Will Kirk still appears to be tackling renovations at his home, months after first hinting he had swapped his London flat for a Victorian house in the Surrey countryside. In a rare update about his home life with his wife, Polly, and two kids, The Repair Shop star shared an Instagram video of the transformation of his garden, which he had previously joked to Alan Titchmarsh was his priority when they relocated.
While he had originally planned to simply tidy up the overgrown grass, the day turned out to be one of exploration and "total amazement" after he came across a hidden Anderson shelter underneath his raised garden bed. He explained: "Not long after moving into our first house, I could not wait to get stuck into doing up the back garden. The grass wasn't too bad to deal with, but it seemed we had inherited a very odd-looking raised bed at the back that featured a rusty old seesaw and a charming statue of Bob Marley."
© InstagramAfter mowing the lawn and removing the overgrown bushes, he enlisted the help of his family – specifically, his grandpa, whom he called "the big guns" and joked he's "far better at dealing with these horrific eight-legged beasts than I am," he said, zooming the camera in to a giant spider resting on the shed door.
"It was only after cleaning the mess that I realised there was a very strange, mysterious hole between the raised bed and the shed. After moving some of the earth from the top, I realised there was another layer of metal and stone. Braving the mice, the spiders, the cobwebs, I decided to take a peek inside with my camera, and I could not believe what I found inside. Now, to my total amazement, it seemed to be some sort of Anderson shelter. The estate agent had no idea it was there when we bought the place, my neighbours never knew that it existed."
Hidden bunker plans
While inside was filled with ladders, ladies' shoes and other "old junk", Will was determined to restore access to the shelter by removing the shed and accessing a "hidden set of stairs." He admitted he was "so excited" to explore inside and asked fans for advice on his next steps: "The real question is, now that it's empty, what should I do with it?"
© InstagramWill's Instagram followers flocked to the comments section to share their suggestions, including: "Make sure it's safe and it will be a perfect den for the children," and: "Cold storage, canning or grow mushrooms."
Home renovations
© InstagramSince moving in, Will has shown off some of the changes he's made to the interiors, including ripping up the carpets and sanding down the oak floorboards in the master bedroom, and the exterior, which he opened up about on Alan Titchmarsh's Love Your Weekend.
The furniture restorer said: "Back in London, I had a balcony with a few dying plants, and now I have got a garden." Reflecting on how he and his wife had different priorities with their new house, Will shared: "My wife was very firm with, 'Let's start with the inside of the house first before we paint the front door and start doing the garden,' but I went straight to the garden." Laughing, he continued: "The people before us had a hot tub there. There is a big brown patch, and I thought, 'What would Alan do?'"
