Following the storm-damage in 1811 the south west pier was relaid and the original breakwater extended, forming a new pier head at the entrance, the top of which was reached by a stair. The first pilots of the port were appointed in January 1787. These were Peter Marr Snr., Henry Jackson, Matthew Jackson, Alex Combe, John Smith, Peter Marr Jnr. and James Kelly. The harbour-entrance is 25 ft. wide and opposite on the south west pier is a chase and crane for booms, installed in 1806 to improve the safety of the harbour. But a report by Robert Stevenson and Sons in 1861 states that the boom contributed to the disaster of 1811 by increasing the pressure on the south west pier which was badly damaged. The deepening of the harbour was carried out in 1804 by Messrs Grieves and Bamber of North Berwick and again in 1862 by J. Young of Sutherland. Cut-back rock-faces can be seen under the quays where encroaching rocks had to be removed, when the harbour was deepened.

Repairs to the harbour was a burden on the Council and to raise the finance required they proposed to sell off the island of Craigleith. On 17th September 1814 a disposition had been executed in favour of Sir Hew Hamilton-Dalrymple who agreed to pay £400 for the Craig, by yearly instalments of £100. Originally it had been intended to dispose of the island by lottery, but this was found to be illegal. To improve the entrance, the Northern Lights Commissioners placed a buoy on the Maidens in 1861.

During the deepening of the harbour in 1862, a serious disturbance occurred on a Saturday night, which was pay-day, when a number of the labourers employed in the works got exceedingly noisy leading to riotous behaviour. Police constable McMillan was called to the harbour and cautioned the men on their behaviour, which resulted in one of the Irishmen directing a knock down bow to McMillan. This was repeated twice after the constable had regained his feet. On seeing this, Alex Russell one of the local fishermen ran forward to assist the policeman but the navvies served Russell in the same manner as McMillan.

This proved too much for the other fishermen who had gathered and they rushed forward, resulting in hand to hand fighting lasting for over half an hour. Shortly afterwards one of the Irishmen named Dailly was identified as the man who had struck the policeman and was captured and lodged in jail. On Monday at the Burgh Court, James Dall the Chief Magistrate convicted Dailly and sentenced him to pay a fine of £2 or 30 days imprisonment. His comrades paid the fine.

Associated with the harbour was a coopers yard where boats were repaired or laid up. This was approached by way of a slip in the harbour's east corner near the Burgh stable yard which was also used to stable the local constabulary horses. Two warehouses were built on the quay side, the present buildings occupied by East Lothian Yacht Club and the Harbour Terrace with their original outside staircases. These buildings were used for the storage of grain, wool and potatoes for export. Later they also accommodated a number of fishing families who had migrated from Buckhaven. Coal was transported to the town by boat from Bo'ness, the Fife coast and Newcastle with the coalyard situated on the site of the former Sun Parlour. In 1839 it cost 14/- a ton for Scotch Great Coal or 17/- a ton for English. Coal was very expensive and a great burden on the poor family.

The original level of the road leading to the harbour can be seen below the railings at 19-29 Victoria Road. This property incorporating Lower Quay was constructed in 1868 by Keddie & Herriot whose joiners yard was in the Quadrant. At that time John Herriot was a Town Councillor and the row of cottages were known as Herriot Place. The outside staircases remain but the coal cellars underneath were removed when the road was raised and the building on the south end added. The Fisherman's Hall was built in 1883 and the Coastguard Semaphore lookout post on the Platcock Rocks was constructed in 1889.

On the Anchor Green stands a red granite Celtic Cross, with the inscription ' Erected in memory of Catherine Watson of Glasgow, aged 19 who drowned in the East Bay, 27th July 1889 while rescuing a drowning boy. The child was saved, the brave girl was taken.' The memorial was designed by S. McGlashen in 1890 and crafted by Catherine Watson's fellow students at Glasgow School of Art and surround by a decorative metal railing.

In the 18th century all fishing boats in Scotland were built as clinker, or clench design with the deck positioned about three feet below the lowest point of the gunwale. As the hull planks, or strakes reached from the bow to stern in one piece, the length of the boat was entirely governed by the length of the wooden strakes available, which rarely exceeded 34 feet. The boats had to be light and small enough to be hauled to beyond the high water mark at night.

