Looking Back: Wickers take the train, Norseman takeover and Wick Academy’s Bignold plea
Wickers go west by train
From the Groat of June 6, 1924
Over 1000 Wickers travelled by train to Thurso to make the most of the local holiday.
A special train had been laid on and with that and the ordinary morning train 1220 day trippers had made the journey west.
Many other passengers also got off at stops along the way, including Watten, Bilbster, Bower and Georgemas, while on the Lybster line, 249 people visited the village with others getting off at Thrumster, Mid-Clyth and Ulbster.
The railway exodus also included travellers on the main line south, with almost 150 going to Inverness.
It was noted that, in total, the number travelling by train on the day was 2024 – a new record for one-day excursions.
The beach at Reiss proved a draw for nearly 500 Wickers who travelled there and back in charabancs run jointly by Messrs A Robertson & Son and Mr R S Waters.
Elsewhere in Wick, a new business was due to open in Bridge Street in premises that had been occupied for many years by McAdie and Co.
Messrs Begg Brothers from Brora, who were “well and popularly known” in the town, were to trade in drapery, clothing and millinery.
An attraction for customers was likely to be the “exceptional bargains” on offer as the two brothers sought to dispose of their entire stock of hardware, china, glassware, fancy goods and footwear from their Brora shop.
Takeover at the Norseman
From the Groat of June 7, 1974
Wick’s Norseman Hotel had been taken over on an extended lease by Mercury Motor Inns Ltd, a subsidiary of the Liverpool-based recreation company Leisure and General Holdings.
The announcement had ended speculation that the hotel, built the year before at the riverside by Oban architect Mr W G Crerar, was to be sold.
Mercury had two other hotels in Scotland – in Fort William and Ullapool – and was building a new 80-bedroom hotel in Inverness.
Mercury chief executive Michael S Hibbert said the Norseman would retain its name for the time being “to avoid booking confusion” but would eventually become the Wick Mercury Motor Inn.
The company had plans to improve the range of services available at the hotel, extend the use of the function rooms for conferences and, in time, increase the bedroom accommodation.
Elsewhere, school leaving dates were not being observed, members of Caithness Education Committee heard.
On reaching the age of 16, pupils were legally allowed to leave school on two dates – the last day of the Christmas holidays and the last day of the summer holidays. However, some pupils were leaving to take up jobs as soon as they reached their 16th birthday.
George Bruce said it was wrong that a child should be deprived of a job because they had to wait until a legal leaving date.
Bignold Park ruled out
From the Groat of June 11, 1999
Wick Academy was to look elsewhere for a site for its proposed training pitch after a plan for the Bignold Park proved too expensive.
The club’s interest in the park had come to an end after it emerged it was going to cost “a huge sum of money” just to level the area.
Executive committee member Alan Turner explained that the Upper Bignold had been Academy’s first choice because of its proximity to the Harmsworth Park changing facilities.
The plan to utilise the Bignold had caused some disquiet locally, with the Royal Burgh of Wick Community Council expressing concern about the proposed development given that the park had been left to the town.
The club wanted a training pitch both for its first team and to develop its youth policy.
Meanwhile, the voluntary group responsible for the Edge of the World Festival was facing an uncertain future.
The festival organisers had decided that “the current level of local interest and support is not sufficient to justify any further events”, and unless people with fresh ideas could be found to take the organisation forward it would be dissolved.
The festival had first been staged at Viewfirth in Thurso in 1991, subsequently moving to Scrabster Farm. Questions about its future were asked after a poor turnout in 1997 when just 350 people attended.
