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GJG1972
26-Apr-03, 12:23
Well having just returned from 3 weeks up in Wick I have to say the town is getting worse.
Firstly I thought the parking problems on High Street had been sorted out. But no people are still parking outside Boots, across from Houstons.
Secondly whats happened to the local constabulary? I know they've moved round to beside the railway station but I can count on one hand how many times I saw them on the street on foot. So much for high visibility policing!!
Just don't get me started on taxi drivers or dogs dirt!!
For a town tthat wants to try to sell itself as a tourist town its not doing itself any favours.

Eve M
26-Apr-03, 13:17
That taxi drivers think they own the roads [disgust]

Doolally
26-Apr-03, 16:01
How can you say that Eve? I've seen YOUR driving! :lol:

vanman
26-Apr-03, 18:14
i have seen her driving to and it is pretty poor. [lol] [lol] [lol]

Anonymous
26-Apr-03, 18:27
Doolally and Vanman, how UNcharming of you both to pick on Eve like that! [disgust]

Better watch oot she disna run the pair o' ye o'er, next time she sees ye! :evil

squidge
26-Apr-03, 20:00
Honestly!!!!!!!!!

You know what how come you are all such a negative bunch. Cant we have a few nice words about Wick. For goodness sake it isnt that bad.

Lovely flowers and today the town was not so untidy with litter ... i havent stepped in dog poo on Bridge street ever i dont think.

We are all so quick to criticise but we are very lucky to live where we do. There has been a whole lot of stuff posted on these boards about how terrible the town is and its just exaggerated and makes me raise my eyebrows.

Examples:

How many people living in Wick actually lock their cars at night?
How many people living in Wick park their babies outside the front door in the pram?
How many people living in Wick have had their bags snatched
How many people living in Wick have woken up and had to clean used syringes out of their front gardens?
How many people living in Wick walk around the supermarkets with their bags in the trolley - not afraid to have their purse pinched?
How many people living in Wick have woken up to find their garden ornaments stolen and their prize plant too?
How many people living in Wick have woken up to find an intruder in their house and been bashed over the head as they remonstarated with him?
How many people in Wick are frightened to walk down the street after dark?
How many shops in Wick have to have metal shutters to deter vandals or theives?
How many people in Wick have been refused insurance for their property because they live in a high crime area?
How many people in Wick.................

Ok
Ok
OK

I hope i have made my point. There is maybe stuf we can do to make the town prettier - more litter bins perhaps. Most of the "crime" that takes place in and around both Wick and Thurso appears to be either drink related or domestic in origin. This is still a reasonable pleasant safe place to live, with little or no crime. I walked home the other night through the town at 2 in the morning alone and felt safe and comfortable. Maybe the red wine helped but i wouldnt do that back in the place where i grew up - even though i lived there for 34 years nd even if i was really drunk.

The architecture may not be classical, the night life may not be scintillating, the shops may not be the most fashionable but hey its not that bad.

Eve M
27-Apr-03, 11:09
Doollally and Vanman, I'll have you know I'm a very good driver! My hubby tells me that Colin Macrae doesn't have a look in where I'm concerned :eyes

Anonymous
27-Apr-03, 11:37
Here Here Squdge!!!

Anonymous
27-Apr-03, 14:22
Comments were made, do you disgregard them totally or listen? Seems to me that they deserve a listen.

Eve M
27-Apr-03, 14:46
The parking in Wick is dreadful! I have seen the traffic warden in Wick more often than usual I must say but it doesnt seem to have made any difference to the parking. Bridge Street and High street are a joke.

What about the Pedestrian area in High street. I see dozens of people every day, stopping there and popping into the papershop for their newspaper! I don't mean disabled people either. The taxi drivers as far as I can see are using it as a short cut!

I often walk there with my kids and quite honestly it isn't safe!

Anonymous
27-Apr-03, 14:55
The comments have been listened to, but I think the point that squidge was trying to make is that the comments are about pretty petty things that can be irratating but do not outweigh the positive things about Wick.

