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Will Kirk, Jay Blades and Steve Fletcher© BBC

The Repair Shop's Will Kirk and Steve Fletcher wow viewers with incredible restoration of unique item

The team worked on a Big Ben model made of matchsticks

Nicky Morris
TV and film writer
March 30, 2023
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The Repair Shop stars Will Kirk and Steve Fletcher wowed viewers in Thursday night's episode, which saw the woodwork expert and horologist team up to repair a very unique item.

The presenters welcomed Charlotte Fischer into the barn, who brought with her a unique replica model of Big Ben made almost entirely from matchsticks. 

The model, which stands at just over five feet tall and features 5,520 matches, belonged to her great grandfather, artist Edwin Aldous, who built it in 1953 to commemorate the late Queen Elizabeth's coronation. 

The experts restored a replica model of Big Ben © BBC
The experts restored a replica model of Big Ben

Charlotte explained that her grandmother was incredibly proud of her father's creation, which features 5,520 matches. 

"She wasn't necessarily a sentimental kind of woman but this was the thing that she kept," said Charlotte. "She loved it so much. She was most proud of her dad in that sense."

Before her grandmother passed away, she handed the clock down to Charlotte, expressing her wish that her grandaughter take care of it. 

Will Kirk and Steve Fletcher unveil clock restoration© BBC
Will Kirk and Steve Fletcher impressed viewers with their stunning clock restoration

On what it would mean to her to have the clock restored, Charlotte said: "It would be amazing. It would really bring back nice memories, especially since my nan has passed. This is the biggest thing I have if hers and it is sentimentally the biggest thing and just to have that working again would bring me back to being in her house."

While Will got to work on cleaning the clock and doing the match work, Steve focused on the mechanics. 

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Towards the end of the episode, Will and Steve welcomed Charlotte back to the barn and unveiled their incredible work on the clock. 

Charlotte was stunned by the impressive transformation. See the big reveal in the video below.

WATCH: The Repair Shop's Will Kirk and Steve Fletcher wow viewers with incredible restoration

Viewers who tuned into the episode were equally impressed and took to Twitter to praise the experts. One person wrote: "Kudos for knowing how the clock bits go back together Steve," while another added: "Think every viewer must've said 'wow' when that clock was unveiled, brilliant yet again from the team."

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