Competition winner Doris Gunn receiving the Tattie Trophy from Willie Watt.
Members of Reiss Gardening Club were given an insight into the Seafarers Memorial in Wick at their latest meeting.
Willie Watt had come along to talk about the project. He outlined his involvement as chairman of the group that was set up to raise funds, and how they commissioned the sculptor Alan Beattie Herriot to create the statue.
An area at the Braehead was chosen to be the most suitable site as it looked out to sea. On the day of the unveiling, in May 2023, Mr Watt was delighted by the level of support and the positive feedback from the community.
After his presentation Mr Watt was given the job of judging the club’s annual tattie harvest. Each member plants one tattie in a bag and then it is harvested at the October meeting. The winner for the fourth time in a row was Doris Gunn.
Mr Watt handed over the new Tattie Trophy, which had been donated by treasurer Linda Tait.
Reiss Gardening Club meets on the first Tuesday of the month in Reiss hall at 2pm.
The Seafarers Memorial, created by sculptor Alan Beattie Herriot and installed at Wick’s Braehead.
The Seafarers Memorial commemorates all those lost at sea in, or from, the WK vessel registration area. Speaking at the unveiling ceremony, Mr Watt said the monument “brings the community and the sea together” and described it as “our Angel of the Far North”.
The memorial has been the setting for Remembrance Sunday commemorations as well as events marking National Fishing Remembrance Day and Merchant Navy Day.
The statue symbolises how “the sea gives with one hand and takes away with the other”.
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