The first North Berwick Safety Swimming Pond was opened by the Lord Justice General on 16 September 1900, in front of nearly 3000 residents and visitors. Many swimming galas and events were held at the pool and it was a wonderful place to visit for families on holiday.

Alexander ‘Prophet’ Peden (1626-1686) was a Covenanting preacher. Covenanters were a 17th-century Scottish religious and political movement who supported a Presbyterian Church of Scotland. The name is derived from ‘Covenant’, a biblical term for a bond or agreement with God.

Forrest’s map of 1799 shows a Washing House in Dirleton as far back as 1799. By the later 19th century there were washing houses attached to large houses and groups of cottages shared washing houses. In 1913 the Turbyne family bought the former schoolhouse in Dirleton and set up a laundry.

Extract of Obituary from Haddingtonshire Courier, 27 September 1878:
Everyone will miss the familiar face of Johnnie Bowers from the streets and corners of the town. The style in which Johnnie acted as town-crier was thoroughly unique. The old bell having worn out and disappeared, the Town Council left Johnnie to his own resources.

“The session appoints ane paire of iogges to be made as formerly has been and affixed in the most convenient pairt within the church yeard.”
North Berwick Kirk Session Minutes, April 1674

At the beginning of the Covid-19 outbreak in March 2020, a team of 40 ladies from Gullane and the surrounding area dusted off their sewing machines and sharpened their scissors when it became apparent that the NHS and others in the healthcare sector were struggling to source basic PPE items such as scrub sets, scrub bags and face coverings.

This enamel sign belonged to an Edwardian chemist’s shop that was situated on North Berwick High Street. After the invention of soda machines in America in the nineteenth century, British companies manufactured soda pumps which carbonated water using carbonic acid.

Mirror balls were common on dance floors in the 1960s and 1970s. The Pavilion, or ‘The Piv’ as it was fondly known, opened on 30 June 1930 in North Berwick harbour next to the outdoor pool.

We are lucky to have an original beach hut at the Coastal Communities Museum. This account of the history of the West Bay Beach Huts was complied in 2021 by Stewart Auld, who generously donated his beach hut to the museum and is William Auld’s great grandson: