that one and we'll take that one out.
07:11So how long have you been a wheelwright for then?
07:14Well, I've been a wheelwright since 1991 and when I joined my father's business.
07:19We've got a wonderful family history.
07:21It's not a continuous line but it's in our family back to 1331.
07:24No.
07:25Yeah.
07:25How many wheelwrights are there now?
07:28I think there's about 25 in the country.
07:31Yeah.
07:32A friend of mine, Ian Grant, died very recently.
07:35Unfortunately, he was a Scottish wheelwright.
07:37So because of that, I've come up because we're quite hard to find.
07:40So there's not many of you around then?
07:42No, not very many at all.
07:43So it's actually quite important to pass these skills on.
07:46It's massively important because there's so few of us that we need to make sure it carries on and people don't lose the skill of it.
07:54OK, so that's off now.
07:57So if you take a spoke opposite me and slide forwards.
08:01Oh, it's moving.
08:02Yeah.
08:02What is that?
08:04That's really heavy.
08:05It's quite a light wheel wheel.
08:07Hey?
08:07It's quite a light wheel.
08:09That's a light wheel?
08:10Yeah, yeah.
08:10Is it?
08:10Yeah.
08:11The heavyest wheel I've done was over half a ton.
08:13Half a ton?
08:15Well, thankfully, these are a bit lighter.
08:17Yeah.
08:18Right, well, that's one off.
08:19If we stick that one out of the way, we can get the others off then.
08:22Perfect.
08:22Oh.
08:30As Will carries on with the wheels, Kirsten is getting a vital insight into the look of the carriage.
08:37Do you have any memory of how it was originally painted or what would you like?
08:44My initial idea of the carriage was a very, very dark blue.
08:49Uh-huh.
08:49And it would be really nice if we were just put back to the original colouring.
08:54Back to how it was.
08:55Back to how it originally was.
08:56And I've got a picture here of our crest, our burrow crest, and it's that shield with muscles and anchors.
09:05And if that could be put onto the carriage at some point, it would be lovely.
09:14Getting the insignia painted on the carriage calls for specialist skills.
09:19So Will's tracked down local heritage signwriter, Ross Hastie.
09:24My favourite kind of jobs to do are vintage vehicles and custom vehicles predominantly.
09:32But I do get a lot of satisfaction out of pub work or making signs for listed buildings, that kind of thing.
09:40I think it's great that most of the town has a tradition that this thing happens every year
09:45because it means that this carriage has been preserved and it means that this carriage will continue to be used as a carriage.
09:52So, yeah, I think it's great in that sense.
09:55If it wasn't for the Musselbrau Festival, the carriage, you know, it wouldn't be out.
10:01It wouldn't be used and it wouldn't have been restored.
10:02So I think it's great that they've got something like that.
10:04Before he breaks out his brushes on the carriage, Ross needs to road test design ideas for the historic paint shop.
10:18This is beautiful.
10:20I'm just doing a small sample panel and I'm trying to work out some designs for scrollwork,
10:25decoration that's traditional to horse-drawn vehicles.
10:29I'm itching to have a go.
10:30Go for it.
10:31It'd be easier if you're square up to the panel, thing that's slightly higher up and rest your hand at her.
10:36Like this kind of thing?
10:37Yep.
10:37Go for it.
10:38Yeah.
10:42Do you kind of brush in one direction or can I change?
10:44Yeah, no, you can come back into it.
10:46Yeah, so I can kind of come from the bottom round up to top.
10:49What inspired you to kind of get into this?
10:51It's almost like quite sort of niche work for me.
10:55When I was younger, I was very into old cars.
10:59And my mum took me up to a classic car show and there was a chap there painting on a car.
11:04And then I thought, yeah, I'll have a pop at that.
11:06That seems like a nice way to make a living.
11:10This kind of decorative work, is this what we're going to be expecting on the side of the carriage?
11:15Potentially, yes.
