Kildonan village hall keeps Arran community together By Gillian Sharpe

BBC Scotland Published duration 18 July 2015

image copyright Richard Webb image caption The village's location on the south of Arran, with views over the island of Pladda, attracts holiday home buyers

"All we've got left now is the hall and if we lose that it won't be a village any more." One view of the importance of a modestly-sized, 100-year-old building on the south end of Arran.

It has happened in many communities and villages around Scotland. The school goes, the local shop and then what's left? It leaves some questioning what actually makes a community.

In the village of Kildonan on Arran, they have gone though some of that and this year they are celebrating the centenary of one of the only public spaces they have left - the village hall.

Water laps onto a stretch of sandy beach, a couple of children are clambering over the rocks. On some days you can see seals and otters from here. At the south of the island, this is picture postcard Scotland, but it is also a real community which has seen many changes and for the past century the village hall has been part of that.

"When you go into the first book to the 1930s when electricity came into the village," says Alistair Yates, chairman of the village hall, leafing through the first committee minute book.

"They decided a price of £43 was too much and they bought two more lamps instead."

There is a lot of the village's social history in the pages of these books. The names of families appear over and over and then new ones appear in more recent times.

image caption The minutes of the hall committee record village life over the years

image caption The hall started life as a reading room for women whose menfolk were serving in the armed forces

image caption Mamie Stewart recalls the hall being prepared for dances

The inside of the hall is much as it would have been in 1915, although later additions allowed for a stage and a kitchen to be added. With a painted wooden interior and wooden floor, it began life in 1915 as a reading room for the women of the village when the men were away at war.

As the village hall it has been the venue for many celebrations and events including Christmas parties, dances, there have been weddings, films shown.

"We used to polish the hall floor, once a year before the dances started," recalls Mamie Stewart, a former schoolteacher on the island who has lived in Kildonan for 63 years.

"Down we went, ladies and gentlemen. We put towels on the floor and a tin tray on it and the ladies sat and the men pulled you up and down the hall to polish the floor. Now you can imagine the hilarity, but it did the job."

With houses built to take advantage of the views of the water the village has a truly beautiful setting. It has lost a lot of its amenities though - a church, post office, school, village shop and a hotel. It leaves a remaining hotel and the hall itself as the only public spaces.

"Now there are quite a few holiday homes, which is not the best thing for the village but it's what's bringing in the income just now," says Alistair Yates, who has lived in Kildonan since 1983.

"It's put the price of property up so that the young locals really can't afford to buy houses here. Their average wage is too low compared to the average price. but still if we want to do something in the hall we only have to ask the farmers or any of the locals round about and they all pull together. They're very strong in their sense of identity to it."

Pub closure

And that feeling of the hall as vital to the community is echoed by Graham Guest, the hall treasurer. He first bought his house in the village 36 years ago. It can be difficult keeping the hall up and running he says but it is "cash positive" and in his view performs a crucial function.

"When we had the pub here everybody in the village used to go there on a Friday night and have a fish supper and talk and it used to go on until quite late.

"It was really sad because the village lost Friday night, (when the pub closed) so all we've got left now is the hall and if we lose that it won't be a village anymore."

Others. like Judi Worthington who moved to Kildonan eight years ago to the place where her husband grew up say that living on a small island distances feel different than they would in a city, even if you do have to travel to a shop, a school or work.

"It's an incredible place to bring up children, I don't think there's anywhere more perfect," she adds.

For her moving to a small community where many people had a lot of shared history took some getting used to and the hall played a part in helping that happen as one of the first places she met people.

"There was an auction, a village auction and pushing the children along in buggies you get to meet so many people, everybody comes together for these events.

"Everyone was so welcoming because we were new and because we had young children. It was a talking point and a lovely way to get to know people as well."

"It's been incredibly important part of my life, coming, moving to Kildonan and feeling part of the village, part of the community is coming here and joining in these events, meeting people from every generation in the village."

image caption The sign for the village indicates a shop which is no longer open