Looking Back – news from the John O'Groat Journal of yesteryear
Duke's return from Sudan
From the Groat of April 29, 1921
After a big game shooting expedition in the Sudan, the Duke of Sutherland, along with the Duchess of Sutherland and Lord and Lady Maidstone, had returned to London.
"He has a large and varied bag, the chief item of which was a white rhinoceros which he shot at Lado. This species is now comparatively rare and the specimen which the Duke shot has a horn 37 inches in length.
"The whole bag included six elephants, of which three each had tusks weighing 140lb, two lions, two buffaloes, a reed buck with horns of 17 inches and a quantity of smaller game.
"When the heads of these animals have been mounted, they will be sent to the Duke's museum at Dunrobin."
Meanwhile, the unemployment register at Wick Employment Exchange showed a total of 500 men out of work in the area, an increase of 100 on the previous week.
A decision had been received from the Insurance Officer that seasonal workers were to be "disallowed from benefit permanently, except during the seasons in which they are normally in employment".
It was understood that approximately 250 appeals by women had been made, on the grounds that they were not seasonal workers.
The remaining women on the register, numbering around 150, were to be paid in full as soon as possible.
Killimster man's benefit match
From the Groat of April 30, 1971
Tickets were "almost worth their weight in banknotes" for a benefit football match being played at Brora against Partick Thistle.
Wick Academy had been allocated 20 tickets and Police Judge GG Fraser was being asked to "handle an allotment for public sale".
The subject of the benefit match was Jimmy Miller, of Killimster, who, for the past 14 seasons, had been centre half for Brora Rangers.
"A joiner to trade, married, with two children, Jimmy is more than a Rangers' pivot, key man and inspirer. He is regarded as the premier model player in the Highland League.
"In his 14 years with Brora he has never been faulted by a referee, a record surely unique in minor football."
Four years previously he had been chosen as the supporters' club player of the year and "two seasons ago, Jack Harkness, Scotland's ex-goalkeeper, obtained the verdict that he was Scotland's player of the year."
Jimmy was the only man on Brora's books who was in the team when they entered the Highland League nine seasons previously.
Partick Thistle would be up against a Brora Rangers selection, which was likely to include guest players from other leading clubs in the league.
Wick mail team walk away with prize
From the Groat of May 3, 1996
A Royal Mail team from Wick had taken the runners-up prize in a special Teamwork exhibition for companies in Scotland and Northern Ireland.
The event was held in the Drumossie Hotel in Inverness and although it had attracted most of its entries from the Royal Mail, other organisations did take part.
Local mail team members John Gunn, Ian Sutherland, Hamish Gunn, Robin Doull, Willie Doull and area manager Neil Groat had put forward a Walkwise scheme to redesign their walk frames and work out easier routes for rural mail deliveries.
This was Wick's first ever entry to the competition and they now had the chance to go forward to the British event in Shropshire later in the year.
Also on a winning streak was a Wick Airport firefighter who was named as the top UK student.
Ivor Campbell, of Wick, had joined the airport fire service the previous year, undertaking two courses at the Civil Aviation Authority's International Fire Training Centre.
It was on the second of these, the firemanship course, that he achieved the highest mark of all the students in Britain to attend the eight courses held throughout the year. He had travelled to Teesside to accept his award.
