Wick, from the Harbour to the Trinkie and beyond.....

[trinkie]

Wick, from the Harbour to the Trinkie and beyond.

We went this way often when I was young in Wick, and how we loved it,
skipping and running here and there, gathering the Horses Gollens and little pink rock flowers, whose name I never knew.
Off we set, clutching our baggie o’ sandwiches and an old rug to sit on,
down past the Pilot’s House where we waved to the mannies, along to the steppies by the
mens’ toilets, sometimes we’d slide on the roof, and then over to Shaltigoe. Here we
would stop for a while and throw stonies into the water, running backwards
as the waves came in to touch our toes. We knew Shaltigoe well as we played down there all the time during the school holidays.
We had to keep going though so we climbed onto the Parapet Wall and strolled along towards the Lifeboat Shed. This has always been a special place with such wonderful stories and tales of bravery and tragedy. We went up the steps to the big door and tried to peep inside to see what was going on, there was often an old fisherman there who would stop to chat to us for a little while. But we had to keep going there was a long way to go yet.
William T Lyall has covered this walk so beautifully in his poem ‘Shaltigoe till ai Ould Man’ and it’s my plan to go this way once again when I am north.

William begins with the verse …

‘ Ma favourite walk I’d lek till boast
Is start at Shaltigoe and go roond ai coast
On ai Parapet Wall, if ye come wi’ me
Thurs pleices o’ interest I’d lek ye till see.’

William ends his Poem with the verse …

‘Times in plenty I’ve come ‘iss way,
I feel I could walk here everyday,
Ai tireless wind an’ ai restless sea
These simple things are priceless yet free.’

What do you remember of this particular walk, how many of the places can you still name? Do share your story and maybe one day we can all meet up and walk together from the Harbour to the Trinkie and beyond.

[Cedric Farthsbottom III]

A walk to get rid of the remnants of a hearty dinner.A walk pass the trinkie onto the auld man.Turn back.Or on a really windy day just to take a wee drive out and look at mother nature in action.See the waves pounding against the cliffs,having a smile at one another and realising that this will still be happening once we're all gone.Majestic,just like the Ailsa Craig an aw.

[trix]

luvly trinkie, do ye hev 'e full version o' 'e poem?
ma manies an' wifies wid luv til hear'ed. choost aday we hed 'div ye mind', followed by 'what john horne forgot.' a few chuckles wis hed by all....

i lek a walk or a runny on ma bike oot yon wie, ayie stoppin for a drink fie 'e cairndhuna well. sayin 'at, last time i wis oot 'at wie 'e well wis dry!!
first time i'd iver seen hid dry!!

[ciderally]

TRINKIE every day in summer.....from cairndhuna up to little shop top kennedy for packet crisps, oot past mertens farm....fine days fine memories xx

[brandy]

we took that walk yesterday with the dogs.. i took the camera.. give me a little while and ill pop it on here for you

[trix]

rite roond 'e north baths is an absolute delite too, whether ye go along 'e top til ye get til 'e ducks or go doon roond 'e bottom, past 'e tinklers cave. then up 'e slope at coopers courner....

used til knock aboot doon ayre when i wis a bairn....ahh, fond memories

[trinkie]

Well, I'm delighted to hear so many of you still enjoy that beautiful walk.
Trix, I am trying to type out the poem, but I have a plaster on my finger and the typing is very slow - it will appear eventually if you can hold on....

trinkie

[trix]

course il had on trink, i cana wait!! x

[Dog-eared]

Oot at wey evry chance as a bairn. Sometimes steali'n matches an settin fire till e gress, oot till e breeg o' trams then back hom till ma mither wi her sayin' " ye've been burni'n e gress again ye "

An me, stinki'n o' smok sayin " No' me mam "

[brandy]

pics from the walk... enjoy
http://s42.photobucket.com/albums/e346/brandy28655/

[trix]

great pictures brandy, an 'e best o'ed is, when yer bairnies are aulder, far iver they are in 'e world...they will alwis mind 'e walks they hed when they were little

its 'e simple things in life that ye carry wi ye forever..guid for ye for creatin many happy memories for yer bairns, ones they will cherish for iver

[Liz]

Lovely photos Brandy of a lovely family day out.

It was nice to see the sun again though it didn't last long!

[horseman]

Another lovely post again from trinkie.
With my mates many many a time along that walk,I can almost smell it now.Talking of which,how about the gut factory when it was on the go!!!Must dash-got to put the bins out.

[trinkie]

Well, isn’t this lovely that we all enjoy the same walk! It certainly takes some beating.
Trix, I have typed William Lyall’s poem and thoroughly enjoyed reading it once again, it brought back so many memories. However, there’s such a lot in there, that I am going to post it in two. Below is the first half, and you will agree there are plenty places here to think about.
I must take this chance to say that I hear this book is still in print, so if you are looking for a small gift for a Caithness friend away from home, this is the ideal gift, the book is called Clapshot !! I have had my copy for many years and it is never far from reach. I read it when I am homesick and end up with tears running doon ma cheeks – mostly from the sheer joy of remembering !
Brandy your photographs are great, very many thanks for sending that link and allowing us to join you and your lovely family. I bet when your little boys are grandfathers, they will tell their grandchildren about this walk, they will never forget such a wonderful day. Now read on and hear what William Lyall has to say – I say ‘Thank You William for all you have given us’ William has kept the place alive for many Caithness folk.





