News Archive - August 2000

31st August 2000

Reunion 70 -77 - Netball Photo now in.
A netball team picture from back then.

Victim Support
To help victims of crime volunteers in Caithness and Sutherland can give some of their time this winter to a new training course.

Women's Aid Outreach Service
Help for sufferers of Domestic Abuse in the north is now available through this new service.

29th August 2000

Wick North Parish Church - Centenary Souvenir 1830 - 1930
Work is nearing completion on putting this document on the web site.  Due to the old style and small text Nancy undertook the marathon typing job of the whole 31 pages of the original in tiny print.  The old fashioned text was too faint to scan.  Thanks to Nancy Rosie for this huge effort.

Jessie Begg - Caithness Poet
A few poems from the late Jessie Begg an aunt of James Begg whom we have already featured over the months.  We will add to the poems of both in coming months.

Pulteneytown Academy Reunion 70 - 77
This reunion will take place in March 2001 and you can get contact details in our letters page or in the Message Board.  Any other groups planning reunions are invited to use Caithness.Org to help co-ordinate their events.  We will place your information on a separate page and index it through our letters section.  You can post pictures and information on your event to assist with contacting others who have left the area many years ago.  Get in touch with us and see if we can help.  Use the Message Board for instant publicity.

Children's Groups
There are a wide range of groups in Caithness to support families and young children.  There are Play Groups in several areas.  Homestart offers support to families with young children experiencing any sort of problem or stress. There are also Twins groups in Thurso and Wick to which all families with multiple births are invited.

Volunteering and Young People

Free Educational Courses

28th August 2000

Broubster Day Out
A short report and pictures of Caithness Field Club visit to Broubster.  The next outing Sunday 3 September to Dunbeath is the last of the summer season.

26th August 2000

East End Boys Football Club
At 12.30pm today the refurbished hut for the boys club was opened.  The club first started in 1920 and we hope to bring some of their older photos in future weeks.

Falkirk Tartan
The Story of a Modern Tartan.

Royal National Mission for Deep Sea Fishermen
An article from the 1997 Caithness Field Club Bulletin about the Scrabster Branch.

24th August 2000

New Message Board on Caithness.Org
We have had many requests to set up a Community Message Board.  Here you can now leave messages about any topic of interest.  If you have issues you want feedback on, want to contact old friends on or just want to say hi to everybody then here is your chance.   The new link to the message board is in the left hand column so its easy to find when you return.

Olympics Links and News Feeds
If you want to find Olympic News or information we have gathered a few sites and put in a News Feed.  We will add to these if we find any good ones and there are hundreds.  Our news Feeds Page now has links to updating sports news in a variety of sports.

Conferencing Places in Links
Need to save time, want a place to leave information for colleagues all over the Highlands then why not use the links we are putting in under this section.  Save money on postage and envelopes by posting your minutes, agendas and more on a free Intranet (open only to your own group by password).

Pictures on Caithness.Org
We have been trying a few things out with photos and have decided to place fewer photos on the opening page to keep the download time faster.  For the next few weeks more of the newsy type pictures which may drop off the pages after  two or three weeks will be on the News Feeds Page.

22nd August 2000

Advertising on Caithness.Org
Caithness.Org starts its move to become a Community Business and announces prices for advertising in the business section.  For a limited period we are offering banner advertising for 3 and 6 months periods with a fifty percent discount on our future charges.  Banner advertising slots will be limited so don't delay.  We have been increasing our promotional activity in recent months and you can check our visitor information in the Business Pages.  You can still get you Free Business Page by completing the Submission Form but to bring more notice to your page try a banner advert on the index pages running 24 hours a day.

The Needs of People With Addiction Problems in Caithness
Caithness Community Care Forum's latest survey is now available.  It is hoped that the findings will be fed into the planning process for services in the county.  The Care Forum has now produced surveys on Mental Health, Care of the Elderly, Sensory Impairment and Physical Disablities all of which have been circulated widely.  On another front the forum is now looking at the possibility of setting up a Handy Person Scheme to assist elderly or disabled people with small repairs and jobs particularly those not normally carried out by contractors.

More James Begg Poems

21st August 2000

Robert Dick's Collection of  Fossils
An article by Jack Saxon from the 1997 Bulletin of Caithness Field Club.

