Lovely jubbly! – Finechty Men's Shed to feature in Only Fools star's BBC show
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FINECHTY Men's Shed is set to take to national TV screens thanks to BBC 2 show David & Jay's Touring Toolshed.
Hosted by Sir David Jason and Jay Blades MBE, each episode will see the duo attend a craft, hobby or engineering fair, meet enthusiasts, tinkerers and crafters and call in some talented experts to help fix their problem projects.
They will also be heading out into the surrounding areas to meet the people whose hobbies have taken over their whole life.
While up in the north-east last summer, the duo had the chance to meet Finechty Men's Shedders Jimmy Bremner and John Begg who were working on a boat restoration project after the vessel had been gifted by fellow shedder Steve Hill.
Jimmy said: "We were contacted by the BBC to do this programme; we didn't have a project at the time but then Stevie came up with the boat and the engine.
"I contacted the producer again and she came back to me and said they wanted two people – one that knew a lot about engines and one that knew nothing about engines. John knows everything about engines because he worked for Caterpillar; I was a chef to trade and I don't know anything about engines."
The pair then learned they and the boat would filmed in Cullen last July, by which time the restoration work was around 90 per cent completed.
John said: "The boat had been sitting in a field for eight years by the time Steve gave it to us.
"We managed to get the engine to turn over and actually got it to start, however when this project came on the go we had to stop working on it for a while. A lot of the work they went over on the programme, like the spark plug and carburettor, had all been done here, so we had to put the old spark plug back on."
On the day of filming the engine decided to be a bit cantankerous, meaning John, Jimmy and film crew had to work around a number of issues. However, they managed to get it running and the day's filming rounded off with the two Finechty Shedders taking a spin round Cullen Bay in the boat.
The experience of being filmed was to prove an enjoyable one for the duo, their day stretching, on and off, from 10am to 7pm.
For Jimmy, there was a rather odd introduction to life in front of the camera.
He commented: "John and I were standing there and the camera guy said 'Now, pretend to laugh' so we had to stand there doing this fake laughter for the camera.
"We started filming in brilliant sunshine but every time the rain came on we were told to go away and get a cup of tea out the rain. We couldn't have raindrops on our glasses, they'd have you take your glasses off and clean them.
"It was serious but it was fun, too.
"The whole day was really good laugh. When I watched the episode the strangest thing was listening to my own voice because although I was talking just like I do normally it sounded a wee bit like I was talking with marbles in my mouth trying to make myself understood to Jay and them.
John added: "It was quite a laugh, to be fair.
"When my wife watched the episode she asked me 'Why are you standing there with your fists clenched?' and I said 'That's because I was absolutely frozen!'.
"It's a bit weird to see yourself on TV!"
The boost the show will hopefully give to Finechty Men's Shed was the most important part of the whole project for both men.
Jimmy continued: "At the end of the day's filming we got David and Jay to sign our shed visitors' book, which I'd brought alone specially.
"They were one of the very first ones to sign it.
"You don't speak to David and Jay at the start of the filming, you talk to them later, but when you do it's just liking speaking to anyone, they were really good.
"Finechty Shedder Allan Gargan came over at one point during the day and was dishing out some of the wood turnings he'd made to the crew."
Jimmy and John are set to feature in episode 15 of the show. All episodes of the series can also be viewed on BBC iPlayer now.
For more information about Finechty Men's Shed, which was formed in 2019, follow their Facebook page.
Touring Toolsheds is also set to feature another Finechty Men's Shedder, Colin, who is a traditional cooper, as well as talented local potter AJ Simpson and father and son Derek and Oliver, who show off their extraordinary lockdown project – the 200ft long Cullen Tapestry.
