Looking Back – news from the John O'Groat Journal of yesteryear
Building trade dispute
From the Groat of November 11, 1921
Local masons had, without exception, returned to work after having gone on strike.
They maintained they had been asked to accept "1s 6d an hour or nothing" and had opted to take action.
They had returned to work at the rate they formerly had in Wick, 1s 9d, and were set to work on housing schemes at Dunbeath and Keiss, having been employed by two local firms on "the conditions prevailing prior to the dispute".
Meanwhile, around 140 men had renewed their claim for unemployment benefit at the Wick Labour Exchange over the past week, many of whom had not received any money for six weeks.
The total unemployment in the town numbered 864 – 497 were men, 323 women, 21 boys and 23 girls.
As a result, the necessity for the renewal of the soup kitchen in the town was "unfortunately already too apparent" and a preliminary meeting had been held in connection with the recommencing of dinners for the local children.
Elsewhere, people in the town were preparing to mark the Armistice with two minutes' silence, and it was hoped that "all traffic will cease".
However, not many of them would be wearing poppies. Such had been the demand for poppies that there were not enough to meet the order submitted by the Scottish executive committee of the British Legion.
Naver House dilemma
From the Groat of November 12, 1971
Local councillors voted by majority to convert Naver House in Thurso into an old people's home, despite the escalating conversion costs.
The building had been bought by Caithness County Council from the UK Atomic Energy Authority the year before for £35,000, with the expectation that it could be upgraded for £15,000. However, that figure had since risen to £43,000.
Council officials had expressed "deep concern" that councillors had made a policy decision "on the strength of unrealistic estimates".
Councillor William Swanson maintained that, in buying Naver House, councillors had gone back on a decision that had been acceptable to everyone, which was to build a new old people's home at Oldfield.
Provost TW Pollok, Thurso, said that the two-storey building was not suitable for a home and he suggested selling it back to the UKAEA.
However, many councillors felt that there was no alternative but to proceed with the Naver House conversion, with John Young, vice-convener, warning that a delay would mean the costs would rise even further.
In total, 16 councillors voted for the Naver plan with five supporting the amendment that the property be sold and a new old people's home built.
Mercy mission to orphanage
From the Groat of November 15, 1996
A Thurso father and son were set to bring some festive cheer to a group of abandoned Russian youngsters.
Stan and Kenny Ross, both active members of St Peter's and St Andrew's Church of Scotland, were not only praying for the 415 souls in Orphanage 15 in Moscow, they had launched an an appeal for toys and clothes which they intended to deliver themselves – in time for Christmas.
Stan (47), a day centre officer at Thor House, was so determined to complete the mission that he was preparing to trade in his BMW car for a Transit van.
Since the launch of the campaign the previous month, the trickle of donations, originally from the congregation and friends, had snowballed, with schools in Thurso taking up the cause.
The pair hatched the pan after hearing harrowing details of the youngsters' lives from Noel Doubleday, founder and director of the children's charity Love Russia. He told of the pitiful conditions in the orphanage, one of the many Dickensian-type institutions that had multiplied in post-Soviet Russia.
Stan said he and Kenny had been told to "brace ourselves for the worst imaginable conditions", as the children, aged between five and 15, had absolutely nothing and there was not enough staff to care for them.