Looking Back – news from the John O'Groat Journal of yesteryear
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Publicans fight no-licence decision
From the Groat of January 18, 1921
An action had been raised in the Court of Session by the licence holders of Wick against the Wick Town Council, the returning officer and the town clerk of Wick for the annulment of the result of the Temperance (Scotland) Act poll in the town.
The vote at the end of the previous year saw Wickers opt for the no-licence option which would lead to the closure of pubs and severely restrict the sale of alcohol in hotels.
In their action, the publicans alleged that the vote had been carried out with insufficient secrecy and inconvenient lighting arrangements at polling booths and that an unauthorised person had been in attendance at one of the booths. They also took issue with the vote having been carried out on the same day as the municipal elections.
A public meeting was held to express "indignation" and to call upon the town council to defend the action. Despite the short notice and inconvenient timing, the hall was filled with a large number of electors.
This was followed later in the evening by a "historic" meeting of the town council.
After much discussion it was put to the vote with all but three councillors opting to defend the action. Of the three, one disagreed because he believed many people had voted for no-licence "through intimidation and misapprehension and entirely through misunderstanding".
School cleaners' contracts row
From the Groat of February 19, 1971
Under the heading "women should not be asked to handle school hosepipes", a report gave details of a meeting of the eduction sub-committee at which the contracts of school cleaners came under the spotlight.
Councillors heard that the idea was to give cleaners a "definitive outline of duties" but it was stated that many were being paid for a greater number of hours than they actually worked and such a situation could not be "prolonged".
The cleaners' duties were discussed after councillors were told that head teachers had instructed them to clean the toilets, a job normally carried out by janitors.
Bailie DT Harper said: "There is not a man here who would like it if his wife had to become a toilet cleaner. These cleaners should not be asked to do toilets when janitors are quite prepared to carry on doing it. It is not a job for women at all and should never have been suggested. I want to protest strongly about women being asked to do this sort of work."
Mr A B Henderson said the cleaners would have to get rubber boots because the work involved the use of hoses which had to be fixed to the joints. "It is not a job for a woman," he said.
Lifeboat shed plans in disarray
From the Groat of February 23, 1996
Plans to turn the former Wick lifeboat shed into a maritime museum suffered a setback when one of the organisations involved withdrew from the scheme.
Wick Society chairman Iain Sutherland revealed that the group was no longer interested in using the lifeboat shed to house its historic boat, the Spray, which was thought to be the only one of its kind in the world.
He claimed that it had taken too long to reach a decision on the future of the shed, which was owned by the RNLI but built on ground owned by Wick Harbour Trust.
The decision meant that Caithness District Council was the only other agency interested in the building and a report on the feasibility of buying it was to go before its next meeting.
However, Ian Robertson, director of leisure and recreation, conceded that cost would be one of the factors to be considered in light of a 12 per cent cut to the budget.
Mr Sutherland wished the council "good luck" but could not see how it could justify the spend in a time of financial cutbacks.
He added that Wick already had a "good substantial museum" and didn't need another one. Alternative accommodation had been found for the Spray.