The most popular timber for the construction of the boats was 'She' Oak because it was thought to be lucky. A 'she' oak is a type of oak tree where the female flowers grow in greater abundance than the male. Other woods such as Aspen were never used because they were thought to be unlucky. The use of the 'she' oak gave rise to the habit of calling the boats 'she' and according to folklore the reason why fishermen were reluctant to allow women on board a working vessel was because they thought the boat might get jealous.

By 1848 the design had improved with a series of closely spaced timber frames on which the strakes were fastened, and this method of construction dispensed with the need for each strake to extend from bow to stern in one continuous plank. Three boat designs assumed prominence on the east coast during this period, the Scaffie used along the Moray Firth and the Fifie preferred by the fishermen on the Firth of Forth. The third design was given the nickname of 'Zulu' as the first boat was launched during the Zulu Wars of the 1880s. The Reaper was the biggest Fifie Class herring lugger at over 70 feet and weighing sixty tons it could reach speeds of over ten knots and with it's twin mast and dripping lug sails it was a formidable vessels. When it was designed, the Reaper was so big her development was only possible with the introduction of new steam technology to hoist the huge sails and pull in the driftnets filled with ten tons of herring.

As the nineteenth century progressed herring became an important food for the whole of Britain and the government offered a financial incentive to any Scottish fisherman building a boat over sixty feet. The Reaper required a crew of five and was able to sail 200 miles in a single day. From about 1890 until the introduction of steam and later petrol powered engines, the Fifie and the half-decked Zulu were the Rolls Royce of deep-sea sailing drifters.

In 1888 there were 90 men and boys working 30 fishing boats at North Berwick and by the turn of the century Canty Bay had its own small fishing community with 31 people working on six fishing boats. The deep-sea fishing was chiefly carried out from fifty to one hundred miles east of the Bass, where cod, ling, turbot, halibut and skate were caught. In 1862 there was only one decked smack employed in the deep-fishing and a company was formed to construct four more boats costing £4000, the money was raised in £5 shares. This made five boats in all, four of which were always be on the fishing ground and the fifth discharging her cargo at North Berwick.

In 1863, the herring fishing was carried out around the Craigleith but the herring suddenly disappeared around 1874 and were seldom seen west of the Bass. When the herring was abundant off North Berwick, a typical evenings fishing could yield an average of four or five crans, some boats landed nine or ten and one boat nearly twenty cran, which stood as a record for a number of years. The prices in 1860 varied from 26 to 31 shillings per cran. The biggest haul was taken from 10th to the 18th August. At the height of the herring fishing 7000 barrels were obtained in one week, the ordinary take was about 12,000 barrels in a season and the boats came from Fife and the South.

The women got up early to gather the mussels for baiting the fishing lines which could take four hours. The line had a thousand hooks and each boat had two lines. When the boats returned the wives were often assisted by single woman from other areas to gut and box the herring, they could gut 60 or 70 a minute. The knife was so sharp they would wrap their fingers in sacking for protection.

Most of the fishermen were in the employment of fish curers and merchants, such as John Easson, John Jamieson, William Manderson and George Nelson to whom they had to sell all the fish they caught at a stipulated price. The fish were then sent by rail to London, Leeds, Birmingham, and Manchester. The fish merchants in North Berwick being close to the railway line could command better prices for their herring than other areas not connected. In 1866 the prices could reach the high level of 30/- to 50/- per cran (1 cran=3.5 cwt), while on the Caithness coast, still unserved by railway, herring of the same quality could realise only 5/- to 20/- per cran during the same season. In former times the fishermen's wives and daughters travelled through the countryside to sell their fish.

The inshore fishing yielded haddock, whiting, flounders, sole and brill. The herring fishing was carried out entirely by drift-nets, the other fish were caught by lines, except that trawling was practised for sole and brill. Lobsters and crabs were caught by means of creels and shrimps were gathered along the shore in summer. Oysters were found near the Bass but they were dredged with difficulty.

