Looking Back – news from the John O'Groat Journal of yesteryear
'Thoughtless lads' cause Mikado mischief
From the Groat of May 6, 1921
The Wick Operatic Society, which had recently staged a "fine production" of the Mikado, was to be out of pocket by £17 after a claim was lodged against it by the costumiers which had supplied the various robes and costumes.
The claim came after an "unfortunate incident" in which a number of lads broke into the property being used by the society and stole a number of wigs.
The young men had been attending the local Territorials' spring camp and it was believed that they had been under the influence of drink when they carried out the theft.
Five of them were subsequently fined at Wick Burgh Police Court.
"It is exceedingly annoying," stated the report, "that this additional expense should be added to the burden of the society by the malicious mischief of thoughtless lads."
Meanwhile, many people in Wick learned with regret the closing of "the popular place of entertainment", the Pavilion Cinema in High Street.
The premises had recently changed hands and for business reasons the new owners, Elite Syndicate, had decided to close the doors.
The picture house would be "much missed by its many patrons".
Watten shooter's national honour
From the Groat of May 7, 1971
Teenager Barbara E Ross, of Achingale Place, Watten, had brought honour to Caithness small-bore rifle shooting by winning the National Junior Women's Championship.
A member of Watten Rifle Club, Miss Ross (18) had taken up the sport four years previously.
In the recently completed postal competition with other junior women in the UK, she represented Caithness Club, an organisation composed of members of local clubs for the purpose of major competitions.
Elsewhere, moves were being made to provide Wick Youth Club with its own premises and a suitable building had been identified.
However, the building would need to be improved and new toilets and a fire escape installed.
Provost W G Mowat said that the club would need the help of the people of Wick to realise its ambitions, "but that club members must first show, by their contribution to the community and by their own efforts, that they deserved this support".
He said that the club members would need to make a considerable effort to raise their share of the funding required.
The County Education Committee was to be approached with a request for a grant towards the costs and it was hoped that this could lead to the Scottish Department of Education giving financial assistance.
Threat to Pulteney House
From the Groat of Friday, May 10, 1996
Residents at Pulteney House were moved to tears by the news that their home was one of four in the Highlands being considered for closure in a bid to save money.
One woman even said she wouldn't want to go on living if the facility was closed.
Residents at the home, which operated as a resource centre for the elderly, were devastated by the news that a Highland Council working party had earmarked it as one which could be closed to save £350,000 from the social work budget.
They and their families were to face an agonising two-week wait to see if the social work committee would agree with the working party's assessment.
Praise for the home and its staff came from residents and their families, with one woman arguing the claims that the facility needed £1 million to bring it up to standard was "nonsense".
She said that Pulteney House was more than a "council asset", it was a home, and that proposed improvements were non-urgent and not essential, and would make little material difference to the lives of residents.
The chairman of the social work committee, Councillor Jimmy MacDonald, stressed the matter had not yet been debated but he said that the earmarked homes required significant expenditure and that money might be better channelled into smaller Community Care units.