11:16It'll predominantly be just lining, I think, around all the panels and the wheels and bits of the chassis.
11:23But we may do some scroll work.
11:26That's right.
11:28Oh, yes.
11:29I'm into that.
11:30Yeah.
11:32So much patience that goes into doing this.
11:35Whatever you do, I think it's going to be a huge transformation.
11:38And a lot of hours.
11:39Yeah.
11:39I thought, you've got long arms from over there.
11:48Wow.
11:48How's it going?
11:49Good.
11:49I painted all this myself.
11:51Very impressive.
11:53I met Margaret.
11:54Oh, did you?
11:55Yeah.
11:55I had a really lovely chat with her about the Honest Lass and Honest Lad Festival.
12:00That's a tongue twister, isn't it?
12:02Essentially, the carriage and the procession and everything that goes with the wonderful Musselburgh Festival.
12:10She did also mention that she would love to have the town crest put on the carriage somewhere.
12:16Fantastic.
12:17Yeah?
12:18Yeah.
12:18Keen to do that.
12:19I think we'll get Ross on that, if you will.
12:22That sounds like a you thing rather than us.
12:25Lovely work.
12:26I can't wait to see what the carriage looks like when you're finished.
12:29Liam, see you soon.
12:30Lovely.
12:31Bye.
12:32Bye.
12:34Ross is truly amazing at what he does, and I can't wait to get him down to the barn and
12:41hopefully work on some projects for us.
12:44And away we go.
12:46And away we go.
12:47Wheel spin.
12:51With the carriage repair in Ross and Greg's safe hands, there's still lots more to discover
12:58in East Lothian.
12:59So much, so many little techniques that you don't actually just find in a book or on the
13:03internet.
13:04You have to kind of learn these things from the horse's mouth.
13:08Yeah, from watching.
13:09Yeah, from watching.
13:09It wasn't a horse, by the way.
13:10It was a real passer.
13:11I wasn't dreaming.
13:12But you actually have to sort of be there to really take it all in.
13:16I think that's quite interesting as well, because I think we all learn in different ways.
13:19And I'm very much a visual learner.
13:21So actually, if you can watch someone doing something, you absorb it a lot quicker than
13:28actually just reading it in a book or watching a video or something.
13:31Exactly.
13:32With so much ground to cover on this Lothian leg of their road trip, it's a case of divide
13:41and conquer.
13:42The great thing is, on this journey, we get to meet all these incredible people with some
13:47quite strange and unusual pieces.
13:52Will's off to immerse himself in another Scottish craft, while Kirsten's meeting a local lass
13:59in need of some repair shop expertise.
14:03Edinburgh has a distinct musical heritage, and Erica Wishart has brought along a weird
14:09and wonderful instrument that holds a lot of precious memories.
14:13This is an extraordinary looking instrument.
14:16The proper name for it is a straw vial, but my dad, who owned the instrument, called it
14:23a one-string fiddle.
14:25Oh!
14:25And dad played it.
14:26He could play it quite well.
14:28I cannot imagine what sort of a sound would come out of this collection of pieces.
14:36Let's have a look at what's actually...
14:38Oh, yeah, there's the actual name.
14:40Yeah.
14:41Yeah, right.
14:41Goodness me.
14:43So you've got this, like a trumpet.
14:45Does that go in there?
14:46Yeah, so that used to fit on there.
14:48OK.
14:49It's not fitted on there for some time now.
14:52The story that my mum told me was that dad was given it by some guy in a skiffle group,
14:58probably in the 1950s.
15:00My dad was so musical, and he played lots of different instruments.
15:04He mixed with lots of other musical people.
15:07So my understanding is that's how dad acquired this one-string fiddle.
15:11Well, so your dad sounds like a really intriguing and interesting man.
15:17Can you tell me a little bit about him?
15:18What was his name?
15:19Oh, he was...
15:20So he was called Eric.
