News Archive - November 2001
30th November 2001
Tom Jackson Thanks
Everyone Who Voted For Him
Tom Jackson who won the Thurso East bi-election for the Highland
Council said he was absolutely delighted with the result..
"I would like to say thanks to all who helped me and voted for me
and I look forward to working for the benefit of all the residents
of Thurso East Ward, Caithness and the Highlands"
AI Festive Season - In Caithness Dialect
W T Lyall this time in Caithness dialect -
Ai
festive season's here again
Thank goodness chuist wance a year,
A time for ye till enjoy yursel'
Hard drink, rich food, good cheer...
Coach Road, Wick
Coach
Road coming up from Louisburgh Street has a mix of houses and one or
two business and a shop.
Free Online Training Courses Updated
We
have set about checking the many links in the section and added some
new ones. Many of the early ones had gone so we have cut them
out and hopefully tracked down a few interesting subjects of
interest.
Tom Jackson, Independent
Wins Thurso East
The Thurso East Ward was won by Tom Jackson.
The result was as follows -
Tom Jackson - Independent 403
Colin Punler - Scottish Labour 226
In Praise O A Hot Water Bottle
Jenny Stewart reminding us of one of winter's
well known items.
29th November 2001
St Nicholas Fair, Helmsdale
Saturday 1 December, 10am-4pm
Sales tables, baking, storytelling, facepainting, raffles, RNLI
videos, mulled wine, hot sausages and mince pies, all in support of
local charities. At Timespan from 10 and the Community Centre
from 12. Opening procession from the Belgrave at 10am (all children
welcome); Childrens Fancy Dress 3pm in the Community Centre; music
session in the Bannockburn Inn from 8pm. If you are heading
south why not take a look in.
Drugs Information And News
For some time now we have been updating our
drugs links and news section almost every week. The problems
of drugs both from the health and crime view points are important
and that is why we are devoting space to this subject linking the
places where help can be found to the information about the problems
and solutions You will find various items each week linked to
the Drugscope Information web site.
Ashley Court
This
little street was built just a few years ago and is just off
Louisburgh Street.
Scotland V England
Schoolboys Football Match
More than 750 school pupils from
throughout the Highlands will be at the game in Dingwall on Friday
30 November to watch the Scottish Schoolboy Under 16 Victory Shield
international between Scotland and England.
28th November 2001
Babes In The Wood - Pantomime
Wednesday 12 - 15 December
7.30pm
Thurso High School -
Saturday Matinee 2.00pm
Thurso
Christmas Fayre Saturday 1 December
Fun, special discounts in
shops, free raffles & prizes, costumes, Christmas Tree lights switch
on and Thurso gets into the festive spirit.
Caithness FM
Local Radio
Caithness FM have launched their new website
www.caithnessfm.co.uk, prizes to be won all of this week, view
what show is on now, daily schedule, post what's on and requests
online directly to the presenter in the studio.
Christmas Lunches - Old Parish Church, Wick
Saturday 8 December 11.30 -
2.00pm All Welcome
Christmas Tea & Santa's Grotto
Saturday 8 December 2.30pm Westerdale Parish Church
Guild
Kirkhill House
Starting
in the middle of Wick at Kirkhill house we begin an upgrade of the A
- Z of Caithness. Over coming months we will begin to join up the
streets in the various towns and villages with links to adjoining
streets on the pages and ever more pictures.
Louisburgh
Street
You
will find the links to Louisburgh Street and Kirkhill already in
place. Eventually you will be able to take a tour round all
the streets in Caithness moving from one street to the next.
Over time more links and details will be added to each street index
page.
Corrected
Halberry Castle Ground Plan
Robert
Richmond has gone back to the drawing board to provide a more
accurate plan of Halberry Castle. For those of you collecting
the information you may want to check it out to get this latest and
more accurate plan.
We have also begun an
A
- Z indexing of Andrew Spratt's work on the internet and this
will be building over coming months
Main Castle Index.
27th November 2001
Waybaggers View From Scaraben
The
Caithness Waybaggers group certainly picked a good day when they
took this picture on 1 October.
Ord Of Caithness For The Waybaggers
Here
were the group in August at the famous Ord. One of the
potentially worst places to pass in snowy days but beautiful in
summer. The snow only blocks it now and then although
sometimes spectacularly.
More Castle Gunn
Information
Ground
Plan,
Site Pictures
and Introduction
Robert
Richmond presents an introduction to Andrew Spratt's reconstruction
of Castle Gunn or Clyth. Some pictures of the beautiful cliff views for
you to compare the site today and look along the coast to see what they saw.
Castles Index
New Wick Sewage Works
£4.3million Open Day
Tuesday 4 December 2.00 - 8.00pm
Assembly Rooms, Wick
Find out about the details of the most modern treatment works to
arrive in the county shortly.
