WE TAKE a look at the stories making headlines in East Lothian 25, 50 and 100 years ago.

25 years ago

‘BRAVEHEARTS of the hills save Guides’ was the front page story in the East Lothian Courier on July 25, 1997.

Three Haddington men became heroes of the hills when they rescued a party of French Girl Guides lost and exhausted on a rain-swept Highland mountain.

The men, all experienced hill-walkers, were on 3,382 ft An Bodach near Fort William when they met three of the Guides, making their way down the mountain in poor visibility, and were told they had lost their leader and that one of their friends was ill.

Brothers John and Richard McMullen, both of Lynn Lea Avenue, Haddington, and their chum, Craig McLaren, 31, a local man now living in Edinburgh, carried on up the mountain and found nine Guides clad only in shorts and t-shirts.

“They were soaked and freezing and one of the girls was suffering from hypothermia and having mild asthma attacks,” said Richard, 30.

50 years ago

HADDINGTON became little France as schoolchildren from Aubigny visited the town, reported the East Lothian Courier on July 28, 1972.

If you have noticed a group of young people in and around Haddington during the past week and possibly caught snippets of their conversations as they passed and thought ‘Well that’s all Greek to me’ then you would be wrong – because they are French.

They come from Aubigny, Haddington’s French twin-town, and are here on an exchange visit involving a party from their school in France and the Knox Academy.

On Tuesday night the Poldrate Mill was the venue for what must rate as the most unusual Civic Reception the town has ever held.

The usual procedure was thrown over in favour of a more modern form of entertainment – a discotheque, with soft drinks and snacks to keep the dancers fortified.

100 years ago

A DANGEROUS corner was the site of nasty accidents, told The Haddingtonshire Courier on July 28, 1922.

On Sunday afternoon, three accidents of an alarming nature occurred on the Coast Road at Longniddry.

The first took place at the foot of the Lyars Road – at the point of the junction of the road from the village with the Coast Road. Here a motor car and a bicycle, ridden by a lad from Edinburgh, were in a collision.

The motor car knocked down the direction post by the side of the road, and the cyclist was picked up from under the car with his machine twisted and broken. The heavy pole, which was several feet into the ground, was uprooted by the force of the impact. This corner is an exceedingly dangerous one.