15:22Oh!
15:22And my name's Erica, so I'm called after him.
15:25My dad was...
15:26I know it sounds like a cliché, but he really was my best friend.
15:30Yeah.
15:30We spent lots of time together, mostly playing music, and he was just a big kid at heart.
15:36Really?
15:37And he loved to make us laugh.
15:39And one of the ways he made us laugh was to make that sound awful, you know, like, just
15:44like strangled cat noises.
15:47Did he play any other instruments?
15:48Oh, he did.
15:50My dad could make music out of anything.
15:53He played mandolin, banjo, mouth organ, and, you know, skiffle groups were famous for
16:00being groups where people would bring homemade instruments.
16:04Like the washboard.
16:05Yes, yes.
16:06He just loved music.
16:08He was musical in every bone of his body.
16:11I really love that, because if you can just share making music together, that's a really
16:16wonderful thing.
16:17Absolutely, yes.
16:19I really miss him.
16:20My dad developed Alzheimer's 11 years before he died, and it was a tough journey, but at
16:26the same time, we always knew, with dad having such a love of music, it was always a way
16:31to reach him.
16:32Okay.
16:33You know, it was always a way to connect with the person inside him.
16:37You must miss him directly, I'm sure.
16:39I do miss him very much, but this gives me a lot of comfort, just to have something that
16:44was so special to dad, albeit as in three bits at the moment.
16:50Well, four bits if you look at the bow here.
16:53The bow here, yes.
16:54I really wonder if our luthier Becky has ever worked on something like this, but we love
17:05putting our heads together in the barn, so I'd love to take this and see what we can do.
17:09Well, it would mean the world to me.
17:12As the straw vial makes its way south to the barn, wills off to rub shoulders with some
17:21very elegant experts.
17:25Mastered tailors are highly skilled heritage craftspeople, and at Scotland's oldest bespoke
17:31tailors, Stuart Christie, they're keeping those skills alive.
17:37Specializing in creating that more Scottish of garments, the tweed suit.
17:41We were established in 1720.
17:43That's a long time ago.
17:44I love to tell Americans that it's older than America.
17:47That's my favourite line.
17:48We've always been making, and we're one of the only businesses that still make on the
17:53premises, so it's a beautiful craft, and we're trying to really support that and celebrate
17:57the craft.
17:58Yeah.
17:59I'm going to measure you quickly.
18:00Perfect.
18:01So where do you get your tweed from?
18:02We get tweeds from all over.
18:04We work with lots and lots of suppliers, lots of local weavers, independent weavers.
18:08I love to support women weavers.
18:09It's just a beautiful, authentic story to be able to go from the sheep's back to the
18:14customer's back.
18:15Take your, just your waist measure here.
18:17Okay.
18:17Drysor base.
18:18My waist has changed in the last few months.
18:22There we go.
18:23What's that, 34?
18:23I'll keep that off camera.
18:25No, thank you.
18:25It was tailors that coined the phrase bespoke when they described cloth as being spoken
18:36for by the customer.
18:37Wow.
18:40Looking fine, sir.
18:42Looking fine.
18:43I like this.
18:43I can get used to this.
18:45I should wear this back down in the barn.
18:47Let me do some wood carving like this.
18:50Let me see you.
18:51Let me see you.
18:51So this is off the peg, and then we have our made-to-measure process.
18:54But upstairs, where all the magic happens, we have Terence.
18:57He's our master tailor and cutter.
19:00The talent behind these fabulous threads are tailors, highly skilled artisans that champion
19:06sustainability by hand-creating garments that can last decades.
19:12This is a waistcoat pattern.
19:15Now, where would you put this wood?
19:17Would you put this closer to the edge so you're trying to minimise?
19:20Yes, because you'd like to save some cloth, and you'd like to have some left for the rest
19:24of the suit.
19:24Yeah, exactly.
19:25So if you follow these lines, this is the centre front of the garment.
