Argyle Square improvements, future in doubt of Caithness village schools and a holiday that soon became a rescue mission
LOOKING BACK: News from the John O’Groat Journal of yesteryear
Argyle Square improvements
From the Groat of April 17, 1925
As part of a scheme to improve the Wick burgh amenities and give jobs to the unemployed, work had begun at Argyle Square.
Wick Town Council was to receive a 75 per cent grant – capped at £670 – from the Unemployment Grant Committee, and as such had employed 17 men under the supervision of burgh surveyor Donald Reid.
Plans for Argyle Square involved the erection of fencing, the laying of footpaths and the planting of trees.
The scheme also embraced the improvement of Kirkhill and the braes in Union Street but the Argyle Square improvements had to be completed first. The initial project was expected to take six weeks.
Meanwhile, Thurso columnist “Clio” also had improvements in mind following a walk along the town’s Esplanade. The writer had decried the state of the “newly laid pavement at the eastern end”.
Having been tipped off about the shifting and badly constructed walkway, the columnist stated that “when I went to see it for myself, I beheld, to my surprise, the Hydra-headed symptoms of a badly done job”.
If remedial work was not undertaken, then “there will soon be nothing left for us but a contemplation of our vast folly in wasting good money on a bad article”.
Village schools redundant
From the Groat of April 18, 1975
A question mark was hanging over the future of three Caithness village schools, each with an adjoining schoolhouse, which had become surplus to educational requirements.
At Dunbeath the redundant property was to be spared demolition for at least a year in the hope that “someone will be able to use the premises for light industry”.
At a meeting of Caithness County Council, Captain Nigel Gunn said there had been expressions of interest in the school and he urged that it be handed over intact to the new regional authority in the hope that “something would turn up”.
The demolition of the buildings at Canisbay had been stayed following “strong local condemnation” of the plan.
Councillors heard that Canisbay Youth Club wanted to use the old school as a base.
Meanwhile at John O’Groats there had been two enquiries about the property, one from an Ackergill man who wished to set up a small engineering business there.
Again, it was agreed to hand over the school to the new local authority “as it was on a rather special location” and it was too late for the county council to make a decision before its demise.
Holiday became rescue mission
From the Groat of April 21, 2000
A Caithness man who went on a working holiday to Mozambique ended up taking part in an international rescue mission.
Dave Holmes (34), who was now back at his parents’ home in Halkirk, explained how he and his colleague had risked crocodiles and tropical disease to help victims of a flood in the country the previous month.
The former pupil of Miller Academy and Thurso High had travelled to Africa in January to spend three months at a dive centre run by a friend after being captivated by Mozambique during a family holiday.
The tourists had left when the floods started, so dive-master Steve Higgins and Mr Holmes borrowed a 4x4 vehicle and towed their boat to the disaster zone 100km south of the dive centre.
They used the vessel to help charities such as Save the Children deliver aid to people cut off by the floods.
Elsewhere, the Royal Mail delivery office in Wick was set to move to new premises. In a £640,000 development, the new base at Green Road would replace the existing delivery office in Market Square.
A total of 21 postal staff were to move to the new site where they would handle around 90,000 letters and packets every week for delivery to 5000 residential and business addresses.
