Looking Back - Crane collapse at Wick, Dunbeath museum officially opened and new-look for Wick shop
Crane collapse at Wick
From the Groat of May 30, 1924
Reconstruction work at Wick’s north river pier had been halted following the collapse of a crane.
Two men had been injured when part of the mechanism of the 10-ton crane failed as work was being carried out between 11.30pm and midnight. “Six men were engaged at the works at the time of the accident, four of whom escaped uninjured.”
The two who were hurt were crane driver Sinclair Sutherland, who had been caught on the head by a falling part, and James Bain, “who was knocked off the crane into the river harbour and held under water for a brief period owing to his foot catching in what he thinks was the crane boiler, which had toppled over into the water”.
It was reported that “after rescuing Bain, the uninjured men got their companions removed by means of Gordon Dower’s lorry to Dr Wright’s house, where Sutherland's head was stitched and Bain's foot attended to”.
The accident meant that work on the pier had been temporarily suspended.
Elsewhere, members of Wick Town Council moved to ban itinerant traders from the Market Square. A petition from merchants in the burgh was supported by the majority of the councillors, with just four of them taking the view that it was a “free country” and if local farmers were allowed to sell pigs in the Market Square then the travelling salesmen should be allowed to trade there too.
Croft museum officially opened
From the Groat of May 31, 1974
A Caithness croft built 160 years previously at Laidhay, Dunbeath, had been completely restored as a museum by the Laidhay Preservation Trust.
The facility, which was expected to be "a showpiece for visitors and an asset to the county", was officially opened by Alex Rugg, the convener of Caithness County Council.
Bert Gunn, vice-chairman of the trust committee, said the property had been built between 1805 and 1810 and had been bought in 1969 by Malcolm Cameron. It was around this time that Bert Mowat, proprietor of the Portland Arms Hotel in Lybster, suggested that the croft should be preserved as a museum.
A committee had been formed and the building bought from Mr Cameron.
Mr Gunn said that at first they had difficulty in raising the necessary finance and obtaining planning permission, and in getting the go-ahead from various departments concerned. “Finally we got it all organised and we now have a croft museum.”
Mr Rugg admitted that originally he had not been as enthusiastic about the preservation scheme as others, but he could now appreciate the good work done by the trust and “they could see before them something very much worthwhile looking after”.
A tourist information centre was to be included at the croft at a later date.
New-look facade an asset to town
From the Groat of June 4, 1999
The planned new-look shopfront for Woolworth’s store in Wick would be “an asset to the town centre”, according to a top local planning official.
Stephen Bell was confident that the public would be pleased with the result of negotiations between the local planning authority and Woolworth’s which he said had greatly improved the way the new shopfront was to look.
Work to revamp the frontage had been brought to a halt two months previously when it transpired that neither planning nor listed building consent had been granted for the changes.
When the plans were submitted for approval, it became clear that the proposals were not in keeping with the rest of the building.
Mr Bell explained that the store was an important “B” listed building in the town centre but the plans were not sympathetic to its style and character.
The amended plan would “seek to bring back some of the elements of the building that have been lost”, he said, including the reinstatement of a central granite pillar.
Elsewhere, the Northern Joint Police Board was to look at other ways of financing improvements to Wick Police Station after losing out on a government scheme.
The accommodation at the 150-year-old divisional HQ in Bridge Street was described as “far from adequate”.