Looking Back – news from the John O'Groat Journal of yesteryear
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Authority split over teacher's wives
From the Groat of January 19, 1923
Members of Caithness Education Authority failed to agree on a motion to dismiss three teachers' wives who had stepped into the breach during the war.
The Rev Mr Macrae wanted the teachers dismissed. He said it was ridiculous that these women had jobs at Watten, Lanergill and Stroma when young trained teachers had no work.
However, people in the areas had sent letters and petitions to the authority in support of allowing the wives to continue, especially Jessie Malloch at Watten Public School who was near to retiral and would lose her pension if dismissed.
The Rev Macrae argued that the women would not face hardship if they left their jobs as "the husbands of each of the ladies have a very substantial salary to spend, which, I am told, is the ideal employment of married ladies".
He continued that with "so many young trained teachers going idle it was ridiculous of women with their husbands earning huge salaries to be sticking like limpets to a rock".
An amendment that exceptions be made for Mrs Malloch, and then for Wiliamina Taylor at Stroma Public School, on the basis that recruitment was difficult for the island, meant the motion failed to win two-thirds of the vote and it fell.
Pre-war housing improvements
From the Groat of January 19, 1973
A scheme to improve pre-war houses had left Wick Town Council with a dilemma.
A total of 423 houses in various parts of the town required improvement and the Scottish Development Department was offering a grant of 75 per cent of the cost of the work.
However, to take advantage of this, the work had to be complete by June 1974. After that the grant fell to 50 per cent.
Councillors heard that they had two options: to employ a large contractor form outside the area to undertake the whole thing, but "even then it would be doubtful if the work could be completed by June 1974", or to split the scheme between a large contractor and a smaller local contractor.
Other local authorities, including Thurso Town Council, were also perturbed by the timescale, and the Wick council was to co-operate with them "in making representations to have the time extended".
Elsewhere, a large new oilfield had been discovered in the North Sea, 100 miles east of Wick. It was hoped that the new field, to be named the Piper Field, would produce around 250,000 barrels a day.
The discovery well was the third exploratory well in a series planned by the Occidental Petroleum consortium in its six North Sea blocks awarded by the government the previous year.
Euro cash bid turned down
From the Groat of January 23, 1998
Plans for a deep-water basin at Scrabster had been refused assistance from the European structural funds.
Harbour trustees had wanted the European Union to fund 50 per cent of the £10 million project through its Objective 1 programme in the Highlands and Islands, and said they were promised at least 20 per cent.
But it emerged that the partnership which administered the fund had rejected the proposal, claiming it had a lack of overall support and strategic value.
The basin was intended to serve the new generation of super-trawler but would also be a major asset in attempts to bring more offshore supply boats to the harbour.
Despite the disappointment, trust chief executive Ronnie Sampson said it was "a hiccup rather than a complete setback" as the fund administrators had gone on to discuss submitting another application.
Meanwhile, a senior local councillor had expressed concern about contrasting reports on the state of the local economy.
Caithness deputy provost Falconer Waters noted that Caithness and Sutherland Enterprise and Highlands and Islands Enterprise had given a favourable analysis for the county, while the Highland Council had argued that prospects were gloomy.
Councillor Waters said the reports were presenting a confusing picture for local people.
