View Full Version : Viewfirth
flowertot
18-Mar-06, 00:21
Due to the closure of the DSSC (Viewfirth), Duncan Street, Thurso
They are open to reasonable offers on the Fixtures & Fittings of the Club.
Viewing of the items can be done any evening up until Wednesday, 29th March.
Please submit any interest in items to Mr E Springham, Secretary of DSSC c/o Viewfirth, either in writing, email (Frankie.murdoch@btinternet.com)
or
telephone 893430 (Mon to Friday, 9-12 or 1-3)
by Thursday, 30th March
Any items purchased will be uplifted at buyers own cost
Come on ,folks. I thought I would be getting more offers than this.
willowbankbear
21-Mar-06, 10:58
Go on then, How many offers have ye had? Il take any free Brandy or Smirnoff Vodka.
Definitely NO freebies! We have to get the best possible price that we can for the gear like the Bingo machine,Bingo Books,Snooker Tables,Dishes,Cutlery and etc etc
If you reduce the price of the bingo machine, please let me know, thanks.
willowbankbear
21-Mar-06, 18:22
How many offers ??????
Definitely NO freebies! We have to get the best possible price that we can for the gear like the Bingo machine,Bingo Books,Snooker Tables,Dishes,Cutlery and etc etc
i just noticed you have enquired fran ...good luck i hope you get it at a reasonable price..
It's for such a good cause too Fran :)
Why not have an auction in the Viewfirth, get the money you need and the place cleared all in the one day.
webmannie
22-Mar-06, 00:12
Hold on the club doesn't own the snooker tables, the snooker sub section paid for them many years ago and re-covered them many times since!
Hold on the club doesn't own the snooker tables, the snooker sub section paid for them many years ago and re-covered them many times since!
When did the snooker sub section ever pay for the recovering of the tables?
Not in the '90's anyway, and one of the tables was gifted by a member many years ago.
The snooker tables were re-covered in 2004. I am well aware that one of the snooker tables was donated to the Club. That is between club and the person that donated it!
The Snookersub-section has not been in existance for some time now.
I have some band equipment locked up in the cupboard outside the sports bar, please tell me that these have not been sold! I will pick up my equipment tonight if possible.
Dont worry! We haven't sold anything yet. We are at the stage of accepting offers.!
Better remove the band equipment quick-just in case(only joking)
i believe the tables are owned by the snooker sub-section.
so viewfirth cannot sell them to the public. its up to the snooker section. which still operates.
The Pepsi Challenge
22-Mar-06, 18:17
Question: Where will the snooker club go now?
it looks like it will be no more. :cry: :~( :~(
apparently the thurso club will be closed by the end of the year to.
so only tables is thurso to play on will be the royal british legion.
they are in a very poor state too!! :~(
Thurso Club to close as well???
Tell us more.......
The Loafer
Naefearjustbeer
22-Mar-06, 23:14
Members clubs are out of fashion these days and I think they are all suffering from lack of use. All the old alckys that used to prop up the bar every night have moved onto meths
Thurso Club to close as well???
Tell us more.......
The Loafer does thurso have a snooker club? i didn't know that .
The Pepsi Challenge
23-Mar-06, 06:07
I'm still sickened that the Viewfirth is to close. Why couldn't UKAEA donate it to the people of Thurso, those miserable swines? Viewfirth still creates a focal point for people to this day, whether it be bingo, badminton, snooker, live music, birthday parties, etc. It's a total disgrace and I hope UKAEA are pleased with themselves. Once it's gone people will wonder where to go and what to do. By then it will be too late. I'm surprised no-one locally has started a petition, or made an appeal to keep the Viewfirth in the local press. Looks like Viewfirth will die with so much as a wimper. Tragic.
flowertot
24-Mar-06, 13:52
i believe the tables are owned by the snooker sub-section.
so viewfirth cannot sell them to the public. its up to the snooker section. which still operates.
If this is the case the snooker sub-section (if it still exists!!!!) would have to provide proof of ownership and they would need to do it before next Thursday.
flowertot
24-Mar-06, 13:56
When did the snooker sub section ever pay for the recovering of the tables?
Not in the '90's anyway, and one of the tables was gifted by a member many years ago.
You seem to know an awful lot about what happens in the club, and from previous threads have an awful lot to say about the place as well, some of which is not very complimentary - it is a case of sour grapes on your part!!!
