A pair of St Andrews brothers said they were “over the moon” after their Janettas ice cream trailer was restored on TV show The Repair Shop.
Lewis and Ross Hazel, whose family have owned Jannettas on South Street since 1908, took the trailer to be restored at the BBC show’s workshop.
The ice cream cart was bought by the brothers’ dad, Owen, and grandad at auction in the 1990s and was used for selling ice cream at events.
But it had been left in a state of disrepair with rotten wood and rusty metal from years of being stored outdoors.
They sought the help of The Repair Shop – which follows a workshop where broken or damaged family heirlooms are brought back to life – and appeared on the show on Wednesday night.
While repairing the trailer, host and craftsman Dom Chinea said it reminded him of his childhood.
He said: “Seeing an ice cream trailer like this takes me straight back to being a kid, straight back to being at the seaside and wanting an ice cream.
“I am having to try and look past the condition this poor trailer is in because this whole situation is quite overwhelming.
“The top display area is a big concern, I feel like I am going to have to remake a lot of this wooden frame as it is just rotten.
“I can already see the chassis underneath, the steel part is rotten – I will probably have that blasted and stripped to see how bad the rust actually is and then I can start welding in new pieces where necessary and build up from there.
“There will be a new wooden frame, build up what we can, then I can deal with the paintwork at the top and get it looking its best.”
Dom went on to dissect the wooden frame and found he would be able to keep most of it.
However, the top glass section was not completely salvageable.
Jannettas ice cream trailer restored on The Repair Shop
He used a chemical paint stripper to remove the old paint down to the bare aluminium surface.
He went on to cut rotten sections from the chassis, which holds the trailer together, and replace them with new material.
Dom also rebuilt the inner structure from original pieces of wood.
Lewis and Ross returned at the end of the episode to see the restored trailer.
Ross said he had “excited, nervous butterflies” before the rebuilt cart was revealed.
He said the brothers would like to display it outside the St Andrews shop.
Lewis said the trailer was “absolutely incredible” and “fantastic”.
He said: “Thank you very much, Dom, that’s a great job.
“I will tell you one thing, our parents and our grandad – who is still with us – (are) going to be ecstatic to see this.
“They are going to be over the moon.”
Brothers delighted at restored St Andrews ice cream trailer
Ross said: “I can’t stop looking at it.”
Dom said he tried to capture as many of the original details as he could during the restoration.
The brothers went on to serve the rest of the show’s cast ice cream from the cart.
Lewis added: “It felt surreal to be serving from the family trailer because when we handed it over it was in such bad condition.
“It is fantastic what Dom has done and we are so proud to bring it home and show our parents and grandparents.”
Ross added: “I think it will be very sentimental to our mum, she would have grown up serving gelato since she was a wee kid probably from that trailer so I think she will be emotional.”
The Courier caught up with Lewis last year about becoming the latest in a long line of Jannettas to serve up gelato in St Andrews.
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