For tourists, do they really expect a small country town like Wick to have no cars parked on the main street, are they in such a rush that it makes any difference? Irratating sometimes when you're in a hurry, yes, but likely to prevent tourists from coming here, no.

I am in 2 minds over the high-visibility-policing, on one hand it would be nice to see them walking about a bit more, mabee this fine weather will help, but on the other hand, the fact that they are not really required to be highly visible to scare of a criminal element kind of proves the points squidge makes about crime up here.

Having made a living as a driver in Aberdeen, I can tell you that in comparison to the city, the taxi drivers here are courteous and much less likely to crash into you.

Tell us which town you live in GJG1972 so we can do some comparisons with where you live.

Anonymous
28-Apr-03, 07:23
Could be worng but I thought the original post was buy a Wicker, or someone who had previously lived in Wick return ignto the town and comparing it to when they were last present (as I say could be wrong). If this is thecase then the comments are surely worth taking on board.
The points Squidge made are all extremely valid and of course we have to put things in perspective but it is sometimes difficult to notice little changes when you are very close - somethimes an objective eye can be useful.
Personnaly I do not think comparing one town to another is useful or worthwhile there will always be pros and cons - the original point "I think" the poster was making was that he/she saw deterioration in certain aspects associated with Wick. Even if they live in a town which has very negative aspects compared with Wick, does that mean that their observations are any the less valid?

squidge
28-Apr-03, 13:07
Of course there points are valid KW14. There are however a few things which need to be taken into account when validating comments such as these.

Firstly,

Over a short visit can one really make a valuable judgement of teh state of a town

Secondly and perhaps most importantly

Nostalgia is a great pair of rose coloured glasses. What i mean is that whenever we revisit places from our youth we never remeber them as thery were but as some idyll which we manufacture from our memories.

Just as the summers were warmer, the skies were bluer, everything was cheaper, our lives were easier, Wick was prettier.

So whilst it is interesting to note the feelings of people coming back to visit it should be offset against the other things which i mentioned in my post and whcih show it isnt such a bad place after all.

Anonymous
28-Apr-03, 13:43
But could it be better?

GJG1972
28-Apr-03, 14:13
Niall,
I lived in Wick for 18 years and my mum, dad and brother still do. I'm sorry if I've upset anyone. What you have to remember is I was in Wick for 3 weeks, a tourist can be visiting for as little as half a day. Usually the first thing a tourist sees in Wick as they walk up Whitechapel is the burnt out shell of the Pavilion. I remember reading in the Groat whilst I was up north about the Community Council saying about the lack of babychanging facilities in the town. Fair point there are none. But why not try and get other things sorted first. I also remember them saying that they must try and instill some civic pride in the town. Is it just me or has that been forgotten?
People say that its judgemental of me to look back at days gone by. Shouldn't Wickers be looking forward to a more attractive future.
This is all I've got to say on the matter.

Eve M
28-Apr-03, 15:48
No doubt the tourists will then head out to John O Groats. What a lovely sight they see as they turn off at Reiss, dozens off rusting vehicles piled high just at the roadside [disgust]

squidge
28-Apr-03, 23:33
nah eve they will be too busy looking out toward noss head and marvelling at the beauty of Sinclairs Bay

Mr Sensitive
10-May-03, 15:03
Well I have just one thing to say,

I have been back in Wick plenty times lately and the streets ARE covered in litter, and they ARE covered in dog mess, and the riverside is an eyesore. And people park in in stupid inconsiderate places. Only YOU current Wickers can fix this. Listen to Squidge and Niall. Drive and park with care. Take your litter home. Educate others to do it. Pick up your pooch's poo and take that home too. It will give you a warm glow, knowing you have done it.

If you don't have in pride in your town, then most likely no-one else will. Don't blame "Highland Councillors". They don't make the mess. The people of Wick make the mess. If you didn't like the councillors you could have voted them out last week. Maybe you did. So speak to your new councillors and find out what they think.

And if you want tourists to come to Wick, or to Caithness in general, then you need to advertise it. Almost no-one south of Inverness knows what Wick has to offer and many or most dont even know where it is. They know about Orkney and Skye and Inverness and have heard of John O'Groats but they don't know what's there, and some don't even know where it is for goodness' sake!

squidge
10-May-03, 15:25
ooooooh quiet for so long and such an outburst!!!!

You are however completely right!!!

mike.mckenzie
12-May-03, 11:42
Well, I kind of just take the place for granted, come back up to visit my family and don't really think too much about it. I didn't think the place had got any better, but since returning in August with my 6 year old and then in December with my girlfriend, my opinions have changed a bit.

I will pick faults with the place because familiarity breeds contempt and there are things I would have done differently and would like to see. My girlfriend absolutely loved Caithness as a whole and enjoyed staying in Wick especially, it was interesting seeing the place through someone else's eyes coming for the first time as opposed to jaded Wickers with their embedded opinions in place.

Sure the place could do with some brightening up, I think its grey and dull, and there are certain areas that need to be looked at (the harbour lower Pulteney area), but Wick isn't such a bad place! Its a lot better aesthetically since I left, eg the swimming pool and doctor's surgery area, the riverside, the waterfront has renovated a delapidated mess, and Wetherspoons will attract people back to the central area of the town as well as keeping a smart old building in use.

Anyway, me and my bird are coming back up for the Whitsun bank hol as she liked it so much last time, and she had no preconceptions or ideas as to what it was going to be. It was just another place to go a visit! And she's coming back...

Geo
13-May-03, 11:22
We are all so quick to criticise but we are very lucky to live where we do. There has been a whole lot of stuff posted on these boards about how terrible the town is and its just exaggerated and makes me raise my eyebrows.

Examples:

How many people living in Wick have woken up to find an intruder in their house and been bashed over the head as they remonstarated with him?


When I lived in Wick, I forgot to lock the door one night. I was awoke to bashing at the door and when I got downstairs there was a drunk girl standing in the middle of our kitchen wanting to know where the party was and insisting it was her friends house.

Geo
13-May-03, 11:29
The parking in Wick is dreadful! I have seen the traffic warden in Wick more often than usual I must say but it doesnt seem to have made any difference to the parking. Bridge Street and High street are a joke.


Makes me laugh when you see the Volvo estate parked outside the bakery at the traffic lights, up from the hospital. Classic parking! :D

Eve M
13-May-03, 14:02
Makes me laugh when you see the Volvo estate parked outside the bakery at the traffic lights, up from the hospital. Classic parking! :D

Yeah but he thinks its alright because he owns the shop [disgust]

Its only happening because nothing is ever done about it !

mike.mckenzie
13-May-03, 14:38
Geo, where about in Bilbster do you live? I used to live there years ago.

Geo
13-May-03, 16:00
Geo, where about in Bilbster do you live? I used to live there years ago.

You know the three terraced houses facing the turn of for Bilbster Mains? In there. You've a one on three chance of guesing which one. :D

Where about in Bilbster did you live?

Angela
13-May-03, 16:28
I had a lodger last year who was in Wick for six months to work in Dounreay, she came from Oxford and was used to the high life in London etc.

She thoroughly enjoyed her time here and was sorry to go, everyone treated her nicely, she got to do water sports to her hearts content which she couldnt do at home and she could go out and have a good dram at the weekend without having to spend a solid fortune and in relative safety.

When she first moved in with me she asked where the house alarm was and how to work it, I burst out laughing and told her she would be lucky if I even bothered to lock the door. She was amazed that I would nip out to the shops and not bother locking the door. When she left she said that for the first time she would seriously consider moving to a smaller more remote place to live as it was such a nice experience. Personally I was proud to live in Wick when she told me this and Yes, I agree there is too much litter and dogs dirt but with a bit of community spirit or badly behaved people who are made to do it!! these things can all be cleaned up.

A dirty weeker!!

squidge
13-May-03, 19:28
When I lived in Wick, I forgot to lock the door one night. I was awoke to bashing at the door and when I got downstairs there was a drunk girl standing in the middle of our kitchen wanting to know where the party was and insisting it was her friends house.

You were probably more likely to get a kiss than a kicking though sweetie.

