Good progress is being made on a drive to preserve a war memorial in Wick which was in danger of being levelled.
The Soldiers’ Tower on the north side of Wick Bay was early last year earmarked for the chop by Highland Council, which was concerned its deteriorating condition posed a potential hazard.
That led to a public outcry and the Wick, Canisbay and Latheron branch of the Royal British Legion Scotland stepping in to save the two-storey baronial-style tower.
Built in 1909, it contains a casket bearing the names of 400 soldiers and sailors from Caithness who died in conflicts from the French Revolutionary wars to the Boer War.
Its entrance was bricked up soon after Second World War since when the memorial suffered from decades of neglect.
The outlook is now much more rosy with the branch having bought the tower from the local estate for a nominal ÂŁ1 and completed the first phase of work to secure its future.
It is now planning to embark on the second phase of the restoration, with a structural engineer this week on site to draw up plans.
Branch chairman Captain Richard Otley said once this is costed, the branch will raise the necessary funds before placing a contract to do the work.