This Sunday is an important date in the history of Cushendun – sort of. In years to come they may remember this date fondly as the day the people of Britain decided (at £1 a phone call) to save their wee Church of Ireland building. Yes, yet another TV show requiring viewer participation (at £1 a phone call) comes to a crescendic conclusion. Restoration village has reached the Final stage with buildings and communities around the country staring each other down and launching leaflet campaigns to encourage people to vote for them. I feel a little regret to say that I missed the local heat where they described what they were going to do with the building if it was chosen to be restored but I was talking to my mother earlier today and she assures me its for a good reason – some kind of community arts thing. She also made some comment about how it showed that Church of Ireland churches couldn’t get enough people through their doors to survive so they had to close up and become arts centres for both sides of the community – but I think she had her tongue in her cheek. After that she started onto a conversation about football and I was so shocked I forgot how to speak for a while. The grade B listed building was consecrated in 1840 and deconsecrated in 2003. It is beautiful and it would be a shame to see it rot away.
In the heats I was rooting for Cushendun because I’ve always had an affection for the wee place. I remember the School field trip there where we had to count the number of pubs/shops/houses ratio. I remember hiding from my parents in an old fishing boat there while eating a quarter of strawberry bonbons. I remember driving through it as part of my first road trip after passing my driving test. I remember taking a crowd of Canadian tourist through it and pretending to be a tour guide pointing out sights, despite the fact that the fog was so thick we could hardly see the outside of the glass in the car windows. I like Cushendun. I like it so much that I rooted for them in the heats despite the fact that I have several friends who live in Gracehill who were competing against us. I had fellow teachers explaining why I should shun my North Antrim allegiances and phone the number for Gracehill Primary School. But I didn’t. I didn’t actually vote for Cushendun either but that was only because I forgot. It’s the thought that counts.
Sometimes I wonder what happens to the properties that don’t make it, that fall at the first hurdle. Or even at the final hurdle. I know that the money raised by the voting will, mostly go toward the restoration of the winning building, and any surplus to the runners up – but what about the rest that don’t get any money? According to their websites they all need the cash to survive. So no money no building? Or, and this would make the programme much more interesting, do the losers get knocked down on live TV? I’m sure that would push viewing figures through the roof… although maybe not particularly ethical.
And so it comes to the final. I urge you, nay, implore you to pick up the phone and help a little coastal village that many of you will have driven through as you travel the coast road (voted number 6 in a list of all time great tourist roads – even beating route 66.) You don’t even have to watch the programme – I’ll probably forget again, or be at a youth rally in Macosquin. But I’ll be rooting on Cushendun and this time, maybe, I’ll even make the effort to vote, I wouldn’t want to see it get knocked down.
For more information visit the bbc restoration village website
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