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Caithness News Bulletins May 2003

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31 May 03
Annular Eclipse From Strathy

30 May 03
Rob Gibson MSP - First Speech At Scottish Parliament
In his first speech in Edinburgh Rob Gibson attacked the government for their failure to free up land for affordable housing in the Highlands.  He made comparisons with other amll counties in Europe and added "Fundamental to rebuilding population is the availability of land for affordable housing. How often do youngsters seek in vain for a house site in a crofting community, or a building plot around a small town? Landlords, planning law and water authorities are the problem. So is the only alternative for the enterprising to leave? ".................................

29 May 03
HIGHLAND WEDDING VENUES PROVE A HIT WITH COUPLES
More than 31% of marriage notices received in the Inverness area so far this year involve couples from outwith Scotland, proving that weddings are becoming big business for the area. The statistic was revealed by The Highland Council Convener Alison Magee on Wednesday 28 May in welcoming 100 delegates to the annual general meeting of the Association of Registrars of Scotland, which was hosted by The Highland Council in Inverness.

Scottish Outdoor Access Code Consultation
Deadline 30 June 2003

22 May 03
NORTHERN MARTIAL ARTS STUDIOS

Kempo Jujitsu……Caithness
Saturday May 17th saw the 2003 Spring gradings for NMAS in the Boys Brigade Hall Thurso. Senior grading sensei on the day was Willie Nicolson 2nd Dan of the Nicolson Kempo Jujitsu School. It was a wonderful sunny day with the Hall filled with nervous children and adults. Sometimes even more nervous were the parents as they were so aware as to how much the gradings meant to the kids.

22 May 03
TRADITIONAL MUSIC NIGHT
On Wednesday 28th May 2003 there will be a feast of traditional music on offer in Wick when traditional music students from the North Highland College in Alness will put on a show in the Pipe Band Hall, High Street, Wick. The students are tutored by local Caithness musicians Bobby Coghill and Karen Steven.

22 May 03
Wick Boys Brigade Gets Kicking

22 May 03
MacMillan Cancer Walk

21 May
Caithness Is Home To Champion Sleddog Team
Caithness is lucky to have a champion sleddog team now in the county.   Racing under the name Valuiki the dogs are trained and cared for by Adrian & Lynn Tilsed.   Valuiki are one of the most predominant and successful Sleddog kennels in the United Kingdom. ...............................................................

21 May 03
Thurso Sixth Year Pupils Gain Diana Award

Wick Players Reach 70 Years

17 May 03
Prize Winners of the Rotary Open Golf Tournament At Reay

17 May 03
Caithness And Sutherland Enterprise Report April 2003

State of unemployment and who has been awarded what grants and how many young folk are undergoing training on a variety of schemes.............................

16 May 03
NURSERY STAFF STRIKE IN THE HIGHLAND COUNCIL AREA
Thirty nine Nursery classes across Highland will be affected when 65 Nursery workers intend withdrawing their labour on Wednesday 21st May.   Approximately 975 pupils will lose a pre-school session on this day.  These are the likely impacts of strike action on Wednesday 21st May by Unison members employed by The Highland Council as nursery assistants and auxiliaries.  Bruce Robertson, The Highland Council’s Director of Education, Culture and Sport said: “Headteachers will advise parents affected by the strike by letter over the next few days but overall the classes involved are: Caithness: Hillhead, Pulteneytown, Mount Pleasant and South Nurseries..........more and other areas

14 May 03
Caithness Pony Club First Competition On
New Cross Country Course

Caithness Branch of the Pony Club held its first competition at the new cross-country course built at Northfield Equestrian Centre, by kind permission of Mr and Mrs H Henderson, at the weekend. Competitors from Orkney, Caithness and Sutherland took part in a Hunter Pace which allows riders to choose which fences they wish to jump to build confidence to participate in One Day Events.

14 May 03
Highland Cross 2003 Coast To Coast Duathalon

Highland Cross, the unique coast to coast charity duathlon has announced that 660 folk have once again taken up the its challenge to cross Scotland in a day and raise money for charity!

13 May 03
Scottish Malts Trials And Tour Arrives In Wick

13 May 03
Highland Airports Buck Worldwide Trend
Record Passenger Growth at Inverness Airport

Inverness Airport had a record month in April with more than 37,000 passengers travelling via the Highland air hub.  April 2003 was one of the busiest months ever at Inverness, reflecting the continuing development of the airport as the principal air hub in the region. Passenger figures at the airport, operated by Highlands and Islands Airports Limited, were 20% up on the same period in 2002 at a total of 37,424 for the month of April 2003. HIAL operates 10 airports and the number of overall aircraft movements at the airports increased slightly by 1.5% to 76,119, with the largest increases at Kirkwall, Stornoway, Sumburgh and Wick...............

13 May 03
PARENTS AND PUPILS ENCOURAGED TO SUPPORT
WALK TO SCHOOL WEEK

Highland primary and secondary school pupils are being encouraged by The Highland Council to put their best foot forward and support ‘National Summer Walk to School Week’ from Monday 19th to Friday 23rd May.  Not just aimed at improving the health of pupils, the national campaign aims to improve the well-being of families, and communities who are both involved in and live around or on routes to schools.....

