WE TAKE a look at the stories making headlines in East Lothian 25, 50 and 100 years ago.
25 years ago
‘MULTI-MILLION pound bid to bring new life to historic town centre’ was a headline in the East Lothian Courier on March 30, 2001.
A bid is to be made for £3 million to renovate buildings in Dunbar’s historic town centre including the Town House, the Abbey Kirk, and an old function hall known as ‘the Dreadnought’.
The reinstatement of the Old Monks Walk which runs behind the Co-op superstore (the former site of a monastery) and the restoration of closes (riggs) is also proposed.
Scott Cooper of the Cockburn Conservation Trust, the driving force behind the scheme, aims to apply for lottery funding with matching grants from related organisations, including East Lothian Council and Historic Scotland, making up the total required.
Dunbar and West Barns Councillor Norman Hampshire backed the bid, particularly the reinstatement of the walk. “Dunbar’s biggest asset is its history. The Cockburn Trust has done wonders restoring the Royal Mile in Edinburgh,” he said.
50 years ago
A FIRE in a potato store made front-page headlines in the East Lothian Courier on April 2, 1976.
A number of children have been questioned by police following a blaze at a Whitekirk farm on Saturday.
The police are working on the assumption that children seen near the farm on Saturday morning may be responsible and have issued an appeal asking for anyone with any information on the incident to come forward.
The £40,000 blaze gutted the farm steading and more than 120 tons of potatoes were lost, along with a cow in calf.
Next door to the potato store stood some 50 cattle and young calves. They were saved from a grim death by farm foreman, Mr George Leslie, who with his son, Archibald, raised the alarm and evacuated the cattle from the steading.
Ten cows were treated for burns, several serious.
Counting the cost, Mr James Main, farmer, told the Courier: “The heifer which died was valued at around £400. She was in calf and that cannot be replaced very easily.
“We had between 120 and 150 tons of potatoes in store. At £200 per ton I have lost a great deal.”
100 years ago
THE owners of a Haddington house acted quickly to avoid disaster, reported The Haddingtonshire Courier on April 2, 1926.
An outbreak of fire, which, if it had not been discovered timeously, might have been disastrous, occurred at Eaglescairnie House, the residence of Col. W. E. Peel, on Tuesday morning.
The fire was discovered in a pantry about nine o’clock, and Haddington fire brigade was immediately summoned.
Before their arrival, however, the outbreak had been extinguished by the apparatus belonging to the house.
The fire is believed to have originated through hot ashes in a bucket. The amount of damage done was slight.
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