Looking Back – news from the John O'Groat Journal of yesteryear
Wick's new lifeboat launched
From the Groat of August 12, 1921
Shaltigoe and the surrounding braes were crowded on the occasion of the launching of the new local motor lifeboat, Frederick and Emma, from the recently erected lifeboat house.
Members of the public had gathered to watch the ceremony despite the dull and overcast weather and the strong westerly breeze, most of them likely taking advantage of the public half-holiday observed in the town at the request of the town council.

A platform had been erected in front of the lifeboat station and members of the Wick and Ackergill RNLI were present along with many dignitaries, including General Lord Horne, Colonel Henderson of Bilbster and John R G Sinclair, Bart., of Dunbeath.
The brass band of the Boys' Brigade was in attendance and accompanied the singing.
The lifeboat was officially launched by Miss Henderson of Bilbster, who broke a bottle of champagne over her stern and named her Frederick and Emma.
"On the words the trim little vessel was loosed and slid smoothly down into the water and set off across the bay, amid cheers from the assembled crowds, and saluted by several of the fishing fleet as she passed. After a turn round the bay and the harbour, she returned to the slipway and was safely berthed."
The event also included a garden party at the St Fergus bowling green, organised by the Ladies' Lifeboat Guild, which raised £31 6s 6d.
Ceremony at Scrabster
From the Groat of August 13, 1971
Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother was the guest of honour at a ceremony to name the new Thurso lifeboat, The Three Sisters.
The weather was dry, sunny and warm at Scrabster for the event and by 12.15 the first coach-loads of the 500 guests were being shown to their seats. The last of the guests were accommodated by 1.30, by which time members of the public were "streaming down the winding road".
Several thousand people listened to the speeches and watched the naming ceremony in which Her Majesty pressed a button which activated a mechanism to smash the traditional bottle of champagne on the bow.
Afterwards, "the next thrill for the crowd was instant starting-up of the lifeboat's powerful engines".
The craft moved to the nearby quayside steps where the Queen Mother was waiting to board the vessel and meet the crew, and then take a short trip round Thurso Bay, with Her Majesty "greatly enjoying a trick at the wheel".
Earlier in her speech the Queen Mother had praised the lifeboat's crew, the Thurso branch of the RNLI and the work of the Ladies' Guild who acted as fundraising organisers.
She also said that "as I look out on these waters from the Castle of Mey, I realise how treacherous they can be, and it is when they are at their most violent... that the lifeboats are normally putting out to sea".
New role for royal castle
From the Groat of August 16, 1996
The Castle of Mey was due to become the latest royal residence to throw open its doors to the public.
The Queen Mother had set up a charitable trust to ensure that it and its surrounding estate stayed intact beyond her lifetime, and one of the plans was to allow limited public access to pay for its upkeep.
Little was likely to change during Her Majesty's lifetime but thereafter the trust planned to make it the number one tourist attraction in the far north.
The trustees were Viscount Thurso, John Sinclair of Ulbster, Malcolm Sinclair, the Earl of Caithness, Captain Ashe Windham, an equerry to the Queen Mother, and Jim Stobbo, a Borders farmer and agricultural adviser.
Meanwhile, the Dounreay exhibition was again proving to be a major attraction with visitors.
Already more than 3500 tourists and local people had visited the exhibition and it was expected that the previous year's record total of 5000 visitors would be exceeded.
The centre opened in early June and would remain open until mid-September.
Dounreay director Dr Roy Nelson said: "The exhibition explains in an easily understood way what Dounreay is all about.
"I am delighted that our exhibition is proving to be such an attraction."
He added that at the end of the season the operators would consider an overall upgrading of the facility.