20th August 2000

Banner Advertising on Caithness.Org
Caithness.Org will start to offer an increasing range of business services.   Get your business or organisation noticed more easily with our latest banner advertising.  We are offering incredible value on the banners for a short period and half our future price.  Don't hang around to long - first in gets the bargain - and remember your banner will be on 24 hours a day every day.  Check it out.

Thurso Live Music Association
An exciting new season 2000 - 2001 starts on Tuesday 26 September with Scottish Opera-Go-Round.  A very full programme includes something for everyone including children.  So check out the full programme - full programme subscription rates held at last years prices make superb value for money.

Airneis Tuath
If you have any old seating hidden away in garages or lofts, Airneis Tuath would like to hear from you.
They are currently compiling an archive for furniture makers, historians, teachers and students, and anyone with an interest in vernacular furniture.  Information as it is gathered will be digitalised and stored, copies will be made into disc or cd and in time made available to museums and libraries and individuals.  Details on Caithness Chairs for publication on the site would be of interest. Pictures of a couple of Caithness chairs added 29 August

Wick Harbour Protection
Our latest picture  shows that the hugerocks to protect Wick Harbour previously lined up on the quayside are now in place well ahead of next winter.  Should keep the old town safe for another 200 hundred years or so.  It cost nearly £1,000,000 so it better.  Some work on the other side is still in progress and a few spare rocks are lying alongside the old lifeboat shed if you want a closer look.

Red Deer at Langwell, Caithness
Another interesting article from the Caithness Field Club 1997 Bulletin by Bob Walker.  Giving a great insight into deer in the north of Scotland. 

Crosswords
If you are looking for crosswords you will find them in our Links and Information Section or through the News Feeds page.  You will find an new Quiptic Crossword from the Guardian newspaper updated every week.  It has help if you are stuck with answers or if that is too easy go to the other links and try something harder.

Nursing Links
Lots of links and some Tax Tips on expenses to save you money.

17th August 2000

Reay Annual Garden Show
Cultivated folk from all overCaithness will be heading for the Victoria Hall in Reay for their Annual Garden Show on 26 August.  The event begins at 2.30pm with judging taking place at 11.00am.  More details about Reay Gardening Club here.

16th August 2000

Caithness Orchestra
Rehearsals for around 40 local musicians - all ages and backgrounds - start tonight in Thurso High School at 7.30pm.  New members always welcome and beginners get plenty of encouragement from more experienced players.  Beethoven's "Egmont Overture" and Mendelssohn's "Hebrides" will be among the works tackled this season.  They will be joining forces with Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama and Wick Choral on 7 October for Handel's "Messiah".  Looks like some very busy and interesting few evenings ahead in Caithness.

15th August 2000

Caithness Field Club
From the earlier years bulletins we bring you some more of the interesting articles -
1997 - Disaster Threatens at 7 Miles Up
1997 - A Tacksman At Borlum 1765
To make Caithness Field Club articles easier to find in future they will all be indexed from the one page.  So if you want to book mark the Index Page for articles it is at Caithness Field Club Bulletins

Software Downloads News Page
Another page in our Links section updating daily for the some of the latest downloads available.  If you find anything useful we suggest you bookmark the web site as the page is updated daily and the links will be changed.

Weekly Quiptic Crossword Link
You will now find a link to a crossword in Links and in News Feeds Page which updates once a week from the Guardian Newspaper.

14th August 2000

Finding Caithness.Org on the web
The web site has moved home and apart from a few bugs seems to be working well.  One of the first minor improvements is that Caithness.Org can be found under a variety of web addresses.  You can just type Caithness.Org without the www.  Or you can type www.caithness.org or www.caithness.org.uk  So now it is even easier for people to find Caithness on the net.  Why not set our site as your opening page to check our updates as soon as you log on.  For new webbies just go to Tools, Internet Options and change the web home page address to http://www.caithness.org  This will get you here first time every time to check us out.

Further Improvements Coming Soon
A new Message Board section will be added shortly for everyone to leave messages or contact other Caithnessians on a variety of topics.   Watch out for the announcements here.  The photo site has now been set up within Caithness.Org.  The Caithness Photo site will be removed soon.  Reset your favourites if you have the Photo Site bookmarked.

