One of The Repair Shop’s expert craftspeople stopped by to see the programme’s electronics specialist to give viewers a tour of his Norfolk home, promising “surprises around every corner”
An expert craftsman from The Repair Shop witnessed something he thought was “highly illegal” in the home of his BBC co-star. Dominic Chinea, known to viewers as the resident metalworker, recently visited electronics specialist Mark Stuckey at his Norfolk home, promising “surprises around every corner”.
Mark, who is known for restoring radios, first showed viewers a shed-like workspace packed with equipment, explaining that he had been a ham radio operator for years. Later in the video, it was revealed he also has a mini observatory, complete with a large telescope and a circular dome structure on top.
He explained that as a teenager in Luton, he mentioned his interest in astronomy to a neighbour, who told him about a man “round the corner” with a “big observatory”. After introducing himself to the gentleman — astronomer Horace Dall — and expressing interest in buying a telescope, he was invited to view Jupiter that evening.
It would mark the beginning of a four or five day a week ritual. Indeed, Mark explained in the video for Dominic’s YouTube channel that “everybody who was anybody” in science would visit Horace. Through this connection, he even met legendary astronomer Patrick Moore, host of The Sky at Night.
When Horace died in 1986, his observatory and telescope were passed to the Luton Astronomical Society and later to Mark, who restored the dome and rebuilt the telescope. Once it was dark, the pair returned to the observatory to test it out. Mark turned it towards Jupiter, bringing the Solar System’s largest planet came into view.
Mark pointed out the moons Ganymede, Euporie, Callisto and Io, before explaining that he also had a laser. He said: “And you’re looking at something which is 480 million miles away at the moment. And obviously, I have got a laser system too, so I can point at it if I need to.”
At that moment, a large circle of blue light illuminated the dome roof, surprising Dominic.
He responded: “That looks highly illegal, Mark.” Mark replied: “No, it’s not. It’s fine. I’ve got a massive one which is used for hitting the moon. I do this from in the house normally.” He added that he can adjust the telescope remotely from inside his home and uses a video camera to film observations.
Elsewhere, Dominic — who showcases his skills on his own channel through projects ranging from vintage motorbikes to classic cars, and also appears in Dom Chinea’s Cornish Workshop — has spoken about a recent health ordeal. The Channel 4 series follows him and his wife Maria as they move from Kent to a farmhouse in Cornwall.
He has a workshop on the property, but recently suffered damage after severe weather tore off parts of the roof and damaged his cars. He told The Telegraph‘s Helen Brown: “My life’s collection: all my precious tools and machinery were out in the elements going rusty, whilst I was desperately, desperately trying to get some walls built, the floor poured and the roof repaired so I could bring them inside.
“They’re my babies almost, you know? And they were just getting ruined. After a year of digging and moving concrete blocks and repairing the roof, I’d just about got things watertight and was starting to unpack stuff to get the workshop running. Then, bang, I hurt my hand. It got pulled into a drill when I was making a wheeling machine for my YouTube channel.”
Helen noted that his injury appeared to be healing, but Dominic explained that the cuts were not the main issue. He revealed instead that he had “deep bruises” and described having “sausage fingers” and being unable to move two of them.
Catch The Repair Shop on BBC One tonight (Wednesday, April 22), from 8pm to 9pm
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