A Wester Ross village is celebrating the re-opening  of an iconic old shop closed three years ago on the death of the owner.

Shopkeeping had been in the Grant family of Shieldaig since the 19th century but when owner Nanny Grant died, there was nobody to carry on the tradition. Now two local women have come to the rescue.

Nanny's Shop looks exactly the same now as it did all those years ago. It has stood the test of time and the worst of west coast weather since 1918. It was also at the heart of village life - a key factor in the decision to re-open its  doors.

Co-owner Lynne Frost said: "We just loved the building so much. Neither of us had a burning desire to open up a craft shop or a cafe, and we wouldn't have gone  looking for premises, but when we saw these premises were available, we just thought it'd be really nice to do something because it's such a lovely little building.

The other co-owner, Lisa O'Brien, added: "We've both got different skills that we bring to it; I think Lynne's got a lot of local contacts and knowledge that she's built up through the years of living here, and I've worked as an artist before, so I've met a lot of local artists, and we brought those two things together.

It was in Nanny's Shop that some local girls got their first job, even if it did not make them very rich.

Nana Moyes, a former worker in the shop, said: "It was my school holidays, and I used to come and work for Nanny, and she was very very good to work for. My first wage was a Lyon's Victoria Sponge!"

There were also the shopping trips to Nanny's by boat, to take essentials home
to the Applecross peninsula before roads were built.

In these times of credit crunch and recession, it is rather encouraging for people
living in small communities to see village shops opening rather than closing.