Dominic Chinea as new Cornish Workshop series debuts
dominic chinea has moved from Kent to West Cornwall with his wife Maria and their dog Wendy, and a five-part television series will follow the couple as they convert a rundown stone farmhouse and its open-sided cow barn into a new workshop while helping neighbours and settling into rural life.
What Happens When Dominic Chinea Builds a Cornish Workshop?
The series chronicles practical work: automotive, engineering and construction projects that range from converting an old cowshed into a weatherproof workspace to restoring a battered Land Rover. Dominic Chinea recruits engineering support from Sam Lovegrove and a roster of local tradespeople to tackle these ambitions. The pair’s new home sits on roughly two acres, giving scope for a workshop, a garden and other projects such as the planned pond and a traditional workshop sign made from local tin.
What If the Move Highlights Rural Access Challenges?
Relocating to West Cornwall has exposed everyday frictions of country life that shape both practical work and community response. Narrow Cornish lanes force vehicles close to hedgerows and brambles, leading to scraped vans and recurring potholes; Dominic chinea has described filling ruts by breaking down rubble with a rock crusher and using vintage tractors to crush waste concrete to mend lanes. These access issues also affected vehicle deliveries in the opening episode, where a second-hand defender needed to be collected roadside because it could not get down the lane.
The move has required immediate, hands-on fixes: weatherproofing a derelict and odorous cowshed, managing groundworks and reusing parts and machinery that have been kept for years—among them a jack retained for more than 15 years that proved useful during restoration. The series shows how these logistical constraints shape project choices and invite collaboration with local people to maintain shared assets such as a rockpool used by swimmers and church bell ropes that required attention in nearby communities.
What Should Viewers Expect Next?
Expect a mix of hands-on restoration, community-focused repairs and longer-term projects. The programme follows the practical sequence of converting farm buildings into a functional workshop, establishing land uses across the two-acre site, and restoring vehicles and equipment that support further work. It also documents small civic repairs: clearing algae from swimming rockpools and fixing ropes on church bells, offering a view of how one household’s efforts interlink with local needs.
For audiences, the narrative balances the satisfaction of antique machinery and traditional skills with the frustrations of rural logistics—narrow lanes, potholes and the practicalities of living in a former dairy farm. The couple’s gardening plans and an evident appetite for community engagement suggest the work will unfold across seasons, with visible progress on the workshop and adjacent grounds. The series centres on hands-on problem solving, the value of local tradespeople and the gradual remaking of place by Dominic Chinea