Cod, mackerel, salmon, and trout were occasionally caught in the herring-nets and sometimes porpoises and even sharks. The dog-fish, part of the shark family, was regarded by the fishermen as their greatest enemy, because it not only destroys the fish but often damages their fishing gear. Bait was obtained with difficulty near North Berwick. Mussels were not found in abundance until nearer Aberlady Bay. At North Berwick the live mussels were put till required in compartments made by loosely building up large stones against the inner wall of the harbour, thus preventing them from being scattered and lost through their own movements and tidal action.

In 1840, lobster fishing was carried out by two men in each boat, dressed in canvas frocks with sheepskin trousers and coarse gloves. To catch the lobster they used a strong hoop about sixty inches in circumference, suspended from a nine-fathom buoy rope. A small conical net with a three inch mesh was fixed round the lower part of the hoop. Each boat would carry up to twenty-four such nets. The bait generally consists of cod, skate or flounder.

The fishermen started work about five o'clock in the evening, and continued until sunrise. They could cover up to twelve miles in a night setting the nets in many different places. On some occasions, in favourable weather they could catch six or seven dozen in a night. When the lobsters were laid in the boat, their claws were tied with cord and great care was taken to keep them away from bilge-water, rain or the sun, which would destroy them in a few hours.

The night's fishing was deposited in large bags which remained in the sea until carried off once a week by a fish merchant or agent. In 1846, the fishermen were paid three-and-a-half pence for each lobster, anything under eight inches was counted as half price as well as those minus a claw. The agent placed the lobsters in boxes secured under the sea until they were up lifted by the London smacks.

In a 'Guide To North Berwick' published in 1907 fishing was described as follows:- The fish generally caught about North Berwick are haddock, codlings, whiting and flounders. When herring are in the Firth, mackerel are more or less abundant; and as the season advances saithe and pollack take a large white fly readily enough in the evening. Mackerel is trolled for with a white lure of kid or of gurnet skin, or even with a phantom minnow or angel. Near Craigleith, with Fidra showing to the outside of the Lamb, is good ground for haddock; while a hundred yards or so to the east of the Lamb, and somewhat inshore of it, flounders ought to be plentiful. By flounders is meant the common sand-dab, at its best in September. East of the harbour there is also good ground for flounders, quite close inshore, on either side of that long disconnected ridge of black rock jutting out from the Rhodes Links, known as the Leithies; and also in the bay between them and the Leck Moran. The best ground for the larger sized fish is off the Bass, which however is too dangerous a trip to make in a small rowing-boat. The baits commonly used are mussels, lobworms, and sand-eels which can be readily procured from the boat-hirers or from the fisherman.

In 1831 a razor-backed whale was stranded to the west of the town. The news of its arrival spread like wild fire and great crowds came to visit it on the Sabbath. The town was completely inundated and the day was remembered as 'Whale Sunday'. The whale was ultimately purchased by Dr. Knox a lecturer at Edinburgh University and exhibited in the Industrial Museum (now in Chamber Street, Edinburgh). Again in March 1870 a shoal of whales were sighted between the Craigleith and the Bass, one was measured at 90 feet in length but fortunately they made it safely out of the Firth.

Smuggling was at its peak during the early 1800's as taxes were high to pay for the Napoleonic Wars. One particular group of smugglers who were well acquainted with each other, worked the coast between Berwickshire and Cockenzie. They dealt mainly in French wines and brandy and legend has it that they supplied their contraband to many of the respectable families in the district. Whisky was then scarcely known and the farmers and working class generally used malt liquors.

In putting down this trade armed skirmishes between the smugglers and Excise Officers sometimes took place. Before the recent widening of the main-road, a Hawthorn tree, locally called "the ganger's tree", stood at the sharp bend beyond Whitekirk, where the side-road to Loch-houses branches off. This marked the spot where two Officers were shot dead by smugglers they were endeavouring to arrest. A boat with eight coastguards were stationed at North Berwick to restrict the practice of smuggling in the 1820s.

Thomas Woodrow was the local agent for the Shipwrecked Fishermen and Mariners' Society at 4, Quality Street. The society was able to offer financial assistance to the widows, orphans and parents of fishermen and mariners lost at sea. It was custom for sailors to wear a gold earing, this was to pay for their burial if they perished at sea. The society also helped with the cost of boarding, clothing, returning shipwrecked seamen home and other persons cast destitute on the coast.