19:28That's the waistline.
19:30You want that to line up and that to line up.
19:32Okay.
19:33And then once you're happy with where you've placed it, you put it.
19:37Like these weights?
19:37Are they made of lead?
19:38They're made of lead.
19:39That's right.
19:39They look really old.
19:40They are very old.
19:41They were here when I got here.
19:42And then we take the chalk, and you would just draw around that pattern piece.
19:47Okay.
19:50Oh, this is satisfying.
19:52This is really good, actually.
19:53That's nice Japanese chalk.
19:55It's good stuff.
19:56And it makes a nice, sharp mark.
19:59Oh, that is really good.
20:01How long will it take for you to make one of these suits?
20:05Well, a suit, you're probably looking at 140 man-hours.
20:09Probably longer if you've got me chalking that, because this has taken ages.
20:12Well, you want to be precise, don't you?
20:14Yeah.
20:14You want to get it right.
20:16You can use those to cut your garment out.
20:19They're huge.
20:20Beautiful.
20:21I only use those for my toenails.
20:24That's what you want to.
20:26Oh, yeah.
20:27Keep on the line.
20:27That's right.
20:29Oh, that's so satisfying.
20:31How long have you been tailoring for?
20:33Around about 35 years.
20:36I've been here 27 years next week.
20:39Have you?
20:42Right, there we are.
20:44That's all done.
20:45Beautiful.
20:46So what is the state of the tailoring industry now?
20:48Do you have lots of new blood coming in?
20:50We don't, unfortunately, at least not in Scotland.
20:54There's just not been enough emphasis on handcrafts.
21:00But for you, there must be such satisfaction to start with...
21:04Absolutely.
21:05That's the biggest thing, the creativity, and it is a nice feeling,
21:08to actually make something from pieces of cloth and card patterns.
21:14Well, I think you've got a customer for life here.
21:16You look pretty dapper.
21:17You do, indeed.
21:19While Will marvels at the skills of Scotland's expert tailors,
21:24things are heating up on the carriage repair.
21:26Greg's taken the wheels back to his workshop for the big structural work.
21:32Just tapping out these rivets, which used to hold it on.
21:35Now, when it comes out, you may well see a great big waft of rust.
21:41What we don't want it to go that way.
21:44Yeah.
21:46See, all falling out there?
21:47So that's why we're changing those.
21:48And then we'll put nice new rivets in there when we've rebonded the tie.
21:51And what we're going to do is we're going to cool it as quickly as we can.
22:01It's a very dynamic event.
22:02While Greg carries on with the wheel repairs,
22:14Baggedy Slothian,
22:16Kirsten's about to discover a unique local addition to fish and chips.
22:21What's in the bag?
22:22I come bearing gifts.
22:24Local delicacy.
22:26Fish supper.
22:27Oh, how lovely.
22:28And...
22:29What?
22:31Sauce.
22:32Special sauce.
22:33This is brown sauce and vinegar.
22:35I'll go on the fish.
22:36Oh!
22:37Whoa!
22:38Wendy!
22:39Two in one.
22:40Wendy, Wendy!
22:41If I just stand downwind of you, I'll get some.
22:44Right.
22:45You must have had this dish before.
22:46Your husband's from around here.
22:48He is from around here, that's right.
22:50But I can't say I've ever had this.
22:52I think this is a lovely way to finish off the day.
22:55The carriage has enormous importance.
22:58It's a big job.
22:59It's a huge job.
23:00While you've been hunting and gathering,
23:02I met the lovely Erica,
23:04and she had the most extraordinary instrument.
23:07It's called a strove vial.
23:09A strove vial?
23:10That sounds like something that you can catch.
23:12And it's also got this strange horn attachment to it.
23:18What?
23:18I guess the sound comes out.
23:20Who knows?
23:21It's a very unusual...
23:24Well, thank you for sorting supper out.
