Raasay's former mining village marks centenary

Celebrations have been held to mark 100 years since the establishment of Inverarish on Raasay, a small island off Skye.

The village was built for iron ore miners, and the community grew around its original 64 terraced houses.

During World War I, German prisoners of war were kept at Inverarish and put to work at the nearby open cast mine.

Residents of Inverarish held a street party at the weekend to mark the anniversary.

The village has grown up around its original 64 cottages

Among those celebrating was Anne Baxter who was born in the village more than 80 years ago.

She said: "I was born in 1926 at number 15 and I lived there until 1934 when I moved to Glasgow."

Fearchar MacLennan recalled his father's stories from the time when PoWs worked alongside him at the William Baird and Co mine.

Mr MacLennan said: "He used to talk about the times when he went out at night and you might stopped by the shout: 'Who goes there?"

Photographs held in the <link> <caption>British Geological Survey's archive</caption> <altText>Link to story about BGS and Raasay</altText> <url href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-highlands-islands-15745813" platform="highweb"/> </link> show PoWs on giant mechanical mining machines, while under armed guard.

A slipway at Suisnish where ships were loaded with iron ore before the mine closed has now fallen into disrepair.

In 2010, it was replaced by new £12m ferry terminal a few miles away in Churchton Bay.