Emotions ran high on the BBC's The Repair Shop as a woman named Jenny was moved to tears when experts Dominic Chinea and Brenton West restored her grandmother's rusted railway lantern. The lantern once belonged to Jenny's grandmother, who was the last station master at Donnemana railway station in Northern Ireland before it closed in 1955.
Jenny explained that her grandmother's role was to look after the trains and the goods that came in, as the station handled both passenger and goods trains. She shared: "Previous station masters had all been men, as far as I'm aware, on our station. So yes, it was [rare], which is the reason why we were very proud of her."
A family heirloom with a rare history
The lamp was used to close the crossing so cars didn't cross over the railway line, as it had two colours of glass which could be shown to alert drivers when it was safe to pass. Her grandmother lived at the station before later purchasing the premises herself, which is where Jenny grew up.
Jenny joked: "We were the railway children! It was brilliant, there were no trains running while I was a child there. The line was still there and the railway bridges, so it was just fun." Sadly, the lantern was extremely rusted and no longer turned to show the different glass panes. Jenny told the experts she'd like for it to be preserved in a better state for her to pass down to her son.
An emotional reveal
When it was time to see the reveal, Jenny was overcome with emotion, telling Dom and Brenton how excited she was to have the lamp back home. Through tears, she told them: "It's beautiful, it's really lovely. Oh my goodness. I can't believe it. I'm really frightened to touch it because you couldn't touch it before."
As the experts encouraged her to do so, Jenny thanked them both as she started to tear up before the duo had one more surprise for her. When she told them she was planning on putting a light in the lantern at night, Dom told her they could light it for her there and then. Thrilled, she said: "You are kidding! It actually works?"
A glowing tribute to her grandmother
While striking a match to light the oil inside, Jenny told the BBC stars: "Wow, I'm shaking. Oh my goodness. I've never seen it lit, wow. Doesn't that look class?" Jenny spun the glass cylinder to show the lantern giving off a blue and red glow as she was thrilled by what they had managed to achieve.
Outside, she told the cameras: "It symbolises my grandmother and good times and just our fantastic little station. I grew up in the house with my grandmother, so it's just so many fond memories of her, the strong, wonderful woman she was. Home is where the heart is, and that's where this [the lantern] is going to be."
