One The Repair Shop guest was ecstatic with joy after an irreplaceable book filled with secret wartime codes was restored to its former glory. Filled with recipes for the likes of lemon pudding, she'd initially had no idea that her gran - a Women's Royal Naval Service member - had secretly stashed coding in it which was destined for Bletchley Park.
"I was too busy licking the spoon and stirring the pot!" She joked. With a crumbling cover and disintegrating pages, it looked as if Clare's grandmother's book was on its last legs.
However, if anyone was capable of restoring it, bookbinding expert Christopher Shaw could - and he set out to preserve it for the "generations" to come. "Every page is a memory!" he marvelled, as he held the precious memento and noted how fragile it was.
"A recipe book and a spy book - I've never ever seen anything like this before. Operation Ginger Parkin, I think I'll call this!" he joked. He soon realised he'd have to tread very carefully to avoid irreversible damage, realising that the boards holding it together were "completely shattered".
The challenge would be to remount it all without suffering any page loss, causing a tense moment for the restoration expert. "I'll have to iron every single page, every single crease," he mused.
TRS: Woman brings in old notebook with secret war codes
"This is a hold your breath sort of moment... it's putting up a fight till the end!"
He went on to reveal: "I'm creating a secret book underneath the original. I'm building in so much strength. What I want to do is give this to Clare and have it last for generations."
Viewers were on the edge of their seats as they felt the heat, while Chris warned that the world of bookbinding was "high stakes" and "high velocity".
However, when the moment came to hand it back to the show guest, it was almost unrecognisable - and she was ecstatic.
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Clare couldn't hold back the tears as she thanked Chris for the dramatic transformation.
She reminisced about the stories she'd heard of her grandmother's tense 12-hour shifts during the war effort, and how her discretion had worked so well that even she hadn't known about the codes at the start.
"She couldn't talk about anything due to the Official Secrets Act," she had explained, her voice quavering.
"The fact that the coding was hidden among the recipes shows how secretive it was!"
Jay Blades joined in with their happiness as he watched the scenes unfold, telling her: "When you [next] bake something, don't forget us!"
The Repair Shop is available to watch on BBC iPlayer.
