Restoration Village - from Friday 28 July 2006, 9.00pm, 91Èȱ¬ TWO
Introduction
Your countryside needs your Restoration vote
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Restoration today called for the public to participate in saving Britain's beleaguered
rural heritage.
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The 91Èȱ¬ TWO ratings hit is to return to our screens with a move to the countryside.
This summer Restoration Village will call on the public to participate in
saving precious buildings around the UK but with the focus on rural life.
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A total of 21 buildings around the UK – unveiled today in conjunction with English
Heritage and other heritage bodies - will be up for the public vote with the possibility of securing crucial funding to ensure their future.
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This new incarnation of the series presented by Griff Rhys
Jones will this year focus on buildings that have previously been historically important to a local rural community.
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And could be again.
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Says Griff: "I am sure we all have a private view of England, Wales, Scotland or Northern Ireland and I bet it probably involves a village and a deserted road with a cottage in the foreground and green fields swelling in the rear.
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"I'm sure we've all seen just such a village and somehow feel that such places correspond with our feelings of security and warmth and our sense of place, hearth and home. And so it should.
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"But the truth is that the countryside everywhere is facing change and disruption over the next hundred years. It is going to be a challenge to all of us to manage that change.
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"Restoration is going out to the countryside to look
at buildings and the landscape and offer up another 21 fascinating
causes looking for help.
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"It is these neglected ordinary familiar landmarks
of the country that we need to save: barns, chapels, farmhouses,
inns, workshops.
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"Restoration Village is a fantastic opportunity to see what we value and why on the rural scene."
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Among the contenders are slate quarry workshops in Wales, a Yorkshire Gothic
Revival folly which had a practical purpose as a corn mill, Scotland's oldest
surviving purpose-built lighthouse and the only complete Moravian (pre-Reformation
Protestant Church) settlement in Northern Ireland.
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But there are also numerous examples of distinctive churches, town halls and examples of rural industry, which were all at one time pivotal for their community but are now at a point where they need major financial input to secure their future.
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Each week Griff and ruin detectives architect Ptolemy Dean and
surveyor Marianne Suhr will profile three architectural gems within a region
of the UK and ask viewers to vote for which one should go through to the final.
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Seven finalists from around the country will then be put
forward for the ultimate public vote. A surprise eighth finalist will
also join the line-up – this will be the runner-up that receives the most
viewers' votes across the series.
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The winning building will be in line to receive the money accumulated throughout the series.
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The grand final will be held at Weald & Downland Open Air
Museum. The fascinating location features a collection of 45 rescued
historic buildings set in beautiful parklands in the South Downs.
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In addition to the television series, there will be also be roadshows in each region showcasing the crafts used in restoration - from stonemasonry to lime plastering and thatching.
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Roly Keating, Controller of 91Èȱ¬ TWO, says: "In 2003 and 2004,
Restoration uncovered a passion in the country to help restore valuable but very
needy heritage projects and buildings, which could be lost to us forever if they
didn't get more support.
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"After a year's break, the series has come back to address a very specific need – that of Great Britain's rural communities, whose heritage is relevant to everyone, but is in very grave danger of being lost amid a catalogue of problems facing the countryside and its people."
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Managing Director of producers Cheetah Television, Nikki
Cheetham, says: "Although we are offering 91Èȱ¬ TWO viewers a pleasurable
series - there are plenty of classic country cottages, village duck ponds, rolling
hills and of course, colourful characters - the programmes also demand a true
interactive commitment.
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"Viewers are being offered the chance to make a real
difference to Britain's built heritage"
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Chief Executive of English Heritage, Simon Thurley, says: "Restoration
Village will undoubtedly raise the profile of rural buildings at risk and the
passionate commitment that communities have to their local heritage, and rightly
so.
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"Increased attention can only help in finding a viable
future for these important buildings by attracting fresh ideas and new
uses and partnerships."
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Transmission details from Restoration Village and details of the roadshows will be available on the website bbc.co.uk/restoration.
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There is also a book of the series, published by English Heritage, featuring each of the chosen buildings.
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And there's more - an accompanying series on 91Èȱ¬ FOUR will see Restoration's
ruin detective Ptolemy Dean on a personal quest to find Britain's perfect
village.
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In this seven-part series, The Perfect Village, Ptolemy will take viewers on an intellectual journey throughout the UK, visiting a variety of different villages from your typical chocolate box setting to the more modern village in his quest to find the perfect one.
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Each episode will feature two villages linked by a theme from the reality and myth of the village to the wealth and its influence on village development.
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