A bench that holds special memories for a family was restored by an expert on the BBC television programme “The Repair Shop”.
It belongs to Andy Cox and Madeleine Willis from Northampton and was made from their first bed.
The bench looked weathered and had become seriously unstable.
It was restored by the show’s furniture expert, Will Kirk.
Mr Cox and Mrs Willis bought the bed 30 years ago and it holds important memories for them.
They brought their premature son Ade home from the hospital to this bed and their youngest daughter Freya was born in it.
They couldn’t bear to part with the bed so they used their creative talents to transform it into a garden bench.
The bench had been well used but had become unstable and showed signs of wear.
They contacted Jay Blades’ popular Repair Shop program and Mr. Kirk was entrusted with the task of restoring it.
Mr Kirk was invited to be one of the show’s experts after restoring a bench for a member of the production team.
He studied restoration and conservation of antiques at university and founded his own company 13 years ago.
Mr Kirk dismantled the Willis-Cox family’s workbench to determine which parts could be kept and which would need to be replaced.
He realized that the legs needed to be significantly reinforced, so the wood went on the lathe and a completely new pair of feet was carved.
Mr. Kirk then repaired the tenon joints so that the bench will hold together for generations.
The show airs on BBC1 on 14 August at 8pm (BST) and is available on BBC iPlayer.
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