LOOKING BACK: Golf course drive in 1924, Youth club delays in 1974 and Tourism slump blame in 1999
Golf course drive
From the Groat of October 10, 1924
Plans for a golf course in Lybster had taken a leap forward just a week after it was reported that a meeting had been held to confirm interest in the scheme.
It was stated that “there is every prospect of an excellent nine-hole course being instituted in the grazing ground in the vicinity of the station”.
Thanks to the generous interest taken in the movement by the proprietor of the Lybster estate, Mr DH Sutherland, of Reisgill, the new golf course committee had been given the chance to check out the proposed site and members were “greatly pleased with the suitability of the ground”.

Negotiations were to proceed with the proprietor for the tenancy of the ground and it was anticipated that “every facility and encouragement” would be granted by the estate.
The report continued: “As a result it is anticipated that the new course at Lybster will be a great attraction in the romantic village.
“Such an attraction had long been desiderated in this locality; but it is only since the estate has become the property of Mr Sutherland, who takes an active interest in the welfare of the district, that the object has taken definite shape.”
Meanwhile, in Thurso, 30 people had signed up to join the newly formed Physical Culture and Harriers’ Club. The committee had been tasked with finding suitable premises and equipping the club.
Youth club delays
From the Groat of October 11, 1974
Progress on building Wick Youth Club’s premises in Lower Dunbar Street had been “most disappointingly slow”, the group’s management committee had been told.
While the club’s activities had been developed, the new building had been delayed by eight months because of a steelwork issue and the “subcontractors concerned had been responsible for a sorry tale of delays, excuses, evasions and broken promises.”
However, the steelwork had since been erected “and although the site had resembled a battlefield for many weeks due to delay in the completion of drain-laying, the subcontractor concerned had now completed the first stage of the work”.
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It was expected that the building would not be ready before the second half of 1975 so the committee agreed to renovate the old buildings on the site, with the aid of a grant from King George’s Jubilee Trust, to provide craft and hobby workshops which would be in use by the new year.
Meanwhile, 200 pupils at Thurso High School had staged a walkout. The youngsters had taken the action as a protest against part-time education and overcrowded classes.
They had returned to the school later in the day.
Also in Thurso, the Working Men’s Club had lost out in its bid to buy Castlegreen manse in Princes Street to use as club premises. The “12-room mansion” had been bought for use as a private residence.
Tourism slump blame
From the Groat of October 15, 1999
The downturn in visitor numbers to the north in recent years had been blamed on the “sheer incompetence and lack of imagination” of the Highlands of Scotland Tourist Board (HOST).
The stinging attack had been made by Wick Society chairman Iain Sutherland after he revealed that the town’s award-winning heritage centre in Bank Row had suffered its worst-ever season.
While he acknowledged that the industry had had its problems, Mr Sutherland dismissed as “excuses and red herrings” claims that the strong pound, the weather and the high cost of petrol were responsible.
He told the Groat that “HOST and its predecessors have failed the north of Scotland for the last 25 years. They are interested in paper exercises and the appearance of doing something but they are kidding no-one. The results speak for themselves.”
He said that the Highlands “has so much to offer in terms of scenery, history, recreational and sporting activities, yet we are failing to capitalise on these wonderful activities”. And he called for a more coordinated tourism policy which took in accommodation, transport and entertainment.
However, his comments were rejected by HOST chief executive David Noble, who described Mr Sutherland’s remarks as “gut feeling” and claimed they showed that the Wick Society chairman did not have much idea how the tourist board operated.
Mr Noble said Mr Sutherland’s “sweeping statements” were not justified by the facts.