Looking Back – news from the John O'Groat Journal of yesteryear
Register for free to read more of the latest local news. It's easy and will only take a moment.
Fishing crisis, plans for a new sports pavilion and high demand for school lunches.
Fishing crisis debated at Wick
From the Groat of September 21, 1923
Local fishermen called for a government inquiry into the state of the fishing industry when representatives of the trade met in Wick, and they supported the findings of a conference in Aberdeen on the crisis.
Caithness Fishermen's Association president William Miller outlined many of the issues facing the industry, including the problem of foreign imports. He said that, had it not been for the quantity of Norwegian herring imported, the local fishermen might have ended the season "on the right side".
Meanwhile, treasurer Mr N Robertson maintained there was "too much apathy in town with regard to the plight in which the fishermen found themselves". There was no doubt the fishing industry was "in dire straits", he said, and "desperate diseases needed desperate remedies".
He said the fishermen had rendered great service in the war. "They had been promised that the land was to be one fit for heroes to live in and they expected the government to do something for the fishermen, who might have to be relied upon again.
"It was their duty to keep the fishermen on the sea as much as to keep the crofters on the land."
Elsewhere, the Wick Riverside and Town Improvements Committee agreed to terrace the braes on the south side of the river at the Haugh and level the Haugh itself to provide a sports ground.
Go-ahead for sports pavilion
From the Groat of September 21, 1973
Plans for a new sports pavilion to serve the Bignold and Harmsworth parks were agreed at a meeting of the Wick Town Council's administration committee.
The project was to cost around £30,000 and would include an £8000 caretaker's house and two changing rooms at £19,000.
Burgh surveyor Mr A Begg said that provision for a caretaker was essential, "otherwise this project could be ruined by vandals".
The committee also heard that "Wick's Hell's Angels" had been accused of damaging Harmsworth Park. Dean of Guild Miller said motorcyclists had been "driving round and round the park at night and complaints had been received from nearby residents".
It was agreed that the matter should be reported to the police.
Meanwhile, more than 30,000 people had visited Dunrobin Castle and gardens since it opened to the public at the end of May, "a reflection of the busy tourist season" in the north. It was reported that there had been a "preponderance of Europeans in the numbers of overseas visitors, including several from Iron Curtain countries".
Visitors had been "impressed by the obvious effort to lay out the rooms in the castle as attractively as possible" and they had also been impressed by the gardens.
School's struggle with dinner demand
From the Groat of September 25, 1998
Twice as many children were staying for lunch at a Thurso primary school than its dining facilities could cope with.
Some of the overspilled pupils were having to wait more than 30 minutes before they could be accommodated in a classroom converted to a temporary dining room at Miller Academy.
Parents had thought their case for investment in a new dining facility had been included in the spending plans of Highland Council's education authority. But they were to relaunch their campaign after learning that it had been squeezed out as a result of financial pressures.
The council's area education manager Annette Sharland said the issue was a "major problem" and it was under active consideration.
But the budget problems being experienced by the local authority meant that she could not say when the extension and refurbishment would be carried out.
In Wick, a £50,000 housing scheme was being planned as part of a programme for the regeneration of Lower Pulteneytown.
The "build and train" development, to be situated at the corner of Miller Street and Burn Street, would provide a dozen flats and also give unemployed young people the chance to learn construction skills. It was expected that the project would give the young trainees a building qualification.
