A look back at events of 2003

November

• The management behind Orkney Island Games Association this month announced tough new guidelines in an attempt to win more silverware at tournaments.
  
  Games’ bosses took the action – which insisted that each individual sport had to create a development plan before the end of November – after Orkney won only one medal at the 2003 Games event in Guernsey.
• An Orkney man who was convicted of downloading indecent images of children claimed the court was right not to jail him. Martin Howe was placed on two years probation and ordered to complete 100 hours community service, after he admitted downloading 600 indecent images at his home over a three year period.
  
  In a letter to The Orcadian, Howe, of White Street in Kirkwall, claimed it was far better he escaped prison, as he could attend the sex offenders course and be turned back into a model citizen again.
• Controversial plans to site three wind turbines in Finstown moved ahead this month – despite strong objections from residents living near the site.
  Councillors allowed the setting up of a 40 metre high anemometer mast on Cuffie Hill in Firth for the next three years. The device will allow Stromness company Scotrenewables to collect data determining whether the site is suitable for wind turbines.
  
  A petition signed by a number of Firth residents showed that almost 30 people would be deterred by the erection of wind turbines.
• Firth Primary School was named one of the best in Scotland by The Sunday Times this month. The school was hailed for its environmental projects and information technology.
• Cameron Stout did his bit for Orkney in November when he helped launch the 2004 visitor guide to Orkney at the Channings Hotel in Edinburgh.
• Water bailiffs could soon be patrolling lochs throughout Orkney to tackle poaching, it was announced this month. The Orkney Trout Fishing Association made the statement following fears that local lochs are being illegally emptied of fish.
• The cream of Orkney’s sporting talent was praised at the annual Orkney Sporting Awards Dinner/Dance in November. Among the winners were Parish Cup winners Holm Football Club for best team and Orkney’s Island Games medal winner Jim Middlemas for senior sportsperson of the year.
• After several months of exceptionally mild weather, the first winter gales of the latter part of the year hit Orkney in November. Despite winds gusting up to 76mph at one point, the county managed to escape the weather relatively unscathed.
  
  The worst casualty of the winds was a lorry owned by local removals company McAdie and Reeve, which blew over into a field in South Ronaldsay.
• Local renal patients this month threatened to take NHS Orkney to the European Court of Human Rights to improve kidney services in the county. Members of the Orkney Kidney Patients’ Association claimed they were receiving a second-class service from the health board – adding they could build their own unit and bill the health board for it.
• Orkney’s first ever ten-pin bowling league kicked off in November. The league, which is made up of local businesses, proved to be extremely popular and attracted entries from a total of 52 teams.
• It was announced this month that 43-year-old jewellery company Ola Gorie could soon have a new owner.
  
  The firm’s managing director, Mr Duncan McLean, confirmed that plans are in the pipeline that could eventually see the business sold.
• Big-hearted Orcadians raised a staggering £22,000 for the 2003 Children in Need campaign – shattering the 2002 total by more than £3,000.
  One of the best fund-raising efforts came from Kirkwall’s Orkney Hotel, which raised more than £3,200.