Just before christmas i came back to my flat with a friend we were very late, having been out and we had chinese food then went into the living room. To my later embarrassment i fell asleep and she let her self out. i woke up to find the living room empty and i went to bed. The next morning i woke to find my front door WIDE open ...and it opens straight onto the street... she had not shut it properly as she left. Could i have got away with that many other places? i think not

Geo
13-May-03, 23:35
When I lived in Wick, I forgot to lock the door one night. I was awoke to bashing at the door and when I got downstairs there was a drunk girl standing in the middle of our kitchen wanting to know where the party was and insisting it was her friends house.

You were probably more likely to get a kiss than a kicking though sweetie.


Still not pleasant having a drunk person wandering through your house in the wee hours. Anyway that's beside the point, Wick is a great little town that's benefited from some development in recent years but needs a lot more. Hopefully it'll come.

moonlightshadow
14-May-03, 10:57
And if you want tourists to come to Wick, or to Caithness in general, then you need to advertise it. Almost no-one south of Inverness knows what Wick has to offer and many or most dont even know where it is. They know about Orkney and Skye and Inverness and have heard of John O'Groats but they don't know what's there, and some don't even know where it is for goodness' sake!

As someone who moved from Caithness 2 years ago and moved to Cumbria, I can assure you that there are plenty of people who know where Wick and Thurso are and what they have to offer, Of course you will always ge tthe odd person who doesn't know where a place is, however you would be surprised at the amount of people who do.

When I first moved down here I found it very similar to up there, the one major difference was the beach and the sea!
Up North you have beautiful beaches that can match any you can ever hope to see in the world, :Razz :Razz okay the sea may be cold but big deal what do people expect!

Down here the sea was warm the first time I went in it, however the beach was horrible it was more like a mud bath. :(

We all have to be proud of what we are and where we come from. Tourists come for a couple of months a year, but we live in the places so forget what anyone else says just be proud of your town and hold your heads up high!

All the best
Moonlightshadow
xxx

mike.mckenzie
14-May-03, 12:44
Geo, where about in Bilbster do you live? I used to live there years ago.

You know the three terraced houses facing the turn of for Bilbster Mains? In there. You've a one on three chance of guesing which one. :D

Where about in Bilbster did you live?

I used to live in the first one (as you leave Wick) with the driveway, my bedroom was the one that overlooked the front garden onto the road!

Man the snow you used to get off that field, it drifted over the living room window one night. Weird. My auld hoose!

Mr Sensitive
20-May-03, 10:59
As someone who moved from Caithness 2 years ago and moved to Cumbria, I can assure you that there are plenty of people who know where Wick and Thurso are and what they have to offer, Of course you will always ge tthe odd person who doesn't know where a place is, however you would be surprised at the amount of people who do.

Do you work at Sellafield then? I bet almost everyone there knows where Caithness is.
Half of them probably lived there at some time, or knew someone who did.

I can assure you that most folkies south of Inverness dinna know exactly where Wick or Thurso are, and they sure won't be going there for their holidays if they have never heard of either place.

BTW I read in the paper yesterday that Dounreay is going to cost £4 billion and take 50 years to dismantle. Is that not a monumental waste of readies? Why not just seal it off and wait for it to cool down? Think how many traffic wardens you could employ for £4 billion, and how many tourist traps you could build in the area. Anyway, wouldn't Dounreay be more attractive to tourists if it's still there?

Geo
20-May-03, 19:29
Why not just seal it off and wait for it to cool down? Think how many traffic wardens you could employ for £4 billion, and how many tourist traps you could build in the area. Anyway, wouldn't Dounreay be more attractive to tourists if it's still there?

Are you joking?

moonlightshadow
20-May-03, 20:38
As it happens no I don't live or work near Sellafield, you don't have to work there for people to know where Thurso or Wick are.

I think you will find that if people want to travel and holiday in Britain then they will look at the map to see where a place is, they will then type that name into a search engine on the Interent and find out some information about it! Don't underestimate people and their abilities to find information about a place!!!!!!

Some people do actually like to find out about places that are on the remote side, not everyone wants big towns and cities.

