BETTYHILL Free Church was filled to capacity on Thursday, February 19, for the funeral of Gordon Mackay, of Cnocard, Bettyhill, who passed away in Caithness General Hospital the previous Sunday, aged 90.

MONDAY, January 7, Old New Year's Day, was a sad and shocking day for Donnie and Annie Mackenzie, of Dunveaden House, Bettyhill.

THE working life of a Highland Council roads department mechanic is not always an easy one.

LADY Anne Bentinck, eldest daughter of the 7th Duke of Portland, died on December 29 aged 92.

WILLIAM Swanson Mackay was born on December 7, 1936, at Clettan, Keiss. He was the second son of Christie and Kate Mackay, and third born in a family of nine.

GEORGE Alexander Mackay, of 1 Munro Place, Bettyhill, or "Geordie Crow" as he was better known from the family by-name, was born in Newlands on January 12, 1931, eldest of the seven children of Mr and Mrs James Mackay.

ELISABETH Dunnet Miller Houston, known as Elsie, was born on January 27, 1929, at the Ha', John O' Groats. She was the sole surviving daughter of Malcolm and Daisy Houston and sister to Magnus.

ROSALIND (Linda) Stamp died in the Queen Elizabeth Wing of Caithness General Hospital on January 23 at the age of 91. To see the frail old lady in her final days, no-one would have guessed what an amazing life she had.

THE Gunn family moved to West Greenland in the early 1920s and it was here that Margaret was born in December 1927, the only daughter in a family of four, her elder brothers being James, George and Donald.

JACK Selby, who died recently at the age of 75, finally lost his long battle with the disease that latterly blighted his participation in the outdoor activities he so much enjoyed and which were an important part of his life.

VISITORS to our small corner of the far north-west are often struck by the beautiful variety it presents to the naked eye.

A CALM nature is a very desirable characteristic for anyone to possess but particularly so for someone regularly faced with stressful situations, such as a hotel manageress.

WITH the passing of John Malcolm Green, of Havengore, Huna, at the age of 73 on August 18, Canisbay parish has lost one of its outstanding characters.

NANCY Sinclair was born on March 17, 1932, the only daughter of John and Ann Macdonald who lived in Blair Atholl, where John, a railwayman, helped Ann run the Garry Guesthouse.

MAY Yarker, a well-known Far North artist and friend of the late Queen Mother, has died at the age of 93.

A FORMER rector of Wick High School has died. John Macleod passed away at his home in Hollesley, Suffolk, earlier this month after a short illness. He was 71.