Christmas Sale
Thursday 6 December 7.00pm Staxigoe Hall
Decorations, Table Decorations, Christmas Trees, Stalls
Caithness Waybaggers Reports
Here
is the first of a series of short reports from Caithness Waybaggers.
This group go on walks throughout the year. Their calendar will be
republished shortly in the Sports Pages.
High Life Goes Highland Wide
But Not Until April
The new card was announced recently but it has now been
pointed out that the card may not be available until April 2002 at
the earliest as it is dependant on funding.
26th November 2001
Caithness.Org Night Out Friday
Night
Caithness.Org is
having its seasonal Night Out on Friday 30 November in Carters
Bar, Wick. All surfers and anyone who wants to join in is
welcome to come along to our little bash. This is the first
time we have tried this so its wide open to you all. Whether
its one or a hundred we will all be there. Just look for a
noisy crew in a corner. Next year we are heading for Thurso.
Two Hundred Years Now For
Roads Resurfacing
That is the bleak picture painted by the Director of Roads and Transport in
Highland Region unless roads budgets are increased.
Don't Forget To Vote In Thurso East Election
Click Here for a list of Thurso East Streets
Pantomine
Babes In the Wood 1955
It's
nearly pantomime season again but how many of you remember this one.
Frieda Murray (nee Henderson) thinks was 1955. It was "Babes
In The Wood". Were you in the cast or did you see it?
Bogus Workman - Police Warning
Mausaleum - Old Parish Church, Wick
25th November 2001
Wick Play Areas Community Group
If you would like to keep up with the progress
of this group in their quest to renew Wick's Play Areas in this new
section on the web site.
New Aerial View of
Scrabster
This aerial view of Scrabster alongside the artists impression lets
you see the scale of the new harbour development now underway.
The ferry in the photograph is much smaller than the huge ships that
may be anchoring by the end of 2002.
Latest Stroma
Aerial Picture
Another
view From John Firth to add to our growing Stroma collection.
Gills
Bay From The Air
This
picture from John Firth was taken shortly before the pier work was
completed for the new ferry now in operation.
Yarrows Archaeological Trust Steering Group
Second Meeting Thurs. 29th Nov.
at Thrumster School, 7:30 p.m.
No grass growing under this new group - moving along fast.
Dunnet Bay SSSI
This is part two of an item written by Kira
Ward for Caithness field Club bulletin. In this part she gives
an outline of current land use and vegetation.
John O'Groats From
The Air
Starting
a run of harbours from the air with John O'Groats. Pictures
from John Firth.
Face Painting - A Hit With
the Kids
Face
Painting seems to grow ever more popular with Wick kids each year.
And Saturday saw plenty of them with all sorts of colours and faces
on. no shortage here of potential for coming panto's in Wick
Turners Ladies Shop In
Festive Mode
Remember
now there is still a month to go. We want to see all those
happy face every day even if the Christmas Tree is likely to feature
in next summer's gala week. To the Message Boards for the
comment already streaming in. Yes Thurso you still have
time to check yours - maybe!!
24th November 2001
Wick Christmas Lights Switch
On
Wick
got the festive season off to an early start with a fun day and
lights switched on al round the town from Market Square. The
lights are gradually spreading out as each year more are being added
in several directions.
Lots Of Children Met Santa Today
Christmas Music From The
Salvation Army Brass Band
There
was plenty of music and dancing all day in Market Square today and
the Salvation Army Band got into the festive mood playing all the
well known favourites.
D R Simpson's Staff In Festive Mood
Staff
in many of the shops were dressed up in costumes today and here is
the first of the pictures. More tomorrow
McAllan's Staff Clowning
Around
Plenty
of laughs in one of Wicks well known clothes shops. Free
glasses of wine and lemonade were given to everyone coming into the
shop. Could that be why they were so busy!!!!!!
23rd November 2001
Hanging About The
Highlands
George Watson was on the track of the places
used to deal out the ultimate punishment. Read what he found on the
five or six Gallows Hills in the county, some in the Gaelic guise of
Cnoc na Croiche - and further a field.
Team MCC Starts Toy Run at 11.00
From Wick
The team of motor bike riders dressed in Santa gear will run round
Caithness on Saturday 24th November starting at 11.00am from Market
Square. They will be uplifting toys for local charities.
They will be in Thurso about 1.30pm.
Castletown First Christmas Lights
The first Christmas lights will be switched on
by retired school teacher Mary Swanson on Friday 30 November.
Brubster Places
Not content with his earlier article on Brubster, J K Butler went on
to write this more detailed piece on Brubster Places for the
Caithness Field Club Bulletin
Scorrie Internet Packages
The Caithness.Org business arm Scorrie
Internet is offering a great deal in hosting services for web sites
and includes a range of essentials for anyone running a web site.
