Looking Back - news from the John O’Groat Journal of yesteryear
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Electric lighting in Wick
From the Groat of April 11, 1924
An advertisement was to be placed for an electrical engineer to survey Wick and produce a report on plans and costings for the provision of electric lighting in the town.
Members of Wick Town Council heard that the joint committee of the council, harbour trust and chamber of commerce, set up to consider the scheme, had recommended that financial assistance should be sought from the national Unemployment Grants Committee and that a firm of Edinburgh electrical contractors be appointed to report on the matter.
Provost Green explained that when he was in London he had spoken to the secretary of the Unemployment Grants Committee who had assured him that there would be a "probability" of getting a grant to cover 50 per cent of the costs.
Councillor Harper suggested approaching some of the electric light companies to install the lighting with the council "taking over the concern in 10 or 20 years". However, it was feared that this approach would put the grant in jeopardy.
There was also concern about employing a contractor to prepare and cost plans and so it was agreed to advertise for an independent engineer to take the project forward.
Elsewhere, the Station Hotel in Thurso Street, along with an adjoining dwelling house, had been put up for sale by public roup at an upset price of £600 and £200 respectively. No offers had been made.
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Holiday homes plan for Dornoch
From the Groat of April 12, 1974
A development of up to 550 cottages, a club with heated indoor swimming pool, sports hall, restaurant and facilities for teenagers and children was being mooted for Dornoch.
An 80-acre site half a mile due west of the burgh had been earmarked for the scheme which was being sponsored by Dornoch Links Ltd.
Company spokesman Dr Howard Greenwald, an American living in Manchester, said that the objective would be "to ensure that the entire development would blend in and harmonise with the surrounding area".
It was envisaged that Dornoch Links would build about 450 cottages, a mix of two and three bedroomed, with another 100 sites available for individual development.
Designed by Hector Macdonald, of Inverness, "a big planning feature" of the scheme was that there would only be one vehicular road going through the whole site "so that pedestrians at no point would need to cross the road to get to the beach".
It was stressed that the cottages would be holiday homes only "and not built for all-year use".
Elsewhere, Dounreay had won a £2 million order from Germany for experimental work on atomic fuels.
News of the deal, the first big export order for the UK Atomic Energy Authority in Caithness, had come just six weeks after the new £40 million prototype fast reactor was officially opened.
Safeway prank backfires
From the Groat of April 16, 1999
Two Thurso High School pupils were fired from their jobs at the town's Safeway store after they went to work at a sister branch "for a laugh", only to be suspected of plotting an armed robbery.
The schoolmates had been in Inverness for a day out when they decided to don their uniforms, which were in the boot of the car, and pretend to be shelf-fillers.
However, police went to the scene after staff caught what they thought were a pair of villains disguised as employees.
When the truth of the matter emerged, police were content to let Safeway deal with it and when the teenagers arrived home they were sacked from their jobs at the Millbank store.
A friend of the pair explained that they had decided to do a "shift" in the Inverness store for a joke and had been sorting shelves for 20 minutes before a member of staff approached and asked if they were new.
They said they were training but when the manager arrived he didn't recognise them and knew straight away that something was amiss.
The friend stated that store staff "thought they were armed robbers. Eight police officers and two sniffer dogs arrived to arrest them.”
The sacked teenagers reckoned the company had overreacted but a store spokesman said that what had started as a prank had "crossed the line".
