Looking Back – news from the John O'Groat Journal of yesteryear
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School truants' punishment questioned
From the Groat of April 7, 1922
The disciplinary action taken by Wick High interim rector Robert Stark was discussed at length at the meeting of the Wick School Management Committee.
The rector had suspended several pupils who had played truant in direct defiance of orders, in that they had left without permission during morning lessons. He wrote to the committee that he had considered them "too old for the usual punishment" and had suspended them from school until the matter could be brought before the committee.
Opinions on whether the rector had acted fairly were mixed. Some members believed that the rector should be supported as "the conduct of the pupils could not be tolerated", while others considered that he had imposed too harsh a punishment which would attach a stigma to the youngsters.
One member believed that the rector had gone too far and that teachers in general held too much sway over children.
"Considerable difficulty was experienced on coming to a unanimous finding on the subject," but it was eventually agreed to record disapproval of the pupils' actions, to ask Mr Stark to withdraw the suspension, to issue a warning to the offending scholars and to request that all headmasters in future consult the school committee before suspending or expelling pupils.
Historic well targeted by thieves
From the Groat of April 7, 1972
It was reported that "the trials and frustrations endured by anyone attempting to serve the public interest" were exemplified by the experience of the Wick Society.
The group had recently completed the renovation of the historic Cairndhuna Well, only for the drinking cup which had been securely chained to it to be stolen within 24 hours of its installation.
The "idiotic theft" had resulted in the society postponing the erection of a notice for the benefit of visitors which would have given brief details of the history of the well.
On a more cheerful note, Donald Mackay, skipper of the Chance, had gifted to the society a ship's figurehead, thought to have belonged to the Dutch ship Nadjur. The vessel had run aground at Baikie's harbour (now the site of the dry dock) after losing her sails in Wick Bay en route to America with a cargo of iron.
Meanwhile, 65 "Baby Austin" vehicles had converged on John O'Groats at the end of a large-scale social run from Land's End.
The event celebrated the Baby Austin's jubilee year. It had been launched in 1922 as Britain's first "fully adequate scaled-down model capable of comfortably accommodating a couple of adults and a young family".
Wick milk jobs axed
From the Groat of April 11, 1997
A quarter of the workforce at the Claymore Creamery in Wick had been made redundant and the milk packaging operation transferred to Nairn.
All seven of the staff had been involved in the packing process and their departure left 21 employees at the Station Road premises carrying out collecting and delivery duties, administration and milk testing work.
The change had been prompted by the firm's rationalisation programme and "came down to economics".
Chief executive Ian Larg explained that the Nairn plant was just six years old and had been designed to meet current and future standards, whereas the Wick plant did not meet these standards and the cost of renovating it was "far too high".
Elsewhere, it was reported that traders in Wick's High Street had suffered a drop in business as contractors carried out major road and pavement work for the town centre pedestrian priority scheme.
However, the business people said they were ready to "soldier on" through the disruption in the hope that, once completed, the scheme would prove beneficial to the area.
Many regular customers were continuing to use the town centre shops, although one trader did worry that some shoppers might get used to going elsewhere and claimed that elderly customers were "frightened" of walking through the upheaval.