23:31My treat.
23:32That's the one.
23:33There you go.
23:33Thanks for the tea.
23:34Yeah, it's been a good day.
23:35Yes.
23:36Erica's one-string fiddle has made it to the repair shop,
23:50where Luthier Becky Horton and percussion expert Pete Woods
23:54are warming up for a duet of a restoration.
23:59Have you ever seen anything like that?
24:01Yes, I've seen a busker who used to use one.
24:03Did you?
24:04Yeah.
24:04What did it sound like?
24:05It was great sound.
24:06Yeah.
24:07I'd love to be able to hear this, but it's a bit broken.
24:11I always thought that was aluminium,
24:13but this one looks like it's actually tin plate.
24:16It's some nice dents in it, isn't it?
24:17Yeah, it's lovely dents.
24:20The problem could be in there,
24:22because in there is a membrane.
24:25It's connected to that bridge.
24:27Yes.
24:28So when it vibrates,
24:30that's where we get the sound from, yeah.
24:32Rather like it was in the old phonograph.
24:34Mm.
24:35Record players.
24:36It's possible that the membrane might be broken in there,
24:40and the only way we're going to find out
24:42is to carefully take it apart.
24:43Let's hope this reveals what we're looking for.
24:51I'm trying to find out.
24:52There we go.
24:55Ooh.
24:56Ooh.
24:57There is a membrane.
24:59It doesn't look broken.
25:00But it's a real old one,
25:03because it's a solid plate.
25:06A good thing for you?
25:07Well, it makes life a lot easier.
25:09I like that.
25:11I do like an easy life.
25:15It's all fine.
25:17We've got a lot of...
25:18It's very dirty, isn't it, in there?
25:20Dirt and stuff in there,
25:21which obviously is not adding to the performance, is it?
25:26I think with a good clean-up,
25:28I think we're going to be all right.
25:30Fabulous.
25:31Right, so...
25:32I've got the horn to do.
25:34I've got this mechanism now to clean up.
25:37I seem to have most of it, I think.
25:40Good luck.
25:40Oh, thanks.
25:41As I turn the peg in the peg box here,
25:58I can feel that it doesn't fit properly,
26:01and it's making a horrible squeaking noise.
26:03I'm going to have to make this peg fit really beautifully,
26:07because otherwise, it's not going to tune properly.
26:08We've only got one peg to do it on, so it better work really well.
26:12So I'm going to put that in my peg shaper now.
26:16Peg shaper is really just like a big pencil sharpener.
26:20And really, I'm only fine-tuning this.
26:22I'm not taking a lot of wood off.
26:26I think that's taken all the bumps off now.
26:29Let's have a feel in here.
26:31Yeah, so those little bits of ebony that came off
26:34have made it run much more smoothly.
26:39That seems to be working really nicely now.
26:42Great.
26:43With his design finished,
27:00signwriter Ross has taken delivery of the carriage wheels from Greg.
27:05It's the end of the first day.
27:09I managed to get it stripped,
27:10and quite a lot of it sandied.
27:14For me, it was important to get it sympathetic to the age,
27:21making sure that we weren't doing anything
27:22that was going to be over the top,
27:24or anything that wouldn't have been done at the time.
27:27So I managed to get some reference from other carriages of the period.
27:31So I kind of have in my head a rough idea
27:35of what would have been appropriate.
27:37It's the carriage now into the top coat.
27:42Restoration jobs, and there's other people involved.
27:44I get a lot of satisfaction out of that.
27:46And you can see what this thing was at the start
27:48compared to where it is now.
27:49And you know, me and four other people,
27:53whatever, have really turned something that was worthless
27:55into a fairly restored piece of history.
28:00And it's going to be an ink cup.
28:07I hope.
28:13At the repair shop,
28:15Luthier Becky is carrying out her own precision work.
28:23I've been working on Erica's strove vile bow.
28:26I've taken out all the old bow hair.
