BBC The Repair Shop viewers were left reaching for the tissues on Wednesday night after musical instrument expert Pete Woods worked his magic on a set of ancient bagpipes.
The pipes were so much more than merely a piece of musical apparatus as guest Rhona Kenneth from Paisley, Scotland revealed they belonged to her late father Jim.
Jim was once a proud piper but Kenneth never got to hear him play as he gave up his part in a band when she was born to put his time into raising a family, meaning he hung up his pipes for good.
The Repair Shop guest told Dom Chinea and Woods that she had asked him to perform before her wedding but her dad was too “out of practice”.
“I don’t think they’ve been played since 1975, 1976,” Kenneth told the BBC show experts. “If they can be played even just once just to hear what they could sound like I would be really, really grateful.
“But even if there were just to look a bit better and they were not to be played, I’d be grateful as well.”
The Repair Shop expert Pete Woods restored the bagpipes to their former glory
BBC
Woods promised to do his best to restore the pipes to their former glory, enlisting the help of fellow barn expert Julie Tatchel to help with the tartan bag cover.
After mending and repairing the instrument, Woods told BBC viewers he and Chinea had a “little treat” in store for Kenneth once they’d completed the restoration.
Later in the show, Kenneth returned to the barn and before seeing the pipes, told Chinea and Woods: “It’s a big thing… it’s a part of my dad.”
Upon seeing the restored bagpipes, Kenneth took a huge gasp before tearfully saying: “Oh, my word. That’s amazing. And they don’t look new, they look the way they should.”
Dominic Chinea and Pete Woods brought in a bagpipes player to perform for Rhona
BBC
As the tears began to flow, she told Chinea and Woods: “I can’t thank you enough but I can guarantee you now, my dad’s chin would be quivering right now and a wee tear would be coming down. I know that for a fact.”
Kenneth also thanked Tatchel for lending a hand on the original tartan bag but before she could leave the barn, Chinea told her: “We’ve got one more little surprise for you.
“We’ve got Pipe Major Roger Huth… He’s going to play us a little tune,” Chinea added to a gobsmacked Kenneth.
Kenneth then requested Flowers of the Forest be played by the bagpipes player, admitting it was one of her dad’s favourite songs and he’d asked it to be played at his funeral.
The barn fell silent as the craft experts watched on in awe while Huth played the tune and a tearful Kenneth took the moment in.
And it wasn’t just Kenneth who found the moment overwhelming, with fans flocking to social media to share their emotional reactions to the scenes.
BBC The Repair Shop fans left in tears by Dominic Chinea’s surprise for unsuspecting guest
BBC
“First time I’ve ever watched The Repair Shop and I am sobbing #therepairshop,” one fan penned alongside a snap of the bagpipes before a second echoed: “Ok, the bagpipes……….flipping heck!……… #TheRepairShop.”
“Oh God, the bagpipes have broken me #therepairshop,” a third said while a fourth weighed in: “Never thought I’d get emotional over some bagpipes but here we are #therepairshop.”
“I was crying when he played the pipes #TheRepairShop,” a fifth admitted as a sixth added: “Those pipes… blimey.
“I found it touching how genuinely moved the lady who owned them was – feel that that has been missing on #TheRepairShop lately, in favour of almost deliberate emotion.” (sic)
