IT'S action stations in Lochalsh Road these days as the St Michael's and all Angels (right) continues to undergo extensive renovations and at the other end of the road the former Farmers' Dairy is demolished. The restoration of St Michael's, which involves treating dry rot as well as other repairs, began in April and since then the building has been shrouded in scaffolding and plastic tarps.

The total cost of the work is likely to come in at around £275,000, and while £261,092 has been raised, Sandra Hindle of the church's Vestry says that a further £5500 will be needed for internal redecoration, leaving a shortfall of £20,000. "We are desperately trying to raise this sum so the work can be completed," Sandra says in an appeal that is being widely circulated.

St Michael's began in 1877 as a Sunday School in a thatched cottage on the Maggot Green. Nine years later a stone church was built, but flooding forced the church to move, stone by stone, across the river in 1904. Architecturally it is renowned as a historical jewel.
The Farmers' Dairy building, soon to be replaced by flats, was built in the 1920s.