The Repair Shop viewers wowed after Dominic Chinea makes history with his ‘oldest’ EVER task as he transforms 200-year-old weather vane
- Father Leslie Drake, from Essex, appeared on BBC’s Repair Shop last night
- Read more: The Repair Shop’s Jay Blades reveals he’s been invited to coronation
Viewers of The Repair Shop were blown away last night after a member of the team made history by fixing a weather vane in his oldest ever makeover.
Priest Father Leslie Drake, from Essex, appeared on the BBC1 programme yesterday as he revealed the weather vane at his church had blown down and been damaged in a local storm.
He asked the team to help give the cockerel a makeover, with Dominic Chinea confessing he was feeling ‘anxious’ over the ‘historic’ task.
But Dominic was able to transform the ornament, giving it a fresh lick of paint and new metal work.
Viewers were blown away by the makeover, with one writing: ‘How do The Repair Shop manage to top the last episode every time?
Viewers of The Repair Shop were blown away last night after Dominic Chinea made history by fixing a weather vane in his oldest ever makeover
‘Another beautiful show.’
Meanwhile others admitted they had been left chuckling over the programme last night.
One person commented: ‘It bought a tear to my eye when the vicar revealed his massive c*** [weather vane] to the congregation. Beautiful.’
Another wrote: ‘I don’t watch #TheRepairShop but had I known people stood around clapping at c**** I may have tuned in.’
At the start of the programme, Father Leslie arrived at the iconic barn hoping a community focal point could be fixed.
‘You have before you a wonderful weathervane from St Mary’s, South Benfleet,’ he explained.
The priest went on: ‘It’s a local landmark for over 200 years. You can see it from the train, you can see it from all around.
‘A local craftsman made it, we don’t know exactly who. You can see an NB carved out of it, and I think that’s who made it.’
Many of those watching the programme confessed they were blown away by the efforts of Dominic on the show
‘This has been spinning around on your roof for over 200 years,’ Dominic queried. ‘Why is it down here now? What happened?’
‘Well, we had some bad weather a few months ago and it blew down,’ Father Leslie replied.
He said: ‘I don’t know how you’re going to renovate it but we’re looking forward to it.
‘Thank you for trusting us with it,’ Dominic added before Father Drake explained the importance of the community landmark.
He said: ‘It would mean a lot to me and of course to the Benfleet community… the whole place would be complete again, it would be good.
Priest Father Leslie Drake appeared on the BBC1 programme yesterday as he revealed the weather vane at his church had blown down and been damaged in a local storm
Dominic was tasked with transforming the weather vane, which had been in position at the church for over 200 years
‘It’s been an important part of the symbol of the church for a long time. We look forward to it coming back.
‘I’m nearing my retirement and to have this as the final effort to getting the whole building renovated would mean a great deal to me.’
However after Father Leslie left the weather vane with the Repair Shop team, Dominic couldn’t help but confess he felt nervous about the makeover.
Dominic said: ‘This gives me some problems and also some anxiety. Coming from a Grade I listed church, the history in this is quite daunting to me.’
Despite his nerves, he started his work to transform the vane for Father Leslie.
He said: ‘First thing is first, the post is snapped and broken. My main desk is dealing with this guy. He’s been through the wars. I need to make it structurally sound.’
He cleaned up the weathervane and went on to paint the object.
Thankfully, it all came together in the end, and Dominic displayed the weathervane outside to test how it stood
Meanwhile Dom said he was encountering a number of issues when taking the weather vane apart itself, saying: ‘It’s like pulling a tooth.’
He said he was planning to make an exact replica of the vane’s tail from a new piece of metal.
He explained: ‘His comb has unfortunately turned into a combover, I need to straighten these up – they should be nice and upright.
‘This part is made of lead, which gives me some problems and some anxiety because lead is a tricky material to work with, especially old lead like this.
‘Over time, it goes hard and brittle so I need to be really careful here.’
However he struggled to keep the spikes in place, snapping part of the weather vane as he tried to fix it.
Unfortunately, he was unable to fix the comb that was already there, so he was forced to remake it from a new metal and solder it into place.
Finally, Dom began the decorative stage which saw him painting over the top of the old paint.
He said: ‘I’m trying to think about how it would have weathered originally to tell the same story so it looks as realistic as possible.’
Thankfully, it all came together in the end, and Dominic displayed the weathervane outside to test how it stood.
Meanwhile Father Drake confessed he was also blown away by the transformation.
He said: ‘I think of it as the cherry on top of the cake, and the whole place is done and it’s ready to serve this community for decades to come.’
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