Halkirk's New Football Park - progress update

The east stand

View of the north stand from the east stand

view looking North towards Thurso

Halkirk's new football park (Morrison Park) is taking shape. It is located in the field to the North of the existing football pitch, opposite the old Poorhouse (now the Fairview flats).

The galvinised steel crowd barriers are in place and the two stands will be finished off with toughened glass sides and emergency lighting by the end of the month.  The 8 sets of lights work and have been aligned to the pitch markings. The large gravel car park is ready and it has street lighting.

One stand is behind the goal at the North end and the other is at the half way line on the east side. The west side will have two dugouts (curved clear plastic structures as per latest professional design).

The goalpost tubes are cemented in place and await erection of the posts. Trees have been planted in the North-West corner and behnd the North goal - to give wind shelter (eventually!).

There are no new changerooms, so there will be a 100 yard walk to reach the new pitch from the existing changerooms at the Recreation Park.

The pitch has a 2' 6" straight slope running from North to South (no camber), so that that the water runs off into the new drainage system. There are also drains underneath the whole pitch. The drainage works well and the pitch has been very dry despite the wet weather. The slope is not noticeable when standing on the perfectly flat pitch.

Riding Club Winter Show Bonanza

Working Hunter Horse Champion Gillian McArthur receives her trophy

Working Hunter Pony Champion Hayley Florence receives her trophy

Gillian McArthur and Supreme Diamond Edge

Diane Ross and Kingston

Diane Ross and Kingston

Caitlin Bissett and Bradmoor Tess

Hayley Florence and Crackerjack

The Caithness Riding Club held the first day of their two day Winter Show Bonanza at the Halkirk Indoor Riding School today. The Working Hunter classes were today's event and the judge was Mr S Cruikshanks. All the jumping was held indoors despite the great weather and an outdoor arena.

The horse championship went to Gillian McArthur on Supreme Diamond Edge. The reserve was Diane Ross on Kingston.

The pony championship went to Hayley Florence on Crackerjack. The reserve was Caitlin Bissett on Bradmoor Tess.

Thurso vs Golspie

No.11 Stuart Florence congratulates Graham MacNab on scoring

Shaun Kerr fires a shot past Colin Sinclair

Shane Sutherland takes to the air

Greig Shearer tackles Tommy Campbell

Shaun Kerr tussles with Sean Stewart

Colin Sinclair heads away the danger in front of a packed stand

Shane Sutherland cracks a shot at goal

Sean Stewart weaves his way through the Golspie defence

Sandy "Bones" Sutherland takes on John Smith

Thurso beat Golspie 1-0 in the top of the table clash at the Dammies in Thurso today. Graham MacNab scored early in the first half with a simple tap in - after a mix up in the Golspie defence.

The first half was fairly even with chances going to both sides. Alan Sinclair had a cracking daisy cutter saved by Golspie keeper Gordy Macrae, who didn't know much about it as it was so fast. Golspie striker Shane Sutherland looked really sharp and caused the Sinclair brothers lots of problems. He had some good efforts at goal and Graeme Williamson had one superb save at the end of the half from a snap shot by Sutherland. There was lots of juicy tackles and surprisingly only 3 were booked in the first half.

Thurso hardly troubled the Golpsie goal in the 2nd half as the Sutherland side turned up the heat in trying for the equaliser.  The Vikings managed to hang on despite the onslaught and now go three points clear of Golspie.

Alness Utd thrashed Halkirk Utd 6-1 in Alness.
Clach beat Muir of Ord 2-1.
Wick Academy lost 4-1 away to Forres, but still stay top of the league.
Caithness RFC lost 25-15 away to Strathmore in the cup match.

Halkirk Fireworks Display

A couple of pics from tonight's fireworks display which was held at the riverside beside the Halkirk bridge. The Ross Institute is in the background.

Halkirk Utd vs Thurso

Thurso celebrate after Graham MacNab's goal

Alan Larnach jumps with Kyle Ross

Thurso's Marc MacGregor fires a shot at the Halkirk goal

Graham MacNab weaves his way through the Halkirk defence

Graham MacNab watches his header go over the top

Colin Sinclair blocks a Chris Sutherland shot

Darren Banks beats Jack Halliday

Thurso beat Halkirk Utd 1-0 today at the Recreation Park. Graham MacNab scored in the 70th minute. The Halkirk youngsters gave the more experienced Thurso side a good run for their money and were unlucky not to get a point.

Halkirk's Michael Bremner had a thunderbolt tipped over the bar by Graeme Williamson and the Anglers had a late goal chalked off for a close offside decision.

The win keeps Thurso on top of the North Caledonian league.

Wick Academy beat Keith 5-1 and they are also on top of the league. I couldn't make it through to Wick and missed a fantastic first half performance where Wick scored 4 goals without reply. Richard MacAdie scored a hat-trick in 15 mins.

Caithness RFC lost 53-3 against league leaders Aberdeenshire (in Aberdeen).

Cyprus sunset

Just spent a week in Pafos, Cyprus, where it was 27 degrees for 5 out of the 7 days. Our hotel was right on the beach and I spent most evenings taking pics of the sunset. This is the best one.

The Societies' Awards for October

The Societies' awards for October were just announced and I gained two highly commended awards for my B&W pic of a Range Rover Evoque and a pic taken during the Scotland vs France Six Nations match last February.