Thurso lifeboat stalwart honoured with Old Pulteney award
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Malcolm Waring, of Pulteney Distillery, presents the Old Pulteney Maritime Achievement Award to Billy Farquhar.
THE maritime industry has paid tribute to a man who has given 38 years of service to saving lives.
Thurso’s Billy Farquhar was awarded the Old Pulteney Maritime Achievement Award during the Prohibition Ball held at Huddart Street in Wick on Friday.
The award is given annually to a local resident who has contributed greatly towards the community and the maritime industry.
The 64-year-old has dedicated almost four decades of service to the local maritime industry and saved 81 lives. His career began when he joined the Merchant Navy after he left school, and he then spent eight years sailing with Shell tankers, the Ben Line and finally with the Christian Salvesen Co in Leith.
After leaving the Merchant Navy, he worked on boats fishing out of Scrabster and joined the Thurso lifeboat crew in 1969.
During his first shift, he was sent out to attend the Longhope lifeboat TGB disaster at Orkney where eight people lost their lives.
"The first call out was certainly a baptism of fire," he said. "It was just an awful night to be involved with. But at the time you don’t think too much about it. You have been hired to do a job and you have to get on with it."
See more in Friday’s John O’Groat Journal.
