The Repair Shop welcomes a new expert, Ray Walters, in a special Beyond the Barn episode airing tonight, September 30. The pen restoration expert faces a challenging debut: restoring a fountain pen that played a remarkable role in a wartime love story.
The episode features seasoned experts including teddy bear ladies Julie Tatchell and Amanda Middleditch, Suzie Fletcher, Julyan Wallis and Brenton West tackling tricky transformations. However, viewers will be focused on newcomer Ray Walters, who is set the challenging task during his first appearance in the barn.
A Symbol of Devotion
Walters is presented with a fountain pen that must undergo the delicate task of returning this powerful symbol of devotion back to full working order. Siblings Paul Murray and Josette Sellings present the pen, which their father, Frank, bought in Singapore before becoming a prisoner of war after the Japanese captured the city.
The BBC explained: "Over 42 months in captivity, Frank used the pen to write a secret diary in the form of love letters to his sweetheart Eileen, the woman he would later marry on his return from the war. Decades later, the pen is damaged, incomplete and no longer functional."
Meet Ray Walters
Ray Walters is a pen restoration expert who, after honing his craft for many years, leads pen repair courses. The Writing Equipment Society took to Instagram to congratulate the expert on his Repair Shop debut, saying: "Look!! It's only our very own Ray Walters - well known to WES members as one of our two Repair Course tutors - appearing on the Beeb this Wednesday! Don't miss it!"
Set up in 1980, the Writing Equipment Society is devoted to the conservation and study of writing instruments and accessories. Walters did not always have a fascination with pens, as he told Abask's Aimee Farrell, who said of his career change: "Working from the garden studio of his Hertfordshire home, Walters has been dedicated to the wonder of the pen for much of his life.
From Fashion to Pens
During a tour of the United States in 2012, his curiosity was piqued by an advert for the Miami Pen Show—a stadium-sized showcase of the world’s finest pens, inks and paper paraphernalia—and he went along. 'It blew me away,' says Walters, who the following year transitioned from his successful career in fashion buying and product development to set up his own business, sourcing and selling vintage fountain pens around the world.
He has since developed his own unique collection of fountain pens, a passion he began at the age of 18, when he invested in a Parker 51 in hopes of improving his handwriting. He admitted: "It wasn’t until I invested in a decent pen that I realised how pleasurable writing could be—the beauty of the materials, the feel of the pen in your hand. It had this almost ceremonial quality that was fascinating to me."
The expert was born in Jamaica and lived with his grandmother before joining his parents in England at the age of seven. Writing letters became his link to the outside world in many ways, including while he was at military school in Wales, where he would often write to his parents. He even admitted he was dumped by letter when he was 17 years old.
His collection now boasts more than 80 vintage pens. It was when he had a pen custom-made for himself and kept selling it to clients that he realised a business idea was bubbling, and his company RAW was born. The Repair Shop: Beyond the Barn airs tonight on BBC One at 8pm.
