Old stories from Helmsdale
© The Northern Times
THIS article is distilled from a letter sent to the editor of the Northern Ensign in July 1890 by an unnamed native of Badbea who was residing in Glasgow.
“Your readers and the natives of Helmsdale have been treated to a sketch of the present state of the place,” the correspondent wrote. “I propose with your permission to give a sketch of what the place was like in my young days, when it was in a more flourishing condition than it is at present.
“I recollect the distillery when it was in full swing, the business being carried on by William and Alexander Simpson, who were extensive fishcurers as well. They also carried on farming at the Boghals. There was a meal mill in full operation at Navidale. The limekiln which stood to the west of the distillery was used in burning lime for a supply to the buildings in Helmsdale and the neighbourhood. About this time the pier was extended to its present dimensions... and the wall facing the river was built.
“Fishing/fishcuring was carried out extensively on both sides of the river with some 20 curers kept busy. There would be fully 200 boats fishing in Helmsdale about this time.”
The writer claimed to have seen the river from the bridge to the end of the pier “crammed with boats and ships, so that one could walk from end to end of the harbour on boats”. It was pointed out that thousands of pounds circulated in the area during the fishing season, with a large number of coopers employed during the rest of the year.
The shopkeepers, or merchants as they were usually called, were Donald Mackenzie, Joseph Mackay, Andrew Mackay, David Mackay, Paul Gordon, Donald Ross, Robert Rutherford, John Gunn, “Major” John Cooper and “Coffee John”, while “Leosach” was in the spirit trade. There was a Donald Grant, a tailor; Robert Kaeson, who had the Surrey Arms; and Donald Ross in the Commercial, a man much respected by the travelling public.
The letter continued: “From the Commercial the mail coach started her journeys south and north. The bugle was sounded coming from the south at the back of the park, and coming from the north down at the Boghals, to warn the strappers to have the horses in readiness when the coach arrived. Angus Mackay was guard – a good-natured fellow ready to give a free lift at a time if he was out of sight of his employer. On being spoken to on one occasion for a breach of orders he declared that he could not resist the temptation of giving a lift to 'an old man or a bonnie lassie’.
“Mr Ross had a peculiar way of expressing himself when any awkward question arose. He would say, 'It is just the want of carelessness!’ Mrs Ross appeared to run the hostelry with as much esteem as her husband. She celebrated her jubilee in the Commercial and I am sure it would be a pleasure to all who knew her to give some tangible proof of their appreciation of her genial and honourable dealings with all and sundry of her numerous customers.”
The writer noted that Helmsdale had suffered severely from the cholera scourge that passed over the country in the summer of 1832. The herring-fishing boats from the south brought the disease with them, and in some cases one or more of the crew died while at sea. Latterly, the excitement got to such a height that the people lined the beach and stoned the boats attempting to land. When they put to sea again some of their dead were on board.
“There was a cholera hospital erected in the town. A man named Hugh Gordon and his wife Babie Mhore, Big Barbara, were put in charge of the hospital. Though they had to handle all the living and the dead in the hospital, they avoided any contagion, unlike the unfortunate doctor who died within the year.
“As soon as they heard of neighbours and friends catching the dreaded disease, many people fled, many of them to ports on the Caithness coast such as Dunbeath and Lybster. As for Wick, the plague broke out there too. Some settlements had a second visit of the plague. Not so, Helmsdale.”
GEOLOGICALLY, the Helmsdale area is dominated by a large outcrop of granite stretching up Strath Ullie to just beyond Torrish.
The jointing characteristics of granite lead to weathering of the rock into rectangular blocks and eventually into coarse sand which moves slowly downhill, helping to give a smooth, rounded form to the landscape, notably Beinn Mhealaich and Craig Thoraid. Pronounced rocky screes clothe the steep easterly slopes of lower Strath Ullie, just inland from Helmsdale.
There is a marked contrast in the scenery developed along the sandstones and conglomerates of the Old Red series found mainly to the west of Glen Loth and typified by the rugged cliffed faces of Druim Dearg, Beinn Dhorain and Ben Uarie.
A narrow strip of geologically young Jurassic rocks, which largely coincide with the narrow plain, is found outcropping from Ord Point southwards past Brora to Golspie. These sedimentary rocks are faulted down against the older rocks of the west along the Helmsdale fault. The black shales are overlain by the Brora coal which is up to six feet thick. The various beds of the Jurassic series are fossiliferous, with many rich sections exposed along the foreshore.
From Kintradwell north to Ord Point the rock exposures reveal a complex succession of boulder beds where the boulders are of Old Red Sandstone age and the matrix is derived from the younger sediments of the Jurassic series representing a period when the sea stood higher upon the land.
The waning of the ice sheets that swept seawards from the interior of Sutherland left deposits of till (unsorted deposits). Extensive beds of sands and gravels are found on the west side of the outlet of the River Helmsdale. It could be a delta formed when the sea level stood much higher than today, towards the close of the Ice Age. At a much lower height occur raised shorelines related to a post-glacial where relict cliffs are clearly seen at Kilmote, Crakaig and Kintradwell.
A high proportion of this area (and other parts of east Sutherland) is in the form of sandy beaches which have a splendid dune topography. Kilmote beach consists of lengthy sandy fringe backed by a narrow dune zone where the principal land use is grazing. The almost straight beach at Kintradwell is backed by a dune system.
Stretching from the mouth of the River Brora is a beach built around the extensive glacial deposits of the area. The beach very clearly hinges on rock platforms at either end and has a raised shingle ridge which is probably related to the higher post-glacial sea level. The main land use of the area is in the common grazings and an attractive golf course laid out in 1924 by the famous golfer James Braid.
From Helmsdale to the south of Portgower are extensive ridges, many of them related to the post-glacial seas.
Attractive Strath Ullie is a deep cleft which was scoured by ice, then filled in by glacial debris and subsequently re-excavated into a suite of terraces beautifully displayed close to Helmsdale.
Large tracts of Strath Ullie were clearly dispossessed of the people, who were evicted from the interior and moved to coastal locations. Lots were prepared for the evicted at Portgower and Helmsdale where Sutherland estate planners anticipated the development of a thriving herring fishery. By 1819, James Loch, the commissioner of the Sutherland estates, could report that he saw "about 2000 people most actively and usefully employed".
The earliest of the houses at Helmsdale straggled along the northern shore, but the planned village took on a typical gridiron design, the east-west streets bearing names related to the family's Scottish estates and those running north-south to their English estates.
On the prominent terrace to the south of the river stood the castle of Helmsdale, which was initially built in the 16th century and reconstructed in 1616. The castle was dismantled prior to the construction of the new bridge in 1972. To the north of the new bridge lies the old one, built by the famous Scottish civil engineer Thomas Telford. Close by is a large ice-house, a relic of the former boom days of the fishing industry.
The annual assembly given by the officers of the Helmsdale Artillery Company
January 23, 1902
The annual assembly given by the officers of the Helmsdale Artillery Company was held last Friday night in the Drill Hall, which was gaily decorated for the occasion.
The night was fine and this, together with the ever increasing popularity of the event, accounts for the large number of ladies and gentlemen present, no less than 150 ladies and gentlemen being in the hall.
The assembly was opened at 9 o’clock by a grand march, which was a brilliant spectacle to which the beautiful dresses of the ladies and the uniforms of the officers and men added a unique lustre. Excellent music was alternately supplied by a trio of pipers and a trio of violinists who discoursed music of a very superior sort.
Great credit is due to Miss Marjory Sutherland, Proncy House, for the excellent manner in which she acquitted herself at the piano in playing the accompaniments to the violins, which was deservedly recognised by the assembly in the heartiness with which they accorded to her and to the other musicians a well merited vote of thanks.
Dancing was kept up with great enthusiasm till five o’clock in the morning, with intervals for refreshments which were unstintedly supplied during the night.
Helmsdale – The School Board of Kildonan
April 17, 1902
The School Board of Kildonan have resolved to give an entertainment to all the school children in the parish in celebration of the coronation of the King, and also to present medals to them as a memento of the occasion.
The clerk of the Board, Mr Argo, solicitor, Golspie, was asked to invite subscriptions for this purpose and from the following list of subscription received by him we are glad to notice that the shooting and angling tenants take an active interest in everything pertaining to the welfare of the parish: F G Nutting, Kilpfoder £5-0-0; J B F Taylor, Salscraggie £5-0-0: L Hirsch, Suisgill £3-3-0; Miss Radcliffe, Kildonan £2-2-0; F Sykes, Borroboll £2-2-0; E Pilkington, Borroboll £2-0-0; John McLeod, ex-MP £0-10-6.
The funeral of Brother John McDonald, cooper,
May 29, 1902
The funeral of Brother John McDonald, cooper, West Helmsdale, took place at St John’s burying ground, Helmsdale, on Saturday 24th inst. There is no lodge at Helmsdale, but notwithstanding that, all the Freemasons in the district turned out in regalia and took part in the last rites as brother masons. Being the first masonic funeral ever held at Helmsdale the function was followed with great interest by the general public.
Brother McDonald was initiated in the Saltoun Lodge, Rosehearty, a number of years ago but living in a district where there was no lodge lost touch with his mother lodge, but lost none of the interest in Freemasonry, and was always very anxious that a lodge should be formed at Helmsdale.
After the funeral the brethren present at the funeral met and resolved that a lodge be formed and that all would do their utmost to further same. Each member present subscribed towards the fund and a good beginning was made. The provisional committee meets again shortly. Brother Shaw, HM Customs, was appointed secretary, and Brother J Fraser, chemist, treasurer.
The east coast summer herring fishing
September 1902
The east coast summer herring fishing has now come to a close, and while a few of the boats at the larger stations have had a fair fishing, those at the smaller ones have had very bad results. Helmsdale, the only east coast station in the county, has been practically blank.
This station for a number of years back has been falling off, until now the question crops up as to whether it should not be discontinued. The unfortunate fishermen who were working from Helmsdale are very badly off, as they now have practically to depend upon the herring fishing entirely.
Since trawling has become so common, and particularly that unmitigated nuisance the foreign trawler with his special privilege of fishing where the home trawler is excluded, the white fishing is not worth the trouble involved in its pursuit. The banks which used to abound with haddocks, whitings, &c., are now utterly destroyed by the trawler.
In fact so serious has the state of the fishing become in Helmsdale, Brora and Golspie that a number of families seriously think that there is no other course open than migration to one or other of the large ports.
September 2, 1909
George Morrison, a gold digger who is at home in Morayshire on holiday, had a quiet bit of pospecting at Kildonan last week.
Observing the reports about the desire to begin mining operations, he took a train to Helmsdale and on Friday, after procuring a pick and basin, he went to Kildonan Station. He then prospected in the neighbouring burn and side of the banks for about four hours. He carefully panned the gravel and found several grains of gold. Again on Saturday Mr. Morrison made a search at Suisgill and found no signs of gold. Asked what he thought of the mining prospects, Morrison, who has had over ten years experience in gold mining in different parts of the world, thought it would never pay a company to undertake the work.
He was, however, strongly of opinion that success could be achieved by individuals if the work was done by men with experience in gold mining.
There was no use for anyone going to Kildonan who had no experience but he reckoned that an experienced miner would get a fair return for his labour. Mr Morrison was favourably impressed with the ground, which he believed would keep several persons at work for a long time. The ground, he said, looked as good as any he had seen in Australia and was as fine a formation as could be seen anywhere. He thought that the prospects with experienced miners, were worth a trial.
His visit to Kildonan was solely on his "own hook." Morrison has been gold mining in New Guinea and in Queensland, and for the past two years he has been engaged with the African Rivers Concessional Company.
Mr Alexander Gordon, master joiner, Helmsdale
July 2, 1903
At Dornoch Sheriff Court on Tuesday last there was not a large amount of work. … A case of refusing to vaccinate, and one of considerable interest and importance, as it is the first of the kind that has occurred in Sutherland, was brought before the Sheriff at the instance of the Kildonan Parish Council against Mr Alexander Gordon, master joiner, Helmsdale, for refusing to vaccinate his two children, aged five and four years respectively, on “conscientious grounds”.
Dr Davidson, Helmsdale, the public vaccinator, certified by letter that he called at the house several times and that on each occasion Gordon refused to allow his children to be vaccinated.
Mr Argo, solicitor, Golspie, appeared for the prosecutors and explained the circumstances, stating that if, even now, Mr Gordon would comply with the law the Council did not wish to punish him severely.
Upon entering the box and on the charge being read, the accused pleaded guilty.
The Sheriff strongly advised him to comply with the law, and said that if he would there and then give him an assurance that he would vaccinate his children, he would not inflict a severe punishment, but Mr Gordon declined to give any assurance, and the Sheriff sentenced him to pay a fine of twenty shillings in each case, and expenses of a guinea in each, amounting in all to four pounds two shillings, and intimated to Gordon that he would be much more severely dealt with when brought up again, as he assuredly would be at no distant date if he continued to defy the law.
Mr Gordon entered into a discussion, and said that perhaps he would leave the country and go to a country where conscience might be respected.
The herring fishing in Helmsdale
August 6, 1903
The herring fishing in Helmsdale this year, says a correspondent, is worse than ever, and the absolute closing of the port as a herring fishing centre is only a matter of time. This means a very great deal to the fishcurers and fishermen and to the public in general, but there seems to be no remedy for the imminent catastrophe – and it can be termed nothing less.
There may be a remedy if trawlers were kept further out from the shore, but, our correspondent adds, this is pure conjecture. The real reason seems to be the giving out of the fishing grounds, which were the reason of Helmsdale’s erstwhile prosperity.
March 8, 1906
The other day a very large halibut was caught under rather peculiar circumstances. It was noticed swimming close to one of the small boats, and almost at the surface.
One of the fishermen threw a small cod to it and then caught it with a gaff. After a struggle it was got into the boat, almost swamping the little craft with its weight. It was found to weigh 2 cwts 14 lbs, and sold at 35s the cwt.
October 13th 1906
In Helmsdale on Friday night Mr J R D McAusland, whose singing and lessons on voice production have been drawing immense crowds of people in the north of Scotland during the summer months, appeared before an audience which must have gladdened the heart of every lover of music. It is questionable if ever there was such a representative gathering drawn together in Helmsdale, certainly not since the union of the churches.The great singer has a charm of manner and his sincerity is so apparent that he carries his audience with him from the moment he begins, and their close attention is kept up till the finish with great earnestness, although the vast majority of the audience had probably never sung a note in public before.Mr McAusland handled them with so much skill and tact that before hardly anyone was aware of what was happening, the crowd was transformed into one vast choir and everyone, old and young alike, was singing with the greatest enthusiasm.His rendering of the various pieces, including some of our most beautiful melodies, as well as difficult oratorio solos and Italian songs, will never be forgotten and will long be talked about by the people of Helmsdale.Although he sang and taught the audience the secrets of voice production for nearly two hours, so intense was the interest that time passed unheeded. On Sunday evening, when Mr McAusland again sang, and told the story of his life, a great audience, which crowded every available corner and even besieged the platform, came together.Mr McAusland's visit has done much good. Not only have musical circles been stimulated, but a kindlier feeling must prevail as a result of Mr McAusland's labours in the district.
Serious landslip occurred at Portgower
November 22, 1906
Following the recent heavy storm, a serious landslip occurred at Portgower, two miles south of Helmsdale, on the Highland Railway in the early hours of Tuesday morning. The first intimation of the slip was when the 1am goods train from Wick ran into the obstruction and four waggons were derailed. The engine, owing to its weight, carried itself through, but the waggons being lighter, were derailed. Squads of men were soon on the spot, from as far south as Bonarbridge, and the work of clearing the line was gone into with a will. The nature of the slip and the muddy state of ground caused the work to be very hard, and it was not until 1pm that a clearance was effected. The 6am passenger train from Helmsdale to Inverness was not run.This is the second slip that has occurred at the same place, and the wonder is that such a dangerous place was not watched after the heavy storm experienced last week-end. The other slip occurred between Ballindalloch and Knockando, on the Speyside line on the Great North Railway, where about 100 tons of material fell on the line and caused a stoppage of several hours to the traffic. It also has now been cleared.
Visit from the Fleet
July 11, 1907
We are anxious for another visit from the Fleet and people may be seen daily at the Castle glass in hand viewing the ships in the distance and wishing for another call to our bay. It is rumoured that our civic officials are “arranging” matters to “receive” the ships and give them a Helmsdale welcome.
October 3, 1907
What might have been a very serious accident, but which happily had a fortunate ending, occurred between Helmsdale and Loth on the Railway on Sunday morning.
While the 2.30am mail train from Wick was proceeding between these two stations, a male passenger fell out of one of the compartments onto the side track. A fellow passenger brought the matter to the notice of the train officials at Loth, and they proceeded back with an engine, but found no trace of the man at the point where he was supposed to have fallen out. At Helmsdale station he was found, little the worse for his fall. He had been trying to gain admittance to the hotel, but the arrival of the engine allowed him to resume his interrupted journey.
A wee mite of a boy about 2 years of age
November 7, 1907
A wee mite of a boy about 2 years of age, the son of Mr David McAngus, who is at present in Yarmouth, was very mysteriously drowned in the river on Tuesday forenoon.
The mother only just missed the child and went to look for him, but he was found latterly floating in the river quite dead. It is very sad, and the above is now the fourth member of the McAngus family drowned within the last nine months.
Death is very busy in our midst, a bright young man of 23 years – Robert Finlay – died here on Sunday, and word reached Helmsdale on Monday of the death of Dr Mitchell, son-in-law of Mr Mitchell, late of Culgower, who died and was buried at sea while on a passage to South America, where he was to take up a practice.
Helmsdale Musical Society
November 14, 1907
Under the auspices of the Helmsdale Musical Society, a concert was given last Friday evening in the Drill Hall, Helmsdale, in aid of the funds for the lighting of the village.
The platform was tastefully draped and ornamented with small tables and shaded lamps, round which were scattered plants and flowers in profusion. The chair was occupied by J J Hill, Esq., banker, and the accompaniments were efficiently played by Mrs Hill and Mrs Fraser.
The concert was opened and closed by a double quartette party composed of members of the musical society. The bulk of the solos were provided by local performers who in this occasion had the assistance of Miss M Lucy Macdonald, Inverness, and Messrs W Cromb, and J Gunn, Brora. The former who is a double gold medallist had a great reception and was enthusiastically encored both times she appeared, each time responding with a Scotch song. Mr Cromb provided the humorous element and Mr J Gunn the sentimental, and they, too, were encored on each appearance.
Though encores were frequent, the concert was carried through promptly, and the usual votes of thanks having been accorded, the hall was speedily cleared for the dance which commenced before 11pm and was carried on till about 2.30am. The programme was sustained by the following ladies and gentlemen:– Miss Donnie Couper, Miss Janet Ferguson, Mrs Fraser, Miss M Lucy Macdonald, Miss Ruperta Sutherland, Miss Bells Bruce, and Messrs J Gunn, H C Robertson, W Cromb, and others.
December 12, 1907
There passed away on Saturday, at the extraordinary age of 103 and ten months, and that after her first illness in her long life, Mrs John Matheson, Gartymore.
She had a high reputation of being a sincere Christian all her life, never once ailing or being laid aside until the end. She had many a bright and even sad story to tell of the history of the county and her country.
She had several of a family, two of whom still survive in the parish – Mr Alexander Matheson, senior elder in the UF Church, and Mrs Peter Murray, who lived with her mother.
Mrs Matheson is reputed to be the oldest person in the county of Sutherland, if not in Scotland.
Marriages at Helmsdale
January 9, 1908
If marriage is an indication of prosperity then we have a record, for within the last two weeks we have had no less than five marriages. The lassies of Helmsdale must be bonny, for the husbands came even from the Borders to take unto themselves their future mates. “Lang may their lums reek.”
The event of the year, and the second turn out at night of the Oddfellows Lodge came off last Friday evening when about 60 members paraded the streets with torch light. The march was a great success, and started in proper Lodge order from the Lodge door and marched eastwards along Dunrobin Street with pipes and drums, and in some dim recess in the east, found a goaty. We have heard plenty, lately, of masons riding the goaty in private, but the oddfellows go one better and ride theirs in the public, only the fun of it was it turned out to be a donkey. In any case, the riding of the donkey was a great amusement to the whole village, which turned out to see and welcome the annual parade of a body of men banded together for the pleasure of all, and the good of themselves.
What might have been a very serious fire in the shop of Mr H Polson, general merchant, Dunrobin Street, was averted by the action, single handed, of Mr Bowditch, harbour master, who when passing the door saw the flames rising inside the shop. Taking in the situation at a glance, Mr Bowditch rushed in and, at considerable risk, smothered the flames, which could only have been done by one who has been trained in such emergencies.
The cause of the outbreak was the upsetting of a paraffin lamp amongst very inflammable material and the fire would certainly have been swift and serious, had not Mr Bowditch grasped and acted just in the nick of time. As it was, a good many things were destroyed.
January 16, 1908
Helmsdale has ever been an example of decorum to the county, and even to Scotland, regarding the number, and how they conduct the last rites of following the dead to the grave. People have been known to come from other places to see and take away lessons in laying the dead to rest. It has never been rushed, nor has it ever been unduly delayed, it has always been a credit to the place in every way, but if such an “interment” as was the case here on Tuesday, of reading the Bible from Genesis to Revelation with a very long prayer both at the house and the grave, be encouraged then the beauty and simplicity of a Helmsdale funeral very soon will be a matter of ancient history.
January 16, 1908
We note, with pleasure, the commendable enterprise of Mr McLeod, The Studio, Helmsdale, who has instituted a motor car service in the Kildonan Strath. He proposes using an Arrol Johnstone Car, a make well known in the north for its constant reliability and suitability for our North Country roads.
