Bench full of memories saved by TV's Repair Shop

A bench which holds special memories for a family has been restored by an expert on the BBC TV show, The Repair Shop.

It belongs to Andy Cox and Madeleine Willis from Northampton and was made out of their first bed.

The bench was looking weather-worn and had become seriously unstable.

It was restored by the programme's furniture expert, Will Kirk.

The bed was the first thing Mr Cox and Ms Willis bought for their home 30 years ago.

After their son Ade's premature birth, the bed played a major role in his homecoming.

Ms Willis said: "He spent eight months in hospital so, when we brought him home, it was an enormous celebration and we spent days in the bed because that's where we all wanted to be, altogether and all safe.

"A couple of years later, I had my daughter, Freya, and she was actually born at home in the bed."

As the children grew up, the humble piece of furniture became the focus of playtime adventures and it transformed into a truck or a flying bed or whatever the family wanted it to be.

But all those adventures took their toll, the bed was replaced and the original was initially used for growing vegetables.

Ade said: "We disassembled it, took it down the stairs, reassembled the bed, and we put cardboard on the sides and the bottom and then we filled it with veggies."

The bed then became a bench, which Freya loved to sit on while painting or drawing.

When she went off to university, the bench started to deteriorate.

Ms Willis said: "Freya was coming home [from university], and I tried to paint it and the leg fell off.

"I thought, 'We can't lose it,' it was part of the family."

At that point, the family got in touch with The Repair Shop.

The production team liked the story and Mr Kirk got the job of restoring the bench.

He found the legs needed extensive strengthening work, so the wood went on the lathe and a whole new set of feet was carved.

Mr Kirk then sorted out the mortise and tenon joints so the bench would stay together for generations to come.

Ms Willis said: "It's a piece of furniture but she was part of the family and it was so emotional to see her the way she should be back and repaired."

The programme will be shown on BBC1 at 20:00 BST on 14 August and will be available on BBC iPlayer.

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