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

25 years ago...

ANGRY schoolchildren were writing to the Prime Minister, reported the East Lothian Courier on March 13, 1998.

Pupils from Preston Lodge have written to Prime Minister Tony Blair in protest at repairs which were carried out at the school shortly before the visit of Chancellor Gordon Brown on Saturday last.

The Chancellor visited Preston Lodge, which was chosen as the venue for the last of the Government’s ‘Welfare Roadshows’, to talk to an audience of Labour members on proposed benefit cuts.

The pupils were angered when the school’s dining hall was painted and a new wheelchair ramp was constructed in preparation for the welfare roadshow and felt that the money could have been better spent on educational resources.

The pupils wrote: “Of particular concern is the amount of money spent on this redecoration and the manner in which the needs of pupils have been ignored in order to prepare for the roadshow.”

MEANWHILE, a birthday boy received a special present.

A 94-year-old gunner’s dream came true when he fired Edinburgh Castle’s one o’clock gun – 82 years after he saw it used in anger.

Jock Wilson, a former lance bombardier who lives in Dunbar, loaded the 25-pounder with a blank round and sent shock waves round the capital when he pulled the trigger last Wednesday.

 

50 years ago...

A JUDGE unhappy at “rowdyism” in Prestonpans made headlines in the East Lothian Courier of March 16, 1973.

Provost Robert Henderson hit out in Prestonpans Burgh Court on Thursday last at youths who caused disturbances in the town after discotheques.

Provost Henderson, the presiding magistrate, said he would not tolerate young people who cursed and swore in the streets of Prestonpans and generally caused a nuisance.

He said he would make an example of four youths up before him who committed offences after or during a discotheque in the Town Hall on December 1.

 

and 100 years ago...

NORTH Berwick Town Council was on the hunt for a new swimming master for its swimming pond, offering wages of £3 per week, reported The Haddingtonshire Courier on March 16, 1923.

The Town Council have considered a proposal to lease the swimming pond.

It has been decided not to enter into a lease but to advertise for a pond and a swimming master, at a wage of £3 per week, beside the fees for teaching swimming.

It has also been decided not to proceed in the meantime with the provision of a flushing tank at the swimming pond.