As an instance of the car’s reliability, it may be mentioned that it was driven from Glasgow to Helmsdale without a road stop, heavy snow being encountered on the Grampians, and exceptionally bad weather generally. It was, in fact, the first car through from so far south in 1908.
It is to be hoped that the public generally, and the gentry in the neighbourhood, will appreciate Mr McLeod’s efforts and afford him the support he so well deserves.
March 26, 1908
Mrs Egerton, Navidale Cottage, has always taken an active interest in our fishing community and, knowing the hardships they are at present coming through owing to the failure of the fishing, they very kindly arranged to give every family in connection with the sea a good substantial roast of beef.
Last week Lieut. Egerton, RN, gave every family the above, and the recipients were very grateful to the giver. At present things are in a very bad way in Helmsdale, which makes the gift doubly appreciated.
April 2, 1908
Mrs Egerton, Navidale Cottage, gave her annual tea to the children of the village last week. There were far more children than was anticipated, which somewhat curtailed the feast, a record number being present, 480 sitting down to a sumptuous table of tea, meat sandwiches, cake, and other good things.
These were greatly enjoyed by all.
The children were under the care of Mr Robertson, the schoolmaster, who always takes a great interest in the welfare of his pupils, and they gave a very interesting display of songs, etc.
Mr Egerton RA was early on the scene and was very attentive to the care of the little ones, seating and forcing them to the good things at the table, and in the end thanked the children and others for their assistance.
The children look forward with great pleasure now to Mrs Egerton's treat, and always take away with them sweet memories which will last through life.
The Last of the Volunteers in Helmsdale
April 9, 1908
The 7th Coy RGA held their last meeting on 31st March as a smoking concert, and invited a few of their friends to witness how they could die game.
At 9pm, Sergt.-Major A R Macleod welcomed all in the name of the commanding officer, Capt. Shaw, who is in Canada, and trusted all would enjoy themselves, even in the prospect of death.
After the loyal and patriotic toasts had been pledged, the Rev A B Scott, chaplain to the corps, said he was sorry that they were being broken up but he advised them to join the new Force, if only for one year, and he laid stress on the married men of the rank and file to get in touch with our MP regarding separate allowances for their wives and families.
Mr Fraser, chemist, spoke of guns and various arms now obsolete and only fit for the museum.
Ex-Sergt.-Major Matheson gave an outline of the history of the Company, the ups and downs they had, and of how they kept at top for efficiency.
Sergt.-Major A R Macleod, in giving the toast of their absent officer, Captain Shaw, spoke highly of his interest in the company, of its state on his taking command, and of its excellence in efficiency, numbers, and finances at the present time.
Sergt. James Macleod supported Sergt.-Major A R Macleod, remarking when Captain Shaw took command the Company was in debt, and now they had a piano, a banquet set of dishes, &c, and funds, with many advantages to the recruit and Gunner they never had before.
Ex-Sergt.-Major Matheson next gave the toast of the past officers of the Coy, and, in doing so, gave a brief summary of the work done by these officers for the Company viz., Major Hill, Capt. Waugh, Major Sutherland, and Lieut. McPherson.
Mr Bowditch, harbour master, spoke, saying the youth of today had got put into their hands "a trust" from old foggies of the Empire, but to good-working order, and he hoped the young people would maintain the Empire, as of old, under the new order of things.
Sergt. A R Macleod next gave the toast of the Sergeants of the Company, coupling with it the names of Sergts. James Macleod and G Rutherford, complimenting both on their keen interest in all weathers concerning the Company to which both feelingly replied.
Sergt. A R Macleod next gave the ladies of Helmsdale who had always helped them in their concerts and dances which toast was drunk with great glee.
It was now nearing midnight, and Mr Robertson, MA, schoolmaster, suggested that they should terminate the existence of the Company by all hands singing "Auld Lang Syne". Watch in hand, Mr Robertson announced 12 midnight, when the whole company rose and crossed hands, singing lustily that universal song of parting, after which all became civilians and pronounced themselves ready to become soldiers of the new force.
During the evening, tobacco and pipes, with bread and cheese, beer, spirits, and waters were frequently handed round and, at intervals, songs were sung by Mr Clyne, Mr Scott, CG; Mr McLeod, photographer; Mr Robertson, Mr Bowditch, Mr Macleod, Boval; Dr Kirkwood (accompanied by Mr Shaklady on piano) gave some beautiful selections of Scottish and Irish airs on the violin, which greatly added to the enjoyment of a very happy evening.
The company thereafter, standing, sung "God Save the King" and so ended the meeting, and the last of the Artillery Volunteers in Helmsdale.
Shipbuilding yard at Helmsdale
April 30, 1908
Negotiations are still proceeding, with a view to the establishment of a shipbuilding yard at Helmsdale. No definite statement has however been made on the subject, from any side. There can be no doubt, however, that such an establishment would give an immense impetus to trade in Helmsdale, which is presently at a very low ebb.
There is no blinking the fact that the fishing industry will not again return to Helmsdale, which is indeed a great pity, but it is thought that with the harbour accommodation to be procured, there is no reason why a most successful shipbuilding industry should not be started.
All the surroundings are eminently suitable for such an undertaking. There are plenty of houses, plenty of merchants, and plenty of enterprise. The one thing lacking is capital, and once that obstacle has been surmounted there is reason to believe that with shipbuilding, pottery, and possibly gold mining industries, Helmsdale would again rise to, and even eclipse its former prosperity.
Sutherland Police
May 7, 1908
On Tuesday, the Sutherland Police obtained information that two men, named Jackson and Laurence, had left Wick and were wanted there on a charge of falsehood, fraud, and wilful imposition.
Constable Mackay, Helmsdale, traced the men beyond Golspie to the south, but there lost trace. At the Mound Station, the matter was reported to Chief Constable Chisholm, who promptly sent Sergt Polson, Golspie, and Constable Mackay, Brora, on the track, and these officers procuring bicycles set off in pursuit of the "wanted" men.
After considerable trouble and enquiry, they apprehended them near Clashmore, as they were making for Bonarbridge. The men were conveyed to Dornoch and handed by Sergt Polson yesterday over to an officer from Wick, where they will be tried. The accused were of good appearance and were well dressed.
We understand that the accused are "wanted" by the Sutherland Authorities after they are dealt with at Wick.
The capture was a smart one, but we believe that but for the use of bicycles these two culprits would have escaped. The value of a bicycle to a police officer is great, and greater financial assistance ought to be given the men who keep these machines.
May 21, 1908
Helmsdale – Major Sutherland, Proncy House, who leaves at the term to occupy the farm of Proncy, Dornoch, so long tenanted by his forefathers, will be much missed in this locality. His geniality, kindness and general popularity are well known, and the people of Helmsdale are losing a good friend. At the same time, the people of Helmsdale wish Major Sutherland and his family the best of luck in their new home.
June 25, 1908
The weather here of late has been very erratic for summer – spells of great heat and cold – which retard all growing crops; but, more or less, everything is in good order and appearances go for a favourable crop.
Scarcely any fish is being got on the river and indeed the trawlers, at present working on our coast, are getting great hauls of salmon, which appears correct, as the salmon, so far, has been almost blank. The trawlers certainly have been very busy quite close inshore, of late. Where is the gun boat?
We hear of a Dredger being spoken of as coming, but the cry is from the House of Commons, and some think it will likely remain in the Commons. Indeed, so far as we are concerned, the season being practically over, and the bar very shallow, if anything is to be done, now is the time.
Where is our shipbuilding? They say it is yet in Speymouth. A cry goes out to our MP – he is the man. May be.
Our annual holiday took place yesterday, and a few went by rail, others picnicked, and a few boated, but most people stayed at home. Things are so flat that holidaying is past speaking about.
The sacrament was dispensed in the Church of Scotland, UF and Free Churches here last Sabbath. There were few strangers in the different churches, in comparison to past communion times.
Mrs Mackay (Jessick), Dunrobin St., had a very severe bereavement last week. Her daughter, who is married to a young man working in Lerwick, died there, and Mr Mackay, her husband, went to Lerwick to see the family, and he died while there.
Much sympathy is being expressed in the village with Mrs Mackay, at losing both daughter and husband in a strange place, within a week.
July 2, 1908
Great Racket at Helmsdale – Political Jobbery – Mr James Paterson, postmaster at Helmsdale, died a few weeks ago after holding the position, along with a large merchant's and chemist's business, for many years.
During a number of years past his son, Mr William Paterson, who now has the business above referred to, assisted his father in the post office and indeed was postmaster in everything but name, doing most of the work, telegraphic and otherwise. After Mr Paterson senior's demise, it was fully expected that his son would be appointed to the post and to make matters doubly secure, a petition signed by fully 98 per cent of the householders and others served by the Helmsdale Post Office was sent to the Postmaster General, praying that Mr W Paterson be appointed postmaster.
The reason for this step was that Mr John Fraser, chemist, brother-in-law of Mr Paterson jnr., a fervid Radical, and vice-convener of the County of Sutherland, was an applicant for the post, although he knew nothing of post office work.
A few days ago, intimation was received in Helmsdale that Mr John Fraser had been appointed postmaster in the face of unanimous popular opinion in favour of Mr Paterson, and the indignation of the people of the place knew no bounds. That Mr Fraser was appointed just because he is a prominent Radical in the County, there is no reason to doubt, and this, in face of the unanimous public desire for the appointment of Mr Paterson, is just another direct indication of the unscrupulous methods pursued by the so-called leaders of liberty – the present Radical-Socialistic Government of Great Britain.
The sequel to the appointment occurred on Tuesday night when the linemen proceeded to remove the wires from the premises of Mr Paterson to those of Mr Fraser. A great crowd had gathered on the Bridge, and on request being made for a ladder not a single person would provide one, so great was their indignation at the unrighteousness of the proceedings. At last a ladder was obtained from the Coastguard Station – another Government office – and the work proceeded.
But here a new difficulty arose. None of the householders would allow the wires, which were being transferred to Mr Fraser's premises, to touch their buildings and no sooner were they put up than they were cut down again by the incensed crowd.
After vainly trying for a considerable time to complete the work, permission was at last obtained from Mr Geo. Ross – for one day only – to attach one wire to the chimney of his house. Thus, one wire, out of a total of five on the pole at the Bridge, was at last connected with the new Helmsdale Post Office.
The whole affair has caused the most profound indignation in the district, and a public meeting is to be called to protest against the decision of the Postmaster General in ignoring the wishes of the whole community. Every one are of the same mind, that the most barefaced political jobbery has been in action in the appointment, but they are determined not to let the matter rest.
Not long ago the case of the Sutherland Clearances was publicly alluded to by some of the men now concerned in this most flagrant piece of injustice at Helmsdale, but they should now hide their heads for shame. But have they any shame?
If the Postmaster General desired to have a change in the working of the post office at Helmsdale, this is eminently a case where a Civil servant ought to have been appointed.
July 16, 1908
Swimming Classes for Sutherland – We understand that the Marquis of Stafford has engaged the services of a teacher of swimming for Sutherland. The intention is to have classes in Golspie, Brora, Helmsdale, Embo and Dornoch, and this is a chance that should certainly not be lost by any – and especially the young – desirous of learning to swim.
We further understand that the Noble Marquis is to undertake all the expenses in connection with the classes, and we have every confidence that they will be a huge success.
The number of drowning accidents is appalling, and is increasing year by year, and there is every reason to believe that they terminate fatally by reason of the victims and others who may go to their rescue, being totally unable to swim. It behoves all to be able to keep afloat in water, and now that an excellent chance is about to be put within the reach of those residing in or near the villages we have above mentioned, the handsome offer of the Marquis of Stafford should be largely taken advantage of.
July 23, 1908
A Fish Fight in Helmsdale River – Some days ago a curious sight was witnessed by the river watcher and another gentleman on the banks of the River Helmsdale.
A large salmon, estimated to weigh between 20 and 30 lbs, was seen floating on its back and struggling in the river. Upon closer inspection, it was seen that a large eel had entwined itself about the salmon's tail, and was holding it like grim death. With the eel round its tail the fish was helpless in the water as its only means of propulsion were held as in a vice.
Naturalists tell us that such fights are frequent, and that large strong eels usually get the best of it for as they get their bodies entwined in this way they then attack the gullets of their victims, which they look upon as tit-bits, and having devoured these they then release the dead fish. Exactly what happened at Helmsdale.
August 6, 1908
A Plucky Young Sportsman – Unique Angling Performance at Kildonan – On Tuesday a unique sight was witnessed in the Helmsdale river. Master MacCorquodale, eleven years of age, and son of Mr MacCorquodale, of the great printing house of that name, was fishing with a trout cast in the river when he hooked a large fish. The fish, which had the strength as well as the appearance of a large fish, commenced to splash about in all directions, and the angler had to exercise the greatest care. For an hour and 10 minutes he played it magnificently up and down the river, one moment almost losing it, and the next, almost landing it.
The cast, which as has already been stated was an ordinary trout one, was getting pretty well frayed and the fish was still making strenuous efforts to get free. It darted suddenly round a rock, and the young angler had to let out every inch of line, and hold on to the end of the rod. The fish reversed its flight and came right back, allowing the angler to regain some of his spent line.
After innumerable wiles, a masterly playing, the fish was at last captured. It was afterwards weighed and turned the scale at 18 pounds.
This feat of a boy of 11 years landing a fish weighing 18lb, with an ordinary trout cast, out of a river like the Helmsdale, with its numerous rocks, is one of which anyone might be proud, and we heartily congratulate the young gentleman on his success.
There were several eye-witnesses of the occurrence and they are of one mind in saying that Master MacCorquodale deserves the highest praise for his most extraordinary capture.
August 20, 1908
Serious Accident at Helmsdale – Curious Coincidence – On Saturday an accident of very serious nature took place. Mr W Warrender, a successful and careful man, and crab and lobster fisherman – along with his man, Alex McLeod, were in the boat and, encountering a heavy sea, the boat got upset and pitched on a rock, sustaining a broken bottom and throwing the two men into the water. Fortunately the two men could swim but they were in a very exhausted condition when they reached the shore. The boat was bought by Mr Warrender only a few days ago from Golspie and it is a curious thing that the boat is the same as that which was connected with the drowning of the two men in Golspie last spring. The men in the present accident are now all right.
October 1, 1908
Strathy Post Office Sir – In your last issue there is a report of a meeting held by our MP at Golspie, in which it is stated that among the things he has been able to secure for the County is a telegraph office for this neighbourhood. We are very pleased to have this convenience, had it been put in any other place than that where it was put. Where is our enthusiastic teetotal County Convener and teetotal MP when they would allow a Post Office to be situated in a public house?
When I have occasion to go there, I have to stand in a lobby with my message, and at the same time listen to the rough talk going on in the tap-room next door, which is seldom closed. I was of opinion that the postal authorities did not permit any licensed place to be used as a Post Office, and I am much surprised that, with all the cry for licensing reform by my radical friends, such a piece of work would be done.
Is every other article of their faith on a level with this? I am beginning think it is, and that 99 per cent of the talk we hear is nothing short of hypocrisy, for effect to give them place and power. There are plenty of suitable places in Strathy district, and suitable persons too, who are more in need of help than the district innkeeper and large crofter, and the majority of the people decidedly object to our Post Office being under the same roof and next door to a drinking parlour.
The Mail Car Post-Drivers are very excellent, strictly sober young men, but here is a temptation with a stop of 20 minutes, with "offers" from passengers, not once, but every day in the week. A motor car is not like the old coach where the horses would from habit keep the roads of their own accord. Should any of these young drivers yield to temptation there is always the extra risk of accidents to the general public. This PO, at which they must call and wait, should not be inside a public house.
Had it been His Grace the Duke of Sutherland, or our good laird, Mr Gilmour, who had done this, we would have the teetotal JP up here from Golspie setting fire out of the rocks for this "Public-House-Post Office," being forced down our throats. But apparently his party can do no wrong here or at Helmsdale. – I am, etc, Strathy Point.
December 3, 1908
A distressing accident occurred a few days ago at Portgower Farm, whereby Mr John Maciver, the tenant, who was recently married to Miss Barbara M Ross, had one of his legs badly crushed and the other broken.
Mr Maciver was using the mill, which is one of the old round ones, and evidently one of his horses grew restive, with the consequence that Maciver, in trying to pacify it, stumbled and fell in among the wheels of the mill, which were uncovered.
His legs were caught underneath and before the mill could be stopped they were crushed. The injured man was conveyed on Monday to the Lawson Memorial Hospital, Golspie, and there is some fear that one of his legs may have to be amputated.
December 3, 1908
The Parish Council of Kildonan had a very important meeting on Friday night the 27th inst.
After the minutes of the last minute were read and approved, Councillor James Duff submitted to the meeting plans and specifications of a public lavatory for the village. After some discussion on the matter Mr Wm. Cuthbert, clerk to the Local Authority, was instructed to submit same to the Public Health Committee of the County Council for their consideration.
There were several appeals against assessment on grounds of poverty, which were all granted, and the Clerk was instructed to supply the poor with coals as formerly.
From several applications for Sexton, the offer of Robert Bruce was accepted, and after other routine business Councillor Macpherson moved and A R Macleod, seconded, that the banking account of the Council be withdrawn from the bank in Dornoch and be transferred to the local bank in Helmsdale. Discussion followed when the Clerk was instructed to write the Bank Agent in Helmsdale for terms, etc.
A petition signed by all the inhabitants of Marrell was presented, praying the Parish Council to take the necessary steps to get the road leading to their township repaired with the view of having it taken over by the County Council as a County road. This petition was also supported by a letter from Dr Kirkwood pointing out the bad condition of the road.
December 31, 1908
All parts of the country were visited by the terrific snow storm which raged on Monday night and all day Tuesday. The weather on Christmas day was mild, but on Saturday a gale sprung up and continued on Sunday and Monday, getting colder daily.
On Monday evening snow began to fall, and being whirled about by the gale, very soon was lying in immense drifts. About 1am, on Tuesday morning, the storm assumed a fiercer aspect, and right on until daybreak, it was next to impossible for any one to be out of doors.
In Golspie, huge drifts were piled at intervals along the roads, while slates in considerable numbers were dislodged by the gale. The telegraph wires between Golspie and Brora were useless, and on various parts of the railway blocks occurred. The 1am goods train from Wick, on Tuesday, got embedded between Scotscalder and Altnabreac, and up till last night had not been extricated.
The 6am passenger train from Helmsdale got as far as a few miles south of Rogart, and there stuck fast, and it was only late on Tuesday evening that a passage was effected. The first north going train was derailed at Dingwall, and did not pass through Golspie until 7pm, 10 hours late.
At time of writing the wind has abated, and snow has ceased falling, but lies to a considerable depth. The storm is one of the worst on record and affected the whole country. The mail cars on the west of the County have also been held up.
March 4, 1909
Helmsdale – Large Salmon Caught – Mr W J Dudgeon, Crakaig, Loth, and Captain Cuthbert, Ardross, were fishing on the Torrish No. 1 Pool on the Helmsdale last week, and the former landed a magnificent salmon weighing 27½ lbs. The fish, as one can understand, was a large one, and Mr Dudgeon had considerable difficulty in landing it. By judicious angling, however, he was able to land it after an hour's hard fight.
March 18, 1909
It is a poor heart that never rejoices, and Helmsdale even in these dull times found out the truth of this saying on Friday evening last when it turned out en masse to listen to a concert given by a local troupe of negro minstrels – the Aldiborontiphoscophornians.
Lieut Egerton RN presided and in a few words introduced the troupe describing them as the fellows whose name contained every letter of the alphabet two or three times over. He hoped they would make a good appearance and in that way give some encouragement to Dr Kirkwood who had been the means of organising and training the troupe.
The programme was then entered upon and was of a most varied nature. All through the performance was excellent, and the two corner men Mr Scott (Skins), and Mr Gorn (Bones) kept the audience in a constant roar; some of their local hits being particularly happy. Massa Johnson (Mr Sutherland) the only white man, kept his niggers thoroughly in order, with becoming dignity. Among the items was a stump speech given by Mr G W Matheson with conspicuous ability, and two dances by Messrs McIntosh and Polson which gave quite a superior tone to the whole performance. The soloists one and all gave an excellent account of themselves, while some of the choruses for balance of tone and tunefulness reached a high order of merit. Mr H Shacklady played the accompaniments in his usual sympathetic and able manner. After the usual votes of thanks the whole company united in singing "God Save the King".
An assembly followed the concert and it proved to be one of the best and most numerously attended that was ever held in Helmsdale; the music was supplied by Messrs Polson (piano); Wilson (cornet); and Mackay (pipes).
May 6, 1909
Helmsdale – Obituary – One of the most distressing events in the history of the village happened here last week, when Mrs McPherson, wife of Mr Alex McPherson, couper, West Helmsdale, died after a short illness, and on the following day Mrs McPherson, mother-in-law, died with startling suddenness. No doubt the mother's death was accelerated by the death of her daughter-in-law, who was greatly respected by all in the neighbourhood. Mrs McPherson, jun., was buried on Friday, and Mrs McPherson, sen., on Saturday, when a great number of people turned out in sympathy with Mr McPherson at both funerals. There are two children left, a boy and a girl.
June 3, 1909
On the 28th ult, two hotel changes in the County of considerable importance took place. Mr Geo Ross, Helmsdale, who has been proprietor of the Commercial Hotel, Helmsdale, for many years, retired on 28th May, and went to take up his residence in the Strath of Kildonan.
The hotel and all furnishings, outhouses, etc, have been purchased by Mr R J Fraser, who has been outside manager for Messrs James Calder & Coy, Ltd, Brewers, Alloa, for some years. Mr Fraser has been in the service of Messrs Calder for 14 years, and during the last seven acted as outside manager, and has travelled all over Scotland in their interest.