28:28We can't reuse that.
28:29It's no good.
28:30It's had its day.
28:31I'm going to put some lovely fresh white hair in it.
28:34It can be really tricky to get the right amount of hair.
28:37I do not want too much hair.
28:39That can damage a bow.
28:40I want just about enough.
28:42And it's all done by feel.
28:44So it's very important I get this right.
28:51This bell is tin-plated.
28:55At the moment, it looks a bit of a disaster because a lot of the tin has come off.
29:02So I'm going to replate it, but there's no point in replating it with the dents in it because as soon as it comes back all nice and shiny, every dent and mark is going to show.
29:16So I'm just pushing out and gradually getting rid of all the nasty little dents in it.
29:24I'm going to use some crushed rosin on the ends.
29:29Rosin is the sticky stuff that players put on the bow hair to make it stick to the strings.
29:33The rosin is just sticking the hair together a little bit at the end, making sure the knot stays in place, and it will also help hold the top of this hair into the top of the bow.
29:54The success rate of getting the hair the right length is probably about 50-50, so it can be really frustrating if you've done a lovely re-hair and the hair's too short or the hair's too long.
30:03So I'm just going to have to do my best, and if it's wrong, it will be done again.
30:14It can now be put together, and this is where we'll see if it's the right length or not.
30:19Cool. So we need to stabilize.
30:34Can you go back up, Greg?
30:36Right.
30:37In Musselburgh, the restoration of the carriage has reached a critical point.
30:43Sign painter Rossi's stunning designs are now gracing Greg's sturdy wheels, and the pair of them have teamed up for the big rebuild.
30:54I'm going to make sure she spins OK.
30:59That spins nice.
31:01Yeah, it looks lovely.
31:01And that stripe is centred on the wheel, so that looks great.
31:09We're just getting this second wheel on now.
31:11It'll be almost movable.
31:13Ross's paintwork looks fabulous.
31:15We've actually made it look like a real carriage.
31:17Last thing we want to do is over-tighten, because I don't want to snap one of those threads off.
31:36Not now.
31:38No, it's survived 140 years.
31:40I don't want to be the guy that does that.
31:44No.
31:44This is like a Formula One wheel change.
31:50Oh, and it's a wheel one, yes.
31:53I'm into that.
31:55McLaren, eat your heart, okay?
32:01There, who said he wouldn't fit?
32:02Are they good?
32:03We've just got to put on the nuts and the collets of the back wheels, like we did on the front.
32:08With a little bit of adjustment, then, we've got to make sure the back axle's square, make sure it's running true, things like that.
32:13And then, it's going to be great seeing it go down the parade at Musselbrook.
32:24Back in the barn, it's time for another double act, to reunite the two halves of their restoration project, as Becky and Pete begin assembly of the Victorian straw fire.
32:36It's looking beautiful.
32:38Not looking bad at all.
32:39Not at all.
32:40I'm just really excited to get this together and hear what it sounds like.
32:43With a wing and a prayer, let's start putting it back together.
32:46Good.
32:58Right, I'm due for stringing.
33:00Okay.
33:04There we are.
33:05I think that's gone through now.
33:07It's actually vibrating now.
33:12I can hear it vibrating.
33:12You can hear it.
33:13It thought it was dead, wasn't it?
33:15Yeah, yeah, yeah.
33:15I reckon it's going to work.
33:17I reckon it is.
33:25Are you ready to...
33:26Can we hear it?
33:27You ready to play?
33:27I've no idea how to play it.
33:29Shall we just have a go?
33:29Yeah, absolutely.
33:31Okay.
33:33Right, so that must go here.
33:35Oh, so you don't hold it like a violin?
33:36No, I'll not get that under my chin.
33:37Okay.
33:38Right.
33:42It's like a cello.
33:45Wow.
33:46It's loud.
33:47I love it.
33:48I need one of these in my life.
