A Highland town is gearing up for an extra special 2015.
This year marks the 250th anniversary of Grantown in the Cairngorms National Park and a week of special events will be held in June, including historic re-enactments, music concerts and sporting contests.
The town’s schools, businesses and community groups will all take part to celebrate the “sestercentennial” and a video of many well-known faces has been circulating online to promote the project.
Unusually the town can pinpoint the exact day that building work started.
On June 28, 1765, the first stone was laid for a new linen factory, a business venture by Rothiemurchus weaver John Grant.
It cost £40 to construct and paved the way for the Grantown of today – a bustling community with a population of more than 2,000.
Bill Sadler, chairman of the Grantown Society, is coordinating the project with the town’s museum.
He said: “Grantown has been described as one of the ‘best preserved and most interesting’ of all the 500 or so planned settlements in Scotland.
“It is also one of the best documented. For example we know who built the first house, where the materials came from, where it was built and what it cost.
“Grantown appears to be unique in that it is the only one of all those 500 where we can identify precisely the date the first house was built but also its exact location.
“More than that Grantown illustrates well many of the changes which happened in the second half of the 18th century – particularly the moves to create employment in the Highlands and prevent emigration and alleviate the enormous poverty and hardship.”
As part of the year of celebrations, there are also plans to replace the town’s mercat cross, which has been missing for many years, produce a new wall hanging and commission a Strathspey for the occasion.
Mr Sadler said organisers hoped the measures would encourage the involvement of young people and create an increased pride in the community and its businesses, and a wider awareness of Strathspey as a significant, sporting venue, business location and tourist destination
“The project is designed to provide a significant boost for the local economy and leave a lasting legacy,” he added.
The society is still looking for volunteers and sponsors for the events, which start on June 21.