His genial and frank manner has made him very popular wherever he has gone, and the regret evinced by the firm, when he decided to sever his connection with them to go to Helmsdale, was amply shown in the beautiful gold watch (keyless hunter), and handsome set of pipes, with which he was presented. The watch bore the following inscription, viz, "Presented to Mr R J Fraser, on the occasion of his leaving the firm, 30/4/1909." The presentation was made by Mr Ross, cashier, the chair at the smoking concert, which was held in the Old Ship Inn, Alloa, being occupied by Mr Young, secretary.
Mr Fraser has all the qualifications necessary to make a first-class hotelkeeper, and his knowledge of the trade should now stand him in good stead. The Commercial Hotel, Helmsdale, is situated in a position at the opening of the Strath of Kildonan, and is a favourite hostelry for anglers. Mr Fraser's geniality of manner, and business capabilities, bespeaks for him a large measure of success in Helmsdale.
July 22,1909
As briefly stated in last week's issue, the 2nd Battalion Seaforth Highlanders, under Colonel Campbell, arrived in Helmsdale on Tuesday evening, 13th inst, on their route march from Thurso to Fortrose. The previous evening's camp was at Dunbeath, and the march to Helmsdale was one of the hardest experienced. This was due to the advent of the Berriedale Brae, which is of considerable distance, and one of the steepest in Scotland. On arrival at Helmsdale, the soldiers had to wait for a considerable time for their bivouacs and luggage, which had got stuck on the Berriedale Brae while being conveyed by traction engines and waggons. It was nearly ten o'clock before the camp was fixed, and consequently no display of any kind was given, the soldiers being too tired to do anything but sleep.
On Wednesday morning, fresh and clean, the regiment marched out of Helmsdale headed by the pipe and brass bands en route for Golspie, where the next camp was to be fixed. All along the route, flags were flying and welcomes proclaimed, and at Brora a halt was called for refreshment. The march was then continued, and civilian scouts on cycles brought the news that the regiment would arrive about two o'clock. The road from beyond Dunrobin right to the Football Park, were the camp was to be held, was lined thickly with spectators, and flags were hoisted on the Sutherland Arms Hotel, the Drill Hall, Major Macaulay's, Mr A Sinclair's, and other residences in the village.
To the strains of the pipe band, which is a magnificent one, the regiment marched over the little bridge, upon which stands what is locally known as the "Gaelic Stone," which marks a great historical occasion. It was over 300 years before that since a regiment of the regular army visited Golspie, and the interest thus created can well be imagined. The first old soldier to come to the salute was Sergeant James Sutherland, Sibell Road, who had a long and honourable connection with the famous 78th for over 22 years, and has two sons holding non-commissioned officers' positions in the regiment which visited Golspie on Wednesday.
The officer in command returned the salute, and the next officer to recognise Sergeant Sutherland was Sergeant-Major Matheson, who saluted him with the greeting – "Hullo, Duke," the sobriquet by which Sergeant Sutherland was known in his soldiering days. The regiment, composed as it is of strapping, muscular youths of average height, marched into the Park, through the village, and shortly afterwards the traction engines arrived with the baggage. In less time than it takes to tell, the tents were up and things proceeding merrily. In the evening, the weather being magnificent, many people visited the camp and were entertained to a delightful musical programme by the brass band of the Regiment, which is one of the best in the country.
Every now and then old civilian friends of those now enlisted would tumble across friends of years past, and some happy hours were spent. The Regiment left at 7am on Thursday for Dornoch, and the departure was witnessed by a very large gathering. It is worthy of note that, in common with the precision practised in all departments of their training, the soldiers left the camping ground as clean as the proverbial new pin. The maze team was to have given an exhibition, but on enquiry, we were informed by the genial and popular Sergeant-Major Matheson, that owing to the fatiguing march which the men had undergone that day – 18 miles being covered, besides the incidents connected with the fixing and striking of camp – it was proposed to give the entertainment next day in Dornoch.
August 5, 1909
The question of proper harbour accommodation at Helmsdale, Brora and Golspie is one which demands instant attention.
Land Bills and schemes of social reform are often in evidence and it is now time something were done by the Government, not only for the landing places at the villages mentioned, but generally all over the country. The prosperity or the opposite, of all seaside villages or towns, is mainly dependent on its harbour accommodation, and at the present time, it is hardly safe to land a canoe at either of the places mentioned.
This was further and forcibly illustrated very recently at Golspie, where a considerable amount of manual labour had to be performed before a vessel carrying 250 tons of coal could be brought alongside the pier ready for discharge.
August 19, 1909
Councillor A. S. Innes, Rogart, by his motion at the meeting of the County Council of Sutherland, at Golspie on Friday, to re-open the Sutherland Goldfields, touched upon a question which has been latent in the minds of the people of Sutherland for some years.
Since the test of 1895, considerable dissatisfaction has been expressed that the Duke of Sutherland has never given any encouragement for the proper testing of the gold diggings at Kildonan and Suisgill, which might, according to expert opinion, be turned to account, as a paying industry.
The next results of the test of 1895 were such that the Duke was perhaps justified in interdicting prospectors, but if the tests had been properly carried out, there is ample reason to believe that the Strath of Kildonan today would be a thriving centre of gold mining with all the latest appliances, and the effect of this on the County as a whole could well be imagined.
Not only would an important industry give an impetus to the national importance of the County, but the comparative affluence of the residents would be assured as a result.
Compare this with the stagnation existing in the parish of Kildonan at the present day – especially in Helmsdale, and the general depression existing all over the country, and then ask – "Should the mines be re-opened." There are diverse opinions as to whether the gold is to be found in paying quantities or not, but the report of Mr Seaton on the 1895 test should set all doubt at rest. In effect, he says that given reasonable facilities for prospecting, gold is to be found in paying quantities, and the testimony of others, who have been actively engaged in the work, and been closely connected with the district for many years, leaves no doubt in the unbiassed mind that a great industry is lying dormant.
As Mr McLean remarked, the only way that the matter could be arranged, should the Duke's consent be obtained, was by a lease, and he asked the County Council if they were prepared to take a lease. There is no reason why a lease should not be taken.
September 16, 1909
An event of great interest took place at Helmsdale, namely - the opening of the new United Free Church, on the 11th inst., by Sir John H N Graham, bart. of Carr Bridge, and an elder in the UF Church. The ceremony took place at 2pm in the presence of a congregation that filled the building in every part.
The devotional exercises were conducted by the minister of the Church, the Rev. D. Macalman, and Sir John Graham gave a most helpful and stimulating address which was much appreciated by all.
The occasion proved interesting too, from the fact that instrumental music was used for the first time in the history of the congregation. This, it is believed, is one of the first congregations in the U F Church, north of the Grampians, to use such in the service of praise at public worship.
November 18, 1909
Quite an innovation was set agoing in the life of Helmsdale when the ever go-ahead lodge of Oddfellows, the St. Johns, opened to the public their Recreation and Reading Rooms. They have converted their large and commodious rooms in Dunrobin Street into a comfortable reading apartment of a first-class order where popular literature, along with daily newspapers and magazines, may be read by all and sundry who wish to make themselves familiar with the current topics of the hour. Games such as chess, draughts and bagatelle may also be learned or engaged in.
Child killed at Navidale, run over by motorcar
September 28, 1911
A SAD motoring fatality whereby a bright little girl of 7 years, the daughter of Mr William Mackintosh, mason, Navidale near Helmsdale, lost her life, took place at Navidale on Tuesday (September 28, 1911)
The girl was following a dog across the road when she was caught by the mudguard of a passing motorcar, knocked to the ground and run over. The owner of the car, a Dublin gentlemen en route for Wick, and his chauffeur carried the girl into her home where her injuries were attended to but, notwithstanding the best possible treatment, she passed away four hours later. Deep sympathy is extended to the parents and other relatives in their sore bereavement.
The car, it is stated was going at a slow rate of speed at the time of the accident, and no blame is attached to the chauffeur or owner. The accident is the first case of the kind in the County of Sutherland.
The Castle park is gifted to the people of Helmsdale
August 5, 1926
At the meeting of the parish council on 23rd July the draft deposition in connection with the gift of the Castle Park to the village by Mr A M Couper, was read and approved and the Council decided that hereafter the name of the park should be the Couper Park.
The day a ‘huge whale’ was washed ashore at Loth
August 1927
The “huge whale measuring over thirty feet long” which came ashore at Loth in August 1927 brought back vivid memories for Mrs Barrie Tulloch of Damfield Road, Inverness.Whale washed up at LothShe sent us the pictureabove, which was taken at the time. “Our cousins from America were staying with us at Helmsdale police station and my father hired a car so that we could go to see the whale,” she recalled.
“What I remember most was the smell, which seemed to be with us until we returned to the car at the main road. Large crowds went along to view the huge carcase.”
Mrs Ross, Police Station, Helmsdale is on the left of the picture, her son kenneth (later Chief Constable) is next to her with his cousin Tom McFarlane from Boston. The young boy in the foreground is George McFarlane. Both are sons of Sandy McFarlane of “Grannie’s Heilan’ Hame” fame..
Trunk telephone exchange was opened at noon
December 8, 1927
Helmsdale has been hitched on to the trunk telephone system. The telephone exchange was opened yesterday at noon, the opening ceremony being carried out by Mr Andrew Lindsay, Golspie, convener of Sutherland. The exchange is in the post office and will be carried on by Mr J Fraser, postmaster. Besides subscribers, there were quite a number of the general public present at the ceremony, also Mr W Smith, head postmaster, Wick; and Mr R L Forrester, traffic superintendent, Aberdeen. The ceremony was quite an interesting one.
The convener, in declaring the exchange open, said – “Gentlemen, permit me to say that I am delighted to be here today taking part in the linking up of Helmsdale by telephone with the outside world and with other parts of our county. I can say from experience that this will prove a great boon to you in what concerns business and your social life. The telephone and the wireless have completely changed life in the country from what it was twenty years ago. Even our most outlying districts are in touch with the great cities. Wonderful as the strides made by science in these two achievements, there are still more wonderful things on the horizon such as television. I am sure that the public spirit of the inhabitants of Helmsdale will lead men to utilise the telephone to its utmost and consequently justify the opening of the exchange. I congratulate you, gentlemen, on the step you have taken.
Land slide at Navidale Shore braes
(February 16, 1928
Helmsdale – Owing to the heavy rainfall there was a land slide at Navidale Shore braes during the week of about 50 yards square and about 100 yards wide, involving probably hundreds of tons of earth, mud and stones. The whole came down with the speed of a train, terminating at the water edge. Fortunately it took place during the day when no one was about.
The last wolf in Sutherland
September 26, 1929 Standing midway between Brora and Helmsdale is a stone on which there is an inscription in effect that here, between 1690 and 1700, the last wolf in Sutherland was killed. From the following excerpt from an article to a Northern paper by a gentleman of veracity, it would appear that a wolf was seen in Sutherland as late as 1888.The author of the article, who was the guest of a shooting tenant in Sutherland, went out on the hill one day alone. During the afternoon a thick mist came down, which resulted in his losing his way. Night coming on, he decided to put up in a cave which he accidentally came across in the valley of Dionard. He made a fire and fell asleep."I awoke with a great start and looked at my watch. It was 1 o'clock in the morning, and the weather had cleared. The moon appeared and the stars shone with a flickering and a frosty lustre like great diamonds on the black corsage of night. The musty odour had become most intense, and as my sleepy eyes threw off their shattered torpor, I saw with a shiver of apprehension a pair of sunken baleful looking eyes regarding me steadily and stealthily across the dying embers of the fire."I slipped a couple of cartridges into my gun, and as I did so I heard a low painful whine. I could now make out a white form like a huge dog lying not more than three feet from me. Its head rested on its paws and so far from showing any signs of hostility, it seemed to exhibit symptoms of friendliness. Its coat was a kind of silver-grey in colour and was thick and curly, but the face showed signs of great age."I stood up with my gun at my shoulder, but the beast did not move, and I could not find it in my heart to shoot; instead I threw it a ham sandwich. It nosed it wearily, but did not attempt to eat it, so I tried it with a gorgonzola one, which it rejected with some evidence of repulsion. It then rose, and I saw to my unbounded astonishment that I was faced by a great silver-grey female wolf. She whined again, but kept her distance, and I then saw that in her eyes brooded a look of unutterable loneliness and misery."A female wolf, and the last wolf had been killed in Sutherland between 1690 and 1700. I could have gained lasting glory by shooting her, but my hand was stayed. It was I who had invaded her poor little dwelling, and she had shared it with me without hostility. She should suffer no harm from me. Her ancestors had wandered here when Scotland was joined to Greenland, and had shared these wan wastes with the majestic elk and the ivory-tusked boar; fighting and suffering and dying in those vast oak and pine forests, the remains of which are still visible in the great mosses which abound all over Sutherland."
December 5, 1929
How a suit of clothes found its way to wrong hands, was later sold to an itinerant Indian, a retailer of silks and odds and ends, and finally landed the first receiver of the suit in prison, was unfolded in the Dornoch Sheriff Court before Sheriff J W Forbes on Monday.A business man of the name of Alexander Stewart telephoned to a firm in Wick asking them to send on a suit of clothes to Helmsdale Station and he would call for it. Donald Mackay, car driver, Thurso, getting to know that a suit would duly arrive, conceived the idea of procuring it himself and making some money out of it.He appeared at Helmsdale Station, signed his name as Alexander Stewart, made off with the suit and sold it to a travelling Indian. He did not get much time to enjoy the proceeds of the sale.He made for the south but got no further than Tain when he was arrested by the police.On appearing before Sheriff Forbes on a charge of fraud, Mackay was sent to prison for 15 days.
Margaret Sutherland, four-and-ahalf years of age
September 18, 1930
For saving Margaret Sutherland, four-and-ahalf years of age, daughter of Mr John Sutherland, Neukie, Shore Street, Helmsdale, from drowning on 4th July last, Mr Alexander Cowie, fishermen, Shore Street, Helmsdale, has been awarded the Royal Humane Society's Parchment. Cowie, who is a native of Buckie, has been resident in Helmsdale for thirteen years.On being invited to make the presentation His Grace the Duke of Sutherland, KT, kindly consented, much to the gratification of the general public, and the ceremony which took place in the Drill Hall, Helmsdale, on Monday evening, was witnessed by a very large assembly, practically every seat in the building being occupied.His Grace was received with the utmost enthusiasm, deafening cheers greeting him on arrival.
Opening of the new gymnasium
October 23, 1930
A special meeting of the Sutherland Education Committee was held in Helmsdale HGP School on Wednesday, 15th inst. , on the occasion of the opening of the new gymnasium by Mr W W McKechnie, secretary of the Scottish Education Department.Rev John Macaskill, Kinlochbervie, chairman of the Education Committee, presided over a large gathering of pupils, teachers, parents and friends.
Helmsdale Hogmanay
January 1931
Hogmanay was the quietest for many years. Shopping was finished pretty early, and although the weather was good with clear moonlight, the streets were deserted by ten o'clock.The advent of 1931 was heralded by the sounding of an engine whistle at the station, and a firm handshake or two.The weather was clear and frosty up to about twelve o'clock when snow, sleet and rain fell. A service was held at mid-day in the Free Church.A fancy dress leap year dance
(February 11, 1932)A fancy dress leap year dance was held in Kildonan on the evening of 29th ult. There was a crowded house, and the gay costumes and air of mystery gave a piquancy to the evening. The judges were Mrs Ross, Torrish, Dr Macdonald, and Mr Campbell.1st prize, as best dressed lady, was awarded to Mrs Harry Mackenzie, Kildonan, who made a charming gipsy, and who acted the character to the life by reading fortunes with convincing aplomb.2nd prize went to Mrs McPherson, who was delightfully garbed in fifteenth century costume.For gentlemen in character, Mr J Miller, Kinbrace, was awarded 1st prize as Rajah of Travancove. Mr Benjamin Mackenzie, Kinbrace, received 2nd prize for his excellent representation of Sir Walter Raleigh.The neatest dressed lady, Miss Pirie, Helmsdale, as “Gee-Whiz,” was awarded first prize.Mr D Mackay, Achintoul, Kinbrace, received a prize for his smart “get-up” as a policeman.First prize went to Mr W Mackenzie, Lyneside, Kinbrace, for the originality displayed in his costume – “Buy British Goods”.Mr Sutherland, shepherd, Badanloch, Kinbrace, as “Ghandi” got a well-merited prize.Messrs MacPherson and Cameron, Helmsdale, representing “Sleepless Nights,” also got a place on the prize-list.
Rent day in Helmsdale
November 10, 1932
Tuesday, 8th November, being rent day in Helmsdale, there was a general influx from all the surrounding district. The sign of the times was observed, however, in the quietness which prevailed as compared with the lively scenes of a rent day of former years; and although at present Helmsdale is enjoying comparative prosperity compared with some fishing villages, there are very few people who find themselves with money to throw about after meeting the half-yearly demands.
Old familiar "cannons"
November 24, 1932
Among the many changes taking place in the village these days, one to be noticed is the disappearance of the old familiar "cannons" which guarded the entrance from the south. These formidable looking pieces were at one time part of a battery belonging to the local company of the Old Artillery, and were mounted at the end of Dunrobin Street when this corps was disbanded.
With the passage of time decay set in on the wooden carriages, and as children had long made a practice of climbing them, the local authorities decided they had once more become "dangerous" and consequently had them shut off from the thoroughfare by a dividing wall.
December 15, 1932
Scots Marriage – An interesting event occurred here last week when a young couple from the north were married under Scots law by a blacksmith over the anvil in approved Gretna Green fashion. The quaint ceremony took place quietly in one of the village smithies very few being present at the time, when with the aid of a Bible, and in presence of witnesses, the smith united them man and wife. The happy pair, who hail from Caithness, left for their future home shortly after the ceremony.
Stafford Cup
May 4, 1933
Helmsdale United and Dornoch again finished on terms in the Stafford Cup competition on Dudgeon Park, Brora.
This was the third meeting of the elevens. At the end of ninety minutes each side had scored two goals. An extra half-hour was played and in this period two more goals were put on and still the sides were unseparated. The replay takes place on Saturday 1st.
June 1, 1933
The flotilla of Destroyers under the command of Capt. Lyster, which visited Helmsdale last week, paid another visit on Tuesday, 30th ult, the ships being open for public inspection from 2.30pm until 5.50pm. Visitors took full advantage of this and the local motor boats plied a good trade to and from the ships all afternoon. During the forenoon a mimic battle was in progress and proved an interesting spectacle amid the deafening roar of guns from the larger battleships and the incessant droning of aeroplanes overhead. These followed a fascinating aerial display by over a dozen aeroplanes of nose-diving, looping-the-loop, etc. A flotilla of eight Destroyers then anchored off Helmsdale harbour, including the HMS Wallace, Versatile, Vimy, Whirlwind, Watchman, Walker, Vortigern and Warwick.
June 15, 1933
Mr William Sutherland, a member of the Helmsdale seine boat "Genista", had the misfortune to lose one of his fingers when the vessel was fishing some miles of Golspie.
Sutherland was in the act of hitching a rope onto the winch when he slipped. His right hand caught in the winch, one finger being severed and the remainder bruised.
The vessel made for Golspie pier, and Sutherland, who was attended to at the Lawson Memorial Hospital, was allowed to proceed home later in the day.
The accident has aroused considerable sympathy for the unfortunate man, who is married, and depends solely on the fishing industry for his livelihood.
June 29, 1933
The Man in the Street – "I believe your suggestion of forming Ratepayers' Associations in the county has taken on."
"Yes, so I understand. I would not in the least be surprised if one was formed before long in the enterprising community of Helmsdale. Matters, I believe, are not running so smoothly in Helmsdale as the ratepayers would wish to see. Some seem to think too much leniency is shown in regard to assessments. What I mean is that exemption is exercised too much and the result is that the 'willing horse' has got to bear the burden of the exempted amount. A little more compulsion might have the effect of bringing forth what should come forth out of the stocking to meet legitimate assessments. There is also the harbour. A great deal of money has been expended on it, and it is now one of the finest and safest of its size in the country. The harbour is suitable in every way for the fishermen pursuing their calling, and there should be no difficulty, I would think, about the matter of collecting dues for the privileges which the fishermen enjoy. It was a hard fight to get a grant in aid of improving the harbour. I hope now that all has gone well that what has been accomplished will be fully appreciated. If it is not, then I frankly say that an unappreciative community is not worth doing anything for," said The Man in the Street.
"Surely you have been hearing a few rumblings?"
"Yes, I have, but I shall leave things to mature before I say more about them."
August 31, 1933
Mr Braden, missionary, Loth, introduced a new and very attractive feature into the county when he held a fruit, flower, vegetable and home industries show along with a garden fete in the policies at the Loth Church of Scotland Manse, on Saturday afternoon.
The weather was all that could be desired. Considering the other attractions held in the county that day, it was a surprise to many to see such a representative assembly present.
The show was held in the open air. The fruit, vegetables and other exhibits being tastefully arranged on tables, under the shade of the stately old trees. With flags and other decorations, including novel side-shows the whole presented a most fascinating and animated appearance.
The show was opened by Mrs J G Wilson of Sunrise, Brora, after which the assembly entered into the spirit of the afternoon. The exhibition of fruit, flowers, vegetables and home industries was the chief attraction.
As one wended their way round the various tables, many favourable comments were heard on the splendid quality of the exhibits. In the vegetable section, there was a surprising entry of carrots, beetroot, cabbages and leeks, but owing to the insufficiency of entries in some sections, which in many instances only included one entry, no prizes were offered.
