Jay Blades and the team bring three treasured family heirlooms, and the memories they hold, back to life.

Organ builder David Burville takes on the repair of a vintage harmonium brought into the barn by Marian Stanley. Marian’s family come from Stepney in London’s East End, and she has many fond memories of the harmonium and the festive gatherings for which it provided the soundtrack, with family members of different generations all taking their turn at the keyboard. However, the instrument is now over 100 years old and hasn’t played a tune in decades. With leaky bellows, broken reeds and a cracked and chipped casing, David has a massive job on his hands to get it playing again.

Ceramics conservator Kirsten Ramsay also faces a daunting challenge in the shape of a ceramic sweet dish that was smashed to bits 25 years ago by then-13-year-old Karen Barnett. The dish was Karen’s father Richard’s pride and joy, and Karen has lived with the guilt ever since. But piecing together the countless tiny fragments will require every ounce of Kirsten’s experience, patience and skill.

And Jay leads the repair of a hand-crafted dolls house with a touching story behind it. As a young girl, on their daily walk to school together, Debbie White and her grandfather would pass the same black and white house every morning. Debbie loved the house so much that her grandfather promised her that one day she would have it. And the following Christmas, there it was under the tree in miniature form, handmade by her grandfather. Debbie has treasured the dolls house ever since, but it is now rickety and in danger of collapsing, and it takes the combined efforts of Jay, furniture restorer Will Kirk and art conservator Lucia Scalisi to return the beloved toy to its former splendour. Show less