Scottish
Roads Weather Problems Bulletin Board
Elections
May 2003
31 May 03
Annular Eclipse From Strathy
30 May 03
Rob Gibson MSP - First Speech At
Scottish Parliament
In his first speech in Edinburgh Rob Gibson attacked the government for
their failure to free up land for affordable housing in the Highlands.
He made comparisons with other amll counties in Europe and added "Fundamental to rebuilding population is
the availability of land for affordable housing. How often do youngsters
seek in vain for a house site in a crofting community, or a building plot
around a small town? Landlords, planning law and water authorities are the
problem. So is the only alternative for the enterprising to leave?
".................................
29 May 03
HIGHLAND WEDDING VENUES PROVE A HIT WITH COUPLES
More than 31% of marriage notices received in the Inverness area so
far this year involve couples from outwith Scotland, proving that weddings
are becoming big business for the area. The statistic was revealed by The
Highland Council Convener Alison Magee on Wednesday 28 May in welcoming
100 delegates to the annual general meeting of the Association of
Registrars of Scotland, which was hosted by The Highland Council in
Inverness.
Scottish Outdoor
Access Code Consultation
Deadline 30 June 2003
22 May 03
NORTHERN MARTIAL ARTS STUDIOS
Kempo Jujitsu��Caithness
Saturday May 17th saw the 2003 Spring gradings for NMAS in the Boys
Brigade Hall Thurso. Senior grading sensei on the day was Willie Nicolson
2nd Dan of the Nicolson Kempo Jujitsu School. It was a wonderful sunny day
with the Hall filled with nervous children and adults. Sometimes even more
nervous were the parents as they were so aware as to how much the gradings
meant to the kids.
22 May 03
TRADITIONAL MUSIC NIGHT
On Wednesday 28th May 2003 there will be a feast of traditional music
on offer in Wick when traditional music students from the North Highland
College in Alness will put on a show in the Pipe Band Hall, High Street,
Wick. The students are tutored by local Caithness musicians Bobby Coghill
and Karen Steven.
22 May 03
Wick Boys Brigade Gets Kicking
22 May 03
MacMillan Cancer Walk
21 May
Caithness Is Home To Champion Sleddog Team
Caithness
is lucky to have a champion sleddog team now in the county. Racing under
the name Valuiki the dogs are trained and cared for by Adrian & Lynn
Tilsed. Valuiki are one of the most predominant and successful Sleddog
kennels in the United
Kingdom. ...............................................................
21 May 03
Thurso Sixth Year
Pupils Gain Diana Award
Wick Players Reach 70 Years
17 May 03
Prize Winners of the Rotary Open Golf Tournament At Reay
17 May 03
Caithness And Sutherland Enterprise
Report April 2003
State of unemployment and who has been awarded what grants and how many
young folk are undergoing training on a variety of
schemes.............................
16 May 03
NURSERY STAFF STRIKE IN THE
HIGHLAND COUNCIL AREA
Thirty nine Nursery classes across
Highland will be affected when 65 Nursery workers intend withdrawing their
labour on Wednesday 21st May. Approximately 975 pupils will
lose a pre-school session on this day. These are the likely impacts
of strike action on Wednesday 21st May by Unison members employed by The
Highland Council as nursery assistants and auxiliaries. Bruce
Robertson, The Highland Council�s Director of Education, Culture and Sport
said: �Headteachers will advise parents affected by the strike by letter
over the next few days but overall the classes involved are: Caithness:
Hillhead, Pulteneytown, Mount Pleasant and South Nurseries..........more
and other areas
14 May 03
Caithness Pony Club First Competition On
New Cross Country Course
Caithness
Branch of the Pony Club held its first competition at the new
cross-country course built at Northfield Equestrian Centre, by kind
permission of Mr and Mrs H Henderson, at the weekend. Competitors from
Orkney, Caithness and Sutherland took part in a Hunter Pace which allows
riders to choose which fences they wish to jump to build confidence to
participate in One Day Events.
14 May 03
Highland Cross 2003 Coast To Coast Duathalon
Highland Cross, the unique coast to coast charity duathlon has announced
that 660 folk have once again taken up the its challenge to cross Scotland
in a day and raise money for charity!
13 May 03
Scottish Malts Trials And Tour Arrives In Wick
13 May 03
Highland Airports Buck Worldwide Trend
Record Passenger Growth at Inverness Airport
Inverness
Airport had a record month in April with more than 37,000 passengers
travelling via the Highland air hub.
April 2003 was one of the
busiest months ever at
Inverness, reflecting the continuing
development of the airport as the principal air hub in the region.
Passenger figures at the airport, operated by Highlands and Islands
Airports Limited, were 20% up on the same period in 2002 at a total of
37,424 for the month of April 2003.
HIAL operates 10 airports and
the number of overall aircraft movements at
the airports increased slightly by 1.5% to 76,119, with the largest
increases at Kirkwall,
Stornoway, Sumburgh
and Wick...............
13
May 03
PARENTS AND PUPILS ENCOURAGED TO SUPPORT
WALK TO SCHOOL WEEK
Highland primary and secondary school pupils are being encouraged by The
Highland Council to put their best foot forward and support �National
Summer Walk to School Week� from Monday 19th to Friday 23rd
May. Not just aimed at improving the health of pupils, the
national campaign aims to improve the well-being of families, and
communities who are both involved in and live around or on routes to
schools.....
