BBC The Repair Shop guest breaks down in tears as 'battered' item restored

A guest on The Repair Shop broke down in tears after seeing a beloved family item restored. The Repair Shop aired a repeat episode from October 2025 on Wednesday, 11 November, which saw a woman named Judy and her daughter Laura bring a small Bible that carried a huge meaning behind it. It had once belonged to Judy’s grandmother Florence, who was imprisoned with her children in the Lunghua Civilian Assembly Centre in Shanghai during the Second World War.

“She was living and born in China, her father was an Irishman and her mother was a local Chinese lady and at some point, Florence met her future husband, an Englishman,” Laura explained. “Unfortunately, he left her widowed in her early 30s with three children and he died just a few weeks after their son was born.” She added that it was a young age for Florence to be widowed as bookbinder Chris Shaw reacted to the “terrible” story, but she faced further turmoil when war broke out and Japan invaded China.

Florence and her children were marked as British and placed into the internment camp, when the children, including Judy’s mum, were aged 17, 15 and 10.

Judy explained the poor conditions, saying: “They were all crammed in, it was hot, little food. They were having very watered down rice with added maggots. Then my grandmother caught TB and she was taken out of camp to a hospital, and they were on their own in camp for about 18 months without their mum.”

The three children sought comfort in the Bible while they were in the camp for four years. They were liberated after the war finished, and were reunited with their mum.

Judy recalled how the camp remained with her mum throughout her life, saying: “The habits, if you like. We had a walk-in larder when I was a little girl and it was rammed, floor to ceiling, with tinned food, saying she’d never starve again if war broke out.”

Laura added: “She did have a terrific sense of fun. Obviously as my grandmother, she was always up to mischief, she was definitely your ally. And she was very much of the view that childhoods should be fun and lighthearted, because she felt robbed.”

Judy and Laura were hoping that Chris could restore the “battered and weathered” Bible that had survived the wet and damp camp, revealing that it was over 100 years old.

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After Chris restored it, Judy was left in tears, seeing the Bible brought back to life. “It represents my mum and my nan’s legacy really, and what they went through. Their strength, their endurance, and hopefully this book can survive a little bit longer, too,” she said.

“Oh gosh,” she said, after seeing it, in disbelief. “Is that the same one? It’s amazing… this is how it would have looked.”

She thanked Chris, adding: “It’s something my nana would have held, and obviously it meant a lot to my mum and her sister in camp, giving comfort when things were so bad. We’ve got it back in one piece that we can hold, it’s a lesson that not all is lost.”

The Repair Shop is available to watch on BBC iPlayer