13 May 03
FURTHER INVESTMENT AT FORSS
Caithness and Sutherland Enterprise (CASE) has committed a further £440,000 towards the creation of a hi-tech business park near Thurso.  In addition the project has secured £732,545 from the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF).  The former Forss US Naval Base - which has been idle for over a decade - is being transformed into a Business and Technology Park, which is set to attract tenants associated with the decommissioning of the nearby Dounreay nuclear plant...............

12 May 03
Castletown Junior Football Club Plays Mid West From Orkney

Castletown Junior FC had a visit from Orcadian club, Mid West at the weekend. The clubs played matches at three age groups, under ten, under twelve and under fourteen, with Castletown emerging victorious from all three matches. The club hopes to go over for a return trip later in the season.

12 May 03
Screening Programme Continues to Save Lives
242 men in the Highlands will have a better chance of surviving in later years of life, thanks to a successful screening programme in Highland. Over 5000 men have so far been screened for abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA) in the first large screening programme of this kind to take place in Scotland. The Remote and Rural Areas Resource Initiative (RARARI) has funded the three-year project which offers screening for (AAA) to men aged 65 to 74 in Highland over three years, at a cost of  around  £300 000.

Pentland Model Boat Club 2003 Show 10 May 03

A truly magnificent display of model boats most of which are capable of sailing with power controls was on display in Thurso.  With several categories  of models on show the judges had a difficult task in picking winners.  Once they made their decisions there were four winners Ted Miller, Andrew Anderson, Brian Hughes and Des Marchant.  Ted miller came out winner over all and carried off more than one section trophy.

9 May 03
CAITHNESS FEDERATION OF BREAKFAST CLUBS
INAUGURAL MEETING  17TH JUNE 2003 -
Time 1.15 to 2.30pm
Conference Room, Wick Medical Centre, Martha Terrace, WICK
The aim is to enable children across Caithness get the ‘best start to their day’ by ensuring that breakfast clubs are well supported.  This network will share ideas whilst also serving as a means of identifying what is necessary to enable new clubs to develop. Support and sustainability of current breakfast clubs is of equal significant. The Federation will act as a means to reduce duplication of effort across all breakfast clubs in Caithness............................................more

9 May 03
THURSO HIGH SCHOOL WINS ENVIRONMENTAL AWARD
Sixth year pupils at Thurso High School have inspired their contemporaries to achieve a major improvement in the school’s environment and secure a prize in the Keep Scotland Beautiful Awards sponsored by the OCS Group.  Designing a garden that would survive the prevailing harsh weather required the pupils to secure and adhere to expert advice in the creation of a neat, tidy and appealing garden, which incorporates large quantities of Caithness stone.......................

8 May 03
DONALD McPHEE,
BORN CAITHNESS, JUNE 1942:
DIED AGED 60, IN INVERNESS 29/4/03

A Caithness-born great-grandfather, who as an infant was one of the last pupils to be enrolled at Freswick Primary School, passed away suddenly late last month in his home in Inverness, the city where he spent all his working life.

7 May 03
Ormlie Community Association Gain
Youthlink Scotland Funding

Ormlie Community Association has been awarded funding of £11,849 from YouthLink Scotland through their Capital Venture Fund. The funding application was a joint initiative between Ormlie Community Association, Save the Children in Scotland and the Social Inclusion Partnership. The money will be used to enhance the multi-media project being undertaken by the CPP and SIP for children and young people aged between 9 - 25 years.

7 May 03
Gaelic Teacher Retires
John Maclean has been teaching Gaelic at evening classes in Wick for 15 years. To mark their appreciation, students (past and present) and some members of Caithness Gaelic Choir met at the Nethercliffe Hotel, Wick on Wed 30th April for a buffet supper and ceilidh.  The students had commissioned Denis Mann, himself an ex-student, to make a piece of engraved glass as a memento.

6 May 03
Cancer Research -  Caithness
Elizabeth Angus Retires After 42 Years On The Committee


The Cancer Research folk held there annual meeting in the Orange Room, Park Hotel recently.

6 May 03
21.75lbs At Weedy Pool Thurso River
This magnificent salmon was caught on the Thurso (Monday) and weighed in at 21.75 lbs it was caught by Gordon Hines from Inverness. It was caught in the Weedy Pool on Beat 13 on a Cascade Tube tied by Kenny MacDonald.  Kenny MacDonald was a writer for the North Star up to 18 months ago and now a columnist for the "Trout and Salmon".  Fishing Section

5 May 03
Four Star Award for UKAEA Visitor Centre

The  Highlands' latest four-star visitor attraction has opened to the public for the 2003 season.  The  award  to the Dounreay Visitor Centre has been made under the Scottish Tourist Board Visitor Attraction Quality Assurance Grading Scheme.

5 May 03
Tracking - Possible New Sport For Caithness
Currently there is no Sports Body for Tracking and as such this page is only to raise awareness of the Sport.  If you would like to know more about Tracking, or to form a Tracking Club (of Interest) then please contact Miles Greenford......

 3 May 03
2003 Caithness Office supplies Darts Competition

3 May 03
Schools Penalty Shoot Out At Academy V Keith Game

3 May 03
Thurso Bridge Lights Up

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