A year of Caithness news: April to June
After another busy year, we look back at some of the stories that hit the headlines in the John O'Groat Journal and Caithness Courier during 2023
April
Campaigners who had been calling for safety improvements on the Forss straight said they hoped work due to start in April would make a big difference. Forss Straight Campaign Group welcomed the news that some improvements would be put in place on a section of the A836 used by motorists travelling to and from Dounreay and Vulcan. Dounreay would meet some of the costs.
Halkirk Heritage and Vintage Motor Centre opened for the 2023 season, with war-related exhibits at the heart of the updated display areas. The theme tied in with the centenary of the village war memorial and volunteers had assembled a huge amount of artefacts including photographs, journals, documents, medals, helmets, gas masks and ration books.
Carers as young as five had the chance to get up close and personal with a range of exotic animals at an event to mark 10 years of a local charity supporting them. Caithness Klics marked its 10th anniversary with a party in Staxigoe village hall where children were treated to an entertaining and educational presentation by The Exotic Animal Encounter, based in Dunbeath.
Craig Banks was remembered as “one of our own” as footballers from Lybster and Keiss joined together to pay tribute to him. The teams met at Lybster’s Cow Park for their opening fixture of the 2023 Caithness Amateur Football Association summer season and it doubled up as a memorial match for Craig. His mum Susan, who handed over two trophies at the end of the game, said: “He just lived for football.”
Jamie Stone would be putting questions to UK government ministers “at the earliest possible opportunity” following revelations about alleged Russian spy ships in the North Sea and a potential sabotage risk to the Beatrice offshore wind farm as well as other vital infrastructure. The Liberal Democrat MP for Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross said it was inconceivable that a hostile state should be allowed to pose such a threat. Broadcasters in Denmark, Norway, Sweden and Finland who undertook a joint investigation claimed that Russia had a fleet of vessels disguised as trawlers and research boats operating in parts of the North Sea, including the Moray Firth. Mr Stone said: “The North Sea is the UK’s single most vital energy asset – both oil, and present and future wind. It is our energy Crown Jewels."
Work was expected to start the following month on a new programme of improvements at Wick’s historic North Baths – following on from an initial project to save the outdoor pool from being lost to the forces of nature. Costing around £29,000, the second phase would involve creating easier access to the site and providing new steps at the shallow end of the 119-year-old attraction which was used daily by cold-water swimmers.
A cancer patient from Thurso spoke of the anger and frustration she felt at finding herself stuck in Inverness after a Stagecoach bus failed to show up. Mandy Bartlett was so keen to get home after a full week of radiotherapy treatment in Raigmore that she waited for almost an hour at the hospital bus stop to catch the X99 service to Scrabster. It was due to call in at Raigmore at 2pm – but, a few minutes before its scheduled arrival, the X99 vanished from the destination board and Mrs Bartlett was among those left stranded when the bus didn’t materialise. She ended up having to catch a later service, eventually getting to Thurso at about 8.20pm. “I’ve been through cancer treatment. I’d just received radiotherapy that morning,” Mrs Bartlett said. “That was my fifth of five radiotherapy treatments that I’d had. I was physically and emotionally shattered by the time I got back home.”
May
There was relief in Thurso that nobody had been killed or injured when part of a roof collapsed in the town, bringing tons of sandstone blocks crashing to the ground. Dangerous masonry was being removed from the former Clydesdale Bank building in Traill Street following the early-morning incident. Local Highland councillor Matthew Reiss said: “Clearly further assessment is required as to all the implications and I reiterate our considerable relief that no pedestrian was passing the area at the time.”
A group of Dounreay workmates completed their 30-mile sponsored stretcher-carry in just over eight-and-a-half-hours – raising thousands of pounds for good causes. The 28-strong team from the Dounreay Fire, Ambulance and Rescue Service made their way on foot to Caithness General Hospital, taking it in turns to carry their “casualty” – a dummy tipping the scales at 60kg, the weight of an average adult.
Three heraldic shields had been installed in the garden of remembrance at Wick Town Hall ahead of the King's coronation. The intricately detailed designs were created by heraldic craftsman Alex Paterson using oil paint on 4ft high pieces of plywood.
All ferry bookings between Gills Bay and Orkney had been cancelled as investigations were carried out into the grounding of the Pentalina. The vessel ran ashore close to St Margaret’s Hope just three days after resuming service on the route as its replacement, Alfred, started a nine-month charter with CalMac. The vessel had 60 passengers, including a baby, on board at the time of the incident. Nobody was injured.
Castletown's newly refurbished football pavilion would be a source of pride for the whole village and the wider area, the club’s chairman Kevin Mackay said. The £45,000 revamp was celebrated at an event attended by invited guests including representatives of funding bodies as well as tradespeople associated with the club who carried out most of the work.
The King’s coronation was marked at John O’Groats by a beacon-lighting ceremony – keeping up a tradition dating back to Victorian times. Local residents were joined by tourists as retired local postmistress Nellie Manson and her daughter Fiona Harper did the honours, just as they had done at the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee event the previous summer. Nellie’s late husband Sandy, who was a veteran of the Arctic convoys during World War II, had lit previous beacons using the same torch poles.
Wick's caravan and camping site was on course to be “highly profitable for the town” following a major programme of improvements. Wick Development Trust was operating the Wick River Campsite as a community enterprise and profits would ultimately go towards local regeneration efforts after a three-year plan to upgrade the facilities. Prospects for the new season were described as “really positive” with 1850 bookings so far. That figure exceeded the 1600 total for the previous year, albeit it was a shortened season as the site only opened in June.