I wonder!!!!!
it looks like it will be no more. :cry: :~( :~(
apparently the thurso club will be closed by the end of the year to.
so only tables is thurso to play on will be the royal british legion.
they are in a very poor state too!! :~(
what makes you think the Thurso club is closing?
i was speaking to a good few members of the thurso club. they told me..
anybody got any pictures of when they were in the viewfirth..
i have been emailing bill.. asking if we could have a gallery setup ..
he is all for it!
anybody got any pictures..??
crashbandicoot1979
25-Mar-06, 13:40
Has the fate of the viewfirth grounds been confirmed? I know the assumption is that it will become housing but has the ground actually been sold?
flowertot
26-Mar-06, 17:28
yip.. thurso club (1 table) , viewfirth (3 tables) and the royal british legion (2 tables)
anybody got space to put a snooker table or to even store it?
I heard that scott (duck a*se) is gettin a table.. given to him from one of the people in viewfirth!!
wonder if they are gonna gee the other 2 away!?
I don't think that any of the tables are being given away, people are having to put in offers for them!!!!
i think all the tables have now been sold..
I don't think the ground has been sold yet!
I would really like to see a sports complex built there!
Caithness needs a sports complex! Every other place has one!
Orkney, Shetland and Inverness for example...
Does anyone know how to get the ball rolling for a sports complex?
i think all the tables have now been sold..
I don't think the ground has been sold yet!
I would really like to see a sports complex built there!
Caithness needs a sports complex! Every other place has one!
Orkney, Shetland and Inverness for example...
Does anyone know how to get the ball rolling for a sports complex?
The Caithness Sports Council, did try to set up a sports complex in the grounds of Viewfirth, some years ago. The buildings would be knocked down and brought to a state for development. They had plans for a big gaming hall enough for 3 full sized badminton courts. For outside the plans were for flats on the green side of Brownhill Road. It seemed a great idea but unfortunately they ran up against funding. At that time it would have cost about two hundred thousand pounds to take the buildings and surrounding lands to ground level and fit for their plans. The Sports Council, funding at that time, was tied up for 5 years. The local reporter for the P & J was one of the people involved, also a local contractor, and some others.
a sports complex in thurso would be magic! especially for all the young people in the county! it would bring a lot of young teenagers of the street!
Noooooo! I have been away for far too long. They haven't closed my ol' stomping ground? I can't believe it. Why? What will replace it? Where do you go now?
Whitewater
29-Mar-06, 21:54
What is happening with the indoor bowling club, have the mats been spoken for yet, or are they going to try to find other premises. Is there anywhere suitable in Thurso for indoor bowls? (apart from the legion which already has a good club).
dragonfly
30-Mar-06, 20:13
What is happening with the indoor bowling club, have the mats been spoken for yet, or are they going to try to find other premises. Is there anywhere suitable in Thurso for indoor bowls? (apart from the legion which already has a good club).
The mats belong to the bowling club and they have a place in mind but as yet are still in discussions with the proprietors
I washed the windows of Viewfirth sometime around 1963. My fellow window cleaner was Robert (Rocky) Marshall who secured us the job for quite a bit of money. (50 quid each?) I guess he was the boss because I did all the upper floors, hanging from various precarious ladders, while he hung around on terra firma chainsmoking Kensitas cigarettes. I can't remember what we did with the money - we probably went straight inside the building and drank it all up at the bar.
connieb19
31-Mar-06, 23:26
I washed the windows of Viewfirth sometime around 1963. My fellow window cleaner was Robert (Rocky) Marshall who secured us the job for quite a bit of money. (50 quid each?) I guess he was the boss because I did all the upper floors, hanging from various precarious ladders, while he hung around on terra firma chainsmoking Kensitas cigarettes. I can't remember what we did with the money - we probably went straight inside the building and drank it all up at the bar.£100 to get the windows cleaned, in 1963? Jeepers, i'm surprised the place never went under yonks ago!!!:eek:
has all the tables been sold?
DJ
I was told the grouds are gunna be houses
and the field infront is guna be houses aswell
WE dont need all these houses!
Gawd sake!
any word on what is happening with the plot now?
Derek
any word on what is happening with the plot now?
Derek
Nothing.
It belongs to me.
I spent half my wages in that club when I was in Thurso and I think that investment was enough to buy the land it sat on.
And I think it was very unfair of them to knock the old place down without asking me first.
I am going to erect a monument to my glorious misspent youth on that land.
Bobinovich
10-Apr-08, 22:34
How strange that this thread is resurrected today of all days. I was speaking earlier today to someone who was involved in the meetings regarding the future use of the Viewfirth ground.
