In Good Hands

David visits Ardara in Donegal to see how the once-thriving business of handmade tweed has weathered the onslaught of power looms and international competition. The centuries old production of hand-made Irish tweed has its traditional heartland in the rural communities of Donegal, especially the small town of Ardara in the south west. In 1978, when David came here to film the MacNeilis brothers, Conail, Jimmy and John, more than one hundred traditional hand weavers were still plying their trade, making quality jackets, coats, quilts and scarves for leading designers around the world. The MacNeilis brothers, master weavers and prodigious workhorses, produced exquisite designs for Magees of Donegal from their humble workshop. David meets the last surviving brother Conail, a font of stories and lore from the old days, but now sadly deceased since this series was filmed. David also visits Studio Donegal in nearby Kilcar, struggling to compete against the mass production giants and power looms of the tweed industry with just two remaining traditional handweavers - both employed on a part-time basis. Here David meets freelance master weavers John Hena and Eddie Doherty - John working freelance, and Eddie, weaving his own designs at his shop, exporting beautiful hand woven fabrics around the world.

David revisits Powers Foundry in Wexford - traditional sand casters who have adapted their ancient craft to the demands of architectural metal restoration. David Shaw Smith revisits Powers Foundry in Wexford, where he filmed an episode of Hands in 1989. At the time, the tight-knit Wexford family business was run by the late John Power. Twenty three years on, John's sons Seamus, David and Kevin have graduated from the manufacture of manhole covers and fire grates, working on restoration of historical architecture, reinventing themselves in the face of cheap mass imports from China. They now specialise in architectural metal restoration, forging decorative features from moulds of the originals, using the skilled and ancient technique of sand casting. We follow the brothers as they restore an ornate bench originally designed by the renowned 20th century iron-founder and engineer Richard Turner who designed the famous glass houses at the Botanic Gardens in Dublin. We observe the Powers as they prepare for their weekly firing day, when tonnes of scrap metal is sorted, broken up and melted down in the old furnace their father once used to be transformed into new objects. David discovers that, while the business has adapted to survive, some things haven't changed since he filmed here 23 years ago. Back then David Power played tuba for the local brass band. He still does, and he's since been joined by younger brother Kevin. Both of them working metal by day and playing it by night.

David revisits Berney's Saddles at Kilcullen in Kildare, one of the oldest family businesses still going strong in the heartland of Irish equestrianism. In 1981, David came to Kilcullen to document the extraordinary work of Tom Berney and his family - creators and purveyors of, arguably, the finest handmade saddles in Ireland. Three decades on, Tom still plies his trade along with his son Tom Junior, who's now at the reins of the business alongside his cousin Jamie and his father Jim. Situated next to the rolling plains of the Curragh, the Berney family still hand make custom saddles for almost every discipline of horse sport - from hunting to dressage and cross country to show jumping. in 1981 they made five different models - they now make 25 different types of saddles. We observe the meticulous crafting and assembly of a competition-grade saddle from a selection of the finest leathers to the sculpting of the 'tree' and the intricate stitching of skirts, knee rolls, panels and reins. We meet Olympic three-day eventer Joseph Murphy, one of Berney's many professional clients, as he comes to assess one of Tom's newest designs. John Oxx, one of Ireland's leading trainers, tells us how he has been trading with Berneys since he was a child. And we explore the fascinating hand-to-hand system of craftsmanship that not only lies at the heart of a generations-old artisan tradition, but continues to ensure the survival of this family business.

David returns to Johnson Tailors in Tullow, Co Carlow, where he first filmed master tailor Tom Johnson and his son Michael at work in the early 1980s, to witness the survival of bespoke tailoring in an age of mass-production. At one time, nearly every town in the country had at least one tailors shop, founded on that cornerstone of traditional Irish men's attire, the combination wedding, funeral and mass suit. Today, with huge competition from high street stores, the fine art of bespoke tailoring is on the wane, but Johnson Tailors, now owned by Michael and his son Robin, is still going strong, and is a testament to six generations of tradition. In an age of machine-made clothing, the old skills of artisanal tailoring are as fascinating and time consuming as ever, with much of the work done with garments draped on the knees of the patient tailor. We meet loyal customer and local businessman Eddie Nolan who has had his suits made by the Johnsons for more than half a century. We observe the tailors at work as they create a fine tweed jacket for David, selecting the cloth, perfecting the fit and drape, and working on the painstakingly fine work of hand stitching, lining and adding bespoke detailing that culminates in the proud addition of the maker's mark.