Looking Back – news from the John O'Groat Journal of yesteryear
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Help for unemployed fishermen
From the Groat of September 28, 1923
Wick Town Council had received correspondence from the Caithness Fishermen's Association and Wick Chamber of Commerce urging councillors "to find some means for providing work for unemployed fishermen", with the chamber suggesting that a local relief fund could be opened.
The councillors agreed that they "should do all in their power to alleviate the distress in the town caused by unemployment".
It was noted that Wick's Riverside Committee expected to commence work on a £1000 improvement scheme and would employ as many fishermen as possible.
Mr Bruce said that if additional funding could be obtained "several parts of the town, such as Argyle Square and Kirkhill, could be beautified" and he thought a relief fund should be opened through the press.
Bailie Mowat moved that, as the matter required careful consideration, "a small committee should be appointed" to work with other agencies to identify schemes which would provide work and apply for funding.
Elsewhere, under the heading "Remarkable Developments", it was reported that the voice of Sir Ernest Rutherford, speaking in the Philharmonic Hall in Liverpool, had been heard "through various broadcasting stations throughout the United Kingdom".
This transmission was described as "a milestone in the history of wireless telephony" as it was "the first occasion on which... the voice of a public man has been transmitted through six wireless stations".
Beaches left 'dangerous' by Army
From the Groat of September 28, 1973
The Army was taken to task over work it had carried out at Sinclair's Bay and Dunnet to remove "wartime obstacles".
Members of Caithness County Council's housing and landward services committee heard that the razing of the structures had left the beaches "worse now than before demolition".
An approach had been made to the Army to have the beaches tidied up as soon as possible, but if this wasn't done then the council faced doing the work itself as councillors were anxious to have the sands cleared before the next tourist season.
The work undertaken by the Army was described as "not very satisfactory". County clerk Mr R H Stevenson said the agreement had been for demolition but not for tidying up.
Keiss councillor David Rudhall said the state the beaches had been left in was "a perfect disgrace" and he claimed there was "a definite danger" on the beach at Sinclair's Bay which required to be "tackled at once".
Meanwhile, another new fishing vessel had been launched from James McCaughey's boatyard at Harbour Quay in Wick. The Plough was a 40ft dual-purpose boat built for Ronald Aitkenhead, of St Olaf Road, Thurso.
Tourist centres under review
From the Groat of October 2, 1998
The viability of tourist information centres in Caithness was being investigated as part of a wide-ranging review being carried out by the Highlands of Scotland Tourist Board.
Its 35 centres were being looked at as the organisation sought to find ways of handling its decreasing budget.
The effectiveness of the seasonal centres in Thurso and John O'Groats was being considered as part of the review, while the future of the full-time office in Wick was being examined, with the possibility that it too could be restricted to seasonal hours.
News of the review came just a month after the centre in Wick had been officially opened following a £14,000 refit.
Meanwhile, at a conference entitled "People and Peatlands" in Thurso, a call was made for a "balanced approach" to protect the internationally important peatlands in Caithness and Sutherland.
Keynote speaker Michael Scott, a writer and broadcaster, said what was required was "a change of perspective" and suggested that some farmers could become "peatland managers" to help protect the peat bog and the rare flora and fauna that thrived there.
However, some of the landowners warned against sanctifying the peatlands and stressed that the interests of local people must also be protected.
Mr Scott was the Scottish officer of Plantlife, which was planning to buy Munsary Farm in south-east Caithness.
