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The workshop smell that means something can be saved

You know it the moment you step inside. Sawdust catches in your throat. There’s the sharp tang of white spirit, the warm fug of linseed oil, something sweet and chemical that might be wood glue. It’s the smell of things being put right.

Richmond has its share of these places still. Small workshops tucked behind shopfronts, garden sheds that double as repair stations, community spaces where you can bring a broken chair or a clock that stopped. The people who run them tend not to advertise much. Word travels by recommendation.

What they offer is rarer than it seems. We’ve grown used to replacing rather than repairing, to binning what breaks. But there’s satisfaction in seeing something mended properly, in learning how a hinge works or why a drawer sticks. The person showing you usually enjoys the explaining as much as the fixing.

Roses are at their peak across the borough’s gardens right now, but even they need deadheading and care. Most things worth keeping do.

Mending is making too.

Do you know a good local repairer? Share their details below.

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The thing you made that does a job nothing shop-bought would

The thing you made that does a job nothing shop-bought would

There is a wooden spoon in a kitchen drawer in Kew that has been sanded down three times. The handle curves exactly where a thumb wants to rest. It stirs risotto without scraping. No shop spoon has ever felt quite right since. You know the feeling. The shelf you built that fits the odd angle […]

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The coat button that brought back a habit

The coat button that brought back a habit

There is a navy coat button on your kitchen table. It came off three weeks ago. You meant to sew it back on immediately. Then it sat in your pocket. Then on the side. Then here. This is how things disappear in Richmond homes. Not dramatically. Just gradually, into the drawer of good intentions. The […]

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Stitched, shaped, and shown

Stitched, shaped, and shown

You make a cushion cover from fabric scraps. You sketch Ham House from the towpath. You press wildflowers from Marble Hill into a frame. The act of making something with your hands about a place you know changes how you see it. Richmond upon Thames appears differently once you have drawn its outline or sewn […]

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The jumper that lived three lives

The jumper that lived three lives

There is a navy jumper in a wardrobe on Kew Road that has outlasted two decades, four house moves, and a minor kitchen fire. The left elbow bears a patch of contrasting wool. The right cuff has been re-knitted twice. The neckline was once unpicked and restitched to sit differently. Each repair added months, sometimes […]

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The quiet art of making things last

The quiet art of making things last

There is something satisfying about fixing a broken thing yourself. A jumper darned. A chair reglued. A hem stitched back where it belongs. You do not need much: good light, a bit of patience, thread that roughly matches. The first few stitches feel clumsy. Then your hands remember something they once knew. Making and mending […]

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The Bench

A different conversation about Richmond, every day.