Wick Street Party
THE countdown has begun to Wick's biggest party-the annual street
celebration to bring in the New Year. The warm-up starts at
10.30pm in the capable hands of the Chicken Pickers band and their
performance will feature piping spots from the ever-popular Harvey
brothers, Andrew and Craig. This year, hot fare such as sausage
rolls, pies and soup will help keep the cold at bay although the
weather forecast is promising. Also on sale, is a variety of glow
novelties and a collection will be taken to help finance next year's
party. Try and make use of the wheelie bins for your rubbish as
it will greatly assist members of the organising committee in tidying
up after the celebrations.
Thurso Street Party
Wick New Year Web Cam - No Web Cam Due To Camera Not Working Paul tried his best but the camera which was working ceased to function and another high quality cam is not available.
Apologies For Loss Of the Forum There is apparently a bandwidth problem. We hope to have this fixed later today.
30 December 2010
Thurso and Wick Hogmanay Street Parties All Ready To Go
As 2010 ticks to a close Caithness has two big street parties all
prepared with live music and fun to welcome in 2011. See Thursoor Wick
Latest New Feature On Caithness.org Forum - Embed Videos In Your Posts
The new and upgraded Caithness.org forum now also includes the
possibility for you to inlcude video in your posts. You can
either upload your video to Youtube or Flickr or any other provider and
then place the correct code in your posting to have the video right
there for all to see. The applications are endless - put your
band video in the music section, your bird film in the bird watching
section, your sports video or any other topic in the appropriate place
to share with the Caithness.org community. Alternatively you may
want to embed a video already on the web say for example to highlight
your comments about a film in the film section.
A sample video and instructions on how to get your video on the forum are now in the Testing Ground A couple of other sample videos are in the Music Section and the General Section Businesses
In Caithness And Sutherland - We can now add video to your business
page if you have one that highlights features of your business - THIS
IS FREE OF CHARGE so why not use it if you are able to get a short clip
made. See this Business Page - Castle Of Mey Just tell us where your video is uploaded to and we will add it to your Business page FREE
Police highlight phone call prize scams - North Division
Police in North Division are warning that unscrupulous individuals are
operating a telephone scam in the Caithness and Sutherland areas.
This follows a report that a local man has lost a four figure sum by
responding to such a call.
29 December 2010
Car Exploded Into Flames At Tesco Wick Today A car exploded into flames from the engine at Tesco, Wick today.
The fire brigade from Wick Fire station attended and rescued a dog from
the burning vehicle. The car suffered extreme fired damage and
ignited a car next to it which was also severely damaged. A third
vehicle nearby - a flat bed truck was also damaged. The cause of
the fire has not yet been announced. Discussion on this topic in the forum
Boxing Day Thaw At Wick River Wick river reflects that speed of the Boxing Day thaw that set in, in Caithness after the trouble-some wintry spell.
Weatherwatch: Global warming is evident in Scotland - Guardian
Article about how butterflies may point to warming as they extend their habitat north Other
species moving north are the comma, which has made great advances from
the border regions, and the speckled wood. This seems to have moved up
the coastlines rather than inland and has been seen in a nature reserve
close to Dunnet Head, the most northerly point on the Scottish mainland.
Caithness.org Forum - Upgrades In Progress Our Forum/Message boards are currently being updated
so please bear with us as we make the changes. Everything is now
working but you will find that some of the controols and buttons have
changed or moved. Additional features may also become available
as the upgrade progresses. All the usual sections are still
there. The upgrade commenced last night and will continue
for a while as the additional safety, security and other new features
are added. The final look of the forums may not yet be in place
and further changes may be expected as the new look is refined in
coming hours and days. We hope you will all continue to find the
forums useful and interesting. We are currently discussing
even more additional features to further enhance the Caithness.org
forum experience. Thanks for all your support in the past and we
hope that as we upgrade Caithness.org will copntinue to offer free
services to you all in 2011. Early in the new year you will
find Noel Donaldson's new column Doanalson's Diary
beginning to have articles and snippets about Caithness life
added. Noel is keen to hear from anyone with he said, " Feel free
to drop
me a
line or an e-mail with any items or photos you feel would be of
interest, and of course, that applies to the folks at home."
