Calls have been made to preserve a piece of Galloway’s built heritage before it disappears forever.
Stroanfreggan Indoor Bowling Club hall is still standing on a remote moor between Carsphairn and Moniaive.
But the corrugated iron building across from the former Stroanfreggan school is beginning to decay from water penetration and damp.
The hall was once a popular indoor sports and dance venue for local people from miles around.
But years of rural depopulation and changing habits brought an end to social evenings in the 1990s.
Dalry man John Paterson wants the hall preserved – and fears the structure could be lost for good without proper repairs.
Mr Paterson, 60, said: “There’s not a lot of places left like it and it would be a shame to see it rot away.
“Folk came from the Moniaive side and the Glenkens side and the kirks used it as a Sunday school.
“Surely if somebody got organised a good heritage case study could be presented to the Lottery for direct funding.
“It would not cost a fortune to preserve it as it is. It’s made of corrugated iron and is still pretty intact.”
Timber industry manager Mr Paterson, currently living at Brampton in Cumbria, reckons the hall has potential.
He said: “It would be great if we could attract money to re-roof it and keep it as a resource.
“Nobody knows who owns it and I would love to find out when it was built.”
Mr Paterson, who is planning a permanent return to Dalry next year, added: “Bowling was on Monday nights for men and Tuesday nights for the women.
“It’s a part of our local heritage that is going to disappear if nothing is done.”
Cycling tours entrepreneur Esther Tacke, from Rhonehouse, passes the hall on one of her routes for clients.
She said: “I think it’s something rather important historically.
“I would not like it to go into a ruin and would love it if the building could be brought back into some kind of use.
“Having it as some sort of cycling bothy would certainly work.
“It could be an artists and musicians venue as well.
“If the alternative is that it slowly falls apart then that’s not good.”
