BBC The Repair Shop, Sir Elton John and a 'special gift' restored

The Repair Shop often features emotional stories and Diane Wynell-Sutherland had a very moving reason for appearing on the BBC One show. She was hoping that cobbler Dean Westmorland could repair a tiny pair of cowboy boots that had come all the way from America.

Diane explained to Dean and presenter Jay Blades that the shoes now belonged to her eldest grandson Joss, but previously belonged to her son Todd, who was gifted the pair by his uncle - Diane's brother, Roger Pope. "We were very close," Diane said of her brother.

"There were two years between us. And my brother didn’t have any children, and it was just my son. He adored my brother because we were so close, he obviously adored my little boy and would bring him all sorts of gifts from America".

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Diane said that Todd "adored" the boots, which became a treasured possession for him and the family. Not only was Roger a much-loved member of the family, he was also a well respected and talented musician. Diane explained that her brother was a member of a band called Hookfoot, which were doing their first major tour of America in 1971.

Presenter Jay Blades was left speechless when Diane explained that Roger was a drummer and his band's support act was none other than Rocketman singer, Elton John. In his youth, Roger had been a member of various bands with one of his bands named The Soul Agents, and were supported by Rod Stewart.

"He (Elton) stayed at my mum’s house," Diane added. "My mum always wished she’d got him to sign the headboard. And then they got this contract with Dick James Music. While they were all at Dick James Music, Roger met Elton John - he was the office boy and Reg [Elton John] was just very much trying to get going.

"So Roger did quite a lot of Elton’s early albums, and he worked a lot as a session musician. If you pick up a lot of albums, Roger’s on a lot of albums. He was a highly respected session musician.”

Roger went on to have a glittering career in the music industry, however years later, he became seriously ill. Roger was diagnosed with throat cancer and sadly passed away in 2013.

"Elton was very good to my brother when he was ill," Diane said. "Very good to him. And Elton did a tribute, he was in Las Vegas at the time, doing a residency, and they played Don’t Let The Sun Go Down on Me."

She later added: "And we played that at the wake and it was very, very moving.” When asked what the boots meant to Diane, she replied: “They’re the last little bit of my brother. They’re really a testament to the love that my brother had for my little boy. They mean the world to me."

The boots in question had seen better days as Diane showed. The leather was starting to get a little bit brittle and the soles were split.

As Dean got to work, he said: “What an incredible pair of boots and what a story from Diane. I do work on quite a lot of cowboy boots, but I’ve never worked on something so small. It’s very, very delicate, and it’s very easy to cause more damage. So I’m really looking forward to it, but I’m also quite nervous."

Dean gave the boots new rubber soles and new stitching. On the upper part of the boots, Dean polished the leather and painted blue, white and red in some parts. "Shoes will always tell a story," he said. "And what a story this is. I think it’s quite incredible that Roger lived a seemingly rock-and-roll lifestyle, but he never forgot about his little nephew at home.”

Diane came to see the repaired boots. As she arrived at the barn, she said: "I am very excited, and I have been thinking about Roger a lot since the boots have been here, and they mean so much for the family."

Upon the big reveal, she was taken aback by the work Dean had done. Diane was clearly moved by the restoration. She said: “I’m shaking. I promised I wouldn’t cry. Oh my goodness, aren’t they gorgeous?”

She then added: “You’ve brought all the colours back. But you could only see little bits of red, you couldn’t see the blue or the white. And I’d completely forgotten that this was white round the top.”

As she left the barn, Diane said: "They are a real link to my brother, and to family, and it’s little things like this that make you realise how special families are and how much people mean to you."