Noel's
contact details are as follows; Noel Donaldson, 11 Ackergill
Crescent, Wick, KW1 4DU and the e-mail address is
[email protected]
Wick Registrars On The Move
Noel Donaldson reports - THE Wick registrars office where births, deaths and
marriages have been recorded, for several decades, is on the
move...back to its original home in the Market Square.
The transfer was revealed at this month's meeting of the Royal Burgh of
Wick Community Council, by area manager, David Sutherland after
councillors had heard a letter from registrar, Margaret Woods, and her
assistant, Jennifer Gunn. They expressed concern about the implications
of the move from the town hall, round the corner to Highland Council's
service point, enabling them to take on other general duties when not
engaged in their registry responsibilities, which, said the ward
manager, tended to be "sporadic".........
Half A Million Pound For Dounreay Paint Job - The Sun
NUCLEAR bosses were last night blasted for the "ludicrous" decision to
spend half a million pounds repainting Dounreay's "golfball" dome -
even though it is to be demolished............
23 December 2010
Christmas In Caithness 2010 M�D QUILTS GOES TO CAITHNESS HORIZONS Caithness Horizons has become the proud owner of the set of
three quilts commissioned to mark the Royal National M�d 2010.
The Kross Kounty Quilters', a group of seven quilters based in
Caithness, created the original design as a backdrop to capturing a
pictorial representation of the Caithness land and seascape to
celebrate the M�d coming to Caithness. As a lasting legacy of the
M�d, the local organising committee donated the exquisite collection of
quilts to Caithness Horizons.
22 December 2010
Choral strike the right note with the spirit of Christmas THE true spirit of Christmas shone brightly at St Fergus Church,
on Tuesday night, as Wick Choral Society raised the rafters with their
carol concert. Despite a smaller than expected audience, and a setback
with the non-appearance of the Caithness orchestra, from Thurso, due to
the stormy weather, the show went on. Patrons responded to an
appeal from conductor, Don Renwick, that they would have to play a
bigger part by filling the gap and singing more of the carol programme
than had been planned, and, at one point, a handful of the folk in the
pews, joined the choral for the demanding Hallelujah
Chorus................Noel Donaldson
Caithness Heat And Power Identifies Preferred Bidder Ignis Energy Ltd has been invited by The Highland Council to be
its Preferred Bidder to take over the district heating scheme -
Caithness Heat and Power Ltd. The Board of Caithness Heat and Power Ltd
(CHAP) has written to 260 householders who receive their heat and hot
water through CHAP informing them of plans to work with the
Council and Ignis aiming to agree a contract by 31 March 2011.
21 December 2010
Crossroads School Nativity Play - Due to weather change of date/time/venue. Crossroads School Nativity Play Wed 22nd Dec @ 1.30pm in the
school (weather permitting). Silver collection at the door.
Raffle & childrens crafts for sale. The nativity will be
followed by the Christmas assembly, then refreshments.
COLUMN COMEBACK FOR NOEL - - - "Doanalsin's Diary"
Hi there, folks...just a few lines to let you know that in 2011 be
doing an occasional column for the "org" in the New Year. As many
of you will know, I took early retirement from the Groat and
Courier earlier in the year, following some health problems.
These
have been resolved and I am taking the advice of those who say, you
should keep the mind active, and doing some freelance work. Some
of
you have said you have missed my musings. It's the first time I
have written at any length on the web which
will enable me to reach Caithness exiles scattered throughout the
world. I used to receive mail from some of you, for my
previous
column and would hope to hear from you again. Feel free to drop
me a
line or an e-mail with any items or photos you feel would be of
interest, and of course, that applies to the folks at home. My
contact details are as follows; Noel Donaldson, 11 Ackergill
Crescent, Wick, KW1 4DU and the e-mail address is
[email protected]
Those details will be repeated at the end of each column. I look
forward to getting back into the saddle, and, it just remains
for me to wish you all, a very merry Christmas and a happy and healthy
New Year.......Noel Donaldson Note -Noel
Donaldson,s new column will feature in the Forum/Message Board under
the name "Doanalsin's Diary". Noel will be able to add new items
to the column at any time.
A Football Stocking Filler
A Highland journalist with strong Caithness roots has written a book about his boyhood footballing hero.
Donald Wilson, who works for the Highland News in Inverness has
published a book about Davy Johnston, who played for Aberdeen for three
seasons during Eddie Turnbull's reign as manager between 1966 and
1969............
