Looking Back – news from the John O'Groat Journal of yesteryear
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Horse sports for hospital fund
From the Groat of June 29, 1923
A grand gymkhana of horse sports was being planned to raise funds for the proposed extension of the Bignold Cottage Hospital in Wick.
The Bignold Park was to be the venue for the event on July 11, which was the Thurso annual holiday, and it was hoped that special trains with reduced fares would attract visitors from the west of the county.
The day was to start with a mounted procession through the town with the riders in fancy dress, followed by sports at the park, including hurdle jumping, a Shetland pony derby, musical chairs, a pig-sticking competition, motorcycle events and a greasy plank contest, as well as a display by the county Girl Guides.
The day was to also host numerous sideshow attractions such as wireless listening-in sets, clock golf and "the amazing wonders of the microscope". It was expected that the event would "eclipse last year's excellent entertainment".
Meanwhile, there was concern about the length of time it was taking to erect a war memorial in Wick.
A Groat writer stated that "still the tale is 'nothing doing' at the site of the Wick War Memorial. Why is this?
"If there is no immediate further progress we shall have something pretty pungent to say on the matter in an early issue."
New trophies for football club
From the Groat of June 29, 1973
Two new trophies had been donated to East End United, one of Wick's juvenile football teams.
The William Sinclair Memorial Cup had been given by his widow. Mr Sinclair had been the club trainer for 40 years.
The second trophy, the Jervis Bay Memorial Shield, had been presented by a former East End player who had served in the Royal Navy during World War II.
It commemorated the "epic sea battle of the Jervis Bay, an armed merchant ship, against a German battleship which had attacked a British convoy". A total of 18 Caithness men, all Royal Navy Reservists, had been on board the Jervis Bay and nine of them were lost.
Both trophies were to be competed for within the burgh.
James Bremner, who had assisted Mr Sinclair in the training of the players, was named as the new new trainer, with William Budge and Alan Lannon as assistants.
Meanwhile, a 10-ton bronze propeller, salvaged from a Norwegian ship, had been landed at Wick.
The Dovrejfell had run aground on the Skerries in 1956. The vessel had been refloated but in the process the propeller was torn off.
The salvage operation had been masterminded by South Ronaldsay blacksmith William Mowat.
It was expected that, with bronze fetching more than £420 a ton, the propeller could be worth about £4500.
Grant boost for Lybster heritage plan
From the Groat of July 3, 1998
An ambitious project to breathe new life into Lybster's harbour area had been given a major funding boost.
Grants totalling £90,000 had been pledged for the scheme which included live TV screenings of colonies of seabirds and the opening up of old cliff-top paths.
A charitable trust had been set up to spearhead the bid to turn the once-booming herring port into a major visitor attraction. If all went well, the new complex was expected to open the next summer with five part-time jobs created.
The £280,000 plans centred on the conversion of semi-derelict listed buildings into a boatbuilding workshop, coffee shop and exhibition area.
The grant support from Scottish Natural Heritage, Caithness and Sutherland Enterprise, the EU-backed PESCA programme and the Caithness area committee of Highland Council was expected to help Lybster Heritage Trust secure the remainder of the funding needed from the National Lottery.
The TV footage of local colonies of nesting razorbills, guillemots, fulmars and kittiwakes was a late addition to the scheme.
The screens, along with interpretative displays, were to be sited in the exhibition area along with information on the rise and fall of the herring trade.
The SNH grant of £15,000 was the largest the body had awarded to a local organisation in the far north.