They were active in the idea of building a multi-purpose music venue comprising a large 2000-seat concert hall (with moveable sections so it could be divided off into multiple smaller areas as required), practice rooms, recording facilities, etc.
While my contact is no longer able to pursue that idea due to ill health, I am seriously considering giving it a go as a major project to get involved with. Caithness has such a superb history of quality musicianship and a combined eclectic taste in music, so such a facility should be of interest to all ages - from the young (with regular discos), to mainstream concert goers (if it was possible to attract larger bands), and even to the retired (with old-time & Scottish dances).
Also, with the loss of the town hall and associated meeting rooms it would provide a suitable new venue for groups forced into other local (often smaller) spaces - some many miles from their original location. I forsee sizeable dance/exercise classes (of all genres and for all ages), toddler groups, creche facilities, daycare groups, etc. all having access throughout the week. Indeed such a venue could have a multitude of uses - maybe even able to bring some new sports to Thurso (archery being one I'd personally like to see :D).
Events such as the annual Nashville Festival (which may easily outgrow it's far-from-ideal current location), the forthcoming Mod, maybe somewhere for The Big Gig and/or a revival of the Edge of the World (EotW) style-Festivals, etc. could all be held in such a venue.
In fact, consider the lifecycle of the EoTW festivals (and the Big Gig which is following a similar path). It started off free (with local bands giving their services, PA cobbled from what was available, and donations to charity) and open air in that very location, which drew good crowds so long as the weather remained fair. It ended up being out of town (with some paid named-bands and a few local ones) with hired PA and marquees to circumvent the weather problem which drove up costs. However the local people who went there liked the closeness of the Viewfirth to the town (plus it was free and it's downhill to all the bars!) but really didn't like going so far out of town and still having to pay high prices too! Hence eventually it folded. A possible solution? somewhere close to the centre of town, offering outdoor/open air possibilities (with a hasty move indoors if the weather indicates it's usual changeable Caithness qualities!). Whether indoor or outdoor the other infrastructure and services would all be in place from PA & associated equipment, bar, toilets, plenty of secure rooms for gear storage between sets (how many bands had gear go missing at such open gigs?). In addition to those who enjoy going to such concerts, I'm sure many of those who frequent the Music forum will recognise that such a venue would be a godsend in so many ways.
Of course these are all just ideas - there are SO many things which would have to be taken into consideration. However I'd appreciate any feedback on this idea, and would be interested to hear (via PM preferably) from anyone who feels they could offer some time towards taking it forward.
lagertops
10-Apr-08, 22:43
Sounds great! We have been living in the past for to long up here. 100% Backing from me.
The county could really benefit from just such a facility, though IMHO the Horizons Project based in Thurso Town Hall is a seriously flawed concept that will erode any proposed Viewfirth scheme. (Lets face it they are trying to squeeze modern amenities into a building that was never designed for the purpose now sought - Parking/disabled access/acoustics/ergonomics etc.).
If this energy and financing had only been combined with the proposed Viewfirth based facility (which has far more land/scope/and potential). What percentage of the total budget spent on the Town Hall/Horizons facility is just to upgrade/modify/fix the existing structure? (I'd hazard a guess at 70-80%)
I'm sure I saw figures somewhere that proudly stated that UKAEA/NDA/The Highland Council were going to underwrite the first 3 years of running losses that were anticipated (and I'm fairly sure these were 5 to 6 figure sums!!) - sorry for lack of precise detail here.
I wish any proposed future Viewfirth scheme all the best but I feel the housing developers will probably win the day as its the easy, low hassle option. I'm surprised Tesco's hasn't been checking out the site!!
Bobinovich
11-Apr-08, 10:30
...though IMHO the Horizons Project based in Thurso Town Hall ... will erode any proposed Viewfirth scheme.
I understand from the plans on their website that the Horizons project will provide a Dounreay exhibition and local museum areas, a moderately-sized exhibition hall, a few small meeting rooms and an AV theatre. No sizeable venue as the old town hall was or the aforementioned Viewfirth idea, and certainly nowhere so targetted at music and general community use.
Just like the proposed sports complex at Halkirk, I would envisage the new Viewfirth building being complementary to the Horizons project - providing facilities not available in the other.
I'm 99.9% certain that the last thing that the people of this town want to see is a social meeting point such as the Viewfirth was turned into yet more housing.
EDIT: Adding to my earlier musings it would also be nice to see some micro-renewables installed for the venue - some small turbines, solar, and ground source heating etc. should help keep the running costs down.
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