Met Office Weather Warning - Freezing Temps Heavy Snow Tuesday 14th December 2010 and Wednesday 15th December Frost in places overnight and during mornings both in air and on roads,
with the continued low level icy road hazard - due to continued
snowmelt which refreezes at night, which probably continues to be a
factor over parts of eastern England and over Scotland, though gritting
should be effective with this. A little rain in parts of the east too
could lead to icy surfaces, this potentially turning to light sleet or snow for instance over SE England on Tuesday and Wednesday, though no significant settling is expected. Thursday 16th December 2010 to Monday 20th December
We continue to monitor an area of very cold air coming out of the
Canadian Arctic today and across Greenland tomorrow. Given the lead
time, there remains an unusually strong consensus from the forecast
models for this to come south across the UK on Thursday, preceded by a
band of rain. This may turn to sleet and snow as it clears and poses a widespread black ice risk for Thursday morning across Scotland
and a tricky situation for gritters. It will quickly give way to
frequent snow showers in strong to gale force winds spreading south
through Thursday. Heavy snow showers are expected to affect the northern halves of Scotland and northern Ireland, parts of Wales and southwest England as well as eastern coastal counties of Scotland and England.
Little Nippers Play Group Enrolments For Next Year - WICK FAMILY CENTRE Little Nippers Playgroup in Bank Row, Wick are now
enrolling for January - July 2011. We are holding a "Come and
Play Day" on Wednesday 15th December from 1:30 pm - 2:30 pm for those
who are interested in enrolling their child next year.
Become A Philly Local Hero and Represent Your Region
December 2010: TV chef Ed Baines is on the hunt for cooking enthusiasts
to become a "Local Philly Hero" - you could represent your region by
creating your own recipe for Philadelphia, the UK's number one
cream cheese. If you are chosen to be one of Philly's ten local heroes
you could feature in Philadelphia TV ads, billboard posters, the Philly website and even on pack... and the chance of a cash reward of �1,000 makes it an even tastier proposition.......more.........
More Winter In Caithness
Mick Barnett took these photos from his garden in Dunnet. Mick
said,"We live in Dunnet and they are views taken from our front garden
looking over the dunes and the bay. The one with the mountains in the
background shows the bay with Ben Loyal and Ben Hope in the
background. All the pictures were taken using my Canon 450D DSLR
camera with a 90 - 300 mm zoom lens."
Shelligoe Archery Fun Shoot Raised �350 For Children In Need At Shelligoe Archery we raised money for Children in Need by doing a
Fun Shoot and getting sponsored for how many Golds we got. I would like
to thank everyone who took part and those who sponsored us.
Congratulations to our winners….. Junior member Michael Crowe and Lynda Hitchcock our Adult member.
I would like to remind you that Shelligoe Archery is available for
Lessons, Fun Shoots, Have-a-Go’s and also that Vouchers are a
great gift this time of year. Merry Christmas and a Happy New year
From Shelligoe Archery. Thanks again to all who helped raise this fantastic amount.
Shelligoe Archery Fun Shoot Raised �350 For Children In Need At Shelligoe Archery we raised money for Children in Need by doing a
Fun Shoot and getting sponsored for how many Golds we got. I would like
to thank everyone who took part and those who sponsored us.
Congratulations to our winners….. Junior member Michael Crowe and Lynda Hitchcock our Adult member.
I would like to remind you that Shelligoe Archery is available for
Lessons, Fun Shoots, Have-a-Go’s and also that Vouchers are a
great gift this time of year. Merry Christmas and a Happy New year
From Shelligoe Archery. Thanks again to all who helped raise this fantastic amount.
Argyle Square, Wick - Christmas Fun Day
A CRISP, sunny, seasonal afternoon, gave the Wick Argyle Square
Improvements Association perfect weather for their annual Christmas fun
day, on Saturday, and, with a variety of stalls, there was something
for all ages. The Wick RBLS Pipe Band got the afternoon off to a piping
hot start and the stallholders and other fundraising member, some in
fancy dress, did brisk business. Predictably, that man of the moment,
Santa Claus, had no lack of young visitors to his grotto. The Pulteney
Bell Ringers helped to get everyone into the festive spirit with their
special brand of instrumental music. The all-female group is keen to
recruit some male members so, if their music "ap-peels" to you, give
one of their members a "ring". - Noel Donaldson
