View Full Version : cuba.
Can anyone remember John [Cuba] Cormack, think he was the British Consul to Cuba at one time. He used to live in kirkhill house, straight over from the scout,s hall. He used to drive a big old american coupe that he parked at the front of the parish church ,I remember the cd plate on it. When the car got to much for him he had kirkhill motors fix it all up then had them drive it over the Old man of Wick gulley. It was in all the news paper,s at the time. just wondered if anyone had any pics of Cuba. he was a likeable chap and very well known. I remember a bunch of us kids getting a lift in from Reiss beach from him and that i was sitting in the dickie seat. thats where the boot lid opens & there,s a seat in there.
would love to see any pics of Cuba & the car.think it was a cadillac.
anyone help please?
Jeemag_USA
26-Sep-07, 22:46
Thats interesting, never heard of him but would like to learn more, we might be related?
Hallo Johno,
I have found a picture of Cuba - with his old Paddy Hat on at a jaunty angle as usual wearing his Blazer with the Badge - and a rosebud in the lapel.
I too remember him, but was always a wee bit afraid of him.
I think you're right about his car being thrown over the cliff ! Was the car pale blue?
I think also that he wrote the words for the Herring Queen one year -
" We have crowned a Herring Queen,
She's the fairest ever seen....."
NOW, how to get the picture to you as I cant do it.... If you PM me with your private address, I will send the picture to you to sort out !
In the meantime, I'll try to find out more - I have something in a box somewhere.
Regards
Trinkie
brokencross
27-Sep-07, 08:11
When I was only a wee lad, I used to live at No.10 Kirkhill; I distinctly remember cuba with his rather eccentric dress sense and the very distinctive car. I am pretty sure the car was parked behind wooden slatted gates on the hill down from Kirkhill to the High Street opposite the church. I also remember the car being permanently parked over the cliff.
This sounds like a fantastic story. This guy could have met Castro, Guevara et al. After being in Cuba he retires to Wick! Would love to hear more about this character.
This sounds like a fantastic story. This guy could have met Castro, Guevara et al. After being in Cuba he retires to Wick! Would love to hear more about this character.
Think he was a born wicker ,some say he was the governor of cuba.
but i think he was a diplomat of some sort, he was a bit eccentric.
usedto walk about with white clothes and a panama hat.
his house was full of antiquities from all over the world. recall his home open to the public one time like a museum. Dont know if hot news Donaldson is on the org. if he ,s reading this i hope he looks up the past journals & digs up something on it. it will make an interesting read in the Groat or Courier.or here on the boards. PS the car was,nt a coupe ,it was a convertable, [rag top] and it might even have been a cord.
brokencross
27-Sep-07, 18:27
In an earlier post I said the car was behind slatted gates, cancel that. Just been reminded by Johno by PM that it was a boat that was stored behind those gates, so another piece to the jigsaw. The car was down in the church layby I thought the car was cream, but knowing my track record on detail I could be wrong.
Johno I am sending you another picture, which I found in
Vintage Pictures - not sure if Bill is allowed to use them on here though.
Beneath the picture it says -
"Mr James Cormack of Kirkhill House, Wick, waves goodbye to his Cadillac ' Charlotte' on May 24th 1962 as it is being pushed over the cliffs near Castle of Oldwick. He had had the vehicle built specially for him in 1939 and it had done nearly 200,000 miles.
During his Diplomatic career Mr Cormack attained the position of British Trade Commissioner to Canada, South Africa, Ireland, West Indies and Cuba at various times. He was also an avid collector of miniature Chinese ceramics which he often exhibited in the town hall."
Trinkie
Murchiemannie
28-Sep-07, 15:39
Now theres a name from the past - Cuba. I remember seeing him driving about in his Cadilac and I think it was either grey or pale blue in colour.
He was such a daper man in his blazer and slacks..not to mention his panama hat and all the kids at that time were fascinated by his appearance.
