EAST Lothian’s museums have opened for their summer season, some with reduced hours due to the local authority’s recruitment freeze.

East Lothian Council has announced the following April-September opening hours:

  • Prestongrange Museum in Prestongrange Heritage Park: Wednesday to Sunday, 11am to 4.30pm;
  • John Muir’s Birthplace, Dunbar: Wednesday to Saturday, 10am to 5pm; Sunday, 1-5pm;
  • Dunbar Town House museum and gallery: Wednesday to Sunday, 1-5pm;
  • John Gray Centre museum, Haddington: Thursday and Friday, 10am to 1pm and 2-5pm; Saturday, 10am to 1pm and 2-4pm.

A council spokesperson said this marked a temporary change in the opening hours of the previous season in accordance with the current recruitment freeze.

They added: “In the months ahead, the museums team have planned an exciting and interesting programme of exhibitions and events.”

At the John Gray Centre, there is a last chance to see the exhibition William Gillies Modernism and Nation, open until April 26. The John Gray Centre Facebook page also has details of a free walking tour and free sketching tour that both explore the spots in Haddington that inspired the well-known local painter.

Currently on at John Muir’s Birthplace is City Slickers in a Smart Countryside, a photography exhibition of images taken along the John Muir Way by Sharon McMenemy Khan/4 Pegs Gallery. The exhibition, which is on until April 28, is celebrating 10 years of the John Muir Way. The photographs are taken at different viewpoints along the route from Falkirk to Dunbar.

At Dunbar Town House: Mark I’Anson’s exhibition Wrapped In A Pea Green Boat runs till May 5.

While at Prestongrange Museum, visitors can explore the new engine shed on guided tours and view rare locomotives, wagons and rolling stock, including a locomotive that worked at Prestongrange Colliery. A newly installed mining mural by Michael Jessing can be seen in the visitor centre.