In the exhibit of twelve potatoes, which included three varieties, one was pleased to see that the Doll is not the only place that can grow "Rogart Blacks". Mr Macgregor, Portgower, had a really fine exhibit of vegetables. As he was the only competitor the judges suggested that he be specially recommended.
There was also another tastefully arranged exhibit of vegetables, but not for competition, sent in by one of the judges, Mr William Sutherland, Kintradwell Gardens. In the flower section the exhibits on view were first-class.
Another interesting competition was the best plate of brambles collected by children under fourteen years. The premier honour for this went to Miss Janet Sutherland, Portgower, aged 7 years, and second to Miss Johan Sutherland, Culgower, aged 8 years.
For the special prizes, presented by Lady Chaplin of Uppat for the best decorated table, there was keen competition. The premier honour was won my Miss Adamson, Helmsdale, Mrs Hector Macleod, West Garty, being a worthy second.In the home industries section, Miss Maclennan was delighted with the exhibits. If there were any defects, they were defects that could be easily overcome. The butter, eggs, honey and home-made exhibits were really a credit to Loth. The prize offered by County Councillor A M Ross, Grand Hotel, Brora, for highest number of points gained by any competitor in the show went to Mrs Hector Macleod, West Garty Farm, who gained six first prizes and four second prizes.
When everything was sold Mr Braden handed over the prizes to the successful winners, after which he proposed hearty votes of thanks to the judges and all who had helped to make the show a success.
The total proceeds are about £32.
September 28, 1933
Helmsdale – The outstanding attraction last week was the visit of Wood's Bros. Boxing Booth and particularly the competition for a handsome local championship cup offered by the management.
The results were as follows – Local cup – 1st round (4 minute and a half round contests) – D Sutherland and D McAngus (equal); W Millar beat And. Innes; A Jappy beat D McKay; G Matheson beat R Scott; D Macleod beat A Stephen; byes A Innes and A Mackay. 2nd round – W McMillan beat D Macleod; A Innes beat A Jappy; bye A Mackay. Semi-final – W McMillan beat A Mackay; bye A Innes. Final – A Innes beat W McMillan. Other events were – Wednesday 10 round contest between B Dobbs, London, and J McCourt, Glasgow, McCourt winning on points. Saturday – A Glendinning, Tawse's Camp, wins £1 Challenge Contest to last out 6 rounds against B Dobbs, London. Monday – 3 round contest – G Dudgeon v. M Crawford; 3 round contest, J McCourt v. B Dobbs.
October 12, 1933
As an unmitigated social success the Helmsdale Golf Club's annual whist drive and dance held in the Drill Hall on Wednesday, 4th October, far exceeded the most sanguine expectations. A well filled hall, representing most of the neighbouring townships and a full complement from the nearby shooting lodges, characterised this event as being what it always has been, the leading social event of the season.
The whist drive was capably supervised by Mr W Munro, president of the club, who after tea had been served intimated that he had a pleasant duty to perform that evening on behalf of the Golf Club – that of presenting to Mr David Duncan, the retiring captain, a wallet of treasury notes in recognition of his long and active association with the club.
Mr Munro spoke at length of the debt of gratitude they owed to his untiring zeal and energy in supervising and developing the course, and of his invaluable work on the committee. Miss Rutherford, secretary, Mr Sim, vice-president, and Mr Mackenzie, treasurer, each spoke in appreciation of Mr Duncan's services dwelling long on the many qualities by which he had made their association a pleasure, of their regret at his departure and of their sincere wishes for him in his new sphere. Mr Duncan feelingly replied.
November 16, 1933
The Man in the Street – "I observed from press reports that Helmsdale will soon have an electric lighting system of its own. The use of electricity in the north has been rapidly developed in recent years.
"All the way from Inverness until it reaches Dornoch, nearly every town and village enjoys electric illumination. Lairg has it, so has Brora, and now Helmsdale, with Golspie sandwiched in between with only gas as an illuminant, and Bonar-Bridge still more antiquated with a lighting system that is only that in name. The day surely cannot be far distant when electric light will be introduced into both Bonar-Bridge and Golspie. At least I have been informed it won't be long. From a safety point of view for road traffic and the general public its introduction would be welcomed.
January 11, 1934
"Ring out the old, switch on the New." With this happy thought the promoters of the Helmsdale electricity scheme decided that the town's antiquated lighting system should fade out with the old year, that the dawn of 1934 should see brighter streets and brighter homes, and so arranged that the formal switching on of the current should take place on New Year's Eve. The streets had previously been lit only by paraffin lamps.
Indeed, about two years ago, while the road was still in a state of disrepair, it was considered dangerous to venture into the streets after nightfall. With the reconstruction of the Brora-Ord Road the streets were put into proper repair, and now by the enterprise of a local firm – Messrs A R Macleod & Sons – electricity has taken the place of paraffin, and the street lighting is equal to any in the north.
The inauguration ceremony took place in the Masonic Hall before a large meeting of townspeople on Saturday night, 30th December.
Dr Scott occupied the chair, and in his address spoke of the dire need which they all had felt so long, and which was to be supplied that night. He referred to the various efforts that had been made in recent years to float a scheme to provide this much-needed light, but with no avail, until Messrs A R Macleod & Sons had taken the matter in hand and, despite many difficulties, had succeeded in erecting a power station and plant with sufficient output to supply the entire district. The street lighting had been obtained, the poles erected, the circuits laid, and they were that night to switch on the light for the first time. He urged those present to do their utmost to support the scheme and have the light installed in their homes. "I now call upon the foreman of the whole job, the man who supervised the work from the erecting of the poles to the fixing of the bulbs, to switch on the current. I mean Master John Couper Simpson."
This boy, who had shown much youthful interest in the work, was led to the platform where he pressed a button and immediately the hall was flooded with light, many bulbs being artistically arranged throughout the decorations. At the same instant the new street lamps lit up throughout the whole town. Hearty votes of thanks were accorded to Master Simpson and Dr Scott.
February 1, 1934
Helmsdale – Local fishermen are doing fairly well both in regard to catch of fish and price. Electric light has been installed in the Church of Scotland and also in the Free Church. The oldest inhabitant in the parish cannot recall seeing such mild, almost spring-like weather, as was experienced in the winter that is just past.
March 22, 1934
Helmsdale – Narrow Escape – A repetition of the Wick Bay tragedy very nearly overtook a fishing boat which endeavoured to enter Helmsdale Harbour during Saturday's gale. The "Wellspring," a Findochty boat, had tried to anchor off Wick but their irons failing to grip, they were driven south towards Helmsdale, and being apparently unaware of the treacherous cross currents at the harbour mouth with that particular wind, they put her head to the bar, and with the greatest good luck effected an entrance, only to find that both docks were inaccessible.
After some difficulty she was driven up the river against a boiling spate for some distance where many willing hands were ready to assist her crew. Although magnificent seamanship was displayed throughout the struggle, only He who rules the storm could have favoured them with the extraordinary run of fortune which attended their entry and saved them from being dashed to pieces.
April 19, 1934
As Sutherland is to have the opportunity of witnessing, for the first time in its football history, the appearance of a Scottish First League team it is hoped there will be a record turnout at Dudgeon Park, Brora, on Monday evening, 23rd April, to give Aberdeen FC a Highland welcome when they will oppose and give an exhibition game against a Brora Rangers eleven. Aberdeen are bringing north their first league team, including their Irish internationalists, Falloon and Moore, and Mills, their promising inside left. Brora Rangers will be represented by: A J Macpherson (Golspie); D Mackenzie (Brora); and R Macleod (Helmsdale); A Sutherland (G) (Brora), J Macaulay (Bonar-Bridge), and A J Sutherland (Brora); J Swan and L Sutherland (Brora), D Christie (Golspie) A Sutherland (C) and W Miller (Brora). Reserve – D Mackenzie (Golspie). The game starts at 7pm prompt. The ball will be set in motion by Colonel A N Macaulay, convener of Sutherland. The Brora Pipe Band will play before the game starts, at half-time, and at the Fountain before the departure of the special return trains for the north and south. A grand dance will be held in the Territorial Hall, after the game, commencing at 10pm. For fuller particulars see advertisement and bills.
June 7, 1934
While little Dan Docherty was walking near the Ousdale Cliffs on Sunday evening, 3rd inst, he slipped and went hurtling over a precipice nearly 100 feet high. By nothing short of a miracle he has escaped with his life although his poor little body is all battered and broken. Dan is eleven years of age and his parents live at Ousdale Works Camp, where his father is employed by Messrs Tawse as foreman on one of his road gangs. About a mile away from the encampment are the Ousdale Cliffs, sheer rocks standing out of the sea at varying heights of from 50 to 160 feet. It was to these cliffs that the boy, accompanied by a man named Gordon, had strolled last Sunday, and unnoticed by his companion he must have stepped too near the edge. Gordon's first intimation of disaster was to hear a cry and swinging round, saw the child disappear over the edge. He immediately raised the alarm and a party of rescuers were quickly on the scene, but as the rocks at that part project over the beach, they were unable to see the child's body, and descent was impossible. One of the party, however, a John Davidson, from Wick, who already holds the Royal Humane Society's Vellum for saving a man from drowning in Wick harbour, found that he was able to get within diving distance of the water at a gully further along the shore. Having swam round below the cliffs, he discovered the boy lying on a stony beach above where the black crag rose to a height of nearly 100 feet. The boy was still conscious but it was evident that his condition was critical. Davidson indicated their position to the party above who immediately started to lower a man down the face of the cliff on a rope. This undertaking was not without hazard as the rope kept dislodging pieces of rock which went whizzing past the man's head and might at any moment knock him senseless, but eventually the descent was accomplished and they proceeded to make the boy comfortable. Meanwhile, a motor cyclist had been dispatched with all haste to Helmsdale for help, and in a short time a powerful motor boat was under way at full speed for Ousdale Rocks, towing a smaller boat with which to approach the shore. The suffering child was then laid in a large fishing basket which had been washed up close by and carried out to the boat. He remained conscious through it all, although it was later ascertained that both arms had been broken and several ribs fractured. Arriving at Helmsdale Pier, he received medical attention and was taken by ambulance to Lawson Memorial Hospital.
June 21, 1934
The peaceful serenity which characterises the beginning of each new day in Helmsdale, and which makes every morning just like every other morning, was rudely disturbed last Tuesday when the newly-awakened inhabitants became electrified by the startling news that a real up-to-date burglary had been committed, during the night, in one of the main street shops.
The shop in question is a café and confectioners belonging to Messrs E J Rapson & Sons, and is situated at the corner of Dunrobin Street and Trentham Street. About 7 o'clock on Tuesday morning a fisherman named George Raffan, going to solicit buyers among the local fishwives, for his morning catch, had occasion to pass along Trentham Street, when his attention was attracted to the side-door of the café which stood slightly ajar. Knowing that the girls in charge did not usually arrive at that time, his suspicions were aroused and a closer examination revealed unmistakable evidence of a forced entry. He immediately made his way to Mr Rapson's house and informed the proprietor, who hurried back to the scene to find that their suspicions were justified.
The till had been emptied, while a considerable amount of cigarettes had also disappeared. Fortunately, the till had only contained a small quantity of loose change, as most of the cash had been transferred to another drawer for safety and this was found to be intact.
The thieves had evidently been interrupted in their nefarious work, possibly by the sound of early fishermen passing down to the harbour, for not only did the open door indicate a hurried retreat, but the implements which had been used in forcing the door were also left behind. These consisted of a long steel punch such as is used by blacksmiths for holing thick iron, and a narrow steel file. It is reported that the key which had been removed from inside the lock, was later found in a park near the Bridge.
July 12, 1934
Helmsdale – Boy’s Plucky Action – The commendable action of a twelve-year-old boy, which undoubtedly saved his brother’s life, is discussed with high appreciation in the locality. Two boys, Donald and James Macleod, sons of Mr Macleod, Carlaggie, Helmsdale, had gone to bathe at a pool on the Helmsdale river about two miles from home. When the younger boy, aged 10, was undressing near some tall bracken, he got bitten in the leg by a long black snake. The older boy was in the water at the time but at his brother’s call he got out and with commendable promptitude tightened an improvised tourniquet above the incision, and sucked the wound with his mouth until the blood flowed freely. As they had two miles to walk home it was some time before medical aid was procured, and it is fairly certain that were it not for the boy’s action the consequences would have been grave. More credit is reflected on the lad when his age is considered, as it is not often such praiseworthy resource is found in one so young.
July 12, 1934
As will be seen elsewhere in our columns, Highland Airways Ltd are sending their history-making monoplane “Inverness” to Helmsdale, Bonar-Bridge and Dornoch on the 14th, 17th and 18th inst, respectively.
Highland Airways Ltd are making a tour in connection with their Air Travel Propaganda Day, the object of which is to demonstrate the speed and comfort afforded to passengers on their air line route from Inverness and Aberdeen via Wick to the Orkney Islands.
Long flights will be given at the usual short flight rates and the machine will be in charge of Captain Fresson, the pioneer of air travel in the North of Scotland. A further attraction will be the acrobatic displays which will be given in a Gipsy Moth, and it is hoped to organise free flight competitions on the landing grounds.
For those who require further diversion special trips will be arranged in the Gipsy Moth and passengers will have an opportunity of discovering other positions in which an aeroplane will fly.
Further towns to be visited in connection with this tour are – Nairn, Forres, Craigellachie, Buckie, Turriff, Ellon, Insch and Alford.
July 19, 1934
Moray Firth Monster – Seen By Helmsdale Fishermen – Fishermen in the Moray Firth have now to contend with what may constitute a new danger to them, in the shape of an enormous sea-monster, which was seen, at close range, in all its terrifying hideousness, by a crew of lobster-fishermen near Helmsdale.
That it does not belong to any known species of giant fish or marine animals is evident from the fact that the skipper of the boat in question has had long seafaring experience, and that he is intimate with the characteristics and appearance of all those denizens of the deep.
This skipper is Mr Alex Jappy, Shore Street, Helmsdale, who with his son, William Jappy, had been doing their usual morning round of the lobster pots. After inspecting the last pot they started up the engine of their light craft, the “Mary Jane,” and headed her west for Helmsdale and home. It was a clear, calm morning with not a breath to ripple the sunlit water. As the younger man settled himself to tie the claws of the lobsters they had caught, his father leisurely began oiling the exposed bearings of the engine.
While thus engaged he happened to look up and saw before them what appeared to be a large black box floating on the water. Wondering that he hadn’t noticed it before, he drew his son’s attention to it, when to their amazement the object slowly emerged out of the water in the shape of a huge and hideous head. A moment later the tail appeared, making the body fully 30 feet long.
The monster was by this time only about 120 yards away and seemed to be bearing straight down on them. Hastily grasping the tiller, Jappy swung the boat hard round, and though not far off the rocks, preferred to run aground rather than come in contact with this appalling monstrosity. The creature, however, appeared to take no notice of the boat, but continued its way unheeding.
Their proximity, though unappreciated gave the men an excellent opportunity to note in exact detail the appearance of the fearsome intruder. The head, which was 6 feet long, had a low flat crown and long deep jaws. The top of the head extended far back with the back of its neck rising perpendicularly from the surface of the water. The eyes were small, and what appeared to be a short tusk protruded from the lower jaw. A short fin about a foo
July 26, 1934
Considerable damage was done in the parish of Clyne by the flooding of the various burns after the recent heavy rainfall of Saturday and Sunday. Houses, bridges and crops were severely damaged or destroyed. Clynelish, East and West Clyne districts suffered most.
Owing to Clyne Burn overflowing its banks two bridges were washed away and Clyne Manse was completely isolated on Sunday evening. At Clynekirkton a milk-house was carried away while the gable of the dwelling house was undermined by the rush of water, and is now in a precarious condition. The Clyne Burn having diverted its course and hill drains bursting, considerable damage was done to crops.
Those who suffered most were Mr J Munro, farmer, Clynelish, and the crofts occupied by Mrs Maclean, Mr David Christie, and Mr Andrew Sutherland. The roads have been severely damaged. It is contended that it was the hard condition of the main road that saved Clyne Old Burial Ground from being inundated. Considerable damage was done at Clynemilton and Kintradwell. Both burns overflowed with the result that tons of earth, sand and stones were carried away leaving deep chasms like quarries in the sides of the burns. Road traffic was temporarily stopped on Sunday evening and Monday morning.
Mr J Robertson, county road surveyor, and his squad had the main road open for traffic again early on Monday forenoon. The main road has been damaged at Clynemilton and Kintradwell. It will be some time before this fine carpave highway is in first-class order again. At Brora waterworks there was a fifty feet landslide, which completely blocked the intake at the reservoir.
This caused a scarcity of water in Brora on Monday and Tuesday. It is now about forty years since the Brora River was seen so high. The great volume of water, caused by the spate, has removed a considerable amount of stones and sand from the mouth of the river. It is thought there will be no need of a dredger now to clear the sandbanks at the mouth of the river to enable the fishermen to leave and enter the harbour in safety, at least, not until the first heavy sea washes it all back again.
In Brora the most damage was done at the shop occupied by Mr W J Bryden, tailor, Victoria Road. Owing to the low level of the drainage system the gullies were not able to carry away the volume of water that fell about two o'clock on Sunday, with the result that the shop was flooded.
A number of willing helpers had a busy time of it assisting Mr Bryden to "stem the tide". In the Helmsdale district, four suspension bridges were washed away between Helmsdale and Kildonan on Sunday night owing to flooding of the Helmsdale River, and Kildonan stone bridge was damaged. Cattle and horses were in danger. Haystacks were washed down the river. Thousands of tons of stones and sand were washed away at Helmsdale Harbour.t high was noticed a little distance above the tail.
After travelling some distance in an easterly direction, at an easy glide, it then submerged as slowly as it had arisen.
It is also reported to have been seen near Brora by some fishermen who watched it from the shore.
It is interesting to note, relative to the above, that the skeleton of a sea serpent was washed ashore near John O’Groats recently, which measured 21 feet in length with bullet-shaped head over 2 feet long and the remains of what evidently were four flippers attached to it.
August 16, 1934
The Helmsdale harbour's record catch for white fish has again been broken. The Pride of Bunillidh belonging to Mr David Cowie, New Houses, Helmsdale, returned to port on Monday with a morning's catch of 114 boxes.
The quality of the fish was excellent, and the scene during the packing was one which occasioned many camera "clicks" among the visitors on the quay. Strange to say the catches among the remainder of the fleet only ranged from two to 18 boxes. It is interesting to note that Mr Cowie had previously held the record at 96 boxes until broken by Mr Jas. Mackay who landed 103 boxes last year. The Helmsdale harbour's record catch for white fish has again been broken.
The Pride of Bunillidh belonging to Mr David Cowie, New Houses, Helmsdale, returned to port on Monday with a morning's catch of 114 boxes. The quality of the fish was excellent, and the scene during the packing was one which occasioned many camera "clicks" among the visitors on the quay. Strange to say the catches among the remainder of the fleet only ranged from two to 18 boxes. It is interesting to note that Mr Cowie had previously held the record at 96 boxes until broken by Mr Jas. Mackay who landed 103 boxes last year.
August 30, 1934
A party of motorists had an alarming experience near Helmsdale last Sabbath evening, when their car was saved from total destruction by a strange occurrence. The car was climbing Navidale Hill when the engine burst into flames. There was no means of extinguishing the fire at hand and the vehicle would almost certainly have been burned to ruins in a few minutes had it not been that the water connection to the radiator burst at the same time, and the fire had no sooner started than the escape of water and steam effectively extinguished it.
September 13, 1934
The "Genista" belonging to Mr Wm. Sutherland, Helmsdale, attracted quite a crowd of curious sightseers to the quay on Tuesday, when it was known that she had landed a sturgeon, a specimen of fish very rare in these, or indeed, any waters. The fish, measuring over four feet in length, was the second caught at Helmsdale within living memory. The sturgeon spawns in fresh water and mostly in such rivers as the Volga and the Danube. It was always rare, and was considered a special delicacy for the festive board of the Ancient Roman Emperors, it being customary to have the fish decorated with flowers and carried with much ceremony. Probably for this reason Henry I of England strictly prohibited the use of sturgeon to any but his own table.
November 8, 1934
It is pleasing to notice that the Helmsdale electric supply is steadily extending its current circuit. The entire length of Shore Street and the harbour is now wired up, and standards are being erected along Wick Road as far as Navidale Hotel.
It is hoped that the street lighting will soon include the bridge and town clock.
November 22, 1934
The evening excursion to Inverness on by the L.M.S. Railway Co., which took in all the stations between Helmsdale and Bonar Bridge, was fully taken advantage of by the public, with 729 persons travelling. The remarkable cheap fares no doubt accounted for so many travelling. The return fare from Helmsdale was 3/-. It is the cheapest excursion the company has run in Sutherland. Such enterprise by the company is to be commended.
January 17, 1935
Probably the most brilliantly successful fancy dress ball ever held in the county, and certainly the biggest dress parade seen in Helmsdale, took place in the Drill Hall, when the Helmsdale Golf Club launched their first number of what, in future, is proposed to be an annual big event. The hall, gaily decorated with festoons and garlands of every hue and, as a gesture in honour of the reviving Celtic spirit, with coloured greetings written in Gaelic, was filled with costumes and characters of every description.
Practically every face wore a mask and princesses flirted with peasants, courtiers chummed with costermongers as they laughed and danced in an atmosphere gay with carnival and fancy dress colours.
A special feature of the entertainment was the waltzing competition including both old and modern styles in which a large number of competitors took part.
January 17, 1935
Since the installation of electric light in Helmsdale those who have occasion to go out-of-doors at night have added security for their safety through better illumination. The advent of electricity has truly been a boon and a blessing to the community.
January 31, 1935
A rather strange catch was taken by the Helmsdale seine-net boat, Ocean's Gift, while fishing in the Moray Firth the other day. The boat, belonging to Mr Jas. Innes, had been completing its last drag after an unsuccessful day when their net came in contact with some object of unusual weight. When, after some difficulty, this was brought to the surface it proved to be a heavy 30ft. torpedo. An attempt to salvage it failed when the securing ropes snapped under the strain.
March 7, 1935
A meeting of the Kildonan, Loth and Clyne School Management Committee was held in the District Council Office, Brora, on Monday evening. The clerk read H.M.I.S. Report on Portgower School. The members considered it one of the best reports they had ever heard read at a meeting. On the motion of Mr John Ross, it was unanimously agreed to congratulate Mrs Palmer, teacher, on the excellent work she was doing at Portgower School.
March 7, 1935
The newly formed Helmsdale Company of Boy Scouts held a very successful concert in the Drill Hall on Friday, 1st March. The programme, consisting of vocal and instrumental music, sketches, Highland dancing, etc., was sustained entirely by members of the Wick Scouts, under the charge of Scoutmaster Cole, and afforded excellent entertainment. The local company, though only of a few weeks' standing, has already a very creditable parade and has created much enthusiasm among the youth of the district.
Gladys Finlayson, Stafford Street, is a proud little girl
1951/1952
Nine-year-old Gladys Finlayson, Stafford Street, is a proud little girl. She wrote a letter of sympathy to the Queen after the death of her father, King George VI. Now she has received a letter of acknowledgement from Her Majesty which Gladys will always cherish.
Sutherland Education Committee
January 30, 1953
Sutherland Education Committee last Friday, at Lairg, appointed Mr W Rutherford, a native of Helmsdale, head master of Golspie Senior Secondary School in succession to Mr D K Macrae, who retires at Easter. There were eight candidates on the short leet. Younger son of the late Mr and Mrs Andrew Rutherford, Stittenham Road, Helmsdale, Mr Rutherford was education at Helmsdale School and Aberdeen University, where he graduated MA with first class honours in English. He is at present on the staff of Kelso High School and previously taught at Hawick.
March 6 1953
Mrs T Jappy, 8 Golf Road, Helmsdale, was preparing potatoes for lunch, she found when trying to split one tuber that the knife was striking some unusually hard object inside. When at last she broke the potato apart, she found embedded in the centre, an Irish halfpenny complete with harp and date (1943) on one side, and the figure of sow and piglets on the other.
The imprint of the coin was clearly marked, with no discolouration or staining around. The potato had come from a sackful bought recently by Mr T Jappy from Mr Alister McKenzie, Culgower.
April 3, 1959
Sutherland's plans which have been completed for the reception of Glasgow's overspill and the siting of small industries at the villages of Helmsdale, Brora, Bonar-Bridge and Lairg will now go forward to the Department of Health. That was agreed by the County Council at Lairg last Monday. The Department will also be told that plans are likely to be available for Golspie, the landward area of the parish of Dornoch and for other rural areas. That was the result of representations by Mr Oliver Fraser, Golspie, and Mr George Fraser, Dalchiel. The council had been discussing the development plans which had been prepared for the villages of Helmsdale, Brora, Bonar-Bridge and Lairg which were due to be sent to the Department of Health. Mr Oliver Fraser asked why Golspie was not included, and Mr G Fraser posed a similar question about the rural area of the parish of Dornoch which had been "fast losing its population". Why was that area not included, he asked. "I have never had the opportunity to put it up." Mr Ian Steel, deputy clerk – You are getting the chance now. Mr G Fraser said he had no objection to Glasgow people coming into the parish provided there were industries along with them which would also give work to local people. There was first-class factory ground there. Young folks had been "going to Glasgow steady" to find work, Mr Fraser said. "We are not going to refuse Glasgow people coming back." Here Mr A Sutherland, Lairg, said he would support that "and to overcome any difficulties which might arise in the future Lairg could drop out of the overspill scheme. Lairg should be omitted altogether. "There is no one in Lairg interested either in the overspill or in industry." Twenty-five acres of land had been set aside for this scheme in Lairg where they had lost agricultural land already through the hydro scheme.
First seine net queen
August 7, 1953
Helmsdale fishermen who crowned their first seine net queen last Saturday must have been satisfied that all the work entailed to make this a gala occasion was very much worthwhile. And, to their delight, the sun shone all day right royally. The fishermen certainly did themselves and their thriving little village proud.
As the Rev J S Fulton, who addressed the crowd after the crowning, said, the fishermen had proved they knew how to relax. The harbour and the fleet of nine seine net boats were gaily bedecked with flags, and altogether presented a striking and colourful picture.
To make the occasion more impressive it had been arranged that the fleet should sail south to Brora to embark the queen (Miss Betty Mackintosh) and last year’s queen (Miss Betty Macleod), who were waiting there with their attendants.
Schoolday Flashbacks
Schoolday flashbacks and terrors relived were prompted by the renovation work on Helmsdale War Memorial, marked by a tablet unveiling ceremony on Saturday, 2nd September 2000 at 12 noon by Sir John Nutting of Auchentoul.
Former Sutherland District Council chairman John O F MacKay, "Jock Farr" to all remembered as a schoolboy in 1922 watching the original unveiling of the monument to the soldiers of the parish who died in world war one. "There was a huge crowd of people, with all the roads around packed, because it was such an important occasion in our lives," he remembered. He himself came close to being one of the names on the World War Two tablet after having both his legs blown off by a mine near El Alamein in 1942 as a sergeant in the Reconnaissance Corps
The War Memorial For Robert MacKay Keith, working on repairing the monument in 1953 with mason Ian Nicolson from Portgower, his memory was of almost landing 100ft on the road below, clutching the ornamental ball which tops off the tower.
It had been put in place more than 30 years before by Jock Farr's father, though several village men have also laid claim to that particular honour.
The ladder they were using to reach up over the dome was too short."I was young then and fit, so I was not going to be beat in reaching the extra 12 inches to get to the ball," he recalled after Saturday's ceremony. "Then to my horror I found the ball was coming towards me, moving out of its socket after the mounting had been eroding by weathering.
"I had the choice of letting the ball roll over to the other side and hitting Nick, or I visualised it coming over on top of me and both me and it hitting the road away down below. Well, you may have heard of a death grip, and that's what I did to hold on for all I was worth, getting it back in place."
Eventually the pair - employed by Alexander Sutherland Ltd of Golspie - managed to get down safely, on old rusty waterpipes which served as their scaffolding. But not before the initials IN and RMK had been inscribed in the wet concrete.
A fish landed at Helmsdale
April 2, 1954
A fish landed at Helmsdale by the local seine-net boat Sheena Mackay has been identified at Aberdeen Marine Laboratory as a specimen of the Greater Weever, or Trachinun Draco, which is very rarely found in Scottish waters.
It is a near relative of the Lesser Weever, which is fairly common in bays on the East Coast of Scotland.
The Greater Weever is caught sometimes on the south coast of England and is common on some continental coasts and in the Mediterranean.
It is a round fish resembling a mullet and has poisonous glands on its back.
One man killed, another injured.
July 29, 1955
"One man killed, another injured, " was the SOS from a Polish trawler off Helmsdale last Sunday.And out from Helmsdale, in a lobster-boat "ambulance", sailed 24-year-old Dr Sheila Gray and 26year-old Nurse Ishbel McLeod.The radio message, which came from the mother-ship of 15 Polish trawlers, was passed to the home of Dr W N Gray, of Helmsdale. But he was absent and his daughter Sheila, who is on holiday from Hammersmith ( London ) Hospital, decided to go out.Dr Gray and Nurse McLeod went aboard the trawler, lying-to about a mile off Helmsdale, and tended the injured man, whose name was given as Tadeusz Mierzwick. Later he was transferred to their boat, the Helen Slater, landed at Helmsdale and taken by ambulance to the L awson Memorial Hospital , Golspie. He was suffering from severe head and chest injuries.The Helen Slater was manned by Mr Alexander Jappy and his 14-year-old son, William, who was greatly thrilled when he was allowed to go aboard the Polish ship. Also on board was Police Constable Macdonald.Dr Gray told "The Northern Times": "We were not given any details of the accident, but I gathered that a cable snapped and a heavy weight fell on the men."The crew, mostly young men, were very pleasant and helpful. One or two could speak a little English.Others spoke French and German."I spoke to the captain of the mother-ship, the Frederic Chopin, over the inter-comm. He said:'Certainly, take the man ashore if you can do anything for him'."Nurse McLeod, a minister's daughter from Dornoch, said: "It was just another job, but a very interesting one. Dr Gray overcame the language difficulties by speaking to the crew in French."The body of the dead man was brought ashore later by Mr Neil Mackay, of Helmsdale, in his fishing boat the J L C Mackay. The body was taken to Helmsdale mortuary. Mr C B Simpson, Helmsdale, and customs officers, also went aboard the Polish vessel which had anchored off Helmsdale. Perhaps the best "weather" story of the past week
January 27, 1956
Perhaps the best "weather" story of the past week occurred last Saturday night when the Wick Academy football team, on their way home by bus from Inverness, had reason to be thankful to two Sutherland roads department employees, from Helmsdale - Sandy Sutherland, who drives the Ministry of Transport Mack tractor, and foreman William G Mackay.The bus could not get through the snow drifts north of Helmsdale and would never have crossed into Caithness unless Sutherland and Mackay had been there with their plough. They cleared a way right into Dunbeath, and the footballers were indeed grateful.On the way back, the plough came on a lorry loaded with eggs on the Berriedale brae. The driver was afraid to move, but he was soon safely on the way to Helmsdale with his precious cargo.But Sutherland and Mackay were not finished. They worked on all night keeping the way into Caithness clear of snow and did not "knock off" until 10 o'clock on Sunday morning, when they were relieved by another plough from Brora.
April 3,
1959Sutherland's plans which have been completed for the reception of Glasgow's overspill and the siting of small industries at the villages of Helmsdale, Brora, Bonar-Bridge and Lairg will now go forward to the Department of Health.
That was agreed by the County Council at Lairg last Monday.
The Department will also be told that plans are likely to be available for Golspie, the landward area of the parish of Dornoch and for other rural areas. That was the result of representations by Mr Oliver Fraser, Golspie, and Mr George Fraser, Dalchiel.
The council had been discussing the development plans which had been prepared for the villages of Helmsdale, Brora, Bonar-Bridge and Lairg which were due to be sent to the Department of Health.
Mr Oliver Fraser asked why Golspie was not included, and Mr G Fraser posed a similar question about the rural area of the parish of Dornoch which had been "fast losing its population". Why was that area not included, he asked. "I have never had the opportunity to put it up."
Mr Ian Steel, deputy clerk – You are getting the chance now.
Mr G Fraser said he had no objection to Glasgow people coming into the parish provided there were industries along with them which would also give work to local people. There was first-class factory ground there. Young folks had been "going to Glasgow steady" to find work, Mr Fraser said. "We are not going to refuse Glasgow people coming back."
Here Mr A Sutherland, Lairg, said he would support that "and to overcome any difficulties which might arise in the future Lairg could drop out of the overspill scheme. Lairg should be omitted altogether. "There is no one in Lairg interested either in the overspill or in industry." Twenty-five acres of land had been set aside for this scheme in Lairg where they had lost agricultural land already through the hydro scheme.
April 3,
1959Sutherland's plans which have been completed for the reception of Glasgow's overspill and the siting of small industries at the villages of Helmsdale, Brora, Bonar-Bridge and Lairg will now go forward to the Department of Health.
That was agreed by the County Council at Lairg last Monday.
The Department will also be told that plans are likely to be available for Golspie, the landward area of the parish of Dornoch and for other rural areas. That was the result of representations by Mr Oliver Fraser, Golspie, and Mr George Fraser, Dalchiel.
The council had been discussing the development plans which had been prepared for the villages of Helmsdale, Brora, Bonar-Bridge and Lairg which were due to be sent to the Department of Health.
Mr Oliver Fraser asked why Golspie was not included, and Mr G Fraser posed a similar question about the rural area of the parish of Dornoch which had been "fast losing its population". Why was that area not included, he asked. "I have never had the opportunity to put it up."
Mr Ian Steel, deputy clerk – You are getting the chance now.
Mr G Fraser said he had no objection to Glasgow people coming into the parish provided there were industries along with them which would also give work to local people. There was first-class factory ground there. Young folks had been "going to Glasgow steady" to find work, Mr Fraser said. "We are not going to refuse Glasgow people coming back."
Here Mr A Sutherland, Lairg, said he would support that "and to overcome any difficulties which might arise in the future Lairg could drop out of the overspill scheme. Lairg should be omitted altogether. "There is no one in Lairg interested either in the overspill or in industry." Twenty-five acres of land had been set aside for this scheme in Lairg where they had lost agricultural land already through the hydro scheme.
Mackenzie Shield at Helmsdale
May 25, 1956
After their team's disappointing showing against Caithness in the Portland Bowl at Dornoch last Saturday, Sutherland Football Association made wholesale changes for the game with Ross-shire in the Mackenzie Shield at Helmsdale tomorrow night.
The team is - W Fraser (Golspie); B Macdonald (Lairg) and D Macleod (Lairg); D Nisbet (Brora); J Sutherland (Helmsdale) and A Cowie (Helmsdale); J Mackay (Golspie) and W Begg (Wimpeys); J Miller (Brora); C Melville (Golspie) and Don Sinclair (Helmsdale).
Reserves - A Sutherland (Lairg), W Sutherland (Brora), H Baillie (Brora), R Mackay (Helmsdale), A Sutherland (Golspie), D Snody (Lairg) and I Fraser (Lairg).
If the country was to be saved a great deal of money
February 3, 1956
If the country was to be saved a great deal of money, the class one road from Helmsdale through Strath Halladale to Melvich on the north coast should be the principal route for traffic to the Atomic Energy Authority's scheme at Dounreay, in Caithness, Mr J. H.Mackay, Melvich, on Monday told Sutherland County Council at Lairg.He had heard a rumour that there was a scheme afoot to spend money on the trunk road route up the east coast by Berriedale and there were "terrific gradients, " to be surmounted which would mean building a viaduct.
But on the Helmsdale/Melvich road there were no gradients to contend with and no bridges. This was the obvious route."We should urge on all the authorities concerned the simplicity of carrying out this work on the road and it would mean a saving of 42 miles for traffic, " he said.
"I understand loads weighing over 100 tons are envisaged and there will be difficulty getting them along even the wider trunk road."Previously the County Council had suggested that, in view of the amount of Dounreay traffic using the Helmsdale-Melvich road, the Atomic Energy Authority should take it over. On Monday the council agreed to invite the authority to talks with the Roads Committee at Helmsdale.After Monday's meeting, Mr Mackay told a reporter that if his plan was taken up there would be no interference with agricultural land. If this other scheme he had heard about went on it would be more costly and would not be so serviceable for dounreay purposes. The council also agreed that representations should be made to the Authority, concerning damage done by their traffic to Sutherland highways.
Helmsdale cinema
February 1, 1957
Because television is keeping so many people indoors at week-ends Helmsdale cinema, run by the local Amenities Committee, may be forced to close down, temporarily at least. The difficulties confronting the cinema will be discussed at the committee’s annual general meeting at the end of the month.Helmsdale has a population of only 800 and yet there are over 100 TV sets in the village. Referring to this at a meeting of Sutherland Education Committee at Lairg last week, Mrs C P Rutherford, Helmsdale, said it was not now likely that the Amenities Committee would be so ready to buy the old school gymnasium for a cinema. The present cinema in the Drill Hall was running at a loss “because the entire population are viewing television”. …An Amenities Committee official told “The Northern Times” that they could not be expected to run the cinema at a loss. It was disheartening for people who were giving their services voluntarily for the good of the community. The position would be reviewed at the annual general meeting and he expected it would be decided to close down temporarily at least.When they reopened they would see if they were to be better supported. “If the people realise they may lose their cinema that may give them a jolt and perhaps there will be larger attendances.”The previous week the cinema showed “Doctor at Sea” featuring James Robertson Justice, who now had his home at Spinningdale, and there was quite a good attendance, but still the film only paid its way and no more, said the official. It was in colour and that made it more expensive.A local resident told “The Northern Times” that it was mainly the younger people and school children who supported the cinema. Older folks preferred the comfort of their own fireside and if they did not have TV themselves they went out to a friend who had.“Looking out of my window here I can see a dozen TV aerials in the new council houses and there are many more besides. When the Old Meldrum transmitter started there were 60 TV sets in the village in no time.
Mass Radiography Unit
July 12, 1957
The Mass Radiography Unit from the Western Hospital Board will open its campaign in Sutherland next Wednesday with public sessions at Helmsdale School. The hours are 2 to 4.30pm and 6 to 8.30pm. The service which is free, is confidential. There will be no undressing and no appointment is necessary. The unit will be at Brora School on Thursday and on Saturday of next week Golspie will have two sessions – in the YMCA Hall in the forenoon and at Sutherland Agricultural Show in the afternoon. Lairg, Dornoch and Bonar-Bridge will be visited during the following week.Dr K A Macrae, county medical officer, told “The Northern Times” that anyone found to have tuberculosis in this campaign will be informed in strict confidence and arrangements will be made for the necessary treatment. “It is hoped in this way,” he said “to discover early cases so that they may be cured really completely, but all necessary treatment will be available to every case found in whatever stage of the disease.”Continuing, Dr Macrae said: “It might be asked whether the large expenditure of public money needed for this campaign will bring results in terms of public health. One has to think first of the expense of being ill with tuberculosis. The total cost in terms of ill health, lost work, hospital treatment and drugs is, in the long run, infinitely heavier than the cost of a mass X-ray campaign.“Everything possible is being done to treat known active cases and to avoid their being a danger to others. The difficulty lies with the unsuspected cases of tuberculosis, people who suffer quietly and infect others, but never see their doctor about their cough. If only we could find all these undiscovered cases we would have a good chance of really controlling the disease.“It may be thought that Sutherland people will still be open to the dangers of getting tuberculosis in big cities. This has certainly been the case up till recently; but it may well change in view of the remarkable success of mass radiography in these places.“Glasgow, Edinburgh and other cities in the south have done their share in an effort to clear tuberculosis out of Scotland, and Sutherland people are sure to benefit from the forthcoming visit of the unit. They should do their part in supporting their own campaign, and get as many as possible to attend at the different centres.”
Helmsdale fishermen
November 22, 1957
Helmsdale fishermen who have been landing their catches elsewhere than at their home port, are to be told they must take action to provide a reasonable revenue at the harbour, owned by the County Council, if they want further repairs to be carried out there.
This action was recommended by Sutherland Harbours and Piers Committee at Lairg last Monday after discussion of a Scottish Home Department letter stating they regretted they could offer no grant towards the cost of repairs – £455 – required at the inner basin at Helmsdale harbour.
The Department suggested that the money could be found from the pooled revenue got at the profit-making harbours at Kinlochbervie and Lochinver without a contribution having to be made from the rates. The committee minuted their disagreement with this pooled revenue proposal, but in the meantime suggested that the local Helmsdale harbour committee should be asked to devise a plan which would ensure a reasonable revenue for the council from harbour dues. It was noted that last year the council had run Helmsdale harbour at a loss.
January 24, 1958
With snow falling heavily in most districts of Sutherland on Wednesday morning prospects took a sudden change for the worse, and most people were wondering whether the storm was
going to rival in intensity that of January 1955, when helicopters and an aircraft carrier had to be enlisted to bring food for humans and animals alike in the remoter districts.
But yesterday, with no snow overnight, prospects were brighter. Biggest tasks facing the snowploughs were on the Lairg-Tongue road (where the mail bus had to turn back north of Altnaharra on Wednesday) and at the Ord of Caithness.
The snow started to fall last Saturday night, and on Monday the trunk road north of Helmsdale was blocked to traffic going in to Caithness and it was still blocked on Wednesday, although a few lorries did get through from Berriedale.
Very little traffic was moving on the main roads radiating from Lairg to the north and west, and it was to be expected that the worst conditions should be experienced on the Tongue road – this is always a danger route when the snow is drifting. While the mail buses from Durness and Scourie got through – three hours late – to Lairg, the Tongue bus had not reached Altnaharra by late in the afternoon. The plough working from the Lairg end had reached the Crask and was driving slowly north.
In the event the Tongue bus was forced to turn back. …
On Monday night warning notices banning traffic going north were erected at Helmsdale and on Tuesday conditions worsened with drifting causing most of the trouble. On Tuesday night snow began to fall very heavily, and prospects looked grim indeed.
That meant that the trunk road to Caithness had been closed for two whole days.
Meanwhile, on Tuesday, Rapson and Son, the Helmsdale contractors, managed to get two lorries to Thurso by Kildonan Strath, but the drivers, Edward Rapson and George Sinclair, were stranded in drifts on the way home. A breakdown lorry had to be sent out to the rescue. Mr R Rapson told a reporter late on Tuesday night that it was almost impossible to make out the narrow 10ft wide road and only experienced drivers could have attempted such a journey.
Late on Tuesday night Mr Walter Sutherland, the road surveyor, was worried about the fate of one of his snowploughs – manned by George Irvine, Loth, and William Mackay, Helmsdale – which had reached Berriedale earlier in the day but had gone missing on the return journey.
But it turned up safe and sound about 10 at night after the crew had endured terrible conditions on the Ord of Caithness. It was blowing a blizzard and it was impossible to see the road, so the plough had to give up and return.
May 23, 1958
About a dozen Polish herring trawlers sought refuge in the Dornoch Firth on Tuesday – they had been driven there during Monday night and early Tuesday morning by the gale-force wind, accompanied by heavy rain, which hit the north. They dropped anchor just opposite Golspie. The Helmsdale fishing boats were fortunately in harbour for painting.
On Wednesday there was the finest array of warships seen for a long time in the firth – they were lying off Golspie and Brora. Two submarines were also on view. They made a brave spectacle in the late evening when their lights were reflecting on the water.
The perfect contrast was provided by the Gordonstoun School's three-masted scooner, The Prince Louis, which lay off Golspie. The boys came ashore for a while.
The warships were obviously on exercise, and with the Polish trawlers lying off Brora – they had changed their positions from the previous day – it was altogether an inspiring spectacle.
The pity is that such an array of ships is seen too seldom in these waters. If the Navy could visit us three or four times in the summer and allow visitors aboard that would be a big boost for the east coast villages, and would be a fillip to the economy of the county as a whole.
June 13, 1958
Golspie Sutherland completed their most successful post-war season when, on their own ground last Monday night, they defeated Helmsdale United in the final of the Paul Cup to win their fourth trophy. They had earlier won the Sutherland Cup, the Pattison Cup and the Stafford Cup, blue riband of Sutherland Football.
Helmsdale won the two other trophies, the G A Sutherland Cup and the Couper Cup.
It must have been the worst season ever for Brora. Last season they won four trophies – this season they are empty-handed
June 20, 1958
Loth – Traffic Jam – Traffic on the main road was held up for a considerable time recently by a large oil tanker. When it met another lorry on Crakaig Brae it had to brake violently. It swung completely round and ultimately finished across the road. A line of vehicles stretching for nearly a mile had to wait patiently until a breakdown team arrived from Helmsdale.
October 3, 1958
Four times this week the trunk road up the east coast of Sutherland and Caithness has been blocked by heavy vehicles, three times at the hairpin bend at Lothbeg, between Brora and Helmsdale, and once at the foot of Berriedale brae. The first hold-up to traffic occurred last Sunday, but the most serious delay was last Tuesday afternoon. In the morning a south-going heavy lorry and trailer failed to negotiate the bend at Lothbeg, but was ultimately cleared. Then in the afternoon the real trouble started, causing a "headache" for Mr Walter Sutherland, county road surveyor, and his men.
This time the 62 ft. long lorry and trailer, heavily loaded with girders and a large steel plate, on its way from Barrow-in-Furness to Dounreay atomic station in Caithness, found itself unable to manoeuvre round the sharp bend leading on to the Lothbeg bridge.
The driver and his mate returned to Brora for jacks and managed to get moving, but only for a few seconds. Then Mr Sutherland had to send a squad with a giant Mack tractor – foreman Donald Ross was accompanied by George Thom and Murray Baillie (driver and mate), W G Mackay, Alec Sutherland, Charlie Sutherland and Alex Sinclair. And Mr Sutherland himself was on the job in the evening. All they could do was to get the stranded vehicle moved into the side to allow traffic to proceed.
Then on Wednesday morning they got into their stride. The lorry got round the bend, but the trailer on the near side was jamming against the bridge. The steel plate was manoeuvred under the trailer and the rear wheels greased. Then the Mack tractor came into action, pushing the trailer across the sheet and getting it more into line with the lorry. That did the trick, and the lorry was on its way again inside half an hour. And the Sutherland squad escorted the lorry and its load into Caithness.
But that was not the end of the story. Next came an SOS from Mr Cameron Sutherland, road surveyor for Caithness. The lorry was held up again – this time at the foot of Berriedale brae. Could the Sutherland tractor help once more? So Mr Walter Sutherland sent out his men again.
"We shall have the same trouble when this vehicle returns from Dounreay," Mr Walter Sutherland told a reporter on Wednesday. But the job would not be so difficult as there would be no load to worry about.
October 31, 1958
Sutherland will be very glad to welcome Mr John G Diefenbaker, Conservative Prime Minister of Canada, when he visits Helmsdale and Kildonan at the week-end with the object of trying to trace where his ancestors lived.
His father was Dutch, but on the maternal side Mr Diefenbaker is descended from a Bannerman who emigrated from Sutherland in 1813 and a Campbell who reached Canada from Argyll.
He will almost certainly visit the old graveyard at Kildonan where at least two Bannermans are buried – Alexander, “late tenant of Baddy,” who died in 1812, aged 60, and David, who died in 1819.
And in the village of Helmsdale lives Miss Nina Bannerman Forbes, who may also expect a call from Mr Diefenbaker. Miss Forbes, who claims no relationship, lives at Dunrobin Street. But her grandfather was a Bannerman whose forebears came from Argyll. They settled in Loth and afterwards went to Navidale.
Miss Forbes had five uncles and three aunts who went to Canada, and one of her uncles was Sage Bannerman, named after the famous minister of Kildonan.
Mr Diefenbaker may also be interested to see a copy of a report from “The Edinburgh Advertiser” of September 27, 1799, which contains the names of those in Kildonan who subscribed to a war fund – it includes no fewer than 14 Bannermans. It is in the possession of Mr Whyte, stationmaster at Kinbrace, who has, incidentally, collected a fund of useful information about the Kildonan Bannermans in which the Prime Minister should be keenly interested.
Mr Diefenbaker, who will be accompanied by his wife, says his mother’s folk were Bannermans who were among 800 Scots emigrants selected by the fifth Earl of Selkirk and each given a section of land in Manitoba in 1803.
His father was a Dutch school teacher. Like his wife, the Prime Minister is a Baptist and he is a teetotaller and non-smoker. His is the story of a country lawyer who by his fiery oratory swept into office for a second time with the largest majority in Canadian Parliament history.
Sutherland natives have made a remarkable impact on Canadian affairs, and so Mr Diefenbaker is especially proud of his connection with this crofting county.
There was Mr Ian Mackenzie, who emigrated from Stoer, in the parish of Assynt, to become in turn Canadian Defence Minister and latterly Minister of Pensions. Mr Mackenzie died a few years ago and a brother, George, died only last Monday in Vancouver. A sister, Mrs Angus Mackenzie, lives at Park House, Lochinver.
Then there was John William Stewart, from Nedd, who later became Major-General Stewart. He emigrated to Canada and some 30 years later returned to buy the parish of Assynt from the present Duke of Sutherland.
And to complete the story the present Lieutenant-Governor of British Columbia, Mr Frank Ross, spent his boyhood days in the Bonar-Bridge district.
November 7, 1958
Sutherland has seldom seen such a galaxy of reporters and cameramen as that which followed Mr John Diefenbaker, Canadian Prime Minister, last Sunday morning as he travelled from Helmsdale to Kildonan to try to get some definite information about his mother's forebears who emigrated from that parish after the evictions in 1815.
Mr Diefenbaker's sentimental journey was not a profitable one from that point of view, but nevertheless he was able to take away with him the memory of "a wonderful experience," as he described it himself. When he returns to Canada he will be able to report to his 84-year-old mother, descended from Kildonan Bannermans, that everywhere he went he received a warm-hearted welcome – Bannermans were tumbling over themselves to try to help the Premier in his quest.
Mr Diefenbaker, who was accompanied by his wife and younger brother Elmer, was escorted by Colonel David Bruce, Brora, Vice-Lieutenant of Sutherland, and Mrs Bruce. When he arrived in Helmsdale, the Prime Minister was introduced to Major Gideon Rutherford, Proncy, Dornoch, whose father and grandfather were born at Kildonan – they were buried in the churchyard there – and who was able to put a fund of information at the distinguished visitor's disposal. Major Rutherford travelled in the Premier's car to Kildonan and back to Helmsdale for the church service there conducted by the Rev J S Fulton.
Before he left for Inverness, Mr Diefenbaker and his party had lunch in the Royal Marine Hotel, Brora, and on his way south called at the home of Mrs Georgina Mackenzie, Culgower House, Loth, who is a Bannerman, and then paid a 15-minute visit on the invitation of the Duke of Sutherland to Dunrobin Castle, where he was shown round by Mr Thomas Adam, the Duke's factor.
Before Mr Diefenbaker left Brora, he held a press conference in the Royal Marine Hotel, when he described his emotions on seeing the lovely Kildonan Strath for the first time. Most wonderful of all was when he stood on the station bridge at Kildonan and looked on the river Helmsdale. He had also been deeply impressed by his visit to the old church of Kildonan where his mother's forebears had worshipped.
"What I have felt and seen will certainly be conveyed to those people in Canada with a Scots heritage," Mr Diefenbaker said. He was also greatly touched when he was presented by A M Ross, of the Royal Marine Hotel, with a model of a typical crofter's thatched cottage with barn and byre attached. He said he would take it home to his mother.
December 19, 1958
The Sutherland small savings target, set at £120,000 for the year ending next March, looked like being exceeded by nearly £50,000 if the present rate of saving was maintained, Mr George Conway, Northern area organiser, said at Golspie recently.
He was addressing the Sutherland Savings Committee in the Sutherland Arms Hotel, where Mr G J Grant, Pulrossie, presided. Mr Conway was discussing the figures for the past seven months, and he pointed out that while there was a decrease in the purchase of premium bonds (£1282) and in post office savings deposits (£3937), there had been a substantial increase in the sale of defence bonds (by £12,875 to a total of £19,000) and national savings certificates (by £14,346 to a total of £32,520).
A total of £98,000 had been saved in the seven months ended October 31 last, which was an increase of £22,000 compared with the corresponding period for last year. This represented savings per head of the population of 5s 2d per week.
Mr Conway also gave details of the savings group position. At November 30 last there were 79 such groups in the county compared with 74 at November 30 last year, an increase of five.
Once again Mr Conway asked for the committee's help to improve the groups position in Golspie which had deteriorated somewhat, and it was agreed that a special effort should be made towards this end. The savings group position in Helmsdale, Brora and Dornoch had been well maintained, he added.
It was noted that up to November 30 last 44 prizes had gone to Sutherland in the premium savings bond draw and the value of these was £1300.
Mr R D Macdonald, Lairg, vice-chairman, reported his impressions of the annual conference at Aberdeen, where the Chancellor of the Exchequer had been the principal speaker.
Mr Conway had on display the Margaret Duncan Memorial Trophy which was won this year by the Northern area. Sutherland had played its part nobly in this success, said Mr Conway.
Note – Since the Golspie meeting Mr Conway has reported that at November 30 last the Sutherland target of £120,000 was already exceeded by £10,419.
January 9, 1959
At this early stage not too much can be expected from to-day's meeting in Golspie of Sutherland Convener's Committee who will be discussing the County Council delegation's report on their talks with Glasgow Town Council on the disposal of that city's "overspill" population. But the committee should have a better appreciation of what is involved.
There can be little doubt that centres such as Golspie, Brora and Helmsdale would welcome Glasgow overspill if that meant new industries were to come with it and work as well for local unemployed.
But what industries could be attracted here? That question is being asked in view of the high transport costs that would have to be met. It would seem that the Government would have to introduce such as a tapered rate if such industries were to compete economically with their rivals in the south. Or else the goods manufactured would have to be of very high value so that the transport costs would be negatived.
All we can do meantime is hope for the best. We'll not be too surprised or disappointed if nothing very much comes out of this overspill question so far as Sutherland is concerned. But there does seem to be something very concrete indeed in the drive to encourage local crafts and skills.
Here is something to benefit our own folks and at the same time encourage our youngsters to think twice about leaving home. Sutherland Technical School will soon be very well equipped to provide first-class instruction in most trades.
It should supply the "fodder" for any tradesmen who might be encouraged, with the aid of the grants and loans available, to branch out and perhaps employ one or two more men in their line of business.
In the meantime Sutherland County Council's decision to build 40 new houses, the bulk of them in Brora and Golspie, within a period of two years, should help to relieve the unemployment problem.
February 20, 1959
Lochside, Stoer
Sir, In a recent number of "The Northern Times," under the heading "50 years ago," it was stated that a Nurse Keddie, situated at Helmsdale, had to make an arduous and roundabout journey through Caithness by train and horse conveyance, and eventually when the conveyance stuck, had to walk 12 miles to reach her patient at Melvich, and through such a snowstorm as we have had recently – truly a heroic feat.
Nurse Keddie must have been one of the early nurses of the Sutherland Benefit Nursing Association, inaugurated about 60 years ago by the late Duchess Millicent – perhaps the most beneficent things among many she did for the county.
Before nursing could be started suitable candidates had to be chosen and trained – young women of fair education and good standing (many of them widows with young children) were selected from each district. They were sent to the Plaistow District Training Home in London for a three months' course in midwifery, after which they had to pass the examination of the London Obstetrical Society (the forerunner of the Central Midwives' Board). Without this certificate they could not practice on their own without a doctor. This was very necessary in Sutherland where doctors were few and far between, and not easy to get before the days of the motor car.
When trained, the midwife usually worked in her own locality.
The Duchess came herself to each district to inaugurate the work. She had a meeting in the local school to explain things, and to meet the nurse. An hon. president, and secretary were elected, and so a start was made. Before she left the Duchess gave a talk on nursing to the senior girls, so inspiring some of them to take up nursing when they were old enough. Everyone was greatly impressed by the beauty and charm of the great lady; it was indeed a red-letter day for the place.
This early nursing was to be of the cottage type as practised in some other counties – i.e. the midwife stayed in the patient's home until the case was finished. But much more than nursing fell to her lot; the care of the household, baking, washing, sometimes milking the cow; and perhaps "mucking out the byre"! That only happened if the father was fishing at the East Coast.
Sutherland was well populated 50 or 60 years ago, and families were large; babies were not just an event as they are to-day. They sometimes came in twos, or threes in different parts of the district. Then the nurse had to divide her time, perhaps walking many miles a day in all weathers. There were few horse conveyances, and no cars for many years yet, so all visits were done on foot. She would have to spend the night in one house or the other attending to the patient before going on to the next.
There were, of course, cases she could not possibly get to; then the handy women, who had previously done all this work, came back into their own! Decent, kindly, elderly women, they seemed to manage quite well with no equipment, and no nonsense about cleanliness!
No ante-natal work was done in those days, but the people were hardy. There were few casualties; mothers and babies did remarkably well; of course, nearly all babies were breast fed.
In spite of long hours, hard work, and roughing it in all weathers, some of these early nurses spent as long as 30 years in their districts. Their salary was small, and there was no Nurses' Pension Fund for them. But the work was truly a labour of love, bringing its own satisfaction. They are still remembered with affection; one of them still survives – a gracious lady, well on in her nineties, and in good health, she lives in Lochinver, where she formerly worked. – Yours, etc., E. C. McI.
February 27, 1959
Helmsdale – Improvement in Fishing – There are indications that the main industry in the village – fishing – may yet become as prosperous as it was some years ago. Fishermen and their families have been suffering sorely on account of the poor catches of white fish. But there is now a spirit of optimism.
Last Monday the seine-net boat Mysotis landed over 30 boxes of cod and haddock, and this has led to the belief that the shoals had returned to their old haunts.
One fisherman told our reporter last Monday that a good deal of damage must have been done to the spawning beds by foreign vessels, who come at regular intervals to fish for herring in the firth. "Goodness knows what these foreigners are doing," he said, "but I have a feeling that they have destroyed a good deal of spawn, and this has led to depleted catches of white fish."
February 27, 1959
Portgower – Still Going Strong – Mr Colin B Sutherland, Portgower, must be one of the oldest working stone masons in the county. At 72 he still carries out contracts in the Strath, and is at present employed at Suisgill.
Mr Sutherland told our reporter last Monday that he served his time with the late Mr Oliver Fraser, builder, Backies, Golspie. "These were the days when you had to hew every stone with chisel and mallet," said Mr Sutherland, "and these were the days when there were no tea breaks for the workmen, and when every man had to pull his weight. I enjoyed every minute of my apprenticeship, and I never had a better employer than Mr Fraser."
One of Mr Sutherland's jobs when serving his apprenticeship in 1904 was at the building of Granite Villa, Golspie.
March 6, 1959
Helmsdale – Willie the Blacksmith – Never frightened by hard work, Mr William Macdonald is still active at the anvil in the smithy at the east end of Dunrobin Street where he began his apprenticeship 63 years ago. Still hale and hearty at 78, Mr Macdonald, who turned over the pages of history last Monday afternoon, recalled that he began his trade with the late Mr W G Munro, who owned the smithy before he branched out at Brora.
"In these days," Mr Macdonald said, "a horse could be shod for between three and four shillings, and I was happy to get a few shillings weekly as my wages." Speculating about the future, he said that while Dobbin was undoubtedly on the way out, there were still a few hill ponies to be shod. He thought, however, that the day was not far distant when the rural blacksmith's work would mainly concern such as making bolts, nuts and field gates hinges. "I do a lot of that now," he said, "and this keeps me going."
People have stood by Mr Macdonald because of his fine craftsmanship, and also because of his cheery conversation. At one time the smithy was also known as a "tonsorial depot," and in these days Mr Macdonald used to have as many as 20 customers a week.
A happy bachelor, Mr Macdonald told our reporter, "Your researches into past history have discovered that a Caithness couple were married over the anvil at Helmsdale. I was the 'mighty man' who performed that ceremony 27 years ago, and what a day that was. Even my best friends and closest colleagues laughed at the idea, but I carried the ceremony through with the decorum it deserved, and the couple went on their way rejoicing."
Among "museum" pieces Mr Macdonald has in his possession is the metal horse on the door of his smithy.
July 3, 1959
Perhaps the biggest boost Sutherland could get – to attract Glasgow industrialists and Glasgow "overspill" to this crofter county – will be provided by the party of school children from the east coast who are to "invade" that city at approximately 4.47pm next Wednesday, July 8.
When the city folks see our upstanding youngsters they will be bound to ask where they come from, and the rest should follow naturally.
On a more serious note, this schools' excursion is being organised by Mr Jack Macleod, head master of Clyne Junior Secondary School, who has made a name for himself as one of the most enterprising and successful leaders of youth this county has seen.
Since Mr Macleod took over his present post in 1949 he has taken a party of his own boys at Clyne School, every year, on a cycling expedition. Several times they have gone to Glasgow and they have also toured all over Sutherland and Caithness and in Orkney.
This year Mr Macleod is organising a week's excursion, from July 8-15, and in the party will be no fewer than 40 boys and girls – 31 from Brora, eight from Helmsdale and one from Bonar Bridge. Mr Macleod will lead the party and he will be assisted by his wife and Mr J Gilmour, Helmsdale, who is a teacher of physical training under the education authority.
They will be travelling south by train, and Mr Macleod told "The Northern Times" on Wednesday night that they were taking advantage of the "Freedom of Scotland" ticket, which allows a week's unlimited travel. Of course, the Education Committee are supporting the excursion which, if the itinerary drawn up by Mr Macleod is any guide, should be both educative and entertaining.
There will be a "Three Lochs" tour – many will be seeing the "bonny, bonny banks o' Loch Lomond" for the first time; a visit to the Burns country and to Edinburgh; and, what should prove the highlight – a sail "doon the watter". This Kyles of Bute sail, with a two-hour visit to Rothesay thrown in, should prove memorable.
And the boys will see "Glasgow on a Saturday night," according to the programme, with "a walk round the centre of the town".
Visits to Prestwick airport, Glasgow art galleries, university, Edinburgh Castle, zoo and Princes Street Gardens are other features. It should be a grand holiday, and Mr Macleod is to be congratulated once again on his enterprise and on widening the scope of the venture.
August 7, 1959
Between 60 and 70 pupils from Mexburgh Grammar School, Yorkshire, have been spending a fortnight's holiday in the area with headquarters at Helmsdale Junior Secondary School. Their programme has included hikes, fishing, bathing and boating.
But the highlight was last Saturday, when there was an unexpected thrill for the youngsters – they were taken aboard four local seine-net boats for a cruise in the firth. The Dewy Rose (skipper A Main) took the party as far as the entrance to Brora harbour. The other three boats, the Silver Rock (W Jappy), the Sheena Mackay (A Jappy) and the Harvest Moon (David Stephen) took parties as far as Berriedale (Caithness).
August 21,
1959
Visitors to Helmsdale harbour have been interested in a tablet, which hangs on Harbour House and how and why it came to be there. Mr George Sutherland, owner of the house, explained last Monday that the tablet, which consists of two shields with crowns surmounting them, denotes the Sutherland coat of arms. These tablets, he explained, were always placed on properties belonging to the Duke of Sutherland. "There are three more of these tablets in the village.
There is one on the old Customs House, one on property near the old smiddy, and one behind the district council office." Mr Sutherland decided that after he bought the property and rebuilt it to retain the tablet on the front wall. The date on the tablet is 1815.
August 21, 1959
The new car park at the west end of Dunrobin Street, Helmsdale, near the Commercial Hotel, has brought praise from many motorists who have to stay in the village for a time. The extra space at this corner enables motorists to leave their cars without risk of creating a hold-up to traffic.
August 28, 1959
The latest addition to Helmsdale's fishing fleet will be the dual purpose vessel, Silver Cloud, which was launched at the Banff yard of John Watt and Sons last Friday.
Powered by a 114hp diesel engine, the vessel is 54ft long, with a 17ft beam, and she will carry all the latest equipment. Mr Tom Jappy, Feranich, Sutherland Street, skipper and part-owner, told our reporter last Monday that delivery at Helmsdale would be in about three weeks.
September 25, 1959
We regret to intimate the death of Mr Angus Murray, retired cooper, 123 West Helmsdale. He was 90, and one of the oldest inhabitants of Helmsdale. Mr Murray was a cooper all his life, and for many years he was with George Couper and Co, fishcurers, Helmsdale.