Thanks for bringing him back to my memory bank Johno as I had completely forgotten about him. Other half says he used to go to the Trinkie and throw pennies into the deep end for the bairns to "dive" for. Better the swimmer and diver the more you got!!:Razz
Come on Johno...show us the pics then :) we are all curious now you know x
Come on Johno...show us the pics then :) we are all curious now you know x
Y, know i dont know how to post them on the org, :confused so ive sent em to Bill Fernie so he can post em. aught to be with you soon.
there is one of Cuba and one where they are getting ready to launch the car into the gulley. [this pic is a set up as the car was driven into the gulley at speed & jock sutherland had to jump out before the thing gathered to much speed.]
I was talking to one of the mechanics that used to service it & he tells me it was a 30,s caddy with a massive v 16 motor. he also told me of the time Cuba put it in the ditch at Tannoch during a snowstorm and he poured a bottle of scotch in the radiator to stop it from freezing but it did,nt work & Kirkhill motors had to remove the engine and take it to Sutherland the blacksmith at Haster to get the block welded. but if you can work that photobucket & you pm me your email addy i,ll send em to you and you can post them. or anyone for that matter.
Johno,I don't know how to post them either :( so it looks like I will have to wait to see them.How long ago did this all happen?It sounds like a very interesting story :) x
Johno,I don't know how to post them either :( so it looks like I will have to wait to see them.How long ago did this all happen?It sounds like a very interesting story :) x
about 1962 the car was disposed of. im working on the pic???
Great Johno I look forward to seeing it!I did wonder why I had never heard of this guy as i lived in Wick for a few years but for once I can say...I am too young for that one :) Oh happy days! x
http://img253.imageshack.us/img253/7281/myphotofilehe1.th.jpg (http://img253.imageshack.us/my.php?image=myphotofilehe1.jpg)
Great pic Johno well done!What a lovely car it was,shame it came to such a sad end.:eek: Wonder what would happen nowadays if they tried to put a car over a cliff :) x
Great pic Johno well done!What a lovely car it was,shame it came to such a sad end.:eek: Wonder what would happen nowadays if they tried to put a car over a cliff :) x
it looked a whole lot better from the front with a covered spare wheel in each mudwing. the bonnet must a been about 6 or 7 feet long
Wow!Must have been hard pulling oot a junction wi a bunnet like at :) x
http://oldcarandtruckpictures.com/Cadillac/1935Cadillac452d-5-PassengerConvertibleVictoria-ja7a.jpgthis is pretty close to what the beasty looked like exept the hood was shorter as the car was a two seater+ the dickie seat
That really is some car !What a shame it ended up at the bottom of the sea x
I remember Cuba's exhibitions in the town hall,an the man him self, every bit the diplomat eccentric to boot of course. I remember the car as being cream, but best of all he was our 'eccentric' seemed to be some stories that he was a bit of a ladies man-but that is another tale.Never knew the bit about the end of his car though fascinating
Hot news Donaldson johno,do we still have one? if so must be son or g-son,but they will have to go some to be as good as the old man, he was a one off an ever so well liked by us kids-screetch' hot news' at him an he came back with 'who ever heard of cold news' an then gave you a token chase,lovely character:)
donaldson johno,
yes horseman,we still have a hot news Donaldson, he actually went to school with me,[Us] .He,s the son of the original hot news, looks like him to without the mouser though. your right about Cuba being a bit of a ladie,s man. i remember he used to take these au pair girls over from the low country,s.
some good looker,s but none of them stayed very long. wonder why.??
Johno - I have sent you a couple of pictures of Mr Donaldson...... a well liked, and respected man in the community. His son follows in his footsteps both with Journalism and music. I give some old Groats to our local newspaper where I have connections - and they think it's one of the best they have read for Good Journalism and Reporting.... Caithness can be proud.
BUT I have a story about young Mr Donaldson - He was a very young Reporter when I married - and as my new husband and I set off doon sooth in our rented Vauxhall Victor, stuffed to the gunnels with all our belongings, we stopped for breakfast at a Greasy Spoon roadside Cafe on our First Morning, and there to my horror was Noel Donaldson, notebook and pencil sitting on the table beside him. I could have died as I imagined the headlines in the Groat the following week..... Week Bride enjoys beans on toast at the start of her honeymoon !
( well that story never appeared ! so thanks Noel..)
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