Regeneration...

Nearly two weeks ago now my daughter and I went along to a regeneration weekend at John O'Groats.

yes, its the John O Groats ferry

Many of you no doubt know it as just a name, bandied about when hardy souls venture from John O'Groats to Lands End or vice versa. It's the most Northerly part of the Mainland British Isles (well actually it isnt, that's Dunnet Head, but popular opinion is all that matters I suppose) and is frequently the end of the road for charitable persons, knackered but proud of their achievements with a smile and a photograph at the signpost.  As such it should be a special place....but at least for the last 12 years it has been a bit of an eyesore.

When I first came to Caithness in 1999 my father-in-law took me to JoG on a typical Caithness driech day, and I can remember a massive sense of disappointment as we drove into the car park. The old Hotel, with its octagonal tower, once a place of Victorian comfort and splendour, was derelict, standing near the harbour and a small complex of shops amid a huge car park. This is what all those people saw as they started or finished their gruelling journeys. The summer sunlight didn make it seem much better.

looking towards one of the little beachs

Over the years I've visited JoG often, gone for a wander into the little shops (one of my favourite local artists, David Body, has a lovely pottery shop there) and had a cuppa in the little cafe attached to a woollen mill shop. The view over to Stroma and the Orkneys is spectacular and it could actually be a lovely place if only it could be "done up". But the hotel has always loomed over the place like a ghost just waiting to be noticed. Reading about H.V. Morton's journey north and his stay at the hotel in the 1920s, it is such a shame that the hotel has been left for dead.

For at least as long as I have been in the county there has been talk of regeneration, but no matter how hard the locals have tried nothing has happened. The hotel has had absentee owners, and out of sight, out of mind really does ring true here. But things are finally moving.....cue the other weekend.

artwork created from local shells and a lobster pot looks over the Firth

Artists were invited to create a mini festival...the owners of the hotel have plans all ready to revamp the hotel and create self contained units...the regeneration ball has started rolling. It's a pity that there didn't seem to be any local artists involved (after all the county is full of artists), but there were problems with tenders and as I dont know much about it I wont comment, however there was a good atmosphere that weekend. An artist created 100 small wooden boats that were launched into the Pentland Firth (one has floated to Orkney), a potter created groatie buckies (little conch shells found at the beach on JoG) with the help of local school children (dtr couldnt find hers unfortnately) which would be launched into the harbour, there was storytelling and a number of other activities...and the hotel had been painted to be made into its own artwork.

Pottery shells on the harbour wall

I hope that this is the start of something good for the area. The sun was shining, there was no wind (usually the wind blowing off the Pentland Firth was knock you sideways) and there were lots of people smiling. The painted hotel brought a mixed reception...I personally didn't like it, I thought it made a mockery of what was once a beautiful building...but the paint will fade in about ten weeks so it isn't a permanent fixture. What is important is that something is finally happening. The locals are a friendly bunch but only so much can be done with good intentions, I hope this is the start of a real regeneration...with a happy ending.

The John O Groats hotel....once white, now multi-coloured

burning furniture falling out of the building

hmmmm. Circus tents anyone?

The Ghost.....

I’ve been immersed in old films lately. I have to admit that I very often find old films a lot more enjoyable than new ones, so armed with a birthday Amazon voucher I bought a few favourites…one of which is the first film I ever remember watching.

I can remember going to school in first year of primary and sitting in a room one day talking to my friends about tv. It’s one of those weird memories that stick for some reason…I can distinctly remember telling my friends that I was allowed to stay up and watch a scary film about a ghost. That film was The Ghost Goes West and ever since I’ve had a fondness for the film and its actor Robert Donat.

http://www.britishpictures.com

If you don’t know the film it’s a story of a Highlander, Murdoch, who liked the ladies but after dying a cowards death was doomed to roam the halls of his castle until he could clear his family’s name. Cue the “modern day” impoverished owner, Donald, surprisingly enough the spitting image of the ghost, desperate to sell the castle to pay off his debts. Add a pretty American heiress and her family and the scene is set.

http://filmsdefrance.com

It’s a brilliant film and if you haven’t seen it, and if you love classic films, then you really should get hold of a copy. The quality is quite bad now, but for a film that is nearly 80 years old I think you can forgive the odd scratch and sound fluctuations.

Released a year after one of Donat’s most famous film, the 39 Steps, this is the one that has stuck with me. Although Goodbye Mr Chips, for which he won a Best Actor Oscar, and where he ages fifty years throughout the film, is an absolute must for anyone in search of cinematic history.

Donat had chronic asthma and apparently had problems with confidence and self-doubt…I hope he finally realised what a great actor he was. Robert died in 1958 aged only 53 after completing his final film, another great, the Inn of the Sixth Happiness with Ingrid Bergman.

Funny how serendipity works…I also have a fascination with the work of the architect C.F.A. Voysey, and Donat’s first wife Ella Annesley Voysey was a niece of his. Plus Donat’s mother came from a Whitby family…were my family have settled. Hmmm. Cue some research I think J There are also a collection of his letters now housed at John Rylands University Library in Manchester. Oh how I’d love to sit and read through those!!

If you want to read more about his life and works, Wikipedia have a short biography, but I’d recommend reading the biographical history here at John Rylands.

They just don’t make gentlemen actors like him anymore.