33:50Goodness me.
33:53This rare and intriguing stringed instrument was left to an adoring daughter by her music-loving dad.
34:01With its voice now restored, Kirsten is back on the road to Edinburgh to return it to Erica.
34:10I have got butterflies in my tummy, I'm not going to lie.
34:13I'm nervous, I'm excited.
34:16I just, yeah, my emotions are a bit all over the place, to be honest.
34:22Oh, hi, Erica.
34:23Hi, Kirsten.
34:24Lovely to see you again.
34:25And you too.
34:26How have you been?
34:27I'm good, thank you.
34:28So, have you been thinking about your straw vial?
34:32I have definitely been thinking about the straw vial.
34:35It's felt really strange not to have it with me and, yes, I'm just so excited.
34:40I'm very excited to see it.
34:42Right.
34:43Would you like to have a look?
34:45Yes, please.
34:46Okay.
34:46Oh, my goodness.
34:58Let's see if we can pop that up.
35:05Wow.
35:07That is amazing.
35:08That's just amazing.
35:11It looks like Dad's straw vial and yet it's, it does it.
35:15It's so shiny.
35:17I don't even remember it being that shiny when Dad had it.
35:22I'm over the moon with it.
35:24It's beautiful.
35:28Thank you so much.
35:29You're very welcome.
35:32It's just such a symbol of who my dad was.
35:36It's associated with lots of fun and laughter, with the love of music, with sharing music as a family and with friends.
35:46And just continuing that sharing with other people and bringing other people into that.
35:52And you've just brought it to life again.
35:57It's like getting a big part of my dad back just because of everything that comes with it.
36:04All the happy memories of Dad.
36:07Well, thank you for bringing it to us and it's all yours to take home now.
36:12Thank you very much.
36:13Thank you very much.
36:43Based in Musselburgh, the day of the festival is finally here.
36:47The carriage, which has been out of action for two years, is hopefully ready to roll again.
36:53All thanks to the work of wheelwright Greg and signwriter Ross.
36:57As a festival community, the carriage is a massive part over the years for quite a lot of past lads and particularly the lasses who have shed a tear.
37:08They have journeyed in the carriage at some point over the last 30, 40 years.
37:12They've seen it degrading year by year, unfortunately, just through time and to see it back to be part of the festival and to be given back to the community at large.
37:23The carriage has been around for a long, long time.
37:26It's been part of our festival right since the beginning and it's an honour to have it as part of our festival week.
37:33I'm excited to see this, aren't you?
37:38Same here.
37:39Oh my gosh, the carriage looks so bad.
37:42I wonder how they've got on.
37:43Yeah.
37:43Ross and Greg must be really busy.
37:45I don't know how they've done it, actually.
37:48Let's see.
37:52Hello, Ross.
37:53Good to see you.
37:54Hello.
37:54Good to see you.
37:55Hey, how are you doing?
37:57Yeah, I'm well.
37:58I'm tired.
37:58Yeah, I was going to say, still standing?
38:00Yeah.
38:01Good.
38:02Now, how have you found this?
38:03Hard work, but luckily everything went to plan and we managed to achieve it.
38:08The carriage was in a bit of a state.
38:10It was, yeah.
38:11There was quite a lot of work to be done.
38:13Why don't we have a look?
38:14That would be amazing.
38:20Wow.
38:21No way.
38:23Ross, that's unbelievable.
38:27Look at that.
38:29Ross.
38:30Good job, buddy.
38:32That looks amazing.
38:33It almost looks like a new carriage.
38:35It looks absolutely beautiful and those lines and the crest.
38:39You've done the crest as well.
38:41I think that contrast is amazing.
38:44I think Margaret's going to be absolutely thrilled.
38:48This is going to bring back a lot of memories for people in Musselburgh who've lived here
38:52for years and have seen this parade in the streets for the festival.
38:56It's a work of art.
38:58It's a work of art.
