The Repair Shop: Suzie Fletcher restores leather folder
The Repair Shop’ star Suzie Fletcher admitted that she had been given the “worst” looking restoration she had ever seen in a classic episode of the BBC series.
Walking into the barn, the guest placed down a leather midwifery bag which was being held together by some cloth.
She explained: “This is a midwifery bag that was my grandmother’s and she did her nurse training then her midwife training and then she met my grandfather.
“He eventually asked her to marry him, and in those days, women had to give up work. She told my grandfather that she would only marry him if he allowed her to carry on working.
“Even when they had children and he said, ‘Yes that is no problem’, and presented her this on their wedding day, which had all the equipment in it.
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“He set her up in her own firm and my mum and her brother came along and she carried on working, all through the war, all through the air raids.
“When the NHS started after the war she moved over and carried on being a midwife into the 60s.
“She was feisty and she was a suffragette. She took on the trade union and NHS when her nurses weren’t being treated well. My mother was a nurse and she was just as feisty then. Hannah is a doctor,” pointing to the lady standing next to her.
“The lid is completely off and if we take this off it just collapses, it opens down so you can put it flat.”
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Taking a look at the case, Suzie admitted: “This has definitely been through the wars, hasn’t it? Yes.. this is quite the challenge.
“If you could only hear my heart. I can’t make any promises, I really can’t, we will be in touch and thank you.”
Moving the bag over to her workstation, she added: “This is incredibly damaged, the leather itself is incredibly fragile.
“The leather has torn and there are also leather straps which are missing. It really looks like a hopeless case but I am going to put my whole heart into this.”
After working hard to try and fix the bag, the owners finally returned and Suzie admitted to them: “I have to be perfectly honest with you here that it is probably the worst bag I have ever had to work on.
“However, the story of your great-grandmother and the legacy that you are going to carry on with really made me do the very best I could,” before she unveiled the bag.
Stunned, the guest exclaimed: “Oh my goodness, that is incredible! That is not far off from what it looked like! You have worked a miracle.”
Hannah, the other guest added: “Oh my goodness, I can’t believe it, how have you done that? Oh my goodness me, I can’t believe that!
“That is the most impressive thing I have ever seen, I am speechless! What a difference it will mean in my practice and to see my patients with my bag and the history of it.”
The Repair Shop airs Wednesday from 8pm on BBC One.
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