After: Les Liddington presents Annette Whittle with the restored trike.
Annette Whittle had no idea what to expect when she walked up the drive to the Te Awamutu Menzshed last Thursday.
Earlier in June, she had dropped off a battered, rusty old trike to see whether members of the Menzshed could restore it.
The trike had a long family history dating back 51 years. Annette thought it would be great to hand it on to her great-grandchildren.
Te Awamutu Menzshed sheddie, Les Liddington, in true “Repair Shop” fashion, unveiled the newly renovated trike for Annette.
Before: The trike as it was.
“Oh, my God! Isn’t it beautiful,” she exclaimed.
First gifted to Annette’s older son, the trike was quickly repainted on Christmas Eve, then wrapped up for the next sibling to enjoy when the older child grew too big to play on it.
This ritual continued through three families and a total of eight children. The trike travelled the length and breadth of New Zealand with the families.
When Annette brought the ancient trike to the Menzshed last month, it was a rusty hulk, battered and bent from years of use by young and boisterous children.
Les dismantled it, sanded it down, replaced broken parts, then painstakingly put it back together. After giving it an undercoat of rust-proof paint, he then gave the trike a final coat of red and cream paint – bringing it back to life.
