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

 

25 years ago

NEW flats in Haddington town centre were not proving popular with town residents, said the East Lothian Courier of September 6, 1996.

Flats under construction in Haddington have been branded a ‘blot on the landscape’ by furious local residents who say they ruin the approach to the town from two directions.

The four storey buildings in Hardgate have sparked uproar as residents living opposite claim that, apart from being an eyesore, they block out daylight, forcing them to use electric light during the day.

Neighbouring householders, one of whom has an asthmatic child, also complain that the new buildings trap fumes in the narrow street when traffic builds up at traffic lights, so that windows must be kept shut.

Traffic in the area, they say, has built up to intolerable levels with construction lorries

 

50 years ago

A WOMAN sent her husband’s trousers to the launderette – with £40 in a pocket, reported The Haddingtonshire Courier of September 10, 1971.

A woman ran through the streets of Tranent, stopped a police patrol van and jumped in.

Her sister saw the drama and followed in close pursuit.

Breathless, she arrived at the police station.

The trouble? Her sister had sent her husband’s trousers to the laundry with £40 in a pocket.

The man of the house and his wife had just ended a quiet holiday at home.

The laundry boy called at their door and the Tranent resident handed over a parcel.

“When my husband arrived home he asked if I had sent his suit to the laundry,” she said.

“I said I had.”

 

100 years ago

A VILLA in Dunbar was destroyed by fire, told The Haddingtonshire Courier of September 9, 1921.

Early on Sunday morning, “Holmlea,” a large villa, standing in its own grounds on the Queen’s Road, at the extreme east end of the town, and owned by Mr John Turnbull, W.S., Edinburgh, was totally destroyed by fire, only the bare walls being left standing.

The outbreak is believed to have originated in the upper storey, and, on the arrival of the local fire brigade, it was found that the fire had gained a firm hold of the building.

It was possible to save a portion of the furniture.

In the course of the day, hundreds of people visited the scene of the fire.