Monthly Newsletter via LISTBOT
The numbers signing up for the newsletter have been very encouraging.  We intend to put out one every month.  We have access to a lot of information and we are currently trying to decide what should be included.   For your information we now have well over 100 subscribers from Caithness, other parts of Scotland and UK, and various countries around the world including USA, Canada and Australia.  Let us know if you would like particular issues highlighted or send us a short email for inclusion.  We know that some people in various parts are keen to make connections via our web site and the few letters already on the site have sparked a number of emails.  If you want to get in touch with former friends, relatives or colleagues then our Exiles or Letters pages may be just the place to post your message.  Also Reunion Pages look set to be a growth area for Caithness.Org and we will continue to build more pages for new groups organising reunions.  We have more ideas on this to come.  Sign up and let us know what you would like included - its completely Free in your Email monthly.

More Newsfeeds on Caithness.Org
Making it easier to find the news topics you want there are now over 50 topics in our Newsfeeds Page.  These are updating daily from various news media in the UK and abroad.   Many are also located in the Links and Information listed alphabetically.  Don't forget you can also find a useful UK Information section on Caithness.Org also located in Newsfeeds or Links.

13th August 2000

Wick Triathlon 2000 Winners
39 entrants made it to the start in the annual Wick Triathlon.  With a mix of novices and serious contenders the race took place in very pleasant conditions of sunshine and occasional cloud.  Fraser Cartmel from Elgin won the men's race and Kait Farmer from Wick the ladies race.  There were three teams and 8 novices this year.  The Wick Triathlon club stage the race every year with support from the council and local traders.  Training goes on throughout the year so if you want to get fit why not get out with them or if you are further away get training to enter in 2001.

Thurso Gala Photos Now On
The Photo Section has now been moved to Caithness.Org.  There are over 150 Thurso Gala pictures under Events.

12th August 2000

Caithness.Org Move Underway
The web site has now made its move and we have access to much more web space.  This has brought a number of technical problems which we are working to fix.  The Caithness Photo site will be moved on Sunday 13th August.

More Poems from James Begg
By special request Nancy has prepared more of the late James Begg's poems for our pages.  Well known for his recitations at Burn's suppers - imagine the Burn's Poetry take offs delivered in Caithness dialect.

Reunion Planned 2001 - Wick High School - Born 50-52
If you were in this group then get in touch with the organisers on this page.  More information on the reunion will appear in due course.  A Pultenytown Academy Academy photo of one class from 1961 is included.  Others may follow as received.  The reunion list of names is running slowly but will speed up in a few days once we have worked on it.

Links
We continue to add links in to many sections.  Some new links in English Language, English Literature, Shakespeare and Health Check.  Some new courses added to Free Courses and more links in Educational Resources.

7th August 2000

High School Reunion for 49 to 50 year olds
Are you 49 to 50 year old and attended Wick High School, Izzy Thurley and Carolyne Poulton are currently arranging a reunion for next Summer.  Want more information read Izzy's letter and view list of school role.
If you are planning a reunion or meeting in Caithness or want to contact old friends send us an email message for our pages.  Contacts have already been made from the first few up.

5th August 2000

Ormlie Home Zone Success
The Ormlie Group had another success this week in their quest to improve their area.

Thurso Gala Kicks Off
We hope to bring you photos of the Gala as soon as we can.  We will be there to record the floats and Fancy Dress.  We are about to undertake the transfer of our web site and this may hold things up but the photos will appear as soon as we can get them on.

2nd August 2000

Thurso Gala 5 - 10 August
Gala Progamme now in Thurso Town Improvements Page.  We will be bringing photos of gala as soon as we have moved our web site.

1st August 2000

Dolphins at Dunnet
Dolphins have been seen for the last few days in Dunnet Bay.  The dolphins are white sided and are apparently following the fish which have come into the bay.  Good vantage points are at Castlehill and the Ranger Station balcony at Dunnet.

Caithness.Org off line
Due to unforeseen circumstances we will delay the move to our new server until next week.  This means that as we are short of space we cannot upload further photographs.  As soon as the move is made we will post a message here.

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