A few wee gripes

[GJG1972]

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]

That taxi drivers think they own the roads

[Doolally]

How can you say that Eve? I've seen YOUR driving!

[vanman]

i have seen her driving to and it is pretty poor.

[Anonymous]

Doolally and Vanman, how UNcharming of you both to pick on Eve like that!

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

[squidge]

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]

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

[Anonymous]

Here Here Squdge!!!

[Anonymous]

Comments were made, do you disgregard them totally or listen? Seems to me that they deserve a listen.

[Eve M]

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]

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]

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]

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]

But could it be better?

[GJG1972]

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]

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

[squidge]

nah eve they will be too busy looking out toward noss head and marvelling at the beauty of Sinclairs Bay

[Mr Sensitive]

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]

ooooooh quiet for so long and such an outburst!!!!

You are however completely right!!!

[mike.mckenzie]

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...