Dreams repaired here!
Treasure of a high-flying star The Repair Shop is the BBC’s surprise smash hit, with millions tuning in to watch the restoration of precious, but faded, treasures – and to unlock the moving tales of love and loss behind them…
Suzanne Richeux, from London, needs help to repair a mechanical birdcage that belonged to her mother – an internationally famous trapeze artist.
‘My mother was from Hartlepool and she was the world’s best trapeze artist,’ says Suzanne, 62.
But while Inga-Lise loved to perform, she didn’t bother with possessions.
‘She loved animals and she loved travelling, but she didn’t really hold on to things.
‘This [ birdcage] is one of the few things that she bought and she loved. It makes my heart so sad to see it not working.
‘My mother was an extraordinary woman and this birdcage is a part of our family history. I would love to be able to hand it down to my daughter, her granddaughter, Natalie.’
Suzanne recalls asking her mother to let her hear the little feathered birds sing when she was a child.
‘ We didn’t really do bedtime stories, I think my mother was rushing off to go and hang by her toes in the circus tent!
‘Just before putting us to bed, she would wind up the birdcage…’
The challenge is on for mechanical expert Steve Fletcher, as the delicate birds haven’t worked for 20 years.
They have lost their feathers, the cage is tatty – and the birds no longer sing.
But, following a loving restoration, it is unveiled in front of Suzanne and Natalie.
The birds are now resplendent – one in yellow and one in red. When he winds it up, the birds begin to tweet and Suzanne finds herself in tears. ‘Mum would be thrilled,’ she says.