In addition all Scorrie clients get ever more links on Caithness.Org
and Caithness Business Pages. Check out our deal and get your
web site noticed. Remember you don't have to be in Caithness to get
our deals.
Launch Of Highland
Access £1.2 Million Project
Walking in the Highlands has received a huge boost with the
appointment of 5 access officers including David Barclay who until
recently was a Highland Ranger based in Caithness.
Shops In Thurso - Two Well
Known Eating Places
Johnston Of Thurso
and Le Bistro. More to
come in this section.
Scapa Container Port Plans Move Up the Agenda
Four organisations, including
leading players in the ports and related industries, have expressed
strong interest in the plans to establish a container port in
Orkney's Scapa Flow. Could this be the next big sea based
business in the north? It has a lot going for it - Deep water
and safe secure anchorage as fleets have found for hundreds of
years.
Keeping Your Relatives In The Picture
Gordon Johnson gives some tips on keeping your
family photographs for future generations.
Index To Gordon's Articles
Western Isles Data
Centre
More evidence that more
and more people are finding employment in the north and the islands.
The new centre is in Benbecula that has been mainly crofting,
fishing and the army base with its out post on St Kilda. New
Technology is providing the means for people to live and work in
very rural and lovely places where often they have had to leave.
In fact many are coming back and this development will help.
Trunk Road
Contract Concerns
The Scottish Executive may have
saved £75 million on the retendering of the trunk road maintenance contract for
the Highlands, but there are serious question marks that the contract provides
the public with a safe winter maintenance service.
Early Shopping In
Scotland
Hetty Munro's article on shopping shows just
how far Scots would go -just about anywhere even Inverness - what's
new!!
The
accounts of the Earls of Caithness in the 18th century show that
Thomas Backie in Thurso supplied the Castle of Mey with nearly 1000
bottles of claret and an anker of rum in 1756. But the shopping in
Scotland demanded everything and they scoured the world to find it.
22nd November 2001
Links Section Additions Today
With the film Lord Of the Rings about to hit
the cinemas you might like to trawl through the
Tolkien Links to
see what it's all about if you have never read the books. Even
if you have read them you might find a few surprises. Also
added today a section of Roman
Links and additions to
UK Government and
Archaeology.
Newport Tower, Rhode Island - Sinclair Connections
The
Sinclair Clan is spread around the world but you may not know the of
the clan that was adventurous enough to have been going to America
possibly before Columbus. The tower is thought to have been
built around the time of the expedition
of Henry Sinclair voyage to America in the 1398.
Highland Leisure Facilities Get
New Entry Scheme
A new scheme to encourage the use of leisure facilities is being extended
throughout Highland Region through the issue of discount cards. The
new scheme will include the council-run leisure facilities at Wick and Thurso
Swimming Pools and a monthly payment of as low as £9.99 or £14.99 for a whole
family should make it more affordable. The scheme is aimed at encouraging
healthier lifestyles.
UK Information - Your Gateway
To Useful Stuff
Here at Caithness.Org we are continually
adding links to useful web sites. In UK information e are
adding web sites that mainly give access to nationwide information
whether its telephone numbers, postcodes, travel and a growing range
of data. So why not bookmark that page.
21st November 2001
Scrabster
Castle (Bishops Palace) Plan
The
latest plan in the castles
section as we continue to build more information into each
section. If you want to quickly compare the different plans
you can select the floor plans Index from the
Main Castle Index
UKAEA
Publishes Beach Monitoring Report
UKAEA
has published the latest report on the results of the monitoring of
beaches, shore and parts of the seabed for radio-active particles.
The issue regarding liability for anyone using the beach continues
to be pursued by the owner of the Sandside estate Geoffrey Minter.
Renewables
Conference
The organisers of a major conference being held in Inverness later this week
are keen to ensure that the area is quick to realise the potential for
employment and inward investment of wind or wave-based renewable energy.
Caithness Kidney Dialysis Support Group
A new page has been set up for this group to let people know who to contact.
The group is actively fund raising and hope that a new renal unit will be set
up in Caithness to mean it will no longer be necessary for patients and their
families to make the trip to Inverness up to three or four times a week.
St John's
Loch - New Fishing Web Site
For all the information on this great
loch near Dunnet you can always find links to it on our
Fishing Pages,
Caithness Sites or the
Sports Pages.
Sunday Papers by James Begg
If you live out in the countryside this one
will ring a bell.
20th November 2001
Thurso East Election
Candidates
Colin Punler (Labour) and Tom Jackson (Independent) are the two
candidates standing in the bi-election in Thurso East. The election
which takes place on 29 November follows the resignation of
Councillor Falconer Waters on health grounds.
