How celebrity Repair Shop provides us with timely lesson from the past
The BBC’s Repair Shop programme is a reminder from the past of the importance of fixing things
It’s easy to spot the horrors, iniquities and wrong-headed attitudes of the past, like cities swathed in ‘pea soup’ smogs, child labour and women denied the vote.
It’s considerably harder to cast the same critical eye over current times. Just as our ancestors did, we grow up regarding ‘the way things are’ as normal.
However, sometimes, we can learn from the past. In the mythologised ‘olden days’, it’s said they built things to last. However, what they usually did was build things to be repaired, unlike today’s many throwaway products.
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TV show The Repair Shop is a fascinating reminder of crafts that have almost died out and of how mending something that’s broken can make a treasured item more special.
Author Julia Donaldson, of the Gruffalo fame, is to appear in a celebrity edition with Helen Mirren and Rob Brydon, with the experts repairing a toy farmhouse that’s full of childhood memories.
Something to bear in mind if you’re thinking of buying a present for a youngster this Christmas. Will it be a treasured possession or end up in a landfill site within years, months or even days?
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