Boy disappears at Mid-Clyth, Oil spin-off firm in Caithness and Welcome for new restaurant
LOOKING BACK: News from the John O’Groat Journal of yesteryear
Boy disappears at Mid-Clyth
From the Groat of June 5, 1925
Mystery surrounded the disappearance of 13-year-old Walter Douglas Clyne, who had failed to return to his aunt’s house at Mid-Clyth.
The youngster had been asked by a neighbour of his aunt to “take a handsaw to be sharpened by Mr Henry Clyne, joiner, New Houses, Clyth, an uncle of the youth… The boy arrived at his uncle’s place of business and, when the saw was sharpened, he left about 7.15pm to return home to Mid-Clyth with the instrument in his possession.”
The alarm had been raised around 10pm when the boy had failed to arrive home.
A woman living in a house near Clyth lighthouse told the searchers that she had been talking in clothes that had been drying on the grass when she found a handsaw underneath a quilt. It turned out to be the saw in question.
It was thought that the youth “may have hidden the saw while he went on a bird-nesting expedition. In scrambling about the braehead he may have lost his footing and fallen into the sea. Motor boats later put out from Lybster and searched the coast in the vicinity of the lighthouse but without result.
“A further thorough search made during the week proved unavailing.”
Oil spin-off firm in Caithness
From the Groat of June 6, 1975
The first spin-off industry to come to Caithness as a direct result of the North Sea oil boom had arrived.
And the man responsible was former county development officer Bob Strachan, who had resigned after the Chicago Bridge “fiasco” which saw the oil rig fabrication firm abandon its plans for a yard at Dunnet Bay.
The firm Mr Strachan then joined was Samuel Barker Ltd which had taken over the former Caithness Cheese factory at Wick Industrial Estate.
The company specialised in the building and erection of prefabricated timber houses and, although most of its business was in Manchester, it had recently secured a big contract in Peterhead to cope with the demand for new housing prompted by the oil boom.
The firm had started advertising for tradesmen and was expected to provide jobs for up to eight joiners initially.
Meanwhile, the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama in Glasgow had awarded the Mary D Adams Scholarship of Singing to Margaret Budge, of Rockhill Farm, Wick, who was studying music at Napier College in Edinburgh.
In other news, Celia Tait, from Wick, had won the Scottish Interflora designer of the year award. She would now go forward to compete in the national final.
Welcome for new restaurant
From the Groat of June 9, 2000
Community councillors had welcomed a plan to create a quality restaurant and wine bar near the banks of Wick River.
Despite concerns from the Rev Alistair Roy about overprovision of licensed premises in the town centre, members of the Royal Burgh of Wick Community Council agreed that the Bord de L’eau would be “a boon, particularly during the tourist season”.
Daniel Chretien of Thrumster intended to change the use of a store underneath the Citizens’ Advice Bureau to a restaurant and had applied to an upcoming meeting of Caithness Licensing Board for a public house licence.
Police representative Inspector Iain Gregory said the plan was for “a good-quality French restaurant” and the constabulary had no grounds for objection.
Community councillors highlighted the need for another restaurant in the town and accepted that a public house licence would be required as there were “too many restrictions with a restaurant licence”.
Elsewhere, PC Carol Robinson had become the first female dog-handler to join the team at the Dounreay nuclear site.
After working as a hairdresser and a sales assistant, Carol had joined the UKAEA Constabulary in 1997. It was during her training that she got her first taste of dog-handling, prompting her to decide that that was where her future career lay.