Its all history now as Greenlaw town hall was one of two runners up (out of three buildings) in the Scottish heat for the Restoration 'Small Village' building for the whole UK. The story in last week's Berwickshire made sad reading on Friday night when the result of the telephone voting was revealed. Obviously local support for Greenlaw was not as great as expected despite the comparatively large community of the Borders as compared with Ronaldsay with a population of 47 whose ancient lighthouse won the heat for Scotland. Indeed the whole of the Orkneys would not be able to muster many votes as compared to Berwickshire and its neighbouring counties. Mind you I believe that the town hall was not an overwhelming popular choice in Greenlaw itself-the 'ancient' (as in French ancien, former) and run down capital of Berwickshire. A building totally out of scale for a small run down village and of dubious use as a community centre. It is the sort of small place that many people go through, and keep on going. ( a metaphor for the Borders?) However perhaps the TV publicity will get it sponsorship from elsewhere. But I am sure there are worthier causes like the restoration off the broken bridge at Lovers Loaming near the Chain Bridge. A snip at £100,000
Greenlaw residents await TV vote result
AFTER months of hard work and build up, campaigners for Greenlaw Town Hall must now wait and see if the building's stint of small-screen stardom is going to pay dividends.
Spirits were high last weekend when the town held its Country Fayre on Saturday, a day after it was featured on prime time TV.
The town hall was one of three candidates featured in the Scottish heat of BBC Two's 'Restoration Village', screened last Friday, August 18 and viewers were invited to lend their support by ringing in to vote. After nearly a week of frantic dialling, Greenlaw's fate will be announced on tomorrow night's show. If victorious, it will go through to the grand final and could stand to benefit from a cash windfall which will fund its planned restoration.
Even if the town hall doesn't emerge victorious, it could be given a last minute reprieve, as the runner-up with the most votes throughout the series will also land a place in the final.
Presenter Griff Rhys-Jones and his co-presenters Marianne Suhr and Ptolemy Dean were on location in Greenlaw taking viewers around the town hall and its surroundings.
The programme used computer graphics to show proposals on how the building could look in the future. This included plans for the dome at the top of the hall to be turned into a function room and the main hall into a community facility for various functions and events.
Footage of the 'Support the Town Hall' meeting was also shown as well as residents recollections on how the town hall has changed through the years.
'River City' star Libby McArthur opened the event on Saturday, and after crowning the Fayre Maid, Nikki Lothian she spent most of the afternoon signing autographs as fans queued to get their hands on her signature.
It was also an exciting day for villagers who had never been into the town hall before and got to see what it was like for the first time.
Chiarman of the Friends of Greenlaw group, Matthew Gibb said: "The Fayre was a huge success and the town hall really pulled everyone together. We think we have a good chance of winning the vote and are keeping our fingers crossed for a good result on Friday."
Uncross fingers now, Mr G, draw a line and move on
