Antiques and heirlooms given new lease of life at Ludlow Repair Cafe
Treasured family heirlooms and antiques were among the items entrusted to a group of volunteer fixer-uppers at a Shropshire repair cafe.
Ludlow's first repair cafe of the new decade saw almost 40 items brought to the Mascall Centre to be restored to their former glory.
There were the usual electrical items like TVs, radios and an iPod - but the volunteer repairers have long since learned to expect the unexpected.
This time there was a precious doll which had travelled back with its original owner on the Queen Mary, a pension-age teddy bear which had lost its smile, and a pair of silver earrings, one of which had been disfigured when it was trodden on, and an umbrella which needed a spoke repaired.
For the first time, antique glass and porcelain items were brought along to be fixed.
Diane Lyle, who started the repair cafe up in October 2017, said: "As always, the volunteers rose to the different challenges with enthusiasm and were still smiling as they packed up their tools at the end of the morning.
“It’s such a fantastic thing to be involved with.
"Aside from the ‘eco’ aspect of avoiding adding to landfill, at least for a while, it’s a real privilege to see the pleasure on the faces of both owners and repairers when something is fixed.
"Today’s specials were the doll, of course, the teddy bear whose returned smile made us all join in – but also when the piece of antique glass was mended.”
The Ludlow Repair Cafes happen quarterly on the last Saturday morning of January, April, July and October, alternating between the Mascall Centre and Rockspring Community Centre.
The next one is on April 25 at the Rockspring Community Centre, between 10am and 12pm.