Shaltigoe till ai Ould Man
by William T Lyall.


My favourite walk I’d lek till boast
Is start at Shaltigoe and go roon ai coast
On ai Parapet Wall, if ye come wi’ me
Thurs pleices o’ interest I’d lek ye till see

At ai end o’ ai wally ai lifeboat shed
Many a fisherman’s been dragged feh he’s bed
In till ai lifeboat an doon ai slip
Oot till save a flounderan ship.

At ai top ai Hunder Steps a monument stan’s
A tribute till a famous man
John Bremner master o’ his trade
A better tribute should hev been made.

Roond till ai gut factory ai rody winds
A reminder o’ much busier times
Ai breakwater built wi good intentions
But Stevenson’s plan wis ai wrong dimensions.

Ai Biscuit Hilly weathers every storm
Frail an’ crumblin ade keeps ades form
When young wi thocht wi hed great skill
Till climb till ai top o’ ai Biscuit Hill

Ai Cairnduna water is famous wur told
Summer or winter ade’s always ice could
So up till ai well ades no a sham
Ai Cairnduna water’s as good’s a dram.

Ai Lover’s Den ye canna pass
Ades been ai doon fall o’ many a lass
Climb till ai top an take a pue
Across till Proudfeet’s a bonny view.

Ai Quarry lies derelict, empty and bare
Ai best o’ stone but nobody cares
Forgotten, redundant and relegation
Concrete blocks for a fast generation.

At ai top ai brae ai coastguards stare
Ai passing ships are in their care
If in distress a rocket they’ll send
An’ on ai coastguards they can depend.

Doon air rocks thur’s bonny spots
Ai Tinker’s cove an’ Bilan pot
Ai sailors, an’ ai Branal pools
At’s far ai bairns rush efter ai school.


more to follow.....

[cherokee]

pics from the walk... enjoy
http://s42.photobucket.com/albums/e346/brandy28655/

Brandy Snaps (LOL)

Love 'em !!! Ta for that !

[trix]

thanks for 'at trinkie, i printed it off an we all hed a guid discussion aboot 'e auld days an far they used til go.

cana wait for part 2, but ye take yer time an i hope yer airm gets better soon

[trinkie]

The final verses of William Lyall's poem.


Feh ai Trinkie hear ‘at bairnie’s chatter
Kickin’ an splashin’ in ai water,
Picnic baskets lippen fill
Eatan’ pieces till thur bougies fill.

Ai Pow ye treat wi’ ai greatest o’ care
Ades murky depths wid ai bravest scare
Graplin’ tangles that take a grip
Yet ‘ats far ai young cheils take their dip.

At ai end of ae rody ai grey bools stan’
Ai hiding place o’ a famous man
A story’s no written in history books
Prince Charlie hid in ‘iss crannies and nooks.

Doon o’er bools till Longberry’s shore
Far men hev fished feh ai days o’ yore
See them comin’ wi’ their lines and wans
Doon till Longberry till catch fir they can.

Ould-Wick Castle is very ould
Ade stands as a landmark clear and bould
Wur ancestors built ‘is keep till last
An’ no be smashed by ai east wind blast.

Ai ould man o’ Wick famed o’er ai land
Cut by nature’s wreckless hand
Ai cliff his home, his life till spend
Malled by ai sea his enemy and friend.

Now sit on ai grass that’s soft an’ green
An’ feast yur eyes on ai marvellous scene
Gigantic cliffs that stretch up high
An’ snow white skorries in a clear blue sky.

Times in plenty I’ve come ‘iss way
I feel I could walk here everyday
Ai tireless wind an’ ai restless sea
These simple things are priceless yet free.

I hope you enjoy this Trix - lots here to jog the memories.

Trinkie

[Mosser]

Another lovely post again from trinkie.
With my mates many many a time along that walk,I can almost smell it now.Talking of which,how about the gut factory when it was on the go!!!Must dash-got to put the bins out.

What a smell from that old place, when the wind was in the east you could smell it in Watten. One of the best walks is in winter is along the brae to the Grey Bools in a strong south easterly wind, bye bye cob webs, hallo hypothermia!!

Mosser

[trinkie]

The Gut Factory !! I remember it well, it’s malodorous stink wafting it’s way all over Poltney! What were they making, was it Cod Liver Oil?
Later wasn’t there was a Stocking Factory there? I know there was quite a cottage industry in knitted stockings. Lots of folk had machines in their homes and beautiful Stockings they were too.
That stretch of Poltney has known a lot of activity especially in the height of the Herring Fishing. There were More’s Station, Davidson’s station and Calder’s station.
The Sooth Quay had been demolished during a storm in 1827, is the Quay that’s there now, the one that was re-built at that time?

[Mosser]

The Gut Factory !! I remember it well, it’s malodorous stink wafting it’s way all over Poltney! What were they making, was it Cod Liver Oil?
Later wasn’t there was a Stocking Factory there? I know there was quite a cottage industry in knitted stockings. Lots of folk had machines in their homes and beautiful Stockings they were too.
That stretch of Poltney has known a lot of activity especially in the height of the Herring Fishing. There were More’s Station, Davidson’s station and Calder’s station.
The Sooth Quay had been demolished during a storm in 1827, is the Quay that’s there now, the one that was re-built at that time?

South Quay was badly damaged in 1827 and the wall breached in the bad storm of 1912 but it is still James Bremner's original work standing the test of time

Mosser