During his service with the firm he went to all the northern fishing ports. A kenspeckle figure, Mr Murray could recall the days when the weekly wage at the trade amounted to only 15/-, and these were the days when coopers had to work very hard to earn their bread and butter.
One of his most treasured possessions was a medal presented to his grandfather, who served with Wellington in the final overthrow of Napoleon at Waterloo. The medal, encased in a frame, bears the inscription: "Wellington, Waterloo, June 18, 1815." Below the medal is the flattened bullet which wounded his grandfather in battle.
Mr Murray's funeral was to be at Helmsdale cemetery last Saturday, when the services were conducted by the Rev J S Fulton, Helmsdale Church of Scotland, and the Rev J B Perry, Helmsdale Free Church. The chief mourners were Hugh and Angus Murray (sons), George Seaton (son-in-law), Alex Macleod and George Sutherland (nephews), George Tulloch, George Sutherland and Angus Mackintosh.
December 18, 1959
Mrs C S D Couper of Sunnyhill, Helmsdale, is the first person in Sutherland to be presented with a certificate of commendation for her outstandingly good work for the Red Cross, from 1930 until her retirement in October, 1957. She has been a county branch vice-president during that time.
January 29, 1960
There is little or no social activity in Helmsdale these days. Apart from Scottish country dancing classes there are no entertainments for the young folks.
TV is blamed for the apathy which appears to exist so far as public entertainments are concerned. The Dale is said to be one of the most TV-minded communities in the North.
March 4, 1960
A public meeting is to be held in Helmsdale soon to discuss such questions as developing the tourist industry in the area, giving the village a "new look" and whether it would be a benefit to join up with the Sutherland Tourist Association.
May 13, 1977
Prince Charles caught two salmon on his first day on the River Helmsdale on Wednesday – both from the No. 3 Above beat on Upper Torrish Estate in Kildonan Strath.
Only six weeks before he is due here on an official visit, the Prince of Wales is staying at Kilphedir Lodge on a three-day private holiday.
Prince Charles
Pope Maternity Hospital Helmsdale
February 4, 1977
It is estimated that every baby born in the four-bed General Pope Maternity Hospital at Helmsdale this year could cost the National Health Service £680 – the highest charge in Scotland.
This is one of the statistics produced by the Highland Health Board in their case for closing down the maternity unit in Helmsdale and transferring all emergency confinements to the Lawson Hospital in Golspie.
In a letter to Mr Jack MacLeod, secretary of the Sutherland Health Council, the Board say they are asking their officers to consider if arrangements can be made at the Lawson Hospital to allow mothers confined there or in Inverness and Thurso to complete their lying-in period.
THE GENERAL POPE HOSPITAL. HELMSDALE, SUTHERLAND
originally called The Helmsdale Dispensary Hospice 1935 - 1973.
My account of this Hospital is based largely on interviews with the elderly of Helmsdale, Sutherland, some of whom are in their nineties, the General Practitioner who served the Hospital for thirty years and the local historian. A great deal of the early documentation was housed in the office of the Local Registrar and Village Officer. Unfortunately, when Regionalization was introduced in 1974 this joint post was disbanded and the lady, who has since died, was reputed to have set fire to most of the documentation. This incident happened on her last day in post shortly after her farewell party, when it is claimed she made her final gesture in defiance of officialdom.The Hospital was opened in 1935 in "the same year as electric light was introduced to the Village. The Hospital was erected to serve the needy of the Parish of Kildonan and Helmsdale which (at that time) had a population of 1,203, consisting of a Fishing and Crofting community. The community had a reputation for looking after its own poor and needy, those who were required to be housed were sent to Migdale, at Bonar Bridge, some forty miles south of Helmsdale, the local Poor House having been closed many years previous.General Pope of The Bombay Army, a native of Helmsdale, being aware of the poverty and hardship of the times, felt a compassionate need to try and alleviate the conditions of the Villagers, and on his death in 1886, he left sufficient money in trust to erect a Hospital in order that the suffering of the Parish should benefit.The intended capital was £5,000. However, difficulties arose and the actual amount was £3,946. In order to meet the deficit, a Building Fund was formed and after a further generous donation, work began with a clause stating that the Hospital must be planned to conform to the Department of Health requirements. The Architect and Contractors were all local men and the bricks used for the building came from the brickworks in Brora, a Village eleven miles south of Helmsdale. The brick had a reddish tinge and when the building was completed, it resembled an attractive English-type cottage. The building was sited in its own grounds and nestled under Helmsdale Rock which is a local landmark.The Hospital was opened by Lady Sykes on the 1st August, 1935. It had five beds; two female beds, two male beds for care of the elderly and a maternity room with one bed. The beds for the elderly were already occupied before the official opening date.For the following eleven years until 1946, the Hospital was maintained by voluntary efforts, supervised by the Local General Practitioner and District Nurse. The Hospital cared for many of Helmsdale's destitute and elderly. The maternity bed was only used for premature or difficult births. The majority of women, because they were not on the Doctor's panel, had their babies in their own home and were usually attended by a lay-person who, because of years of experience of childbirth, was deemed to be the local midwife.After the implementation of The National Health Act in 1946, the Hospital was closed for three months. During my interviews with some of the elderly villagers, this is the point where the interview dropped to a whisper. The reason for the closure was rumored to be that the last lady to give birth in the Hospital had been fraternizing with a fleet of incoming herring fisherman (not belonging to Helmsdale of course) and had contacted a variety of venereal disease, causing the Hospital to require three months fumigation.The true facts were that the Hospital was taken over by the National Health Service and a decision was made to change the Hospital into a Maternity Hospital, the only one in Sutherland. After refurbishing the Hospital was opened under the new name of The General Pope Maternity Hospital. The new Style Hospital had five beds, a labour room, laundry and kitchen facilities and was staffed by a resident Matron, four Ward Auxiliaries, and one Cook, with the local General Practitioner in attendance.To the dismay of the local population, the Hospital was closed in 1973» because it was not regarded as a viable proposition by the Highland Health Board. Since its closure, the women of Helmsdale and the surrounding district travel a round trip of eighty miles to Wick or one hundred and sixty miles to Inverness, in order to have their child born in a Hospital. During the years between 1935 and 1973, there were 1,802 children born in The General Pope Maternity Hospital.After the Hospital closed, the people of Helmsdale pressured the Highland Health Board into renovating the building in order to give the Village a Health Centre. Unfortunately, the Highland Health Board would not entertain the idea. The Social Work Department then toyed with the idea of renting the building and using it as a detoxification centre. This plan was also discarded. Finally, after protest meetings from the Villagers, who felt that the building should be given back to the community, the Highland Health Board sold the Hospital.The Hospital is now a private dwelling and feelings still run high among the Villagers who feel that the monies received from the sale, should have been given to the Village
The cost of one toilet block at Helmsdale
July 8, 1977
£11,000 – was more than what it would cost to build two council houses, councillor Mrs Leila Mackenzie of Kinlochbervie told the district council last week.
Opening in Helmsdale of the new fish processing factory
March 24, 1978
Opening today in Helmsdale is the new fish processing factory built by the Highland Regional Council for Helmsdale Seafoods Ltd., a subsidiary of a Saltcoats firm owned by Mr Neil Gibson and Mr Ian Irvine.
Costing £58,000 the factory is situated on the foreshore at Helmsdale, covering 3000 square feet and bringing employment to more than 20 local people.
The Rev Murdo Nicolson, chairman of the Regional Council, returns to his old parish to perform the opening ceremony, the first industrial premises to be wholly completed by the Region in its four years of operations.
Quarry sites around Helmsdale are to be surveyed
August 11, 1978
Quarry sites around Helmsdale are to be surveyed for one of Britain’s “super-quarries” for the supply of aggregates for the construction industry in this county and on the Continent.
These investigations are now under discussion between the Scottish Development Department and the Institute of Geological Sciences with the aim of mounting a study to give further consideration to the potential sites, with Helmsdale as one of the areas given special attention.
This follows a report on coastal super-quarries first given prominence in the report of the advisory group for the Department of the Environment in 1976.
Mr Robert Maclennan MP has been told by Lord Kirkhill, Minister of State at the Scottish Office, that a great deal of investigation was needed before acceptable locations could be decided.
At the employment conference in Brora last April, there was discussion about the possibility of attracting the proposed super-quarry presently being considered at a site in the north, to Helmsdale because of the lack of employment opportunities in the area.
Helmsdale’s proposed community centre
1st December 1978
Helmsdale’s proposed community centre, in the now derelict district council offices, may shortly get a windfall from the Couper Trust to make it a reality. Mr W H Cormack, Tain solicitor and a grandson of one of the Coupers of Helmsdale who administers the Trust, said last week: “The original sum left was something like £2000 for the purpose of helping to set up a town hall in Helmsdale. It was never adequate, of course. The bequest was made when Adam Couper died around 1933. The income has been increasing since and it is considerably more than that sum now. It was decided that the remaining sum should be divided between the football club and the community centre. I hope to get things finalised very shortly.”
The south snow gate at Helmsdale
January 26, 1979
The south snow gate at Helmsdale was shifted last weekend from its location opposite the Police Station to a point at the last inhabited house on the Ord road - within 48 hours of a protest meeting in the Navidale Hotel. Mr Keith Macfarlane, director of roads and transport at Highland Region, said on Friday: "I was in touch with the Scottish Development Department, the trunk road authority, after the meeting and they have given me the authority to move the gates. "There is no difficulty from the Scottish Secretary's point of view because he agreed to the siting on the recommendation of the local roads engineer and the police. "Having established that the people in the area were unanimously wanting to have the gates shifted to a new site beside an unofficial lay-by, I have instructed the local engineer, in consultation with the police, to move the gates today." The meeting was arranged by the Highland Regional Council following letters of protest from residents on Navidale Brae, complaining that the original location of the gate caused them unnecessary inconvenience because they were shut in. Although she did not say so at the meeting, one Helmsdale woman had to get out of her bed on New Year's Day, while suffering from flu, to crawl under the gate to get into Helmsdale to collect water after the local supply froze up. But Dr William Davidson, the Helmsdale GP, made the telling point that he had 50 patients on his home side of the gate - and 1100 on the other.
GP maternity unit in Sutherland
March 30, 1979
Helmsdale Community Council has asked the Secretary of State for the establishment of a modern GP maternity unit in Sutherland at the Lawson Memorial Hospital, Golspie.
This follows their recent canvass of all the community councils in Sutherland for support. Twelve of the 15 councils have intimated to Helmsdale secretary Miss Margot MacGregor that they were in support of the Helmsdale plea.
Bid for maternity services in Sutherland
June 22, 1979
Helmsdale Community Council are to appeal to the Ombudsman in their bid for maternity services in Sutherland, after receiving a firm "no" from both former and present Secretaries of State.
Armed with the support of 12 of the 15 community councils in Sutherland, Helmsdale have been putting pressure on St Andrew's House to provide a modern general practitioner unit at the Lawson Hospital, Golspie.
Miss Margot McGregor, secretary of Helmsdale Community Council, has written to both past and present Secretaries of State for Scotland, Mr Bruce Millan and Mr George Younger, urging a re-think on the whole question of maternity facilities in Sutherland. But it appears that the Tory view is the same as that of their predecessors in Government.
Helmsdale has been declared district winner in the 1979 "Britain in Bloom
1979
Helmsdale has been declared district winner in the 1979 "Britain in Bloom" contest for the best-kept village. It will now represent Sutherland in the area final, where it faces six other villages, including Ullapool.
The "frozen mitt"
November 30, 1979
Helmsdale's community council have given the "frozen mitt" to the district council's rejection of their proposal to develop the old ice house in Shore Street as a local museum.In a frosty letter, Helmsdale council secretary, Miss Margot MacGregor has told the district council that if they have any plans to establish a museum of any sort in the Helmsdale area they can get on with it themselves.In her letter, Miss MacGregor is highly critical of remarks made by Mr George Durrand, the district director of technical services, who attacked community councils for having "wild dreams".
Ex-Premier James Callaghan
March 21, 1980
Ex-Premier James Callaghan's two-day visit to Caithness and Sutherland last weekend was a splendid coup for Labour MP Robert Maclennan, and a gratifying occasion for party workers and supporters - but it also gave crofters, farmers and fishermen a splendid opportunity to let off steam, mainly against the present Government policies.Mr Callaghan, speaking at Helmsdale towards the end of his crowded schedule, said: "This is obviously a very down period for fishermen. And the increase in fuel costs is never going to get less, just like the oil-based fertilisers in crofting and farming."The future of the inshore fishing industry is not looking good at the moment, and the combination of high interest rates, the cost of fuel and the poor prices they are getting for their catch clearly means that a community like Helmsdale is going to get into great difficulty if this goes on much longer."A las, I am not in a position to do anything about this now - except to protest verbally and try to influence people. Its quite clear we must overcome inflation, and you can't do that with the policies the Government are following at the present time."
Seals being shot without a licence
November 7, 1980
Police in Caithness and Sutherland are investigating an incident on Tuesday at Badbea, between Helmsdale and Berriedale, when it was alleged that seals were being shot under the cliffs without a licence. An eye-witness, from Brora, who was visiting the site of the historic ruined village with friends, was alerted by the sound of shots and looked over the 150 ft. high cliffs. They saw a small white motor boat shepherding seals - both pups and adults - in towards the shore, where a rifleman was lying among the rocks. They described the scene as "horrific" with the water red with the blood of the seals, which were being massacred indiscriminately - and bullets were ricocheting off the water and the rocks. A spokesman for the Department of Agriculture and Fisheries in Edinburgh said on Wednesday they had no knowledge of any licence being granted for seal culling in the area.
One of the first places Prince Charles and fiancee Lady Diana Spencer may visit together
February 27, 1981
One of the first places Prince Charles and fiancee Lady Diana Spencer may visit together, after he returns from Australia, is romantic Kilphedir Lodge in Strath Kildonan. Prince Charles has taken a week's fishing holiday there every May for the past three years.Kilphedir is partly owned by Lady Diana's step-grandmother, novelist Barbara Cartland. Her own mother, Mrs Frances Shand-Kydd, visited the lodge last year.Mrs Cartland's first husband was Alastair George McCorquodale, whose family own Kilphedir, and their daughter Raine, is the second wife of Lady Diana's father, the Earl Spencer.On April 26, Lady Diana's eldest sister Sarah and her husband will be making the trip north for a week's holiday at Kilphedir.Last year, Sarah married Mr Neil McCorquodale, whose father, Alastair, is the nephew of Barbara Cartland's second husband, Hugh McCorquodale.So it seems likely that the Prince and his 19-year-old fiancee, with their shared love of the outdoor life, may visit the lodge on the edge of the River Helmsdale.Mr Andrew Sutherland, 5 Sutherland Street, Helmsdale, who is Prince Charles' ghillie, said on Wednesday: "I have had no word yet about a visit."Lady Sarah is coming here in April. She has visited the area several times before but, as far as I know, Lady Diana has never been here."And does he think he will be invited to the July wedding? "I very much doubt it, " he said.Security has always been tight when the Prince of Wales visits the River Helmsdale. Local police who know the area well are joined by experienced Scotland Yard officers who maintain a 24-hour watch on the narrow road through the Strath.So Kilphedir could be as ideal a spot as anywhere in Britain for a hide-out to discuss plans for Britain's biggest wedding since the Queen's.On behalf of the people of Sutherland, the Lord Lieutenant, Col. Allan Gilmour, has sent a message of congratulations to Prince Charles and Lady Diana.
Torrish Estate ghillie Andrew Sutherland landed the catch of his lifetime
June 5, 1981
Torrish Estate ghillie Andrew Sutherland landed the catch of his lifetime last week when he received an invitation to the wedding of Prince Charles and Lady Diana Spencer. He and his wife Josephine are "absolutely thrilled" about the giltedged invitation card from the Lord Chamberlain. Andrew, of 5 Sutherland Street, Helmsdale, has been ghillie to the Prince for the past four years, but when the Northern Times asked him in February if he thought he might get an invitation, he said: "I very much doubt it." Austrian-born Josephine said this week: "We are both really delighted - it never entered our minds that we would ever receive such an invitation. It is very nice of them both."I did not meet Lady Diana last time she was here, because the security was so tight that they were not really able to go anywhere, but I gather that they both love the area.They had a really enjoyable time, picnicking and walking."Andrew and Josephine are to stay for a week in London, visiting friends, and as Mrs Sutherland says "making the most of it".
Helmsdale Highland Games
August 21, 1981
AFTER a lapse of more than 85 years, Helmsdale Highland Games are being revived next week - and the heavyweight events have been included in the Highlands and Islands championship table.This accolade for a first meeting is due to the strong preparatory work done by the organising committee, led by Mrs Mary Dudgeon of Crakaig, who have been planning the games for almost eighteen months.The organisation and fundraising ability has been favourably noted by the Scottish Games Association and Saturday, August 29, will be an important date for many athletes hoping to win last-minute points to improve their position, for it is the last but one meeting of the season.The Games Chieftain is Mr Frank Macpherson, a native of Helmsdale, who won many prizes himself in his younger days at meetings at Dornoch, Dunbeath and Wick in heavy and field events.
January 21, 1983
Parents in Helmsdale were “furious” on Tuesday night when they learned that their school children were brought home from Brora on a double-decker bus in blizzard conditions and with no heating.
As a result, many did not allow their children to board the same bus on Wednesday morning to take them to school again. And that meant some missing their O Grade prelim examinations. Only seven pupils went on the bus.
Mrs Margaret Traill, whose daughter Anita (16) was one of the 17 pupils who did not attend school on Wednesday, despite having an examination, said: “The children came home on Tuesday night absolutely freezing. There was no heating on the bus, and there were even some windows open.
“The conditions that night were some of the worst encountered this winter and yet our children were put on an F-registered double-decker. It would be almost impossible for the driver to concentrate on the road and to control the children upstairs and downstairs.”
Bunillidh Sports Club
March 11, 1983
The "massive investment" of Bunillidh Sports Club in raising £28,000 towards the £40,000 cost of a new indoor bowling rink and squash court was praised by Mr Robert Fasken, a member of the Highlands and Islands Development Board, when he officially opened the new sports complex at Helmsdale last Saturday.
The HIDB contributed £8000 towards the balance, and Highland Regional Council a further £4000.
As a result, Helmsdale now has the most complete indoor sports centre of any community in Sutherland, and Mr Fasken said that the village was giving a lead to other communities in the Highlands towards the provision of all-weather facilities for local residents, visitors and holidaymakers.
He said that it was the aim of the HIDB's social fund – with an extra £50,000 this year from the Government to swell the fund to £500,000 – to assist in projects of this kind, which could be seen as a benefit to local communities as well as to the tourist trade.
Mr William McCulloch, president of the sports club, missed the opening ceremony because the coach bringing him and the Bunillidh Thistle football team back from the match at Bonar Bridge had broken down.
In his absence, secretary and treasurer Mr Alex Blance reviewed the history of the sports club from its beginnings in 1970, when they first provided a sports pavilion and dressing rooms for the football club, subsequently had it licensed, and as a result of profits at the bar and with gaming machines had been able to launch out into this new project.
The new village sign
May 6, 1983
The new village sign, the work of Helmsdale School, has been erected at the car park beside the tourist office off the A9 beside the new bridge.
This is a most decorative sign with roads, streets, shops and places of interest all clearly marked and will hopefully help visitors to find their way around the district and village more easily.
Bob Maclennan, MP for Caithness and Sutherland
May 13, 1983
One thing about Bob Maclennan, MP for Caithness and Sutherland since 1966, is that he is not superstitious.
Though he was elected on a Labour ticket, he starts his campaign for re-election as a Social Democratic candidate tonight – Friday the 13th. He has meetings on the north coast at Skerray and Tongue.
Like many of the Social Democratic candidates throughout the country, he has been well prepared for a General Election and has already a run of meetings organised unlike his three challengers.
But Alastair Scouller, the Conservative candidate, will be officially adopted by the Conservative and Unionist Association in the Assembly Rooms in Wick next Wednesday night.
Dan Carrigan, the Labour candidate whose job will be to try to unseat Mr Maclennan and restore the constituency to the Labour ranks, is to be officially adopted in the Community Centre at Helmsdale tomorrow afternoon.
Bad weather prevented Liberal Party leader David Steel supporting Mr Maclennan's campaign to hold the northern counties seat for the SDP at the weekend.
Dense fog on Saturday kept him 400 feet above the runway at Wick airport, on his way south from a meeting at Kirkwall. But, following Mrs Thatcher's declaration of a General Election on June 9, Mr Steel issued the following message from his room in the House of Commons:
"I want to appeal to the electors of Caithness and Sutherland, and especially Liberals, to give their wholehearted support to Bob Maclennan in the General Election. I do so for three reasons – 1) he is a first class MP for the two counties. The Highlands needs his experience and sharpness of mind. 2) He had been one of the main architects of the Alliance between the Liberals and the SDP, as a founder member of the new party, and it has been a joy to work with him. 3) His re-election will continue the radical and independent tradition of the voters of Caithness and Sutherland and contribute greatly to our effectiveness in the new Parliament."
May 27, 1983
With only two weeks to go to Polling Day, the four candidates in Caithness and Sutherland are getting into their stride, with assistance from some of the "big guns" of their respective parties.
Mrs Margaret Thatcher, leader of the Conservatives, is expected in the north next week on a flying visit, and there are rumours that she may even "drop in" on Wick or Thurso to try to shake the popular appeal of Social Democrat Robert Maclennan, who will be contesting the seat for the sixth time since he won it for Labour in 1966.
Other top Tories supporting the cause of Alastair Scouller, who is determined to hold at least second place if not win the seat outright, are former Scots Secretary George Younger, who is in Helmsdale tonight, and Lord Mackay of Clashfern, Scourie, the former Lord Advocate, who addresses meetings in Golspie on Monday and Halkirk on Tuesday.
