The Repair Shop star Chris Shaw has expressed his sadness that bookbinding, his chosen profession, is 'dying out'. The bookbinder, who has appeared on the BBC show since 2019, fears that humble books such as diaries and notebooks are 'in danger of being lost'.
Speaking to Radio Times, Shaw said: 'The apparently humble books that we write or annotate ourselves – diaries, notebooks, sketchbooks, photograph albums, a collection of recipes – can contain incredible stories within their pages. These precious but overlooked items are in danger of being lost.' He added that despite humans making and repairing books since the invention of writing, the art of protecting the text of a book is 'sadly dying out'.
Shaw, who runs a workshop in Brackley, Northamptonshire, discovered his passion for bookbinding at age 17 after struggling academically and working as a labourer. He enrolled in a bookbinding course and later set up his first workshop in 1982. The Repair Shop producers asked him to send a casting video, which he made wearing his usual hat and pipe.
Despite his expertise, Shaw admitted mistakes can happen, recalling: 'I wrote "navel" on the cover of a seven-volume set of naval history books.' However, he noted that such errors are quickly fixable. His full interview appears in this week's Radio Times.
