A fishing boat more than a century old which was days from becoming firewood will make its final voyage from a Moray port this week.
The local authority ordered the owner of the dilapidated Harvest reaper to move it to make way for a £220,000 industrial development at Burghead harbour.
And David Meldrum was warned the 20-tonne vessel would be scrapped if it was not shifted from the quayside spot it had occupied since the 1980s.
In the end, the boat was saved as the Burghead Headland Trust stepped in to preserve it as a tribute to the region’s fishing heritage.
The Harvest Reaper, which built in 1904, was moved to the harbour entrance at the south of the village.
With the council industrial units now complete and operational, the headland trust will move the boat to its new home on Friday.
A crane and a low loader will transport it 600 yards “as the gull flies” to the north side of the peninsula where it will be visible from the sea in front of the dramatic backdrop of the 6th century Pictish defence rampart.
Burghead community leader and trust member Dan Ralph said: “It has been a lot of logistics, finding the right place, but it has been worth it.
“When you destroy history it never comes back. We had very little time to save her. She was going to be broken up a few days after I got involved.
“The council gave us a week’s reprieve and we managed to put off her execution.
“She will be fine where she is going on the north foreshore.
“There will be an information board with quite a bit of her history so people can read and learn about the story behind her.
“She is going to look good. She will be tarred and will be there for all to see for the next 100 years anyway.
“It is a public way along there, so people should be able to get a really nice view of her.
“It is a very pleasant area and lots of people walk it, so she will be grand there.”