13 May 03
FURTHER INVESTMENT AT FORSS
Caithness and Sutherland Enterprise (CASE) has committed a further
�440,000 towards the creation of a hi-tech business park near Thurso. In
addition the project has secured �732,545 from the European Regional
Development Fund (ERDF). The former Forss US Naval Base - which has
been idle for over a decade - is being transformed into a Business and
Technology Park, which is set to attract tenants associated with the
decommissioning of the nearby Dounreay nuclear plant...............
12 May 03
Castletown Junior Football Club Plays
Mid West From Orkney
Castletown Junior FC had a visit from Orcadian club, Mid West at the
weekend. The clubs played matches at three age groups, under ten, under
twelve and under fourteen, with Castletown emerging victorious from all
three matches. The club hopes to go over for a return trip later in the
season.
12 May 03
Screening Programme Continues to Save Lives
242 men in the Highlands will have a better chance of surviving in
later years of life, thanks to a successful screening programme in
Highland. Over 5000 men have so far been screened for abdominal aortic
aneurysm (AAA) in the first large screening programme of this kind to take
place in Scotland. The Remote and Rural Areas Resource Initiative (RARARI)
has funded the three-year project which offers screening for (AAA) to men
aged 65 to 74 in Highland over three years, at a cost of around �300
000.
Pentland Model Boat Club 2003 Show
10 May 03
A truly magnificent display of model boats most of which are capable
of sailing with power controls was on display in Thurso. With
several categories of models on show the judges had a difficult task
in picking winners. Once they made their decisions there were four
winners Ted Miller, Andrew Anderson, Brian Hughes and Des Marchant.
Ted miller came out winner over all and carried off more than one section
trophy.
9 May 03
CAITHNESS FEDERATION OF
BREAKFAST CLUBS
INAUGURAL MEETING 17TH JUNE 2003 -Time 1.15 to 2.30pm
Conference Room, Wick Medical Centre, Martha Terrace, WICK
The aim is to enable children across Caithness get the �best start to
their day� by ensuring that breakfast clubs are well supported. This
network will share ideas whilst also serving as a means of identifying
what is necessary to enable new clubs to develop. Support and
sustainability of current breakfast clubs is of equal significant. The
Federation will act as a means to reduce duplication of effort across all
breakfast clubs in Caithness............................................more
9 May 03
THURSO HIGH SCHOOL WINS
ENVIRONMENTAL AWARD
Sixth year pupils at Thurso High School have inspired their
contemporaries to achieve a major improvement in the school�s environment
and secure a prize in the Keep Scotland Beautiful Awards sponsored by the
OCS Group. Designing a garden that would survive the prevailing
harsh weather required the pupils to secure and adhere to expert advice in
the creation of a neat, tidy and appealing garden, which incorporates
large quantities of Caithness stone.......................
8 May 03
DONALD McPHEE,
BORN CAITHNESS, JUNE 1942:
DIED AGED 60, IN INVERNESS 29/4/03
A Caithness-born great-grandfather, who as an infant was one of the last
pupils to be enrolled at Freswick Primary School, passed away suddenly
late last month in his home in Inverness, the city where he spent all his
working life.
7 May 03
Ormlie Community Association Gain
Youthlink Scotland Funding
Ormlie Community Association has been awarded funding of �11,849 from
YouthLink Scotland through their Capital Venture Fund. The funding
application was a joint initiative between Ormlie Community Association,
Save the Children in Scotland and the Social Inclusion Partnership. The
money will be used to enhance the multi-media project being undertaken by
the CPP and SIP for children and young people aged between 9 - 25 years.
7 May 03
Gaelic Teacher Retires
John Maclean has been teaching Gaelic at evening classes in Wick for 15
years. To mark their appreciation, students (past and present) and some
members of Caithness Gaelic Choir met at the Nethercliffe Hotel, Wick on
Wed 30th April for a buffet supper and ceilidh. The students had
commissioned Denis Mann, himself an ex-student, to make a piece of
engraved glass as a memento.
6 May 03
Cancer Research - Caithness
Elizabeth Angus Retires After 42 Years On The Committee
The Cancer Research folk held there annual meeting in the Orange Room,
Park Hotel recently.
6 May 03
21.75lbs At Weedy Pool Thurso River
This
magnificent salmon was caught on the Thurso (Monday)
and weighed in at 21.75 lbs it was caught by Gordon Hines
from Inverness. It was caught in the Weedy Pool on Beat 13
on a Cascade Tube tied by Kenny MacDonald. Kenny
MacDonald was a writer for the North Star up to 18 months
ago and now a columnist for the "Trout and Salmon".
Fishing Section
5 May 03
Four Star Award for UKAEA Visitor Centre
The
Highlands' latest four-star visitor attraction has opened to the public
for the 2003 season. The award to the Dounreay Visitor Centre has
been made under the Scottish Tourist Board Visitor Attraction Quality
Assurance Grading Scheme.
5 May 03
Tracking - Possible New Sport For Caithness
Currently there is no Sports Body for Tracking and as such this page is
only to raise awareness of the Sport. If you would like to know more
about Tracking, or to form a Tracking Club (of Interest) then please
contact Miles Greenford......
3 May 03
2003 Caithness Office supplies Darts Competition
3 May 03
Schools Penalty Shoot Out At Academy V Keith Game
3 May 03
Thurso Bridge Lights Up
