Looking Back – News from the John O'Groat Journal of yesteryear
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Local bakers on strike
From the Groat of December 31, 1920
Few labour disputes had so little public sympathy as the strike by the local bakers for an increase of 7s 6d weekly on a present wage of £4, it was reported. The dispute was not confined to Wick as it had arisen out of a national decision by the Scottish Union of Bakers and Confectioners for an increase to meet the cost of living.
Locally the employers had offered to continue the men at the present rate even if comparable wages in the south dropped, but this had been refused and it was feared that some bakeries would be compelled to close should the wage rise be given.
Some bakers had returned to work after the first day of the strike but most were still out and as a result supplies of bread had been "enormously curtailed".
"The men have very little support or sympathy from the public in view of the large number of unemployed men in the town who would willingly work at the same wage if only work could be obtained for them."
Elsewhere it was reported that a scheme was to be set up to provide school meals for poor children. Many fathers had been out of work for for nearly five months and the "immediate necessity for such an effort cannot be too clearly emphasised".
Wick support for university
From the Groat of January 1, 1971
The prospects of a new university being established in northern Scotland were growing firmer and Wick Town Council had agreed to work with others to have it established in Inverness.
On behalf of the council, Bailie Kenneth Gunn had attended a meeting in Inverness, at which representatives from each of the seven crofting counties, burghs within the Highland area, and members of parliament – including Caithness and Sutherland MP Robert Maclennan – met to further the campaign.
The decision was to be made by the University Grants Committee in three years' time and it was agreed that a pilot scheme would be devised by consultants to identify a site for a university building and assess student places, financial investment, associated industrial development and other research work required to make a bid to the committee.
Inverness had lost out to Stirling 10 years previously but Bailie Gunn was optimistic this time round. He said: "I came away in no doubt as to the determination to succeed with this second attempt to have a university sited in the Highlands. The idea of a Highland university, however, can become fact only if we, as Highlanders ourselves, are prepared to support the uphill battle to get the blessing of the University Grants Committee."
Water crisis was the worst in 40 years
From the Groat of January 5, 1996
Caithness-based water and sewerage workers were battling to cope with the worst local water crisis in 40 years as burst pipes caused by the Christmas freeze drained reservoirs of their supplies.
Around 550 homes in the county had been without a water supply at some point over the festive season, with many still waiting to have the service restored to them.
But despite the problems caused by the freeze and thaw, the public were coping well, said Iain Banks, the Wick-based senior engineer (operations).
All the department's staff locally, 20 supervisors and workmen, had been working almost round the clock since Christmas Eve to try and deal with the problems caused by the weather.
"They have been working very long hours with no days off at Christmas or New Year. They have done a very, very good job," he said.
The problems began at the pumping main at Cnoc Dudh. This was repaired the same day only for water levels at the Heathfield reservoir to start going down. Then the Cnoc Dubh reservoir ran dry and, according to Mr Banks, despite attempts to fill it, the water was going out faster then they could put it in.