Views Of Caithness - A New Series Of Pictures
Changes In Acidification of Scottish Freshwaters
Environmental Research Institute, Thurso,
5:00pm Friday 30st
November Dr Ron
Harriman will discuss - "The
role of forestry and acid deposition
Crafts In Caithness - New
Section
The
recent Heritage Fair highlighted the huge range of traditional
crafts still being followed in the county. Here we begin a new
section to show some examples of those crafts both traditional and
and new being pursued by Caithness folk now. We will add more
over the months.
Scrabster Harbour As New Pier Work Begins
In
recent years Scrabster harbour has moved up the ranks as a fishing
port with hugely increased landings. New port facilities for
fishing have helped. with the new pier scheduled for
completion in August 2002 much larger ships including the new ferry
will be able to be handled in the much deeper water.
Last Few Days
- Two Exhibition St Fergus Gallery
Yes
not one but two exhibition in St Fergus Gallery, Wick. The
"Face It" exhibition comes from Edinburgh's City Art Centre
and has fine examples of portraiture from the 1670's to the 1990's.
The "Tidemark" selection takes you through views of the Scottish
connections with the sea and the coastline. 19th and 20th
century artists are represented in works by for example Sir William
MacTaggart and Joan Eardley.
Two at once - well done Highland Galleries.
Postal Voting Support In
Community Council Elections
The Highland Council is to support postal ballots for Community Council
elections in the Highlands.
19th November 2001
Archive Exhibition - Thrumster Estate
1 - 8 December - See page for opening
times each day.
An exhibition of a wide variety of documents
from maps, personal letters, accounts census returns photographs and
other records.
Kildrummy Castle
Another
of Andrew Spratt's Non Caithness reconstructions. During the
bloody wars with England in the early fourteenth century, this
northern fortress in Aberdeenshire gave shelter to the Bruce family,
and it's strength was tested on several occasions.
Non Caithness
Castles Index
Wings Over Wick - More Memories
Continuing
this look back on Wartime Wick with four more -
R Walker, Newbiggin-by-Sea ,
Gordon
Anderson, Aberdeen,
John Adam, Ellon,
Mr 0 Dennett,
Anlaby, Near Hull
Salvation Army Christmas
Fayre
Saturday 24 November 10.00 - 12.00 Salvation
Army Hall, Wick
18th November 2001
Caithness Health Forum Rises Like a Phoenix
It
looks like the old Caithness Health Council, it sounds like the old
Caithness Health Council and it only proves that you cannot shut up
folk in Caithness for long. A revival of a local voice on
health matters looks certain to reform after a steering group was
appointed at the public meeting last week. Suggestions that
Highland Health Council or Highland Community Care Forum was
sufficient were brushed aside as the audience demanded a greater
local voice to be heard on what they felt was one of the most
important series of issues facing the county.
Another
Famous Caithness Castle - Castle Gunn
We now reach one of the most famous clan castles in Caithness -
Castle Gunn or Clyth Castle. more information will be added to
the section later. Meanwhile take a look at Andrew Spratt's
latest reconstruction.
Main Castle Index,
15 Caithness
Reconstructions
Scrabster Harbour Sees 175 Foot Crane In Place
Pile
driving operations will commence shortly now that a 175 foot crane
has arrived and been assembled at Scrabster Harbour. The work
will be the start of work to build the new pier at Scrabster in time
for the new bigger ferry that will run from Scrabster to Stromness
in Orkney. Pile driving will be on-going every day from 7.30am
until 7.30pm. Much larger ships will be able to use the port
once the pier is completed in August next year.
Kinlochbervie
Group Visit Caithness.Org
A group from
Kinlochbervie who are to set up a local community web site visited
Caithness.Org to get some insight as to how the web site had started
and progressed.
Notes On Yarrows Archaeological Trust
The proposed new archaeological trust for Yarrows area took a few steps towards
its formation at the meeting on 15 November in Thrumster.
17th November 2001
More From
Wings Over Wick
We
continue with three more wartime memories from the folk based in
Wartime Wick -
James
McMallan, Aberdeen,
H M (Bunny)
March, Canada,
H J Belcher,
Newcastle-upon-Tyne.
Northern Sands Hotel Children In Need Night
Letting their hair down at Dunnet last night the locals were out to
beat last years total raised for the BBC children In Need Appeal.
Dressed in a wide range of costumes and even providing their own
cabaret with a set of Barbie Dolls thumping out the Barbie song.
Great fun all round.
16th November 2001
Sinclair Centre To House Copy Of Doomsday Book
A copy of the famous Doomsday Book has been purchased for £7000
by Niven Sinclair and is to be kept at the Sinclair Study Centre at
Noss Head.
North School Children In Need Day
North School, Wick had a fancy dress day to raise money for children
In Need.
Team
MMC Annual Toy Run
Starting in Wick on Christmas Fayre Day 24 Nov
and ending up in Thurso. These motorbikes will be roaring all over the
county picking up toys for the Wick children's Centre and several other
charities.
