Sale day at the Wick mart was a social occasion
Recorded 8 years ago
About this recording
Robbie Gordon from East Clyth started as a clerk with Aberdeen & Northern Marts in Wick in 1970. At that time the mart was a fixture in the town centre, and in this interview Robbie describes the atmosphere – and smells! – associated with livestock sale days. He remembers when a runaway stirk caused a bit of a scare in Bridge Street and recounts the mysterious disappearance of a turkey from the Christmas poultry sale. Robbie also lists the many butcher shops in and around Wick that were supplied by the mart, and talks about the sales held at outlying districts such as Dunbeath and Bettyhill. Eventually the outdated Wick premises with their wooden pens were no longer fit for purpose and in 1992 the ANM Group opened the new Caithness Livestock Centre at Quoybrae, near Watten. Robbie officially retired in 2016 but is still called upon to help at Quoybrae from time to time.
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