An Comunn Gàidhealach Publications > Sruth > Volume 2 > No. 85, 25 June 1970

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M-LINGUAL NEWSPAPER OF CURRENT EVENTS IN THE HIGHLANDS AND THE ISLANDS AND IN SCOTLAND
SRUTH
DI-ARDAOIN, 25 LATHA DE’N OG-MHIOS 1970 THURSDAY, 25th JUNE 1970 No. 85 Sixpence
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Abertarff House . Inverness
Peace and quiet beside Loch Urraghag. These qualities are particularly characteristic of the
Western Hies’ inland waters. It is no wonder that the tourist is attracted to them. The Isles
offer much besides: the quiet unhurrying life which gives the visitor ample time to reflect
on his raison d'etre in this world. For the tourist who is on a walking tour, 'there is the
pleasure of trekking the moors under a pleasant sea sky. These island skies reflect the sea
that surrounds them, the sea wherein the wealth of the island lies, if only there was the
capital to develop it.
LOWEST JUNE JOBLESS
FOBS
JHE counties of Inverness-
shire, Ross-shire, and the
Isle of Skye have recorded
their lowest unemployment
figures for three years, ac¬
cording to the latest report
by Mr J. D. McCracken,
secretary to the Highlands
Local Employment Com¬
mittee.
Invergorden employment
exchange recorded their low¬
est figure for 13 years. This
is due to t)he construction of
the British Aluminium Com¬
pany’s smelter in the area.
Against national trend
Construction and hotel in¬
dustry activity in other
exchange areas, said Mr Mc¬
Cracken, had held unem¬
ployed levels to a lesser
degree against the national
trend of high June figures for
some years, though Fort
William and Portree showed
considerable increases over
the three-year period.
An interestin feature of
the register at Portree this
YEARS
month was the complete
absence of boys, girls and
women.
Placings in employment by
the five exchanges over the
quarter totalled 1,530 — 40%
of the total in the Invergor¬
den area — and at mid-June
ANGLO SAXOPHONE
The figure of 10,000 native
Gaelic speakers quoted in the
article by William Neill in the
last issue should read 100,000.
there were 453 unfilled noti¬
fied vacancies, slightly under
half of which were for the
hotel industry.
Prospects good
Forward prospects over
tlhe summer season remained
good with a variety of con¬
struction projects in hand.
Recruitment for the first
intake of craftsmen and
operator grades by British
Aluminium Co. Ltd., at Inver¬
gorden exchange had been
most encouraging, said Mr
McCracken.
A number of small expan¬
sions of the labour forces at
establishments, particularly
in the Inverness area, offered
prospects, ancj a canvass of
firms for vacancies for sum¬
mer school-leavers had pro¬
duced a sizeable bank ol
posts.
Mr McCracken reported
that the only clouds on the
horizon towards the end of
tlhe year were the gradual
rundown of staff at Duncan
Logan Ltd., and the begin¬
ning of the decline in person¬
nel as the civil engineering
phase of the construction of
the smelter passed its em¬
ployment peak.
The level of unemployment
in the committee area, he
pointed out, had not reflected
the national trend and at
1,570 was down.
The committee have also
pledged their support for the
recently-intimated proposals
of the Highlands and Islands
Development Board for a
programme of advance factory
building.
Sand Yachting at
Dunnet Bay
’J'HE Caithness and High-
x lands Sand and Land Yacht¬
ing Club are preparing to
host the 4th Scottish Open
Sand Yachting Champion¬
ships at Dunnet Bay, Caith¬
ness, on July 3rd and 4th.
Competitors from all over
Britain are expected to
attend.
The main prize is the Scot¬
tish Champonship Claymore
Rose Bowl donated by the
North of Scotland Milk Mar¬
keting Board; in addition a
special Caithness glass trophy
will be up for competition.
Speaking for the Caithness
Club, whose sand yachting
centre at Dunnet is attracting
increasing interest from home
and abroad, Mr A. V.
Levens, Caithness County De¬
velopment Officer said on
Tuesday: “Although sand
yachting is a relatively new
sport in Scotland, it is devel¬
oping at a rapid pace. In addi¬
tion to our own club, there
are others at Dunbar, Aber¬
deen, Irvine and Ayr, and an
association of Scottish clubs
has been formed. We hope
that competitors from all
these Scottish centres will
participate in the champion¬
ships.”
OFFICIAL IMPRESSED
AT the end of his week’s
tour of Shetland — his
first since taking up office
about a year ago — Mr John
Cormack, senior official in
the Department of Agricul¬
ture and Fisheries for Scot¬
land, with special responsi¬
bility for crofting, expressed
his keen interest in all he
saw.
During his short stay, he
managed to visit Foula and
Papa Stour; a fair bit of the
Shetland mainland; Yell, Unst
and Fetlar. In addition to
finding it interesting and im¬
pressive he- held a healthy re¬
spect for crofting and the
Shetland crofter.
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