sluice gates

[riggerboy]

for those of you that are old enough to remember the sluice gates on the river in wick, does anyone think we should have it back, given the fact that the river was always clean compared to the state it is in at the moment, i fancy we should re-install them and use the forces of nature to clean the river and bring it back to its former glory,`o` and we could get the boating back up and running,

[TRUCKER]

Yes i must admit when the sluice was there the river was clean it would be a good idea to put them back.

[NLP]

yes I'm with you there the river was a lot nicer to look at and the boats would be great, saying that I wasn't that keen to go out on them when I was a bairn

[johno]

Yep i,ve always thought it was a damn shame that they were taken away in the first place. I think it was to allow salmon easier access up the river or something like that. Any way taking the gates away left the river in some mess. Not to say it got rid of the river boating. Now there was a nice way to spend a Saturday afternoon . And i think that the salmon managed to get up river to spawn even with the gates, [disgust] [disgust]

[pat]

Agree with you - the river is a disgrace last time I was north.
When the sluice gates were in situ there was also the milk board water frequently spilling into the river at the corner of the bridge by Mackays Hotel making the river white perhaps that also had some effect on the weed!
Would like to see the boats back but how long would the boats last with the vandals of today - I sound pessimistic but reading the local papers very occasionally and reading on here gives me cause to think boats would not last long.

[johno]

Your not wrong there, but if a deposit was to be paid. that might help stop the vandalism. I think those yobs dont mind destroying other peoples property but i dont think they would want to be penalised or pay for it. [disgust]

[George Brims]

I thought the sluice was taken away because the weed had completely choked up the area behind it. It can't have been for the salmon, as they usually run when the river is in spate, when it would just go right over the sluice. Also the higher tides used to cover it anyway.

That weed is not even native. It came from the Baltic on the bottom of ships when there was a lot of trade between Caithness and the old Baltic states. At one time DW Georgeson the solicitor was a vice-consul for Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia, as proclaimed by the brass plates by the office door.

[johno]

That weed is not even native. It came from the Baltic on the bottom of ships when there was a lot of trade between Caithness and the old Baltic states.
Now i find that very interesting, i would never in a million years have thought of that. I do recall something about the weed though. But the river is still pretty much banged up with the stuff. there must be a solution somewhere in these modern times to tackle this,??

[Murchiemannie]

Ah! riggerboy you've stirred my old memory bank with this one. many's the day we rowed up to the "fairies hillie and the old iron bridge" on the boaties and when we got stuck on a sand bank we just removed our shoes , jumped in the river and pushed 'till we were clear. The river has not been the same since the sluicie was taken away.and I say "bring it back". That was the quickest way for us to get home from the High School at dinner time---jumping over the sluicie and when the tide was high wet feet into the bargain and a wallop from my Mum for getting wet . Ah! the good old days when vandalism was nothing like the present time.:D

[Highland Laddie]

Maybe we should ask our resident councillor (Bill)
if it would be worth chasing this through an online petition,
or possibly taken up with the council.

Goodness knows what visitors to the town think when they see the state of the river, and it maybe compliment the repositioned fountain.

[angela5]

Not old enough to remember the sluice gates but i'd be all in favour of cleaning up the riverside. Starting with the broken bottles and empty cider tins.....along with the wineos who create the mess in the first place. [evil]

[cuddlepop]

I must admit that as a visitor to Wick,the river walk doesn't do the town any favours.

Leaving the caravan site and going for a stroll along the river walk is not a pleasant experience.I'm suprised any wildlife manage to survive in that junk yard.:(

[johno]

Thats very true i took the dog for a walk there this past few mornings,
and what a bloody mess the paths are in. i remember as a lad we used to cycle all over there & there was never a mess like that then. the wee lanes going from the top path to the bottom paths at the back of the police station are hardly recognizable,and the litter. I though that job creation & the guy,s on community service were employed to do that or is no one on community service at the moment. find this hard to believe after reading the local rags, Perhaps it would breach their humanitarian rights.

[Highland Laddie]

So now we know why the paths are all potholes
atlast Johno comes clean,
it was him and his mates on their bikes :-))

[johno]

Why,s everybody always pickin on me. Dont i get it enough from the mod,s & Admin.:roll: :confused, Heh Heh.

[angela5]

is no one on community service at the moment.

Mr Berry is putting them all behind bars.[lol]

[johno]

awe well, thank-full for small mercy,s. at least we've now got a sheriff that,s up to speed with the common people

[Whitewater]

I remember the boating pond on the Wick river. When we came down for the day from Thurso it was a great way to spend the afternoon.

If I recall correctly it was the Angling Association that got rid of them (mid 70s I think), but there could also have been some weed there as well, not sure about that though, can't remember it being mentioned at the time.

