It is cheers to the Fairlie Village Hall as it celebrates an important milestone this year.

The 125th anniversary year of hall was launched in style, when present and former committee members, representatives of village groups and invited guests joined together to celebrate.

Proceedings kicked off with a bit of “community singing”, when the Semple Centre Singers led the assembled company in some Scottish favourites.

Everyone then enjoyed some cheese and wine, and viewed the new boards which have been mounted in the foyer depicting the history of Fairlie and the Village Hall. All are welcome to drop in to the Village Hall when open to view the boards – contact Fairlie Community Association for opening hours (fairliecommass@gmail.com or 07958 048908.

The building has been very much at the heart of community life since it opened on 16 November, 1892.

Converted from the original parish schoolroom, it was presented to the people of Fairlie by the Rt. Hon. Charles Stuart Parker in memory of his late sister, Margaret, who had died the previous year. On Parker’s death in 1910, the Village Hall was left to be held by Trustees "in all time coming for the use, occupation and benefit of the inhabitants of Fairlie".

In 1974, the Trustees leased the hall to North Ayrshire Council to be used as a community centre. Today, the management of the Village Hall is the responsibility of Fairlie Community Association, and the day-to-day business is carried out by a committee of volunteers. The committee is currently planning a series of events to commemorate the anniversary – look out for details in the coming months.

And a community group in Fairlie who are hoping to save the village pub and will have a dry run at doing so with the Calcutta Cup rugby weekend over 10, 11 and 12 March.

That is because the new steering group have booked out the Village Hall during the international Six Nations rugby weekend in a similar vein to when the hall was opened for the World Cup back in 2008 when the pub was last closed. A large projector screen will show the sport.