Danny Carrigan, who has high hopes of winning the seat back for Labour, was well backed by Mr John Smith, a former Labour Minister for Energy and their principal spokesman on energy, when he addressed meetings in Caithness and did a walk-around Golspie this week.
Mr Smith gave a firm pledge on the future of Dounreay when he spoke at Pennyland School, Thurso, on Monday night. "Dounreay is the pioneering establishment for fast breeder technology and the expertise which has been developed is a vital additional asset. Labour brought the prototype fast reactor to Dounreay in 1965, and we are committed to the continuation of the vital experimental work which must be done if Britain is to secure a world lead in fast reactors," said Mr Smith.
Another former Labour Cabinet minister, Mr Roy Hattersley, is due to visit Golspie on Friday next week.
Jim Ingram, the Scottish Nationalist, has been in Assynt this week calling on almost every house, because the candidates are all finding that meetings are poorly attended. In rural communities especially, people are using their evenings to cut peat for winter store.
Mrs Winnie Ewing, SNP Euro MP for the Highlands, said this week: "There may be some farmers and fishermen and small business owners who believed Mrs Thatcher in 1979 and voted Conservative then. To their bitter cost, they have found that her promise to reduce taxes, increase employment and further the interests of small businesses have all proved hollow. They may be charitable and give her another chance. I doubt it."
The best attendance reported so far by any candidate was the 57 who heard Alastair Scouller in Dornoch on Monday night.
September 16, 1983
His father Andrew Sutherland is ghillie to the Prince of Wales when he fishes the River Helmsdale, so it's reasonable to suppose that there could be a time – say 20 years on – when 17-year-old Ronald Sutherland could be showing a 21-year-old Prince William the art of angling for salmon.
He knows the game already, as his excellent basket from the public stretch of the river shows. Within three hours, Ronald had landed seven – 9, 8, 7½, 7, 7, 6 and 2½ lbs.
He is hopeful of starting up his own fly-tying business, because he caught all these fish on a blue and black tube he's named the "Megan". This is in gratitude to Royal fly-tier Miss Megan Boyd of Kintradwell, Brora, who has taught him so much about the skilful art. And she, of course, provides some of the flies which Prince Charles uses on the Helmsdale.
September 16, 1983
The Co-operative Wholesale Society is closing down its drapery and hardware shops in Golspie, Brora, Helmsdale and Alness, making up to ten full-time and part-time staff redundant.
In Wick, the drapery department is to be merged with the food supermarket.
Giving details this week, regional general manager Mr James Forbes said from Inverness: "Helmsdale and Golspie will both close on 15th October and Brora on 12th November. The reason for the staggered dates is to do with stock clearance.
"In the case of Helmsdale, the manageress Miss Christine Murray is retiring in any case, and unfortunately there are redundancies both in Golspie and Brora, as we are unable to accommodate the staff in our food shops at the moment. In each of the Sutherland stores, there is one full-time employee and one part-time."
Why had they closed now? Said Mr Forbes: "The reason is that they are all very small rural shops, which have been struggling to survive for some time. The pattern of non-food shopping in rural areas has changed considerably, particularly since the improvement in the roads and communications in recent years.
"A greater number of people now visit the regional centres, where they have a wider choice of merchandise, from large specialist stores. Coupled with increasing operational costs, the small non-food shops in rural areas are uneconomic to operate.
"But despite the necessity for some closure, CWS is continuing an expansion programme in the Highlands and Islands, and Golspie is a good example. Despite the closure of the non-food shop in Golspie, we are extending our food store, due to start this month, at an estimated cost of over £100,000."
October 14 1983
A turnout of just seven people at the public meeting to discuss the future of Helmsdale Gala has finally forced the committee to wind up the affairs of Helmsdale Gala Week.
It had been emphasised that anyone interested in retaining a gala was welcome to attend the meeting last week, but as all those who did make the effort were members of the 1983 committee who were unwilling to take a role again without additional support, it was unanimously agreed to fold.
Secretary Mrs Rita Finlayson told the Northern Times this week: "I'm afraid the whole problem comes down to the usual thing – when we tell people we are winding up the gala, they all say that it's a great pity, but when you ask for actual help it is not very forthcoming.
"We found this year that there were just half a dozen of us who had to organise every event and that often included manning bars, acting as stewards, manning the doors and running the event, and it really does become too much."
December 23, 1983
Sutherland's district councillors have described new Civil Defence regulations as "purely farcical" and "complete rubbish," as a London consortium is seeking support for a campaign to build nuclear fallout shelters countrywide.
Local councillors were on Monday considering the Secretary of State's additions and amendments to the 1948 Civil Defence Act, outlining actions which should be taken by local authorities in the event of all-out war or a sudden nuclear attack.
These include the continual review of local authority plans should there be an alert, with plans to be made for the wartime use of buildings, structures, excavations, and "other features of land" which are suitable or potentially suitable for use as public shelters.
The local authority must also make provision for emergency rescue services to take people out of damaged buildings, lay on temporary billeting for the homeless, fix up emergency sanitation to prevent the spread of disease and a strategy for the disposal of the dead.
"Plans will need to include the earmarking of staff and volunteers, the identification of sites and the means of disposal," says the Scottish Home and Health Department in St Andrew's House. Among other items would be the training of regional and district council staff; and the recruitment of local CD volunteers and the distribution and control of food and rations.
Mr Iain MacAulay, Assynt, said at the meeting: "Part of these regulations deals with communication by wireless, which would not be possible after a nuclear explosion. Would they suggest a team of runners?
"Most of these regulations are actually complete rubbish and not feasible in the event of a nuclear attack. We should ask the Scottish Office how much of a target we are, and how many people they are expecting us to deal with, and what about rationing and so on?
"Somebody has just thought up these things without any real thought about the practicalities."
Council chairman Mrs Leila Mackenzie said that in the event of a nuclear explosion, there was very little anybody could do.
Mr John Mackay, Helmsdale, said: "This paper is just pure farce. No one is going to survive a nuclear attack here, because make no mistake, we are in the front line for the Americans. We are prime targets." Later he said he was referring to the nuclear-strike capability of RAF Lossiemouth on one side and the US Navy's top secret communications set-up in Caithness on the other
January 6, 1984
Road and rail services in the north were returning to normal yesterday as the big clear-up operation started following the worst New Year storms for many years.
Gale-force winds of over 100 mph in some places wreaked a trail of chaos on Monday night, bringing down overhead power cables, telephone wires and dozens of trees.
A failure in the national grid system blacked out most of the North on Tuesday afternoon, and many households in the outlying areas of Golspie, Brora and all of Helmsdale were still without electricity 24 hours later.
Several inches of snow followed by a severe frost made driving treacherous in many parts of Sutherland . Although the A9 was kept open throughout the county, the Ord of Caithness was closed until Wednesday morning, when police escorted vehicles through in single track convoy. Several cars had been abandoned and a van left on the roadside at Navidale prevented snowploughs from turning.
Elsewhere in Sutherland, many roads were blocked by fallen trees, particularly in the Backies area of Golspie, while the A897 Helmsdale-Melvich road was impassable because of fallen telegraph poles and trees.
January 20, 1984
Further blizzards and snow-storms hit the North again this week, with all roads in Sutherland except the A9 closed by mid-day Wednesday.
Heavy overnight frosts followed by snow during the day made driving conditions particularly hazardous, and there were continuous pleas from the police and the roads department for people not to travel unless it was absolutely necessary.
A few roads, including Helmsdale-Melvich, have been blocked for several days, and the roads department have also had to cope with stranded vehicles.
On Wednesday, Mr Morris Taylor, divisional director of roads and transport, said: "Snow has been falling in most areas throughout the morning and all roads in the county are now closed except the A9, which is very tricky in places.
"The Lochinver and Stoer area, and Kinlochbervie-Ledmore, are very bad with blinding snow and drifting."
Two Kinlochbervie snowploughs broke down earlier in the week and although the driver managed to mend one, the other needed more extensive repairs.
In reply, Mr Taylor told us: "I don't think that the snowploughs in that area are any worse than anywhere else.
"It just happens that conditions have been particularly bad and we have had difficulty in getting repairs done. One of our men set out early on Tuesday morning to repair a plough and did not get back again until 3am on Wednesday, so we are working under dreadful conditions.
"Another problem is abandoned cars and lorries blocking roads, making it impossible to get through. I would advise everyone that if a road is closed they do not attempt to go along it. If you do have to drive, be aware of the road conditions and don't try anything silly."
Three fish lorries were taken out of Kinlochbervie earlier in the week following the snow plough. Two others were stuck at Kinloch for four hours on Monday and another was also caught in a drift while attempting to reach the port over a road that had been closed.
Several fishermen who were trying to get to Kinlochbervie in private cars also became stuck, one having to spend the night in his car.
A fish lorry which left for Aberdeen at 7am on Tuesday, following the snowplough, only reached as far as Nairn by 6pm that night.
February 3, 1984
The Helmsdale-owned fishing boat Glen Loth which foundered in last week's storms inside Wick Harbour, was successfully refloated later in the week and run up the slipway for inspection.
The insurers will make a final decision on repair or write-off this week-end, but engineers managed to have her engine running within two days of being refloated.
She is owned by 29-year-old Skipper Andrew Sutherland of 3 Simpson Crescent, who was weekending at home when the 60ft seine-netter slipped under the water in the fierce gales and blizzard. It was many hours before he could reach Wick to survey the damage, because the Ord was blocked by deep drifts.
Wick harbourmaster Captain Hamish Moore said this week: "She was not as badly holed as we feared, though it took four hours for us to pump all the water out while she was supported by two big cranes.. It was quite remarkable how quickly the engineers got her engines working, considering she had been under water for three days."
March 16, 1984
The Helmsdale brothers David and Magnus Cowie hosted 150 guests to celebrate the launching of the MV Bunillidh at Herd and Mackenzie's boatyard in Buckie earlier this month.
The boat was named by Skipper David's 10-year-old daughter Mary, whose soft voice belied the vigour of the bottle ceremony. It was smashed to smithereens and H & M nearly got their first repair job on the prow!
As WK96 slid gracefully down the slipway, it was accompanied by the bagpipes of Uisdean Macleod playing "The Banks of Lossie".
Immediately afterwards, lunch was served at the Eight Acres Hotel, Elgin, where Ian Sinclair of H & M acted as Master of Ceremonies.
After reading proliferous greetings, he proposed the toast to MV Bunillidh. Magnus Cowie (sen) toasted the boat builders, Herd and Mackenzie, and Davy (without glasses), and yard manager Jim Farquhar of H & M responded.
Raymond Munroe of Caledonian Caterpillar Tractors spoke of Davy's long association with Caterpillar Marine Engineers, and the formal part of the proceedings was concluded by a tribute to the skipper from Big Alick.
The afternoon was spent in diverse ways, but there was noisy support around the telly for Scotland at Lansdowne Road, in Dublin. The Scottish rugby victory lifted the temperature several degrees, which was suitable preparation for the supper dance which followed in the evening!
Music was provided by Colorado, supplemented by Uisdean, by which time the guests had reached nearly 200, the numbers swelled by locals associated with the boatyard.
Throughout the whole day the Cowie family, from proud mother of the boys Mrs Daisy Cowie, David, Christine and Mary, Magnus, Janet and Debbie were perfect hosts for their assembled friends.
A most enjoyable and memorable day ended with David and Magnus being chaired around the room to rousing cheers.
A lot of people in Helmsdale went to bed early that Sunday night.
April 27, 1984
Helmsdale – "Grand Slam" Year – Helmsdale could not let this very special year in rugby history go by without recalling with pride the late J M Bannerman, Lord Bannerman of Kildonan. John M Bannerman was a member of the Scottish team which 59 years ago brought the "Grand Slam" honour to Scotland.
"JM" was born in the Strath of Kildonan and had his first taste of education in Helmsdale School. Although he moved away from his native county eventually, he never forgot home, as his title showed. How very proud he would have been of the Scottish team this year at Murrayfield!April 27, 1984
Helmsdale – "Grand Slam" Year – Helmsdale could not let this very special year in rugby history go by without recalling with pride the late J M Bannerman, Lord Bannerman of Kildonan. John M Bannerman was a member of the Scottish team which 59 years ago brought the "Grand Slam" honour to Scotland.
May 4, 1984
One of Helmsdale's best kept secrets – a plan to create a heritage museum centre from Rapson's old Bridgend Stores building – leaked out last week. Highland Region's development committee announced they were prepared to give £62,000 towards the cost of conversion from their next year's budget.
This is about half of the projected total cost of the centre and it means that the scheme is likely to be a reality within two or three years, with assistance from other grant giving bodies. Why the secrecy? A small sub-committee of Helmsdale Action Group have been working on the proposal last summer and had prepared an impressive statement of intent which was considered by the regional development committee.
The sub-committee comprised Mrs Mary Dudgeon BA, a member of Helmsdale community council; Mr John O F Mackay MBE JP, district councillor; public works contractor Mr Edward Mackay; community councillor Alistair Sangster of Strathullie Crafts and Mr Adam B Mackenzie, plumbing and heating contractor. Guiding them through all the stages and giving the project his full support was regional councillor Mr Ron Macdonald of Brora. Said Mrs Dudgeon this week: "The reason we kept the project secret was that we did not want to disappoint the people of Helmsdale if the Highland Regional Council failed to give us support.
We wanted to see that it was going to be financially backed before we announced our plans. "This way means that we can announce that we are pretty certain that the whole ideal will go ahead." Why does Helmsdale need a Heritage Centre? Said Mrs Dudgeon: "Helmsdale needs tourists like every other village in the North of Scotland. We consider that a museum heritage centre would encourage more tourists to come to the area. We also want naturally to preserve the heritage of the village." The project team consider that the centre would be of immense historical, cultural and social importance, providing a service to and a benefit for tourists and visitors both from home and overseas. Helmsdale is no longer the boom town it was in the heyday of the herring fishing or the Kildonan Gold Rush.
Employment is mainly dependent on a small fishing fleet, shell fish processing, small businesses, agriculture and tourism. A considerable number of men are also engaged in oil related industries. Helmsdale has an adequate number of hotels, shops, and services and trade for these establishments would seem to be declining, according to their submission. In recent years numbers employed in tourism have decreased dramatically.
Since the new A9 by-passed the centre of the village, a restaurant has closed, as have four shops and a filling station (this last the site of the new Heritage Centre).
There is a 30-bedroomed hotel employing only two people. Although possible sites for a museum had been considered in the past, none seemed to be suitable. Early last year, however, premises at Bridgend became vacant and since they were owned by the Highland Regional Council, they were suggested as a possible location. A steering committee was formed to consider the project in some detail and, following correspondence and meetings with officials of the regional council it was confirmed in June that the proposed site and buildings could be leased for a museum project.
The committee assessed the number of people who might be expected to visit a heritage centre, obtained plans and estimates and probable costs, and considered the overall benefits, both local and regional, which might be derived from such a project.
The steering committee is now of the opinion – according to their statement – that a prestigious interpretive heritage centre, to include an exhibition of modern North Sea oil technology, would be of major importance to the Northern Highlands and should be established without delay.
August 17, 1984
The proposal to change Golspie High School's name has come in for a rough ride through the feeder schools councils.
With one abstention, all other nine members of Farr School Council at Bettyhill have given the thumbs down to "Sutherland High School, Golspie." In the North-West, the vote was a narrow 6-5 in favour. Only Dornoch Academy council gave unanimous backing to the proposal first mooted by Golspie High School rector Mr David Whyte earlier this year. Brora/Helmsdale council voted 7-2 in favour.
September 11, 1984 The historic Bridge Hotel in Helmsdale – one of the oldest in the county – changed hands last week, for the second time in three years, when new owner Mrs Anne Ballantyne took over from Mr Hector MacPherson. Mrs Ballantyne, who will be running the 28-bedroomed hotel with the help of her daughters Stephanie (18) and Rachel (20), comes originally from Staffordshire but has run a small private hotel in Northumberland.
September 11, 1984
The historic Bridge Hotel in Helmsdale – one of the oldest in the county – changed hands last week, for the second time in three years, when new owner Mrs Anne Ballantyne took over from Mr Hector MacPherson. Mrs Ballantyne, who will be running the 28-bedroomed hotel with the help of her daughters Stephanie (18) and Rachel (20), comes originally from Staffordshire but has run a small private hotel in Northumberland.
January 25, 1985
One night of gale-force winds, heavy snow and drifting, in freezing temperatures, resulted in three days of chaos in the North this week. And many will still be feeling the effects over the weekend. Power failures caused misery in all-electric homes, while road blockages meant that rescue and repair services could not function. Thousands of homes in Dornoch, Golspie and Brora were without electricity for 40 hours while hundreds more in the outlying areas of Brora and Helmsdale, Bettyhill, Tongue, Durness and Kinlochbervie were still not connected yesterday afternoon.
January 25, 1985
The good ship HMS Helmsdale was launched a fortnight ago many miles from the river after which it is named - at Richards' shipyard at Lowestoft, East Anglia. But there was an Embo man there to see her off - he is Colin Mackay, a Richards' designer, whose home used to be at 2 Terrace Street. She is the latest addition to the Royal Navy - one of a class of 12 minesweepers, each named after a river in Britain, and she is principally for the use of the Royal Naval Reserve. Mr Mackay left Embo when a boy in 1971, moving to live with his family on the outskirts of London. He joined the Merchant Navy as an engineer after leaving school. He now works as a technical engineer in the design office of Richards' Shipbuilders, Lowestoft.nuary.
February 22, 1985
A meeting in Lybster tomorrow night will decide the fate of the Helmsdale shellfish processing company Jappy Seafoods, due to close at the end of the month. In a last-ditch attempt to rescue at least part of the operation, local crab fishermen are being invited to form a co-operative and use the processing facilities available at the ill-fated shoreline factory, which has had at least three operators in its eight years. Fourteen workers received lay-off notices last week following an unexpected decision by management to cease operations because they were "unable to continue profitably."
Happy Mix of Glamour and History
August 26, 1988
IT was like a scene from one of her own novels- the lady in pink dominated the entire audience who sat spellbound to her every word.
Barbra Cartland the "Queen of Romance", swept aside all her critics in a flurry of shocking pink on a dull Thursday to declare open a "shrine" dedicated to her life and works in the Timespan Heritage Centre at the end of the Telford Bridge in Helmsdale.
Despite protestations of some backwoodsmen and a very direct reference by her to the burning down of her family's holiday home at Kilphedir four years age 87-year-old Miss Cartland attracted almost 200 people, many of them tourists, to see her cut the ribbon. pink of course.
At a tasteful luncheon party in the Bunillidh Restaurant, she defended her local connections against criticism that her room was a "dammed disgrace" and a "pink monstrosity".
The author of 475 books, twice married into the McCorquodale printing family, who have had an estate at Torrish in Strath of Kildonan since the twenties, she said: "I have been visiting Helmsdale for 61 years and really feel pert of it. "I am 90 per cent Scottish, though more lowland than Highland.
Twelve of my books have had Helmsdale as a background, because I think this is one of the most beautiful places in the world. I travel all over the world and was stunned by the beauty of this place when I first came here in 1927, and since then I know of no place quite as beautiful as the Strath of Kildonan."
Helmsdale Coastguard Early Years
There has probably been a Coastguard Station at Helmsdale since the turn of the Century. The building, which is traditionally known as the CRE.
(Coastguard Rescue Equipment) was built in 1912, the same year as the Titanic sunk.Until the last few years Helmsdale also had a Lookout Post, which I believe was built just after the 2nd World War. The original Lookout was the lower part of the building with an addition to the top during the 1950's.
The watches were kept until the mid eighties. Sector Base On the closure of Wick during 1983, the building was further utilised as the Sector Office for the new Dornoch Sector. This continued to serve as the Sector base until 1987, when the new base was built at Dornoch.
Sadly after this the building went into decline helped by local vandals and was sold off. It is still empty today, as planning permission was not given to build a house on this site, due to road access.
First Female Coastguards In the early eighties the Coastguard Company was over 20 strong, all male. During a callout no Coastguard could be obtained from Helmsdale due to working away from the village.
This led to the introduction of the first females in the team. At the time I was threatened with a walk out if I took Females in, but never the less I went ahead and only three members resigned.
The First Females were Catherine Whitehead and Janice Innes. They started to give me a lot more work, being keen and wanting training on a regular basis, still true today.
As the years rolled on Catherine eventually became the Auxiliary Coastguard in Charge, or the Station Officer which is now their new title. Recruitment continued with females, not because of any sexist thing, but it was they who were volunteering to become Coastguards. The Company is 8 strong and still has two males.
Billy Whitehead, who is the Deputy Station Officer and Catherine's husband. I must add, not favouritism but voted in by the Company.
The other chap is Andrew Martin, husband of Morag Martin also a Coastguard. Other Coastguards are, Claire Findlay, Lorna Jappy who left for a brief period to have child, but came back into the flock.
Janet Marshall who had a very successful period with "Scottish Slimmers", managing to attract an Orcadian boyfriend, works in the local Spar Shop. Incidents Over the years, Helmsdale has seen a fair share of incidents that occur in the Sector.
Incidents range from vessels ashore, broken down, drifting off, missing persons, coast searches.
This year has been particularly busy, with a number of visiting yachts going aground, resulting in Coastguards going out in local boats to assist in getting vessels off the bar, outside the Harbour.
The coastal responsibility for Helmsdale Coastguard cover the coastal stretch from the Ord of Caithness to Brora Point, but in practise they have responded North to Lybster, and South to the Dornoch Firth.
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