More Dancers From Children In Need Show, Wick
Castletown Children - Christmas To Eastern
Europe
Castletown
school sent 77 boxes of toiletries, sweets, toys and other
goodies to Eastern Europe this winter as part of Blythswood Cares
annual Shoebox Appeal.
15th November 2001
Elise Lyall Dancers Raise £1100
The Assembly Rooms, Wick had a full house as the young dancers and
entertainers showed their talents to an appreciative audience.
The show was in aid of the BBC Children In Need Appeal.
Xmas Fayre
- Thurso Guides, Brownies & Rainbows
Saturday 17 November 10.00 - 12.00 - Guide
Hall, Thurso
Genuine Reindeer For Wick This Christmas
Yes a team of 6 reindeer (no fake antlers)
will arrive in Wick and through the town to Market Square,
Wick. Enter the raffle and you could be riding with Santa in
the sleigh through Wick on December 15. This will be a first
for Wick to have the genuine article pulling the sleigh this year.
These animals are from a herd that has been in Scotland for many
years. A great chance to see them if you have not before.
New Highland Drugs Information Web Site
This new web site is a comprehensive
listing of agency and local forum plans, funding sources, minutes of
meetings of all working groups comprising the co-ordinating
structure and hyper links to many other drug and alcohol, or
related, Websites.
Northern Sands Children In Need Fun Night
Friday 16 November at 7.30 will see
some wacky stuff going on at the Northern Sands Hotel, Dunnet where
they will be raising a laugh as well as some funds for the BBC
Children In Need appeal.
14th November 2001
Jottings From A Factors Scrapbook
Taking a none too serious
look behind the scenes of a rural estate from Colin Scott.
Will definitely raise a smile.
Wick
Christmas Lights Switch On & Fun Day
MADD Singers, Sal Army Band, Pipe Band, More
music by TBA.
Christmas Stall, Judging of Christmas Windows Competition.
Christmas Fayre
Saturday 24 November 10.00 - 12.00 Salvation
Army Hall, Wick
Bird Ringing In NE Caithness 1981 - 1986
This article by Hugh Clark explains clearly
the reasons why birds are ringed and results found in Caithness a
few years ago.
St Drostan In Caithness
Lesley Myatt drew together some interesting
information on St Drostan and concluded -
"Much is
unknown about St. Drostan and of his exact period, but there are six
known early chapel dedications to him. Whether or not he was the
first Christian missionary to come into Caithness we do not know,
but perhaps because of his strong associations with the county he
should be regarded as the patron saint of Caithness."
Tree Planting In Caithness 1985
This article from the late Jess Campbell describes one of the
councils attempts to get a few trees planted in the county. It
contains a useful short list of the trees they decided on.
Might be useful if you are thinking about any for your own ground in
the county. One thing is for sure - they do much better in
large groups than on their own.
13th November 2001
Caithness Castle Section Redesign Underway
Caithness Castles is going to become a very
big section on the web site. Already very popular round the
world we realised it needed a revamp and Niall has set about tidying
the section up to make it easier to navigate and get ready for all
the new information, pictures and reconstructions to come. We
are in the process of moving a few pages to the section and
relinking various pages. The new layout should work better and
be easier to find things.
Wick Junior Choir Member Sends This Picture
Already
Only
a few hours after putting up the latest Wick Junior Choir pictures
we have received in our email this one of the founder members flying
off to Aberdeen in 1947 from Frieda Henderson (nee Murray) on the
left of the picture.
Betsy Lord's Sewing Class Names now In
Betsy herself has come up with the names of
the class and even who took the picture. We never cease to be
amazed.
Wick Junior Choir
More pictures of the most successful choir Caithness has ever
produced in the 1950's. We are grateful to Scott Caldwell for
lending us his collection. More information from the
collection and that of Eric Macpherson the choir master will be
entered shortly. Were you a member of the choir or your mum,
dad or other relative. This choir travelled all over the UK
and was on radio and generally in demand everywhere.
Christmas
In Caithness 2001
Well its coming up fast and our new Christmas
2001 section is ready to put up information on what's happening.
Get your events - musical, plays, dances, services, carol singing
and any special seasonal things included in the pages. Its
absolutely free and you can start right now by contacting us with
your information
Yarrows Archaeological Trust Exploratory
Meeting
Thursday 15 November 7.00 pm - Thrumster
School
Caithness Archaeological Trust Notes 1
November
Outlines some of the initial ideas to move towards a
Caithness Trust.
Dick
Whittington Christmas Pantomime
11 - 15 December - Details on the
Christmas Pages
Helmsdale Harbour Last Week
Some
parts had the roads blocked for short while but Helmsdale had only a
light dusting of snow giving it an entirely different look.
