Looking Back: Objections to Wick club, School bus concerns and Kosovo aid effort
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Objections to new club for Wick
From the Groat of May 23, 1924
An “interesting debate” had taken place at Wick Sheriff Court when the pros and cons of a new social club for the town were debated before Sheriff Trotter.
An application had been made for a certificate of registration for the proposed Town and County Club in Back Bridge Street.
While objectors had listed a number of reasons why the application should be refused, they were undoubtedly most concerned about the sale of alcohol in a town which had voted No-Licence and had effectively become “dry”.
However, James Hynd, appearing for the applicants, was unimpressed with the arguments.
He told the court that the objectors’ statement that “the club is to be used mainly as a drinking club” was “pure presumption” on their part.
He said that “the only ground he could see on which they could make such an observation was with regard to the character of the members who had applied for the application. From the list of members they could see the names of the Treasurer of Wick Burgh, some JPs, Town Councillors and members of the Education Authority”.
He stressed that these gentlemen were all of good standing locally and he took exception to the implication from the objectors that the members were “a body of men trying to do something illegal”.
He also noted that there was another club in Back Bridge Street, the Caithness Club, the membership of which was restricted and full up.
School bus concerns
From the Groat of May 24, 1974
The Wick Area Education Sub-Committee was to investigate the timing of school buses after it emerged that some young pupils were not arriving home until 5pm in some instances.
Donald Miller, Stemster, raised concerns because pupils at Wick North Primary School finished lessons at 3pm but had to wait an hour and a half for a bus.
He said that the “infant children” were picked up at 8.35 in the morning but the return bus once school had finished did not leave until 4.30.
“Parents are very upset,” he told councillors. “There is no uniformity. Young children should not be going home at 4.30pm, especially in the wintertime.”
David Rudhall, Keiss, pointed out that some children from his area were not able to get home until 4.30pm or 5pm.
Meanwhile, the new Caithness District Council had met for the first time.
Elected unanimously as chairman was John Young, Carsgoe, while Joseph Mackay, Talmine , Melness, was elected as vice-chairman, also unanimously.
Mr Young said he was honoured to take up the role. He said in the past that Caithness County Council and north Sutherland had enjoyed “happy relationships” and “I trust that these will go on in the future for the wellbeing of Caithness and that part of Sutherland which goes with us”.
Company on track with aid effort
From the Groat of May 28, 1999
A Caithness company had paid for a train to take vital resources to refugees in Kosovo.
MacKenzies, which operated a furniture business in Brown Place, Wick, had provided £2825 to cover the cost of sending a train from the Highlands to the war zone and had helped raise the funds for a second trip.
The firm had received donations from customers and businesses in Caithness, other parts of the Highlands and as far away as Edinburgh, Glasgow and London.
The response was so good that the money had been generated in about three weeks and a further £300 had been raised towards the cost of sending a third train to the area.
Alan MacKenzie said that he and his staff had been touched by the events in Kosovo and had contacted the Blythswood charity in Easter Ross to see how the company could help.
Mr MacKenzie said: “We were told they had sufficient food, clothing, tents, mattresses and blankets but lacked money to cover the cost of transportation, so we decided to meet that expense.”
He added that the company had agreed to raise funds for a second train and had met with a “terrific response”.
He said that people had been “touched by the suffering in Kosovo and wanted to respond in a meaningful way”.
He also praised the role played by Blythswood and said that the wealth of experience it brought to the effort “ensured that the operation went smoothly”.
