A broken antique phonograph and family heirloom rescued from a flooded island over 70 years ago has been repaired at a local repair café. A cylindrical phonograph made in 1896 was brought in to the Newbury and Thatcham Repair Café on Sunday, April 28 for a replacement drive belt. The phonograph was bought during the early 1900s by the grandfather of the current owner, Peter Boyce, while he was courting his wife-to-be. The couple settled on Canvey Island in Essex, a very low-lying area that was subject to what locals call ‘The Great Flood of 1953’. On the night of January 31, 1953, a storm surg…
