Today's County in the spotlight

[NewcastleFalcon]

Of course you could save yourself a trip to Iceland if the Northern Lights would predictably perform like this from Caithness more regularly...



REgards Neil

[Peter.N.]

I am hoping to find some photo's to copy before Caithness expires, will have a look later today. We first visited there in the '70s, we showed our young son where it was on the map so we didn't have 'are we there yet' all the way up. It was about 750 miles to Wick in the early years but with the new A9 and a number of bridges across lochs its now down to around 700.

We rented a cottage at Bilbster on the Wick to Thurso road for £25.00 per week, we used to go twice some years, we did that for 17 years until the owners rented it out to a family member, then we moved a bit further south to the Lairg area where we have been every year since, we still visit Wick as we have friends there and we love the north coast especially Torrisdale and we do a trip from Lairg to the north coast road past Dounreay and Thurso to John O Groats then to Wick every year.

When we first went Wick looked like the east end of London after the war but it has been smartened up considerably since then and also expanded somewhat. Thurso which is about 25 miles to the west is an altogether posher place as many people from there worked at Dounreay, Wick and Thurso are the only two towns of any size in the 3000 square miles of Caithness.

Peter

[NewcastleFalcon]

I'll help you out with something you have posted before Peter, a rare one of you and a bear at John O'Groats.

Here is Caithness. The bear was a school project for the grandchildren.

Dont worry about a mad rush to meet the day in the spotlight day-ish limit. Threadstarter's privilege from me is happy to collect anything you come up with on Caithness even if the Counties have moved on.

You could do it making a post on the thread now with words like this, and editing in your pics should you find some at a later date.

"Reserved for editing in my Caithness pictures and ramblings....when I find them!"

Peter.

Regards Neil

[NewcastleFalcon]

Dounreay kept a few buses going too!



Regards Neil

[mickthemaverick]

As a youngster I remember hearing various things about Dounreay on the radio and TV news. I didn't come across anything written about it until I went to Scotland for my first trip in 1974. Up until then I had always thought it was called Doomray!!

[myglaren]

If I am not mistaken then Dounreay was featured in an episode of Doomwatch, "The Plastic Eaters"

[NewcastleFalcon]

As well as surfing, if you are into your Salmon fishing, the River Thurso is quite prolific...



Regards Neil

[mickthemaverick]

I have been a course fisherman since 1964 but despite many opportunities I have never taken up fly fishing because there are two fundamental differences between fly and bait!!

1) Fly fishing is very active and can be hard work whereas course fishing provides the opportunity to sit quietly in a beautiful place in the countryside and enjoy nature at its roots

2) Fly fishing is basically energetic fish hunting while bait fishing is an escape from the hustle and bustle of everyday life.

In addition I would advocate that Fly Fishing is a sport because it requires physical ability whereas course fishing is a hobby because it invokes relaxation!!

[NewcastleFalcon]

I include this for personal enjoyment because it is far too long unless you are a Salmon Fisherman, but this little sequence of the chap bringing in a salmon he had caught to the net made me chuckle. The "assistance" from his Labrador Monty reminded me very much of our own Ruby!

The Video starts at the relevant bit.



REgards Neil

[bobins]

If I am not mistaken then Dounreay was featured in an episode of Doomwatch, "The Plastic Eaters"

I can't find any specific reference to Dounreay in "The Plastic Eaters", but 'The Dungeness Experiment' is mentioned.
The troublesome waste disposal shaft on the coast at Dounreay - the one where it all went a bit Pete Tong and the dumped Sodium and Potassium reacted with seawater and blew decades of <ahem> waste out the top - is known by some as "The Doomwatch Shaft" though

[Peter.N.]

I saw a black and white film a while back made when Dounreay was being built, a local farmer was being interviewed and said how privileged they were to have to have all this 'high tech equipment' installed in their remote location. I don't think it had occurred to him that it was there because if anything went wrong the collateral damage would be considerably less that if it was in a more inhabited area.

I know a couple of people who used to work there, its apparently costing more to decommission than it cost to build.

Peter

[NewcastleFalcon]

I know a couple of people who used to work there, its apparently costing more to decommission than it cost to build.

Back in 2012
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/av/uk-scotland-20755386

Regards Neil

[NewcastleFalcon]

Caithness has had a decent airing under the spotlight so while we move it on, the edit button stays alive on any posts made for a while, so still possible to edit in contributions to your existing posts.
____________Caithness Done!_____31 done 61 to go_____

and the next one please. There are 92 historic counties in England Scotland Wales and Northern Ireland, each is having a mere day-ish in the spotlight selected at random.

Our 31 numbers selected so far have been

3,5,7,8,11,12,13,15,16,22,24,28,34,44,48,51,52,59,61,65,66,68,69,70,72,78,79,81,84,86,89

So here is the next choice:

Random Number Selection is 9

New County is Bedfordshire


If you know nothing about it....well that's what "Today's County in the Spotlight" is about...be curious find out.

So whats this memorable script from...

"Surely you have wafted here from paradise ?
– No, Luton Airport ! "

REgards Neil

[mickthemaverick]

So whats this memorable script from...

"Surely you have wafted here from paradise ?
– No, Luton Airport ! "

REgards Neil

The classic balcony scene with Lorraine Chase for Cinzano Bianco or Martini Bianco, can't be sure which!!

[NewcastleFalcon]

Campari series of Adverts was Lorraine Chase with the punchline always having a reference to Luton in it. Cinzano Bianco was the Leonard Rossiter and Joan Collins saga.



REgards Neil