25 years ago

A LOTTERY winner was thanking her lucky stars after scooping a six-figure sum, the East Lothian Courier reported on February 7, 1997.

A Prestonpans housewife who was so short of cash that she sacrificed the family rent for her Saturday lottery stake will never have to make the choice again.

For mother-of-three Joyce McNeil collected a cool £101,000 on last weekend’s draw, and could kiss goodbye to her council house on North Grange Avenue tomorrow if she wanted.

Mrs McNeil, whose husband Billy is a welder, risked going into arrears to play last Saturday’s game. She was faced with a choice between paying the rent, or paying her husband’s road tax and a ticket for the draw.

Now she and her husband are thanking their lucky stars that the car came first and they stumped up for a stake in the game.

Mrs McNeil said: “I had to make the choice but Billy needed the car for work so that was that. Thank God we made the right decision.”

50 years ago

THE name ‘East Lothian District Council’ was set to be given to a new local authority, the East Lothian Courier said on February 4, 1972.

Speaking at the 83rd annual gathering of Haddington Burns Club in the Railway Hotel, Provost A. F. Spowage put forward a strong case for Haddington as the seat of power for the new District Council, and suggested that its name will be ‘East Lothian District Council.’

“Haddington has reached a momentous and exciting milestone,” he said. “In the 800 years of its history. Momentous because in three years’ time we will no longer have a Town Council in Haddington, which some people will consider a tragedy and others a cause for celebration. In 1975, we will be part of East Lothian, Musselburgh and Inveresk Parish.

“A name is yet to be chosen but I have it on good authority that the name will be ‘East Lothian District Council’.”

100 years ago

A HURRIED meeting to discuss an outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease was held in the county, told The Haddingtonshire Courier on February 3, 1922.

A special meeting of the East Lothian Local Authority was held in the County Buildings, Haddington, for the purpose of considering the alarming outbreaks of foot-and-mouth disease which had occurred in England, and receiving and considering a report by the Chairman (Mr T. Elder of Stevenson) regarding a meeting that day of the Scottish Advisory Committee.

The chairman said, as they were all aware, this was a hurried meeting.

A considerable outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease had taken place in the northern counties of England.