The Voyage Of the Iris To Norway
A true tale from the 19th century handed down
in a family and finally recorded by Hetty Munro and produced in the
Caithness Field Club Bulletin April 1987.
Fundraising For Groups
If you are looking for some ideas try our
funding links page. Some of these links might lead you to the
funds your group is looking for.
12th November 2001
Doric Gets a New Web Site
Aberdeen University have helped launch a new
web site for the Doric dialect of Aberdeenshire area today.
The site called
Elphinstone Kist has lots of poetry
and audio of some. If looking for it later we have a link in
the Caithness dialect page.
Winter Walking Programme With Caithness
Rangers
The winter walk get going on Sunday
18th November; seal watch. A walk from
Skirza Pier to
John O Groats; the sights and sounds of seals who should be pupping at this
time of year. Start time 10.30am. at Skirza Pier. Distance
10-11km. Check the whole programme in the
Walking Pages or the
Ranger Section
Castletown Community Council Meeting Minutes 25 October
The Way We Were On The Internet
If you missed the start of Caithness.Org or
any other web site you can take a look back at
The Way Back Machine.
Just type in a web site address to see pages from previous years.
This is a massive web site recording pages from sites all over the
world. Check out ours from our early days. Some links
will no longer work but some do.
Winter Road Concerns Taken Up With Bear
A large number of complaints on road maintenance were received by Highland
Council following the recent snow falls leading to blocked roads.
Consumer Debt Campaign Launched
Trading Standards Officers with The Highland Council are joining forces with
the Office of Fair Trading to promote a campaign urging the public to keep
their debt under control. With total UK consumer debt, including
mortgages, reaching more than £700 billion for the first time, consumers are
being encouraged to take a three-step approach to credit.
Blackstairs, Wick
One
of the most well known sets of stairs in Wick that lead down to the
harbour. These steps have often been photographed and painted
by many artists including Lowrie famous for his matchstick figures.
Penrith Castle
The
latest of Andrew Spratt's reconstructions we are putting back on the
web. Further Caithness Castles will follow over coming weeks.
There are quite a few to go. Or go to the
Main Index. In case you had
not noticed just to mention that nearly all of the non Caithness
Castles we have put up so far have been at one time or another
subjected to Scottish raiders or built to deal with the threat from
the north.
11th November 2001
10th November 2001
New Caithness Health Forum Proposed
Here is a chance to start bringing things back to Caithness and stop the drift
to Inverness. Have the views of Caithness people given a voice with a local
group on health issues. The Caithness Health council vanished into
Highland Health Council. The Health Trusts took more local control away
south so here is a chance to make sure Caithness gets a hearing.
Dunbeath Castle Faces The First Snows
Caithness
had its first snowy weather with only slight snow in places.
Temperatures dropped over the last few days to below freezing as the
wind blew down from the Arctic. The snow always adds to the
dramatic backdrop to a castle on the coast.
Wings Over Wick
As Sunday 11 November is Remembrance Sunday in
the UK we have jumped to the end of the book to publish the final
chapter
Those Who Did Not Return.
Dovecote At Dunbeath Castle
This
is another example of the many dovecotes that can be found in
Caithness. This must have been a very successful way of
ensuring a supply of meat for large houses and castles as so many of
them were built.
Heading South Into Dunbeath
The
cold crisp weather presented fine views of the hills covered in a
dusting of snow. As you enter Dunbeath travelling south its
always worth stopping the car to look down the coast and shift your
eyes slightly right to see the hills on the Caithness border.
A Modem To A House for Sale
More items for sale are going into the Message
boards as more people realise they can sell their unwanted items to
just raise cash with Caithness.Org completely FREE. The items
are from the smallest to the biggest - even houses, cars and
horseboxes. It has to be worth a try. Takes a minute and
you never know who is reading the lists.
9th November 2001
Scrabster Castle (Bishop's Palace)
Easy
to miss this castle on the way to Scrabster. No signs show you
where it is. But the new sculpture of the Northern Vent
erected by the Northlands Festival group stands just near the place
on the coast as you drive to Scrabster harbour.
Main Castle Index
Alan McIvor Presents Thurso Film & Slide Show
The
show will be held in the Royal British Legion at 7.30pm, on Thursday 15th November 2001.
Oh For Dry Pavements
Diz iss bad
weather make ye girn?
Read how Jenny Stewart sees
it in here inimitable style in Caithness dialect.
Glenrhu Carpets - Another Scorrie Site
Furniture, beds, carpets, lighting, laminates
and rugs can all be had in time for Christmas.
8th November 2001
Three Nineteenth Century Caithness Dovecotes
Elizabeth Beaton contributed this article to
the Caithness Field Club Bulletins as a set of notes to augment her
book on the subject. Here is yet another subject where
Caithness has a large number of examples scattered round the county.
A new section -
Dovecotes - will begin to draw
the information together for easy reference.
