A Scottish newspaper is celebrating its 150th year in print with a series of monthly anniversary supplements.

The Oban Times, the largest selling weekly in the Highlands, will publish the supplements  every month until the end of the year.

The monthly eight page supplements will look at the news as reported by the title since its launch in 1861 with each supplement using a house style design matching that particular era.

Publisher Wyvex Media operates four weekly newspapers in the west of Scotland, nine magazines, including Scottish Field – which is also over 100 years old – and a stream of websites.

Deputy editor Stuart Laundy said: “150 years is without doubt a major milestone for The Oban Times and an anniversary worth celebrating in style.

“The monthly supplements, which are just one part of those celebrations, chart not just what made the news and how it was reported during the last 150 years, but also offer something of the social history of the west coast through a time of great change.”

The paper was first published by 18-year-old James Miller, a young printer, publisher and bookseller in Oban.  The first edition was introduced in July 1861 when it was a monthly magazine,  it then became a four page weekly broadsheet in 1866.

Following Miller’s death in 1881 the paper was published by the Cameron family for almost 100 years. It is currently owned by the Bennett family who have managed the expanding company for 28 years.

Today The Oban Times is  one of the top ten bestselling weekly newspapers in Scotland with a readership of 41,320. It is distributed by more than 1,000 newsagents a week.