The Repair Shop star Dominic Chinea paid a visit to the BBC series’ electronics expert to offer viewers a tour of his Norfolk home, promising “surprises around every corner”.
Dominic Chinea (Image: BBC)
An expert craftsman from The Repair Shop spotted something he thought was “highly illegal” while visiting his BBC colleague’s home. Dominic Chinea, the programme’s 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 recounted how, as a teenager in Luton, he’d mentioned his interest in astronomy to a neighbour, who informed him about someone “round the corner” with a “big observatory”. After introducing himself to the gentleman – astronomer Horace Dall – and expressing a desire to purchase a telescope, he received an invitation to observe Jupiter that very evening.
This marked the start of a routine that saw him visiting four or five days weekly. Mark explained in the video for Dominic’s YouTube channel that “everybody who was anybody” in science would call on Horace. Through this connection, he even encountered legendary astronomer Patrick Moore, presenter of The Sky at Night.
Following Horace’s death in 1986, his observatory and telescope ended up with the Luton Astronomical Society before coming into Mark’s possession, who restored the dome and rebuilt the telescope. After darkness fell, the duo headed back to the observatory to put it through its paces. Mark directed it towards Jupiter, revealing the Solar System’s largest planet.
Mark identified the moons Ganymede, Euporie, Callisto and Io, before mentioning that he also possessed 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 instant, a large circle of blue light lit up the dome roof, leaving Dominic taken aback.
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 owns a workshop on the premises, but it recently sustained damage when adverse weather ripped parts of the roof off and damaged his vehicles. Speaking to The Telegraph‘s Helen Brown, he said: “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.