Highland Waste Management Bids Considered
The Highland Council
has begun considering the bids from the three companies which are
tendering to provide modern waste management services and hopes to
select the "Preferred Bidder" by April next year.
The Jurassic Boulder Beds of East Sutherland
The history of the research into the nature and formation of the
boulder beds is long (since 1827) and some very ingenious theories
have been advanced for the mechanism of their formation.
7th November 2001
Cowld Protection
Jenny Stewart remembers how it used to be
keeping warm in the old days with another of her Caithness dialect
poems.
Back Of John O'Groat Journal Offices, Union
Street
Little
has changed on the outside of the John O'Groat Journal offices but
inside are very modern offices.
Wings Over Wick, 612 Squadron, Duncan Radburn
6th November 2001
Two Way Contest In Caithness By-Election
Two candidates will contest the election for the vacant Thurso East seat on The
Highland Council on Thursday 29 November.
Harbour Quay, Wick
There was a brief lull in the rainy weather in the morning but by late
afternoon the clouds were back and by 4.00pm it was back to cold wind and rain.
Wings
Over Wick - Cliff Peters, MBE, Bristol
Cliff Peters was a wireless
operator/air gunner with 612 squadron flying Whitley bombers from
Wick. He was posted to Wick in October 1941. 612 squadron -
the City of Aberdeen Auxiliary Squadron - which flew Whitley
aircraft from Wick and were involved mainly in convoy patrol and
anti U-boat activity.
Pier At Netherton Goe, Stroma
The
pier at the northern end of Stroma at Netherton Goe provided place
to land and launch boats for the former inhabitants and is still
essentially intact. Nowadays it mainly provides a resting
place for gulls.
James Innes Of Cape Fear North Carolina
Another Caithnessian who went to America in
the late 17th century and left money in his will for Caithness and
to provide free education in the country he adopted.
Sir John Gunn, Cardiff Entrepreneur From
Caithness
Sir John Gunn died on 20th January, 1918 at
the age of 80; a much respected figure in the Cardiff business
community, his obituary in the South Wales Daily News was reprinted
in The John o' Groat Journal on 8th February, 1918. Despite his
exile from his native county, he continued to take an interest in
the affairs of Caithness.
Palaeontology Section Begins On Caithness.Org
The variety of articles now coming on to the
web site requires that we continually open new sections in order to
classify them. Caithness & Sutherland has a rich fossil record
and several unique specimens have been recorded. More
information from early Field Club Bulletins will be added to the
list. First by Jack Saxon has the lengthy title of -
The Origin of Species, The Punctuation Theory,
and Their Applicability to The Fossil Record Of Caithness.
Incidents Involving The Wick & Ackergill
Lifeboats
Here is a list of just a few of the rescues
made by the lifeboats from 1839 - 1981. Taking this article
with
Wrecks of The Pentland Firth makes
you think.
5th November 2001
Hill Fort or Stockade?
The
easiest way to this fort or stockade that is maybe two thousand
years old is from the route marked out for the Cairn of Get opposite
Whaligoe.
The area that would have been enclosed is huge on the top of a small
hill. If defensive structure it would have needed an army to
defend.
Finding UK Places On A Map On Caithness.Org
We have just added search facilities for
finding UK places on maps via the Multimap service to the following
pages - Maps, Geography,
UK
Information,
Tourist
Information.
Caithness Patients Council July Meeting Minutes
GP Out of Hours Service, Waiting Times and more.
White House On Stroma
The
latest house from Stroma. The section has been set up to
enable more information and pictures to be added later.
Watten Win Two Day Open Rinks Competition
For more
pictures of the finalists, a few other competitors and details of
the close finish of the competition go to the
Sports Pages
Inferior Electrical Goods Being Pushed In
Highlands
Inferior quality TV's, Video's and electrical goods wrapped in plastic giving
the appearance of being new are being sold and Trading Standards and Northern
constabulary are investigating.
Latest Links In Educational Resources
Highlands & Islands Satellite Leap Forward
A partnership of BTopenworld, BT's mass
market ISP division, satellite-provider Gilat and Highlands and
Islands Enterprise (HIE) have come together to develop and launch a
new two way always on service and up to ten times faster than current phone
lines. The new service will go live at the end of November.
4th November 2001
Angie's 40th Fancy Dress
You could have
been forgiven for thinking it was Gala week again in Wick last
night. But it was just a gang of Wickers at Angies' 40th
birthday bash in the Dounreay club. Yes they were packing them
in for a dance, a bite to eat and a bit of fun.
On
Their Way To The Party
And don't think
that folk in Caithness ever go straight to the party. Before
things got going at the Dounreay club folk were spotted in a variety
of venues around the town. This crew in the Blackstairs Lounge
being just the tip of the iceberg.