[George Brims]

the wee lanes going from the top path to the bottom paths at the back of the police station are hardly recognizable,and the litter.
Aha! Now we have it. It's the bobbies dropping their litter at the back of their fancy new polis station!

[lin]

My Grandad used to look after the "boaties" when i was young (a good few years ago). Happy memories!! The last visit to Wick to river did look a bit of a state!!
Linda

[LENSMAN]

Having read through the posts I was originally thinking about the dam/sluice at the back of Wetherspoons.
Seem to remember it was massive, mind you I was young at the time.
If you want them back just get some sort of turbo generator incorporated into it, bound to be lots of grants available for green energy.
Remember being taken out on the boats for a mates birthday, think they were keep on the island overnight.

[JAWS]

Quite a few towns with rivers running through them have weirs, especially where they are tidal, in order to improve the look of the place.
The Wick River can't be the only one which had a problem with weeds, if that was the reason, so there must be a fairly easy solution.
I too had heard that the reason the sluices being removed was after complaints about the effect on fish but which ones I have no idea.

Certainly the River is, to say the least, unsightly at the present time and needs something doing with it. You could hardly call it a Tourist Attraction where it runs through the town.
With a little thought I'm sure something could be done so the sluices could be re-instated without creating problems.

[katarina]

I've always said the boaties should be brought back. What fun that was. I was told that it was the farmers further up river who had the problem with the damning of the water. and get the vandals to do community service - clearing out the weed to start with, that should keep them out of mischief!

[Margaret M.]

Wick is so fortunate to have a river running through the center of town and something should be done to make it look pleasant at a minimum. I would like to better understand why it is an eyesore and not a beautiful flowing river.

[riggerboy]

i dont know how to start a poll on here but if some would be kind enough to do it, it would be interesting to see the results,

[johno]

I dont know how to myself, but someone please start one.
I think most of the older orger,s will vote that the weirs should never have been taken down. The younger one,s would never have seen the river as it should be ,so somehow i dont think they ,ll be bothered one way or the other

[lynne duncan]

i maybe wrong about this, but i don't think they would put the gates back in as the upper part of the river is an SSSI now due to some variety of plant that grows there. and putting the gates back in might damage the plants enviroment, however saying that i would rather see the gates back in as the state of the river at times is disgusting

[George Brims]

Having read through the posts I was originally thinking about the dam/sluice at the back of Wetherspoons.
Seem to remember it was massive, mind you I was young at the time.

I had forgotten about that one. I think it just eventually fell apart of its own free will?

[south view 7]

I had forgotten about that one. I think it just eventually fell apart of its own free will?

This sluise was removed after a young boy fell into the river at the back of the post office dureing a spate and three men went to his rescue unfortunately the boy and one of the men were drowned,this happened in 1954.....

[south view 7]

Wick river showing both sluices when it was a river worth looking athttp://i169.photobucket.com/albums/u217/southview7/river4.jpg

[riggerboy]

doesnt the river look lovely please someone start a poll and get the river back to its former glory

[johno]

hey, doe,snt the town look so good from way up there.? :)

[riggerboy]

bill can you start a poll on this subject, yes johnpo the toon looks graet as does the river, if they can spend all that money on the rejuvination of the old fountain why cant the river be the same

[elamanya]

why not go the whole way , rebuild the sluice, get rowing boats there again , some one could open the old boating shed as a small cafe, do you think it would work would it be a viable propostion , ....

[Cookerpebble]

I'm not a resident of wick, although I do work there, and nor did I live here when the gates where up. But I have to agree that the state of the river at present is shocking, I spent some time outside of London last summer and the waterways around Dartford (kent) and similar locations are in equally poor condition, but moves are in place to clean them up, and these are in industrial heartlands. Wick River needs to be cleaned, i'd back a campaign full heartedly.

[riggerboy]

yes a cafe with the boatys would be just the ticket, give the young ones some where to go during the long summer nights, pulteney projects i`m sure could help in some way or other,

[Dog-eared]

I think there was a concrete slide type of thing in the sluice gates to let water out and fish up.They also used to scythe the weeds to clear the river, but with all the fertilizer run-off from farms who knows what the weed situation would be like these days.

The SSSI is the island above the footbridge , which was only a drying sandbank when the sluice was in place.

I heard that the boats were stored under the stage in the assembly rooms for a while but they've dissapeared. Nice clinker built wooden boats, but McCaughey the boatbuilder in Wick has a mould for GRP rowing boats which would be suitable.

It would be so nice to see water in the river and boats for hire.
The flagstones protecting the island opposite the boathouse is to be repaired later next year so its a start.

[horseman]

Loved the piccy,that was a smashing river,an you can even see the old barge,just down from the hotel.:)