Linda

mike.mckenzie
22-May-03, 10:22
Wick is always on the BBC weather map!

Mr Sensitive
22-May-03, 10:58
Why not just seal it off and wait for it to cool down? Think how many traffic wardens you could employ for £4 billion, and how many tourist traps you could build in the area. Anyway, wouldn't Dounreay be more attractive to tourists if it's still there?

Are you joking?
Not entirely. Surely there are cheaper ways of closing down Dounreay. How about encasing most of the hot bits in concrete, covering them with earth, and planting grass and windmills on the top? OK you might need to clear out some of the waste dumps and so on but why remove everything? Where do they put all the removed radioactive stuff anyway? Down a hole in the ground somewhere else? What does that solve? Doesn't processing or reprocessing, (and even cleaning up low level waste) create yet more radioactive goo to dispose of?

As for holidays in Wick, I know some people like holidays in remote places but that wasn't my point. They go to Skye or Loch Ness or even Orkney and they go there because they have heard of them. Surrpisngly few people have even heard of Caithness. Mike is right about weather maps though, Wick is on most of them, but they don't bring in the tourists.

Anonymous
22-May-03, 14:57
Great idea Mr Sensitive!!!!

Close down Dounreay, put about two and a half thousand people out of work, turn Caithness into an even more economically depressed area and then the tourists are sure to flock to the area to see what really poor people look like.

Personally, I'd like to see more government money spent on Dounreay, after all we give out loads of cash to the government in Council Tax and we see very little of it returned in services so why not get it back in the form of secure jobs and government contracts?


How about encasing most of the hot bits in concrete, covering them with earth, and planting grass and windmills on the top?
Were you on Mars during all the trouble over the shaft that they dug 50 years ago to do just that?

As for the litter, get a black bag and a pair of rubber gloves, extract the digit and you know what to do...

Mr Sensitive
24-May-03, 11:02
Great idea Mr Sensitive!!!!

Close down Dounreay, put about two and a half thousand people out of work, turn Caithness into an even more economically depressed area and then the tourists are sure to flock to the area to see what really poor people look like.

No, no, no, no, Niall, you have grasped the wrong end of the fuel rod. The idea is to give the £4 billion pounds directly to the people of Caithness. If the population is 30,000 then every family of 2 parents and 2.4 kids would get close to half a million quid to spend on new enterprises, new tourist traps, or whatever they want! I may not be an expert on nuclear engineering, but I can account!

Tourists would flock to the area to see what an entire community of really rich people look like.

A pipedream perhaps, but it might have a more positive effect than simply dismantling Dounreay.



Personally, I'd like to see more government money spent on Dounreay, after all we give out loads of cash to the government in Council Tax and we see very little of it returned in services so why not get it back in the form of secure jobs and government contracts?

Except that Council Tax goes to the Counciil, not the Government, and most Council spending comes directly from central government anyway. I think Council Tax accounts for 10 or 20% of local government spending. I believe you have a relation who might be able to confirm (or refute) this!




How about encasing most of the hot bits in concrete, covering them with earth, and planting grass and windmills on the top?
Were you on Mars during all the trouble over the shaft that they dug 50 years ago to do just that?

The shaft, yes, that's what I was referring to when I mentioned clearing out some of the waste dumps. You are dead right about that.



As for the litter, get a black bag and a pair of rubber gloves, extract the digit and you know what to do...
And dead right about that too. I have seen the pix you posted. If only a few more would follow your lead then Wick would be a lot cleaner.

But if the £4 billion were dished out as I suggest, then you could afford to employ poor people from the south to keep Wick clean. :D

Mr Sensitive
06-Jun-03, 11:21
Wick is always on the BBC weather map!
I was watching the BBC weather on TV the other night (in Liverpool coincidently) and what did I see?

Thurso was on the weather map instead of Wick!

What is going on here? First they get the trains, then the A9, and now their name is on the BBC weather map. What will they get next? The Rosebank? WHS? Weatherspoons? Old Pulteney? Noss Head? Caithness.org? I think we should be told.