Moving craft series is in good Repair

THE Repair Shop, a sort of Antiques Roadshow where the valuables are rescued from the bin, is the perfect antidote to today’s throwaway culture.

The new BBC2 series follows a talented team of craft specialists as they work their magic and bring back to life cherished family heirlooms.

But the real treasures in the show are the owners’ stories.

Natalie Cummings, from Shropshire, took a broken and battered violin in for repair.

It originally belonged to her grandfather’s Aunt Rosa, a musician in Leeds.

Rosa was arrested in central Europe in the 1930s because she was Jewish. She survived Auschwitz by playing the violin in the camp’s women’s orchestra, but died in 1947.

Violin repairer John Dilworth, smoothing away Rosa’s fingerprints which were deeply engrained on the wood, said: “It’s quite emotional getting rid of the last traces of the family who owned this.”

After John’s labour of love, the instrument looked as good as new and leading UK violinist Christian Garrick was on hand to test the sound.

He had also composed a special piece in honour of Rosa called Rosa’s Wishing Waltz.

As the violin’s perfect melodic tones filled the air, there wasn’t a dry eye in The Repair Shop.

As the saying goes: “There’s many a good tune played on an old fiddle.”

How true. I’m sure Rosa would have loved it.