We are building an Iron Age village by hand

Nellie Wilson works part-time weaving unneurotic hazel branches to physique the walls and extortion of a replica Iron Age roundhouse.

It is similar handbasket weaving connected a expansive scale. At times Nellie has to ascent six metres (18ft) up scaffolding to enactment connected the apical of the building.

Ms Wilson, from Ullapool, is moving connected the caller Scottish Crannog Centre on with dozens of volunteers, aft a occurrence destroyed the fashionable attraction connected the banks of Loch Tay 2 years ago.

The late-night blaze took conscionable six minutes to rip done the centre's best-known diagnostic - a reconstructed Iron Age roundhouse that had stood connected stilts successful the loch for 25 years.

Historically, crannogs were wide successful Ireland and Scotland, wherever the archetypal ones were built astir 2,500 years ago.

They were typically free-standing wood structures built successful lochs but could besides beryllium made of adust chromatic successful immoderate areas.

Because they were underwater, the archaeological sites person been good preserved and springiness bully accusation astir however they were built and who lived there.

The centre's depository displays objects recovered successful excavations including a food crockery and portion of a stringed philharmonic instrument.

On the gathering site, the hard hats and high-viz jackets worn by everyone constructing the caller Iron Age colony - connected the different broadside of the loch from the archetypal tract - would beryllium wholly alien to the radical who primitively lived there.

But they would decidedly person recognised the gathering methods the 21st-century workers are using.

"I've ne'er worked connected thing similar that before," says Nellie, who graduated from the University of Edinburgh past twelvemonth aft studying sustainable improvement and societal anthropology.

"It made maine worth and recognize what we were doing connected a antithetic level and admit that if things had to beryllium done slower oregon successful a antithetic mode determination was a crushed for it and you tin ideate a spot what it would person been like.

"It's astonishing to deliberation that they would person built thing akin to this with fractional of the modern time tools that we've been given."

Jim Doherty is simply a adust chromatic waller based successful Cumbria. He is portion of the physique squad astatine the Crannog Centre liable for each of the chromatic construction.

"It's thing I've ne'er done earlier but I don't deliberation galore radical person built a reconstruction Iron Age village," helium says.

Jim says helium enjoys the situation of making the circular chromatic structure.

"I've ever had an involvement successful past and archaeology and past I came up to larn much astir the Crannog, the things that they do, the outreach they have, it was precisely the benignant of depository that I would emotion to spell to," helium says.

Mike Benson, the manager of the Scottish Crannog Centre, is arrogant of the mode the engaged operation tract is progressing.

"We are showcasing each the antithetic skills and materials that the Crannog radical would person used," helium says.

"When you look astatine what was achieved 2,500 years ago, it's a superb story."

The archetypal open-air depository aimed to archer the communicative of Crannog dwellers 2,500 years agone and visitors could effort retired Iron Age crafts similar weaving, pottery metalwork and cookery.

The caller tract astatine Dalerb is connected the different broadside of Loch Tay connected onshore transferred from the Forestry Commission.

It means the caller Crannog Centre tin physique a replica colony of 7 buildings, a caller Crannog and a caller museum, astatine a outgo of £12.5m.

£2.3m is coming from the Scottish authorities with different backing from members of the nationalist and charitable trusts.

Toby Sloan, an apprentice astatine the Crannog Centre, says the enactment happening present means accepted skills are being kept alive.

"It's precise hands-on," helium says. "It's not sitting successful an bureau down a computer.

"It's precise important to support these past crafts live due to the fact that it's much of a sustainable mode of working, it's much of a sustainable mode of surviving arsenic well.

"It's thing that's been mislaid successful modern life."

The Crannog itself volition beryllium built implicit the wintertime and the caller centre is expected to unfastened successful the spring.