38:59And I cannot wait to show Margaret.
39:00I think she's going to be delighted.
39:03Fantastic.
39:03I feel like you've had a few late nights, Ross.
39:06I have, yeah.
39:06Painting away.
39:07Yeah, but we made it happen.
39:11It's been 57 years since the magical day when Margaret Elgin was elected to be Honest Lass.
39:18Hi, Margaret.
39:19Hello, Kirsten.
39:20Nice to see you.
39:21And you.
39:22Excited to see the carriage?
39:23Oh, very excited.
39:24Very excited.
39:25Step this way.
39:30My goodness.
39:33Come on.
39:34Come and have a look.
39:34Cheers.
39:35That is amazing.
39:38What a lovely carriage.
39:41The paintwork and the crest, the borough crest on here is just, it's just lovely.
39:47Is it as good as new?
39:49Well, I'm luckily too young to remember it when it was new.
39:53But I can think that when I remember it, it is 100% better than it was.
39:59Good.
40:00This festival means a lot to the town, doesn't it?
40:03Do you think having this is the icing on the cake now?
40:05I think it is.
40:06I think it's just, it's bringing it together.
40:09It's bringing the past into the future for us.
40:12It will be used and we will use it and look after it very well.
40:15Fantastic.
40:16That's so lovely to hear.
40:17So what's next for the carriage then?
40:20The Honest Lad and Lass will go in the carriage and they're going to be pulled by the sea cadets.
40:25It's going to be lovely seeing their faces when they see the carriage looking like this.
40:33Wow.
40:36Wow.
40:36Oh my goodness.
40:38That is amazing.
40:41Switch then.
40:42The carriage is just wonderful.
40:53It's such a privilege to be here and to be sat in it for the first time.
40:58It's amazing.
40:59It looks spectacular and it's honestly something that I will remember for the rest of my life.
41:03I can't tell you enough how amazing the transformation is from what it was to what we see today.
41:15It's truly remarkable.
41:18It's just such a massive part of our festival and to see it in its pride and glory back to
41:23how it probably should have been all those years ago was just a real privilege to actually
41:28be involved in, you know, in that moment.
41:30Lovely day.
41:50It's been amazing, hasn't it?
41:52Yeah, so lovely.
41:56Look at that.
41:58Madam.
41:59Lass.
42:01Ooh.
42:04There you go.
42:06Wow.
42:07What an amazing transformation.
42:09This is great.
42:09Yeah.
42:10So fantastic to see the look on Margaret's face when she saw it.
42:13I think she was absolutely delighted.
42:15Priceless.
42:16We've known each other for a long time.
42:17We have.
42:18Do you think I can make an honest lass?
42:19Lass?
42:20Lass?
42:22Lass?
42:23Honest lad?
42:24Probably didn't slip there.
42:25I'm not even going to go there.
42:27Okay, fine.
42:27Well, it's been an amazing day.
42:30I've really felt like we've been absolutely brought into the heart of this community.
42:37Yeah.
42:38It's been quite special.
42:39Actually, do you want these bad boys to pull this?
42:42Go on then.
42:42Yeah, go on then.
42:43Stay there.
42:44That makes me feel a bit bad, Will.
42:46Are you all strapped in?
42:49Yes.
42:49Clean, clean.
42:51All right.
42:51Here we go.
42:53Okay.
42:54Knees.
42:56You ready?
42:56Yeah, I'm holding tight.
42:59Hey!
42:59We're moving!
43:01We're moving!
43:01No way!
43:03Oh, that's heavy.
43:04That's a bit too much for my back.
43:07Are there any breaks?
43:07No way!
43:08Ha ha ha!
43:08Ha ha ha!
43:08Ha ha ha!
43:09Ha ha ha ha!
43:09Ha ha ha ha!
43:09Ha ha ha ha!
43:09Ha ha ha ha ha!
43:10Ha ha ha ha ha!
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