A SLEEPY West Highland village is being transformed by film-makers as
they prepare to shoot the film Loch Ness starring Ted Danson.
The tiny hamlet of Diabaig in Wester Ross now seems set to become as
big a tourist attraction as the Aberdeenshire coastal village of Pennan
after much of Local Hero was shot there.
But the west coast village, where it is expected that a large number
of the scenes will be shot, is around 90 miles from Loch Ness itself.
Builders have been in Diabaig for the past three weeks. They have:
* Renovated nine properties on the shoreline;
* Re-opened the local school which had been shut for more than 40
years;
* Painted all the houses to make them look older;
* Painted fishing boats at the pier because the film-makers did not
like their blue colour, and
* Extended a holiday cottage called Cadha na Hearba and turned it into
a hotel.
The fictional hotel will be called the Moffat Arms and it is there
that Danson, playing an American marine biologist trying to prove or
disprove the existence of the monster, will meet a local hotelier played
by Joely Richardson.
Diabaig's picturesque pier and view of scenic Loch Diabaig, which runs
off Loch Torridon, is considered by Working Title, the production
company, to look more romantic than Loch Ness itself.
Mr Sandy Mackenzie, 62, a retired council roadman of Lower Diabaig,
said: ''I think this will put us on the map once and for all. The whole
community is buzzing about this.''
He added: ''The workers are not putting us out too much and most of us
are just very excited.''
Mr Willie Ross, a retired joiner of Ben Bhraggie, Diabaig, said: ''It
is great publicity for the place. I hope people will come flocking to
the place when they see the film.''
He added: ''I have been told that a boat will be arriving with 15
divers and that they will be supposedly looking for the monster in the
movie right here and not in Loch Ness.''
It is thought that there will be an influx of about 80 actors, film
crews and back-up people who will live in chalets and holiday homes near
Diabaig.
Filming is expected to start on September 24 and will last for a
fortnight.
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