WE TAKE a look at the stories making headlines in East Lothian 25, 50 and 100 years ago.
25 years ago
HUNDREDS of people were left without power as blizzards hit the county, reported the East Lothian Courier on March 2, 2001.
The most severe blizzards to hit East Lothian in more than a decade left the county under a crippling blanket of snow this week, with roads blocked, schools and day centres closed, trees down and thousands of homes without electricity for three days.
At the time of going to press, heavy snow was again falling, the A1 road was blocked at Pencraig hill, East Linton, and police decided to stop all south-bound traffic at Haddington.
Schools throughout the county, which were reopening for the first time since the heavy snow began on Monday, were faced with once again sending pupils home.
Supplies of fresh milk, bread and rolls were hit as delivery trucks failed to make it through drifts which blocked the main A1 between Edinburgh and Haddington for a time on Tuesday morning, leaving shelves bare in many shops.
50 years ago
PARKING problems in Musselburgh were causing businesses to shut, reported the East Lothian Courier on March 5, 1976.
Shops are closing down in Musselburgh because of the effects of heavy through traffic and of parking restrictions.
Mr W. Caird, convener of the Interim Community Council Steering Committee, said that at one time it was said that Fisherrow was a “dying community”.
Now the whole burgh of Musselburgh was being affected, and Mr Caird urged the committee to get together with other associations such as the Musselburgh Merchants Association and the Old Musselburgh Club to see if more pressure could be exerted to push through the creation of a by-pass.
While they were waiting for the by-pass, they could get something done about the yellow parking restriction lines, said Mr J. Naysmith.
Alternate parking in Fisherrow or in the High Street was one possibility, he said, and he did not see the necessity for parking restrictions over weekends.
100 years ago
A NUMBER of Prestonpans miners and their wives attended a series of lectures on ‘Miners’ sicknesses and diseases’, said The Haddingtonshire Courier of March 5, 1926.
Referring to accidents in pits, Dr McEwan said they could never get away from these, although the total had been greatly reduced in recent years.
There were twice as many deaths from pit accidents in Germany as in Britain, and that was due to the large amount of legislation existing in this country.
Dr McEwan explained what should be done if a man sustained an electric shock. He was absolutely certain that, if miners were trained in first-aid, a man could recover where artificial respiration applied.
Dealing with first-aid in the case of a broken leg, he said he did not suppose many people know that the first essential thing was to tie a man’s legs together so that the sound leg acted as a splint to the other.
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