The Repair Shop on BBC One often promises emotional moments when owners are reunited with their restored, treasured possessions. This was the case when a blind veteran from the Llandudno blind veteran's rehabilitation centre received back his bugle after it had been completely restored by expert Pete Woods.
Billy Baxter was gifted the bugle by Nicky Shaw, who accompanied him to The Repair Shop workshop. Nicky had the bugle in her family for years with the instrument passed down from her great grandfather and wanted to continue seeing it being used.
Nicky became choked up when she saw the bugle for the first time after the restoration. In very moving scenes she described what the bugle now looked like to a very excited Billy. You can get more TV and showbiz news and other story updates straight to your inbox by subscribing to our newsletters here.
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She said: "Oh wow! It's incredible Billy! It is absolutely incredible, it is really shiny, it is a copper colour now, it is not brown anymore. There is a really clear distinction between the brass and the copper...and it has got the most stunning cord, blue, red and yellow. And it is mounted, it is presented just beautifully, it really is."
Billy, who "could not wait" to touch and feel his improved bugle, was delighted with the result. He said: "My goodness me, there is no dents in her! There is no dents in this bugle, it feels more magical. Wow! Pete, you are a wizard."
Billy uses the bugle at the blind veteran's rehabilitation centre to call the other veterans to dinner and to different activities. He said the centre had "saved his life" after he became blind when he contracted a rare virus while on tour with the army.
The bugle was completely battered and dented and its former bright colour had becomevery dull. Pete totally restored the bugle, almost beyond recognition, to make it shiny and smooth.
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