The Repair Shop: Jay gets emotional at guest's reaction
We use your sign-up to provide content in ways you’ve consented to and to improve our understanding of you. This may include adverts from us and 3rd parties based on our understanding. You can unsubscribe at any time. More info
The Repair Shop sees an abundance of interesting and personal items brought into the barn in need of an expert’s eye and some TLC. Along with the usual residents of the BBC reality series, guest experts are also welcomed when anything unusual is brought in. Once again, it is time for pinball fanatic Geoff Harvey to make an appearance.
Geoff Harvey has been obsessed with pinball machines since he was 10 years old when he played the game for the first time in Jersey.
He was desperate to get some of his own and so while his parents were away, he got 10 through a friend so when they returned home, his mum and dad couldn’t open the front door.
Talking to Hackney Gazette, Harvey said: “They said to me: ‘You can have as many as you like, Geoffrey, but they will have to be in your room.’ So I got rid of my furniture and my bed.”
He was 14 at the time and he reportedly didn’t have a bed again until he went to university years later.
Where does ‘Pinball’ Geoff Harvey live?
‘Pinball’ Geoff Harvey is from Stoke Newington where he has lived for the past 25 years.
He is the curator of arcade of Pinball Alley in Tottenham, a retro arcade game hire and repair company.
Geoff can be contacted through Pinball Alley if in need of advice on hiring their machines.
When he went to university, Geoff trained to become a psychiatric nurse but decided to pursue his true passion instead.
To kick-start his career, he initially took up hustling in Leicester Square’s Golden Goose, in order to try and afford more machines.
He said: “I made my living doing that. It was only pocket money but I got to play pinball for free.
“I ended up getting a job working for a pinball company, fixing them.
“It was a little bit shady. I was working for a really nice crook. He was an incredibly honourable man though – I had a great time.”
DON’T MISS…
Meghan Markle’s podcast slammed by Piers Morgan ‘Exploiting status’ [ROYAL]
The Repair Shop star ‘nervous’ over restoration of Judi Dench item [EXPLAINER]
The Repair Shop’s Jay Blades emotional as guest elated restoration [CAST]
Fast-forward to today, and the pinball expert Geoff now owns around 300 machines.
Around 40 of these have been set up in pubs around London, with the oldest from the 1970s sitting in Walthamstow’s Mirth, Marvel and Maud.
There are 12 of his games in Margate’s iconic funfair Dreamland as well.
He previously used to run the museum Pinball Parlour in Ramsgate before it closed down in 2014.
Geoff will be returning for the latest episode of The Repair Shop which airs this evening.
The description reads: “Arcade games aficionado Geoff Harvey is the next expert to be called upon when Tim McCann arrives with his prized ‘one-armed bandit’ fruit machine.
“The machine was given to Tim by his grandpa, Cornelius McCann, who was well known by the local community for his Peaky Blinders-style hat and larger-than-life character.
“The machine gave Tim years of pleasure when he was a child and was also played with by his children.
“Unfortunately, the machine got broken, and now Tim would like it fixed so his grandchildren can enjoy it too.
“To get the machine working again, Geoff has years of grime and a very seized-up mechanism to work through before he’s on a winning streak.”
The Repair Shop continues every Wednesday at 8pm on BBC One.
Source: Read Full Article
