There’s nothing like going somewhere else, to make you appreciate the place you are!

A recent trip to Norfolk – a first visit there for me – made that point with some force.

While there is much about that area of England that is interesting, unusual and pleasant, there was nothing to rival the loveliness I see every day in East Lothian!

The Norfolk coast is magnificent and the people are putting up a real struggle to hold back the assault of the sea on their beaches, cliffs and coastline.

But nothing I saw rivalled Belhaven Bay, or Tyninghame Beach, Yellowcraig, Seacliff – or the clifftop walk in Dunbar.

The villages in that part of England were unusual, with cobbled houses offering a unique architecture, that took the eye, but nothing to compare with the warm, stone cottages and the red pan-tiled roofs of the Stentons, Athelstanefords, Spotts and Garvalds.

Call me biased but the prettiness of East Lothian, the fields, the sweep of the landscape, and the range of scenery makes us privileged indeed.

The people in Norfolk were unfailingly pleasant, warm-hearted and welcoming – and that was a real delight. Little country pubs with affable hosts and friendly staff... hearty food and mammoth portions, all washed down with a range of local beers and ciders – not to be sniffed at! But we have our own great eating places, our welcoming hosts and hostesses, our snug coffee shops, and our excellent cuisine.

And no matter how busy we find the A1 and the trips to Edinburgh or Berwick, they are a total skoosh compared to the traffic down south! Constant hurry, traffic jams, thundering lorries and congestion.

No, coming home to East Lothian is no hardship. The pity of it would be if we were to under-appreciate the blessing that is ours.