Wick's World War II trail on course to be launched later this year
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A World War II memorial trail around Wick is on course to be launched later this year, community councillors have been told.
The aim is to highlight the importance of the area in guarding against a potential Nazi invasion by installing educational information panels at a number of sites.
These will inform local people and visitors about the county's important role at a time when there were fears of a possible invasion of Britain from across the North Sea following the German occupation of Norway from 1940.
Alistair Jack, Caithness Voluntary Group's development trust support officer, is supporting both Sinclair’s Bay Trust and Wick Development Trust on the initiative.
It is hoped that all planning applications relating to the Wick parts of the trail will be approved by Highland Council in the coming weeks.
Development trust chairman Jonathan Miller gave a progress report at the July meeting of the Royal Burgh of Wick Community Council.
"We're hoping to get signs up and get the trail launched later this year, hopefully in the next three or four months," he said.
The trust is operating Wick River Campsite as a community enterprise, with profits to go towards local regeneration efforts after a three-year programme of improvements.
Chairman Allan Farquhar asked about the trust's proposals for the centre of the town.
"Obviously that is our intention," Mr Miller said. "Manpower is the problem, to be quite honest. We've got our hands quite full just now.
"The campsite is taking a lot of hours. The World War II trail is obviously coming up as well. Both of those things, although not specific to the town centre, are designed to encourage tourism and spending and boost the economy, so they will all benefit the town."
Community councillor Norma Craven questioned how the wartime project will support town centre regeneration.
"We saw the plans for the World War II trail and I'm not sure where, except in a very peripheral way, the economy of the town would benefit specifically from that," she said. "If people are going out on the trail they're not going to be wandering in the town."
Mr Miller replied: "We're conscious that we need to be looking at other projects in the town when we have the time to do it. We're open to suggestions as well, if anyone else feels they have a project that we should be looking at in the town, albeit when we've got the time to do it.
"We're putting probably 90 per cent of our effort just now into the campsite, as a board, which is a big percentage. That is a short-term project in the grand scheme of things.
"The campsite is an opportunity for the trust to self-fund projects in the town centre in years to come. But in order to get to that stage we have to get the campsite to a stage where it doesn't require any more investment."
He pointed out that there are some war sites within Wick itself, including the harbour area, so "you're back and forth through the town centre on the trail".
Earlier this year Sarah Lamb began a three-year post as Wick Development Trust project officer, funded by Highlands and Islands Enterprise.
Mr Miller told community councillors: "She has been fantastic and knows the funding side of things inside out. She had been instrumental in pulling funds out of things air, almost, which has been brilliant.
"She is heavily involved in pushing the campsite project as well as everything else."
- Alistair Jack has explained previously that Sinclair’s Bay was seen as offering "almost perfect conditions" for an enemy invasion. He said: "Had the Germans managed to create a bridgehead in Caithness, it would have been disastrous for Britain and could have cost us the war."
