From the Northern Times 25, 50 and 100 years ago
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25 YEARS AGO
From the newspaper of January 30, 1998
It has taken three long years but Kinlochbervie has finally got a spanking new health centre and associated day care centre for the elderly. The £620,000, single storey, T-shaped building, sited between the old surgery and the village garage, was handed over by contractors to Caithness and Sutherland NHS Trust last Friday. It will open to patients on Monday.
A MAJOR search and rescue operation was launched on Tuesday evening after two Melvich men failed to return from a whelk picking expedition. Neil Baxter, Bayview Terrace, and Douglas Martin, Melvich Terrace, were found in the early morning following an extensive search. Their quad bike had broken down, leaving them in the dark with no transport.
Golspie Community Council chairman has reported that Sutherland Estates would be glad to get the century-old Golspie Drill Hall off their hands for a "small price". Ideas are being sought from the community about how the drill hall could be used.
50 YEARS AGO
From the newspaper of January 26, 1973
THERE are no private telephones in the remote township of Laird, on the shores of Loch Eriboll – only a public kiosk, which is at one end and too far away for old folk living at the other end. Sutherland Social Work Committee are alarmed at the plight of these old folk in case of emergency and, if a telephone cannot be installed in one of the houses concerned, they are thinking about providing an alarm system in each house, wired to a central point and as near the existing kiosk as possible.
Mr John Steven, of Borgie Lodge Hotel, has been playing a considerable part in the community social life for some time. During this winter he has set up an air rifle shooting range with stationary and mobile targets, which is proving a happy pastime for young and old in the area.
The Little Rogart road past the school to the end of the crofting community is to be reconstructed at an estimated cost of £10,000 – there will be a 75 per cent grant, the roads committee was told last week.
50 YEARS AGO
From the newspaper of January 25, 1923
There was an unusually large run in Brora on Saturday night for chipped potatoes and fried fish when Messrs Jas. Landles and A. Whyte opened their new adventure in a shop in the Grand Hotel Buildings. Messrs Landles and Whyte intend to start a fishmonger's business in conjunction with the above, and as this is a much felt want in a progressive place like Brora, especially the visitor season, it is hoped that their enterprise will be largely patronised by the inhabitants.
A LETTER was read to Creich Parish Council from Mr D. C. Wilson, general merchant, Bonar Bridge, complaining of the deplorable condition of the road in the village of Bonar and also of the Invershin and Rosehall road. The council's attention was also drawn to the bad state of the road from Bonar to Spinningdale.
Through the generosity of Dr J. B. Simpson, a table tennis set has been introduced into the Golspie branch of the British Legion's clubrooms.
