Castletown in 2009

[Haitch]

Hi,

I was wondering if any locals could give me their opinions on the castletown of today. I lived in Greenland House for a number of years in the 90's and have only driven through once since I left.

Firstly, what is the Polish population like? When I left, Norfrost employed about 95% local Caithness folk. What is this percentage today? Also, I hear that it was renamed IceTech Ltd. Does Pat Grant still own it?

Is the newsagents still run by Bashir Ahmed? I remember my sister used to work their part time in the 90's and earnt about 90p an hour!!!

Finally, does anyone know Harland Road (out by the Primary school) - I seem to remember it was a predominantly American community. Are there many Americans in castletown now?

Is castletown a better place to live today or 20 years ago?

Look forward to reading your thoughts :D

[Thumper]

Hiya Castletown hasnt really changed all that much,although Thompsons shop was demolished recently so theres a big gap in the main street now.Pat Grant doesnt own Icetech as far as I am aware,and Bashir Ahmed died a few years ago now,his shop is now a McColls.
There were a few polish living in the village at one point but dont think there are now.
Harland Road is no longer an american community as the base closed down and the houses were sold off.
So on the whole I suppose its the same sort of place now as it was 20 years ago x

[Bobbyian]

Thanks for that little bit of info used live in Harland rd in the 60´s and did deliveries for Thompsons, and had a wee spell at Alec Grants TV shop

[feegilmour]

hey my great grandad used 2 live in harland rd many years ago blast from the past there thanx

[Haitch]

Thanks for the reply Thumper. The main area of change will probably be the harbour area (castlehill?)... when i left there were big plans to open a heritage centre and general clean up the ruins a bit.

Also, that big estate with the wall round it was unused back in the 90's is it used now?

[Thumper]

Hi Haitch,yes the harbour area has been cleaned up quite a bit-there is no dump there no and they have a flagstone trail you can walk round and theres also the heritage centre down there.The harbour itself could do with a bit of a tidy up again though as the whole pier seems to be falling apart.The big estate has not been touched although I did hear that a local business man had plans to build holiday cottages etc there,whether thats true or not though i dont know.There are a lot of old buildings in and around Castletown that are crying out for restoration but nobody seems to want them :( x

[oldmarine]

I remember Castletown in the 1990's when I was stationed at the Thurso Naval Station. I stayed there prior to moving into a bed & breakfast. I found Castletown a quaint village and have good memories of it.