AT LAST! The clock on the Merkinch Welfare Hall was restored to Greenwich Mean Time during the second week in February.

The claim that the repair man (have we really no clockmaker locally capable of such a repair?) could not come up from Edinburgh for months has been queried by local activist Donnie Kerr who sees the problem as lack of access to the building.

And while unwatched Merkinchers are meantime happy to have their favourite timepiece restored, perhaps it is time to look into what on earth is going on – a valued and (sometimes) operating clock on a desperately neglected, rapidly deteriorating but listed building which local people could make good use of?

Time perhaps for letters to the Council, the MP, the MSP and anyone else you can think of...