A WELL-KNOWN and much-loved Port Seton stalwart is celebrating her 100th birthday today (Friday).
Margaret Mack, of Thomson Crescent, was set to enjoy her special day with plenty of video calls with her family, after the coronavirus pandemic forced her to put plans for a party on hold.
Born in Port Seton on February 26, 1921, Margaret attended Cockenzie School as a child.
She met her late husband Charlie, a miner, in 1938, when they both attended the now-disbanded Prestonpans Wheelers bicycle club.
The group would cycle to places such as Dunbar and Peebles for the afternoon.
Charlie owned a tandem bicycle with his brother and an intrigued Margaret asked him to take her for a short ride along the coast.
A date to the cinema quickly followed and just over a year later they were married.
They wed at a registrars’ office on Chambers Street in Edinburgh on January 27, 1940.
They were happily married for 77 years and had three children together – Andrew, Beth and Ellen.
Margaret (right) and Charlie on their 70th wedding anniversary in 2010
Sadly, Charlie passed away in December 2016, aged 99, after suffering from pneumonia, his chest and lungs having been affected by working as a miner for 46 years.
He would have been due to celebrate his 100th birthday the following July.
Margaret’s family have strong links to the fishing industry in Port Seton.
Margaret used to work as a fish filleter for her brother John Thomson’s fishmonger’s in between having her children.
Her son Andrew used to own a langoustine trawler; he is now retired and his son Daniel runs family business Neptune’s Larder at the harbour.
Charlie and Margaret crowned their great granddaughter Annaliese when she was Cockenzie and Port Seton Gala Queen in 2016.
Andrew’s boat The Tern was the Queen’s Barge that year, taking the royal court to sea for the traditional voyage between Cockenzie and Port Seton harbours.
During the first lockdown last spring, Margaret was receiving assistance and meals from her local resilience team, led by Cockenzie and Port Seton Community Council.
During lockdown, staff and volunteers at the Port Seton Centre produced and delivered hot meals and food packages to vulnerable residents in the community.
Margaret was the recipient of the group’s 7,000th meal, which, along with a bouquet of flowers, was delivered to her on May 25.
Margaret Mack (photographed last May after receiving her local resilience team's 7,000th meal) turns 100 years old today (Friday)
Margaret now enjoys the quiet life and regularly attends Cockenzie and Port Seton Old Parish Church when coronavirus restrictions allow.
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