Restoration Village calls on the public to participate in saving precious buildings around the UK, but with the focus on rural life. A total of 21 buildings were up for the public vote with the possibility of securing crucial funding to ensure their future.
This new incarnation of the series presented by Griff Rhys Jones, focused on buildings which have previously been historically important to a local rural community. And could be again.
The series started on Friday, July 28, 2006 and the Wales programme was broadcast on Friday, August 25, including the following projects:
Pen yr Orsedd Workshops, Nantlle, Gywnedd
These Grade II* slate quarry buildings include workshops, offices, hospital and industrial buildings. Built in two stages in the 1860s and between 1899 and 1907, they stand in a spectacular mountainous setting, with views down to Nantlle Lake. About 450 men worked in the quarry here, which finally closed down in 1997.
The walls and roofs are in place, but the interiors of the buildings need total renovation, in order to create a training and workshop centre for the repair, replication and manufacture of heritage engineering items. The intention is to provide a focal point and to provide training and employment in one of the most deprived communities in Wales. More...
Prichard Jones Institute, Newborough, Anglesey
One of seven children born on a smallholding in Newborough, Sir John Prichard Jones, managing director of London department store Dickins & Jones, built this neo-Tudor Institute in 1905, and gave it to local people as a community resource, with library, reading room, public hall and other amenities.
The largest philanthropic building on Anglesey, it is now rundown and money is needed to restore it to its position at the heart of the community. Its use is intended to be flexible, offering a meeting place for the local council and agencies, such as the Forestry Commission, and smaller groups such as the WI, as well as providing a venue for weddings. It will also be a base to promote the outstanding natural environment of Anglesey to visitors. More...
Pembrey Court on the South West Wales Where I Live website.
