A guest on The Repair Shop has shared the devastating family history behind a treasured heirloom, and why she wanted it restored. Judy and her daughter Laura appeared on the programme in an episode that originally aired in October 2025, bringing a Bible that had once belonged to Judy's grandmother Florence. The book, passed down to her children including Judy's mother, was described as 'battered and weathered' after enduring the wet and damp conditions of an internment camp.
A Family's Wartime Ordeal
Speaking to The Repair Shop expert Chris Shaw, Judy and Laura detailed their family history and the conditions Florence and her children faced after being held at 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."
Florence was remarkably young to lose her husband, a story bookbinder Chris Shaw described as "terrible". Further hardship followed when conflict erupted and Japan invaded China. Florence and her children were identified as British and sent to the internment camp, where the children, including Judy's mum, were aged 17, 15 and 10.
Conditions in the Camp
Judy described the appalling 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 found solace in the Bible throughout their four-year ordeal in the camp. Following liberation when the war ended, they were finally reunited with their mother.
Judy recalled how the camp experience stayed with her mum for the rest of her days, explaining: "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."
A Treasured Restoration
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 hoped Chris could rescue the Bible, which was over a century old. After the restoration, Judy was left in tears seeing it 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, 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.
