About 200 people attended the opening of a restored war memorial in Alness on Saturday to honour the local men who lost their lives in World War I.
Residents of all generations attended the re-dedication service to pay their respects and local ministers Rev Mike MacDonald, of Alness Parish Church, and Rev Rob Jones, of Rosskeen Parish Church, gave poignant readings.
The memorial was erected and unveiled in 1921 to commemorate those from Alness and Wester Rosskeen who sacrificed their lives during the conflict.
The names of those who subsequently died in WWII were added in 1949 and the memorial was rededicated.
In total, it lists 114 local people who made the ultimate sacrifice – 85 in WWI, 28 in WWII and one in Northern Ireland.
Vice chairman of Alness community council, Alister Ferguson, attended Saturday’s memorial service.
He said: “Alness was only a small place at the time, and obviously the losses represented a high percentage of local men who were killed.
“The service lasted about 30 minutes and it was a very nice and poignant service. They had some RAF cadets who marched up from the train station to the memorial as two young pipers played, and a whole lot of people were there from the town.
“I would say there was a couple of hundred there. There was also an older gentleman and lady who laid a wreath.
“The ministers gave readings about the history of the memorial and about who was on the memorial”.
In the years since 1949, the weather took its toll on the structure, leaving the carved names of the fallen increasingly difficult to read.
The entire memorial needed careful cleaning, with all the joints being re-pointed, as well as other much needed restoration work.
The restoration was driven and inspired by the Alness Community Association, led by chairwoman Joan Ross, and donations were secured allowing work to go ahead.
Work on the venture was completed earlier this summer, largely by conservation stonemason John McLean from Dingwall, who worked carefully and meticulously.
Cromarty Firth councillor Maxine Smith said: “The local community volunteers have done a lot of work to look for matched funding to spruce up the memorial. Unfortunately I couldn’t be there yesterday for the opening event, but I plan to visit it this week”.