The Seabourn Ovation made an impressive sight as it called in at Scrabster harbour with just under 400 passengers on board. The cruise ship was in the port for more than 11 hours. Harbour trust manager Sandy Mackie said there were potentially 21 ships booked to visit during 2023.
A Thurso community councillor called for urgent checks to be undertaken on buildings in the centre of the town following the collapse of masonry at the former Clydesdale Bank building. Billy Sinclair said the incident should serve as a wake-up call. “We were lucky no-one was killed when the masonry fell from the old Clydesdale Bank but this is the third occasion when objects have fallen off buildings during the past two years," he pointed out.
A charity skydive by a Thurso mother had raised £11,500 for the Glasgow children’s hospital which treated her daughter for chronic kidney disease. Susan Andrew made the jump at an airfield in Glenrothes and described the experience as “amazing”. The primary school supply teacher decided to fundraise for the hospital after her daughter Lois had an operation there in March. The youngster had also spent six weeks in the hospital the previous summer.
Wick's new monument to the lost seafarers of the far north had been welcomed as “simply magnificent” and a source of pride for the town. The bronze statue, created by sculptor Alan Beattie Herriot, had its official unveiling at the Braehead. Large crowds turned out to be part of a memorable occasion that included speeches, seafaring songs, a specially composed pipe tune and a flotilla of boats in the bay. The Seafarers Memorial Group raised more than £100,000 for the project over a five-year period. Chairman Willie Watt said: “We are so delighted with the finished result. It has exceeded our expectations. It will be a place of reflection and remembrance and hopefully it’ll focus people on the dangers of the sea."
Caithness councillors voted in favour of demolishing and rebuilding Thurso High School’s closed-off Block A at a cost of £7.5 million. The three-storey extension dating from the 1960s had been out of use since significant structural defects were found just over seven months before.
June
Marelle Sturrock would be remembered as a “bubbly, vibrant and fun-loving woman” who had a “heart of gold”, friends and family members heard at a celebration of her life in Wick. Hundreds attended the service in the Assembly Rooms where messages were read out on behalf of Marelle’s older sisters, Clare and Sarah, in which her love of singing and performing shone through along with her kindness. “We will always be looking for you in the stars, sunrises, and in the stage lights,” Clare wrote, while Sarah’s message said: “You sang your way through life with your amazing voice and talent.” The head of the Glasgow primary school where Marelle was a member of staff told of classes being “spellbound” by her singing voice. She said it had been a privilege to watch Marelle develop into “an inspirational, creative and nurturing teacher”. The celebration of life was led by funeral celebrant John Glen, who said it marked the “final journey” for Marelle and her unborn baby Jayden. She was 29 weeks pregnant when she was killed at her home in Glasgow in April.
Organisers of the Caithness Music Festival paid tribute to the team of willing helpers who make sure the much-loved event goes smoothly every year. Speaking after the 2023 festival got under way at Wick Assembly Rooms, secretary Audrey MacKinnon said: “We’d like to thank all the helpers and volunteers because the festival wouldn’t run without them, that’s the bottom line."
New police and pathology reports could give Caithness man Kevin McLeod “the justice he rightly deserves”, according to his parents Hugh and June and his uncle Allan McLeod. They believe the 24-year-old was murdered after a night out in the town in February 1997. A report into the case by Merseyside Police the previous year concluded it was “highly unlikely” Kevin was murdered and said he drowned after a fall. The officers found no evidence of any criminality. However, the family said they totally rejected the findings.
Dunbeath Estate and its 13-bedroom castle went on the market with offers over £25 million sought. As well as the category “A” listed cliff-top castle, the sale included 20 houses and cottages, a 500-acre farm, a sporting lodge with nine bedrooms, a deer forest, grouse moor and fishing rights.
The Costa del Caithness was set to continue basking in the sunshine. The county had been experiencing conditions more associated with Mediterranean hotspots and a high of up to 26 degrees Celsius was recorded at inland locations such as Halkirk.
A disabled woman whose life was transformed after she gained a flying scholarship had spoken of her “amazing” journey to Wick through cloudless skies. Karen Cox from Lossiemouth flew north from the Moray town’s RAF base in a Cessna 172 as part of the 40th anniversary celebrations of the charity Flying Scholarships for Disabled People (FSDP). "The flight to Wick was amazing,” said Karen, who was accompanied by FSDP vice-president Ian Revell and co-pilot John Mott.
A wind farm being planned off the north coast was expected to create 140 full-time jobs at Scrabster harbour later in the decade. According to the developers of the West of Orkney offshore wind farm, the £4 billion scheme would also offer significant opportunities to local contractors to service the onshore support network.
Wick's annual RNLI Harbour Day attracted a crowd of up to 2000 in exceptionally warm weather, with the vibrant atmosphere around the quayside and marina drawing comparisons with the French Riviera. Lifeboat coxswain Allan Lipp described the occasion as “phenomenal”. Flags and bunting added colour to the scene as visiting yachts joined local boats in the harbour. Jenny Szyfelbain again acted as compere. “It’s a tremendous honour to be part of Wick RNLI Harbour Day,” she said. “With the atmosphere today it could be Ibiza, it could be the Riviera. I honestly think I’m on my holidays.” A total of £14,100 was raised.
