Only weeks after Gracehill Old School Trust (GhOST) landed significant help from the Heritage Lottery Fund it was chosen to feature on the BBC “Restoration Village” series screened in September 2006.
The well known comedian Griff Rhys Jones, famous for such shows as Not the Nine O’Clock News, Comic Relief and The Smith and Jones Sketchbook visited Gracehill to film for the programme.The popular host of the hit Restoration show, now in its third series, spent several days in the village meeting locals and finding out about the Trust’s plans for the Old School. He paid a surprise visit to Gracehill Moravian Church on Sunday morning, chatting to the congregation before Church and joining them for refreshments after the Service. Members of the congregation were impressed by his interest in the village and his friendly manner. Later in the week he interviewed residents including Mrs Roberta Thompson, who organises tours of the Village, Northern Irelands first Conservation area. He also paid a visit to “The Readers Room” to discuss the village with Mr Christie Colhoun and he rounded off his visit by helping some local children complete an “Architectural Treasure Hunt” to discover something of the history and rich Georgian architectural heritage that still exists in Gracehill.After the visit David Johnston, chairman of GhOST, said “ This is a great opportunity to present a positive image that everyone in the country can be proud of. Following on the HLF support and the World Heritage initiative this is a very busy but exciting time. Gracehill has been a good news story for 200 years and we want that to continue. When the plans come to fruition it will be good news for Greachill, good news for Ballymena and good news for Northern Ireland.”
You can find out more about the series at www.bbc.co.uk/restoration
