Looking Back – news from the Groat of yesteryear
Little cheer at Christmas
From the Groat of December 24, 1920
Christmas celebrations were muted in the county. It was reported in Wick that schools in the parish had closed for the festive vacation, while in Thurso "there were few signs of the approach of Christmas" and it was expected that the occasion would be "quietly observed".
Some shopkeepers in the west had "reverted to the custom much in vogue in pre-war days of decorating their windows with Christmas displays but this year even that outward reminder of the season is on a limited scale".
An editorial headed "Christmastide" struck a sobering note as the writer told readers that the outlook was "far from bright" and that mankind was still "stricken and stumbling" following the Great War.
"Never has there been a more crying need for good will... than there is at Christmastide 1920."
With the lack of Government support, the herring fishing was in trouble and this was "nothing short of a calamity" for Wick. Unemployment was rising nationally and locally and "it is to be feared that much hardship will have to be endured ere an approximation to settled and normal conditions can be achieved".
Wick alleged illegal fishing
From the Groat of December 25, 1970
Local fishermen had complained to MP Robert Maclennan that trawlers had been fishing close to the Caithness coast and, on one particular date, 12 vessels had fished within two miles of Wick.
The illegal fishing and the apparent lack of protection for inshore fishermen, was dealt with in a letter to Mr Maclennan from Alick Buchanan-Smith, Under-Secretary of State for Scotland.
In the letter he stated that one fishery protection boat was kept on station in the Moray Firth area and patrolled the Caithness coast as frequently as circumstances allowed, but such was the area that needed covered it could not be in two places at once "and cannot therefore be expected to prevent illegal fishing".
The matter was further complicated by the fact that "few fishermen were willing to give precise factual information which might form the basis of a charge against a fellow fisherman and fewer still are willing to appear in court as prosecution witnesses".
Elsewhere, Sutherland County Council was being urged to finance a further investigation into the gold potential in the Strath of Kildonan.
The Highland Development Board had already pledged £300, half the cost of such a scheme.
Christmas blackouts
From the Groat of December 29, 1995
Arctic weather had gripped the country over Christmas bringing the north one of the worst festive periods for many years.
Although Caithness was not as badly affected as some other areas, there were still significant power cuts, rail and air services disruption and extensive snow drifts on roads.
Around 3500 people were without power during a snowstorm on Christmas Eve and 200 people in Dunnet had no electricity on Christmas Day. And for 20 households in "isolated areas" of the county the disruption continued until Boxing Day.
Altnaharra in Sutherland had the distinction of being the coldest place in Scotland when the temperature there dropped to minus 21 degrees Celsius.
Elsewhere it was reported that Caithness scientist Dr Eric Voice believed that official limits for radiation exposure were set too low.
Speaking to a meeting of Dounreay Action Group, he said that the limits were "ridiculously low and not founded on any reliable evidence whatsoever".
He said the limits were based on the assumption that the impacts of small and large doses were identical and that even small doses were not safe.
But he maintained that exposure to low-level radiation was vital to stimulate the body's immune system.