Roald Dahl's family home transformed in most emotive episode of The Repair Shop ever

In perhaps the most splendiferous, gloriumptious restoration ever seen on The Repair Shop, the weather-beaten gate of Roald Dahl’s family home is returned to fairytale form.

Scenes to be screened on the hit BBC One show tonight see new homeowner Hannah Smart bring in the battered, moss-covered pieces of a gate that was once the proud entrance to the cottage in Grendon Underwood, Buckinghamshire.

The charming Grade II-listed thatched cottage, believed to date back to the 17th century, is where Dahl’s mother and sisters fled to escape World War Two bombings, and was even mentioned in the beloved children’s author’s autobiography Going Solo.

When Dahl returned from fighting in the war, he discovered they had disappeared but managed to track them down to the cottage and lived there with them.

In his book, alongside a photo of ‘Mama’s Cottage’, he describes the moment he arrived home: “I caught sight of my mother when the bus was still 100 yards away. She was standing patiently outside the gate of the cottage, waiting for the bus to come along and I flew down the steps of the bus straight into the arms of the waiting mother.”

The gate, the setting of this post-war homecoming reunion, had long since disappeared, neglected under the hedge, until Hannah unwittingly unearthed it.

Architect Hannah, 39, who moved in last summer, says: “I’ve been a lifelong fan of Roald Dahl since childhood and he inspired me to write stories of my own.

“He was my inspiration. Living in the house is meant to be. When it went up for auction, it was a serendipitous moment.

“When I went to look round the house I saw a tiny bit of timber poking out of the hedge. After moving in, as I cut the hedge back and pulled back the bushes, I saw more and more structure and ended up falling on top of the gate.”

When Hannah brings in the gate, it is essentially just a pile of sticks - Dahl may have said that to look at the jigsaw of pieces would make your brain feel biffsquiggled.

Carpenter Will Kirk, tasked with returning the gate to its fairytale finery, says: “It’s like a jigsaw puzzle but all the jigsaw pieces have been mangled. All the joints have broken off, nothing seems to be straight.”

The gate appears to have been repurposed from old staircase bannisters and is covered with green mold, but Will manages to return it to its former glory.

Hannah says: “It’s definitely a living, breathing house. I really feel like that’s been there for 500 years and I’m merely a passing visitor looking after it.”

Overwhelmed by the transformation of the gate, she adds: “Many people in the village have commented that they can see the house for the first time in years. It’s a local landmark.

“It’s so important to the village that I feel I have to restore it, that I’m guardian of the house and the garden and the gate. I feel it’s my duty. I want to put it back to how it should be, to complete the story.

“It looks incredible, so in character with the house. I do feel honoured that I have put something back for future generations.”

*The Repair Shop, Wednesdays, BBC One, 8pm