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“The Repair Shop” crew hits the road, bringing their restoration magic to a variety of treasured objects. This week, Steve Fletcher tackles a challenge of epic proportions: Manchester Town Hall’s enormous clock. Will his horological skills be up to the task, or will time stand still? Meanwhile, Will Kirk heads to Oldham on a mission […]

The Repair Shop on the Road: Giant Clock Restoration and a Vintage Fruit Machine Revival!

I wondered what might happen when the brilliant artisans of BBC One’s The Repair Shop were confronted with a slightly weary but classic piece of mid-20th-century British craftsmanship, foxed round the edges, slightly stooped, the hands strangely bloated, and the head desperately clinging onto the few strands of the hair still remaining. Yet this unique national treasure, with all of his famous provenance, finds himself in good care. Yes, His Majesty King Charles III, now approaching his 74th year and never seriously refurbished despite some rough treatment, is handled with chummy deference by the programme’s stars, presenter Jay Blades, ceramics expert Kirsten Ramsay, horologist Steve Fletcher, and furniture restorer Will Kirk. And equal solicitude is applied, to the obvious delight of the then Prince of Wales, to the bric-a-brac he’s asked them to do up.

So, presumably on the understanding it is all done free of charge,...

King Charles III is shown overseeing the repair of his Victorian clock in preview of a special episode of The Repair Shop.

The episode, The Repair Shop: A Royal Visit, will air at 8pm this evening (26 October) on BBC One and was filmed while the King was still the Prince of Wales.

In the episode, the King needs help fixing a bracket clock and a Wemyss Ware piece which were made for Queen Victoria’s Diamond Jubilee.

In previews from the episode he tells presenter Jay Blades that the damaged piece fell over after someone opened a window, joking: “They didn’t own up.”

Experts who overlooked the restoration of the clock include ceramics expert Kirsten Ramsay, horologist Steve Fletcher, and furniture restorer Will Kirk.

In the preview, before the clock is revealed, the King is seen asking the crew: “Have you sorted this? The suspense is killing me!”

The...

Sunderland take on Reading this afternoon with fans at the Stadium of Light likely to be buzzing over the securing of two big new signings yesterday.

The Black Cats completed on Friday the signings of England winger Adam Johnson and Wolves striker Stephen Fletcher for deals reported by Goal.com to be worth at least £20 million combined.

25-year-old forward Fletcher could make his Wearside debut today, though the availability of Adam Johnson is less clear as his deal wasn’t confirmed until late last night.

Definitely missing for Sunderland are defender Phil Bardsley (ankle) and midfielder David Vaughn (ankle) who miss out through injury. Wes Brown (knee ligaments) has an outside chance of making the bench.

For Reading, boss Brian McDermott has no fresh injury doubts following the club’s midweek 4-2 thriller at Stamfrod Bridge.

Still missing for them are Jem Karacan (broken ankle), Jimmy Kebe (hamstring), though veteran...

Following the going over of Fa Cup and Champions League winners Chelsea yesterday, Everton don’t half have a lot to compare with in my latest 2012/2013 early season preview…

Final League Position: 7th

All in all, it was another functional season for Everton. They finished a top half team once more and had some stand out matches along the way, including the 4-4 draw with Man United, and the final day victory over Champions League chasing Newcastle United.

However again the fact this is all they ever achieve, they had a shot at the Fa Cup this season but came under the category as one of the few teams above League 1 to be outclassed by Liverpool this year and they again failed qualification for the Europa League.

People like to patronize David Moyes a lot by saying he’s achieved so much on such a small budget, but so has...

Wolves and Bolton go into this crucial six-pointer with differing recent fortunes in their fight for Premier League survival.

Terry Connor’s side haven’t won in six and are on a run of four straight league defeats, whereas the Lancashire outfit come into the game on the back of two vital victories against Qpr and Blackburn.

On that basis this must surely be considered a must win game for Wolves who are four points adrift of their opponents and the safety of 17th place and remain rooted to the foot of the table.

Bolton on the other hand will be looking to put more distance between themselves and the sides below them in the battle to remain in the top flight. Both Qpr and Wigan face tough fixtures against Arsenal and Stoke respectively, although the two struggling sides both play at home this weekend.

When these two sides met...

Peter Odemwingie stole the show with a hat-trick as West Brom demolished a hapless Wolves side 5-1 at Molineux, in the Premier League’s fourth Black Country derby.

The Baggies dominated the match from start to finish but Wolves had somehow gone in at half time level after Stephen Fletcher’s excellent finish cancelled out Odemwingie’s opening goal. Wolves came into the game in the second half but it was West Brom who regained the lead after an error from the otherwise outstanding Wayne Hennessey allowed Jonas Olsson’s shot over the line.

As the home side pushed for an equaliser they left themselves vulnerable at the back. Odemwingie grabbed his second from a corner before Keith Andrews’ deflected shot made it four. And Odemwingie claimed his first hat-trick of the season when he finished off an excellent counter attacking move.

Despite a hostile atmosphere at Molineux, West Brom...