The final resting place of Montrose wartime hero Bamse is being given a new lease of life.
A temporary repair was carried out after September storms Ali and Bronagh damaged the cross at the dog’s grave, which remains a place of pilgrimage for thousands of people.
Dr Andrew Orr, chairman of Montrose Heritage Trust, engaged with landowner GlaxoSmithKline and engineering team manager Mel Robertson following a substantial donation from the St Bernard Club of Scotland.
All agreed a more substantial upgrade of the site was required. The contract was awarded to Pert Bruce Montrose and work has now started.
Mr Orr said: “The cross on Bamses’ grave was damaged in last winter’s gales and quite frankly the site had become rather tired.
“So many people are now visiting that the dunes had become dangerously eroded, undermining the wooden steps and walkway.
“Now, thanks to a generous donation from the St Bernard Club of Scotland we were able to engage with GlaxoSmithKline about a more substantial upgrade of the whole area.
“There will be a formal hand-over featuring St Bernard dogs from the St Bernard Club of Scotland in the spring.”
Bamse was born in 1937 and lived with Captain Hafto of the Norwegian Navy in Honningsvag, Norway.
The huge St Bernard dog went to sea with him on the minesweeper Thorodd during the Second World War.
Dundee and Montrose became the regular home ports of the ship and its crew.
He achieved legendary status in Montrose as tales of his adventures, courage and kindness spread.
Bamse became a global mascot for the Royal Norwegian forces but died of heart failure in July 1944.
Draped with the Royal Norwegian flag and with his sailor’s cap perched on it, the dog’s coffin was carried through Montrose.
He was buried with full military honours in the sand dunes on the banks of the South Esk estuary and was posthumously awarded the PDSA Gold Medal for gallantry and devotion to duty.
Bamse became known for heroic acts, including saving a young sailor who had been attacked by a man with a knife.
As well as breaking up fights among his crewmates, one of his tasks was to round them up and escort them back to the ship in time for duty or curfew.
To do this he travelled on the local buses unaccompanied and the crew bought him a bus pass, which was attached to his collar.
A statue of the dog was unveiled in Montrose by Prince Andrew in 2006.
