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

25 years ago

‘THIEVES strike on the Bass Rock’ was the unusual headline in the East Lothian Courier on July 2, 1999.

Thousands of beady eyes may have watched a crime being committed but the witnesses are unlikely to ever give up their story and help solve what has been hailed as a most ‘unusual crime’ – for the beady eyes belong to the seabirds which inhabit the Bass Rock.

For recently an electric generator was stolen from the island, which is located three and a half miles north east of North Berwick.

Famed for being the largest single rock Gannet colony in the world, the island was once a state prison, believed too difficult to escape from, so the unusual theft has mystified police.

“It is certainly an unusual crime and the Bass is an unusual place for anyone to commit it.

“Not many people can actually land there and I don’t think anyone is allowed to without consulting Sir Hew Hamilton-Dalrymple,” said a police spokesman.

50 years ago

CONCERNS about radiation from a proposed nuclear power station were documented in the East Lothian Courier on July 5, 1974.

Fears that anything up to 2,000 people could be at risk in the event of an accidental release of radioactivity from the proposed nuclear power station at Torness Point near Dunbar were expressed at the public enquiry hearing objections to the South of Scotland Electricity Board’s application for outline planning permission for the station.

Mr Peter Glazebrook of The Old Thornton Mill, Innerwick, expressed concern for the safety of non-residents who might be in the vicinity of the station in the event of such an occurrence.

Stressing the need for every possible aspect to be considered, he said: “We have heard that this radiation can cause cancer and leukaemia and we know doctors refrain from irradiating pregnant women for diagnostic purposes for fear of causing leukaemia in the unborn baby.”

100 years ago

MINERS in East Lothian were set to see their wages fall following a review, reported The Haddingtonshire Courier on July 4, 1924.

At a meeting of the Scottish Mineworkers’ Union, on Monday, in Glasgow – Mr Robert Smillie M.P. presiding – the accountants under the conciliation agreement were present, and gave a report of the latest ascertainment of prices.

As a result of the lower average shown, the miners’ wages will undergo a reduction of a little over three pence per day.

This will bring down the rates to 10s per day