The Moon & The Northern Highlands
This thought provoking item from E Rudie in
1982 will take you on a trip through across the surface of the north
and how it may have been affected by distant past from space.
He gathers some of the evidence being uncovered by the then fairly
new Planetary Geology. Although written nearly 20 years ago it
still serves as a nice introduction to the subject with a Highland
perspective. Not many articles manage to encompass Earth,
Mars, Moon, Helmsdale, and Gold in the Strath of Kildonan and lots more.
Rebelz At
Blackstairs
And
if you were on your way to a party then to get in the mood last
night you could have stopped in the Blackstairs to hear Rebelz whomp
out some covers with venom and attitude. A constant stream of
fancy dress party goers certainly made it a colourful night in the
newly made over lounge.
St
Triduana In Caithness
Information about the cult of St. Triduana is scarce.
A S Cowper follows the information about her centred around
Edinburgh but also at Ballachly in Caithness as well as other
places.
Station Hotel, Thurso
The Station Hotel in Thurso has recently upgraded to Three Star
hotel standard after upgrading the rooms, spending
£133,000 to ensure that travellers enjoy their stay in Thurso.
3rd November 2001
Wick River In Full Flow After Many Days Of Rainfall
No
shortage of water in the Wick River at the moment after a long period of
wet weather. This picture take from the car park near Safeways
supermarket.
WK171 Opportune At Wick Harbour Today
Opportune
in for the weekend sitting beside Simpson's Ice.
Air Operations Of RAF Wick Part One
This completes the trilogy of articles by P R Myers
that first appeared in the Caithness field Club bulletins.
Part Two,
Part Three. We will be continuing
to add to the section Wings Over Wick very soon.
The Visitors Book - Huna Inn 1879
Have you ever thought about who passes through a
hotel or inn. Well Hetty Munro shows some of the people who passed
through Huna in 1879 taken from the visitors book.
Some
Fungi Of Dunnet Forest
This article by P Wright in October 1982 describes
the distinctive fungi of the unusual soil conditions found at Dunnet.
Does anyone know if his prediction of greater variety in the then newly
planted Caithness forests have proven accurate?
The Deciduous Trees Of Caithness
This article give a brief description of the more common deciduous trees of
Caithness. Written by the late Jess Campbell for the Caithness Field Club
Bulletin.
2nd November 2001
Memories Of A Stroma Lighthouse Keeper's Wife
Margaret Aitken spent three years on Stroma as she
was married to a lighthouse keeper. She has just had a short article
published in the BBC magazine Home & Antiques. She has given
permission for us to publish the article in the Stoma section.
Margaret's book "12 Light Years" published in 1988 and out of print
will be re-issued in May 2002. The opportunity has been taken to
begin adding new pictures of Stroma to the section. More will follow
very soon.
Stroma Index
UKAEA Condemn Speculation Regarding Security
UKAEA, Dounreay have criticised as irresponsible, speculation about the
security of its facilities in the media following events of the September 11th.
Proposed Caithness Archaeological Trust
The meeting held on 1 November at Dunbeath
Preservation Society agreed to the formation of a steering group to create
the necessary strategy and constitution for the new trust. The
meeting also heard from Cameron Taylor former chief executive of Orkney
Tourist board and involved with helping guide the strategy in Orkney.
New Yarrows Archaeological Trust Proposed
15 November 7.00pm - Thrumster School
Anyone with an interest in the archaeology of the Yarrows area is invited to
the meeting to explore the possibilities of setting up a new trust with a view
to promoting the area, conserving it and developing the funding for further
research. What's In this area? Almost everything from Mesolithic
onwards.
Reconstruction OF Sinclair & Girnigoe From The Air
Another
of Andrew Spratt's interesting reconstructions. This one coming at a
time when there is much activity by Clan Sinclair Trust setting out to
raise funds to preserve the castles and extend their study centre.
Castles Main Index,
Sinclair Connections Clan Sinclair Trust
1st November 2001
Free Training
Online
Just added to the Free Training Online section is a
link to the Virtual Learning Resource Center that has itself got over 6000
links to material on many topics.
Latest Updating
News And Links Sections
The latest news sections added are Water,
GM
Foods and
Earthquakes. The sections can be located via the News Section or the
Links Section
where they are all included in the A - Z listing.
New Wick Girls Group Looking For Members
Some
of the new members recently took part in a sponsored walk to raise some of
their own funds. If you are interested in joining this group for
activities including music, arts and crafts then give them a call.
Keeping Up
The Records
October sees hit rate go to the
highest yet....
Hits 2,480,741 Pages 366,998 Visitors 61,852
The Yell.com Awards for best
community site and best web site has helped to maintain the upward march
on some of the statistics. October also saw our highest single
day on the 4th with -
Hits 139,880 Pages 16903 Visitors
3340
Thanks to all of you for looking in and on to
November.........soon be...........OK lets not say it.
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