Looking Back – news from the John O'Groat Journal of yesteryear

Broken window case in court

From the Groat of February 24, 1922

An action had been raised in the Small Debt Court at Wick in which draper Mr G D Robertson sought compensation for a broken window at his premises in Miller Lane.

The incident involved a horse and cart being driven by an employee of William Clyne, farmer, Noss.

The court heard that a turnip cutter being carried in the cart fell and broke the window after the horse slipped.

The pursuers maintained that the window was broken through the negligence of the defender's carter in not having the cutter placed securely in the cart while passing through such a narrow lane.

Evidence from a police constable was that the cutter had been projecting over the side of the cart.

However, Sheriff Trotter found that there was no corroboration for the constable's evidence and he took the view that the horse slipping was an accident and the turnip cutter "was secured on the cart in the usual, ordinary and customary way for a turnip cutter to be secured", and so found in favour of Mr Clyne.

Elsewhere, a concert was to be held in Watten to raise funds for the Wick soup kitchens, while in Wick a jumble sale was to be held in the Rifle Hall and a door-to-door collection undertaken for the same cause, as there were "hundreds of children who get their only decent meal in the day at one or other of the soup kitchens".

Beard-growing fundraiser

From the Groat of February 25, 1972

Work to build a Haster/Tannach community centre was expected to begin before the end of 1973 if all went well with fundraising, grant approvals and final planning consent.

An update was to be given at an open meeting in the premises of the Stirkoke Rifle Club when members of the public would be able to consider the proposals and suggest the best type of building and the uses to which the centre could be put.

The committee and helpers would be required to raise £1000, of which £700 had already been collected.

To boost the coffers the committee was to stage a dance in the Bower Community Centre where a feature of the programme was the judging of a beard-growing contest, which had begun on January 7 when 20 clean-shaven competitors had agreed to forsake their razors for the cause.

Meanwhile, the "bhoys and colleens" staffing the Irish Tourist Board stand at a holiday exhibition in Birmingham had come to the rescue of a Dunbeath teenager. Wilma Henderson (17) had been demonstrating at the Sutherland Fly Ltd stand when her handbag, containing £50, was stolen. Keen to help, the Irish exhibitors had a whip-round and raised £28 for her.

Airport pollution caused a stink at farm

From the Groat of February 28, 1997

A retired Caithness farmer had expressed concern about pollution on his land from de-icer sprayed on the airport runway at Wick.

David Miller, of Upper Ackergill Farm, said that plant life in a ditch had been killed and he had had to contend with an "obnoxious smell".

Mr Miller, whose steading was just 500 yards from the runway, said the problem had arisen the previous year but pollution levels then were tolerable. This time round, the weather was colder and the pollution had worsened.

While Mr Miller said he appreciated the runway had to be kept clear, the situation was so bad "I even get the stink inside my house".

The Scottish Environment Protection Agency said Mr Miller's complaint was one of a handful it had received and tests carried out in three ditches in the area had confirmed that the de-icer was to blame.

Highlands and Islands Airport Ltd (HIAL) indicated that Wick was not the only airport encountering such difficulties and had pledged to investigate the next winter.

Mr Miller was unhappy with that timescale but HIAL said the investigation process was "costly and time-consuming and involved moving equipment around the airports affected".

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