The Repair Shop expert Dominic Chinea was faced with certain frustrations and enlisted the help of his co-star Mark Stuckey after two guests brought in their father’s potter’s wheel.
Fiona Minchin and Kirsten Tomlinson entered the barn and were greeted by Chinea who was keen to understand the history of the huge machine and why it meant so much to the sisters.
Kirsten began: “It was our dad’s potter’s wheel. Our dad was a potter and an artist, he was really well-known in Scotland. His name was Syd Walker, and he made literally thousands and thousands and thousands of pots on it. He painted designs on them as well.”
“He was really quite big in the arts scene in the 60s and 70s,” her sister added.
Delving further into his career and history, Kirsten said: “He had quite a few international exhibitions in America and Holland and France and all over. His work is in the Royal Family collection as well. So proud of him.
“As soon as you walked in there was this wonderful smell of the clay, I mean I loved that smell and also the sounds, the sound of the potter’s wheel, the sound of it was just our soundtrack to our childhood, we used to play up there, spent our whole time surrounded by clay and everything else.
“It’s a huge, huge part of his life and ours. It’s dad’s, we couldn’t part with it and it was more than just a wheel to him. I would love to be able to make pots on my dad’s wheel, it would just be so wonderful to be able to do that, but it just needs a lot of work.
“There are still bits of him in the last time that he used it. just to actually sit there with all the memories it would be a dream come true.”
Noticing the pressure he was under, Chinea noted: “Goodness me so I need to be careful with this. I can’t wait to get started, thank you.”
Taking it to his workbench, he took a closer look at the potter’s wheel and explained: “It’s fair to say this potter’s wheel has seen better days. The poor thing is not in good condition, mechanically.
“I can see straight away that there are some issues, most of it is to do with corrosion, a lot of this in here is rusted and seized together, I don’t dare turn this on, I am no electrician but I can see that the wiring needs to be replaced, that is luckily going to be a job for Mark.”
Enlisting Stuckey’s help, Chinea pleaded: “Help! Please! This is the original on or off switch for the potter’s wheel. I’ve done the easy bit and taken it apart and painted it. Unfortunately, it’s not working though.”
Taking a closer look at the motor, Stuckey revealed: “It’s been left out in a fairly damp environment hasn’t it, but the looks of it? I’m sure I can sort this out for you.”
After the pair worked their magic on the wheel, Fiona and Kirsten were excited to have the machine back in their possession, and were keen to see what Chinea had managed to do with it.
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Before it was unveiled, Kirsten noted: ” [We’re] very excited! It’s just so strange not seeing it and just not having it around has been quite a thing. I am hoping just to see that it is back the way it was before it got dilapidated.”
As Chinea pulled the cloth off, the sisters gasped, leaving Fiona to quip: “Oh wow! Oh, that is absolutely brilliant.”
“That is just amazing! Oh Dom I can’t thank you enough, that is, you left the clay and everything. It is just perfect! I never imagined it could look as good as this,” Kirsten added.
Feeling like she was back in her childhood, Fiona said: “It does really feel that dad should just be coming in and making some pots and we should be a little bit shorter and coming back from school, it definitely takes us back.”