The 'puffer' more associated with the Clyde was also a common sight on the Firth of Forth, carrying cargo of eighty to one hundred tons up and down the east coast. They earned their name puffer from the noise the early steam engines made when their exhaust was released into the atmosphere with a load puffing noise. They stopped puffing when condensers were fitted but the name stuck. The closure of the Firth of Forth for security reasons during WW1 dealt a deathblow to the east coast trade. Commodities were moved by road and rail for the duration of the conflict and the 'puffers' were never seen again.

In 1902 work began on a new cemetery in Tantallon Road. The town hearse was independently financed by the Hearse Society and in 1904 it was used 34 times compared with 66 times the previous year, reflecting the health of the community. The gas company introduced a new street lighting system in 1905. The apparatus consisted of a little tank and bell which were actuated by extra pressure from the gasworks, forcing the bell to raise, opening the valve and allowing gas to press to the burner. The result being that lamps which extended over a wide area could be lighted within a few seconds of the increased pressure. By reducing the pressure at the works the valve was closed and the light extinguished. The gas company presented the Town Council with two decorative street lamps each with the Burgh coat of arms engraved on the glass. One lamp was erected at the foot of the stairs leading to the Council Chambers and the other outside the residence of the current Provost, which for over 70 years was traditionally moved each time a new provost was elected.

During this period North Berwick experienced an amazing boom in property building - Marmion Road (1885), St. Margaret's Road (1899), Dirleton Avenue (1901), York Road (1902) and St. Baldred's Road (1907). Clifford Road was named after Alice Clifford, wife of the 8th Baronet, Sir Walter Hamilton-Dalrymple. This tradition of naming roads after the Baronet's wife continues to this day. Some of the finest buildings were designed by Sir Robert Lorimer from 1893 - 1910, The Grange - 1893 (Lord Traynor); Teviotdale -1898 (R.J. Addie); Marly Knowe - 1902 (Professor Edward Schafer) and Bunkershill - 1904 (Robert Craig) his brother James Craig commissioned Carlekemp. Lorimer also designed the extension to Hyndford - 1903, Kings Knoll - 1907, and was consulted on Westerdunes - 1910. He designed the Porch of St Baldred's Church - 1917 and the entrance to the Catholic Church. Lorimer used Rattlebags stone quarried at East Fenton and the finest craftsmen. St Anns in York Road, owned by the Dowager Countess of Camperdown was a typical residency built for the nobility. By the 1870s, St Anns was occupied by Lady Elizabeth Duncan, daughter of the first Earl of Camperdown, and grand- daughter of the celebrated Admiral Duncan, who in 1797 defeated the Dutch, under Admiral de Winter in the great naval battle of Camperdown in Holland and was on that account created Lord Duncan. In 1811, the Right Honourable Lord Viscount Duncan was the last to be admitted an ordinary burgess of North Berwick in right of his spouse Janet Dalrymple.

The advent of rail transport resulted in the rapid expansion of agriculture in the area, despite a set-back in 1879 when shiploads of cheap American grain started to arrive in Britain. Also around this period a number of important innovations were taking place, including the invention of the threshing drum by Meikle at Preston Mill which is used to this day in the latest combine harvesters, and the steam-plough introduced to the Lothians on Ferrygate farm. Agriculture was still dominated by the horse, and during the Spring it was not uncommon for the farm worker to walk for eleven straight weeks behind a pair of horses, pulling various implements. The ploughman's cottage with one outdoor pump to supply water for 6 or 8 families with no indoor or in some cases outdoor conveniences would not be modernised until the 1950s with electric light and a bathroom.

In June 1905, the North British Railway Company introduced a motor vehicle service from North Berwick to Aberlady, offering better access to the coastal villages. Two vehicles were built by the Mo-Car Syndicate in Paisley to operate the hourly service from the railway station at North Berwick. The vehicles were fitted with a three-cylinder Arrol-Johnston engine, the gear-box was by Renold with a silent side chain to the rear axle, giving four speeds forward and one reverse. The solid tyres were to prevent punctures, and the body work was in varnished walnut. The motor was of the charabanc type carrying 23 passengers, with accommodation for luggage and parcels under the seating compartment. On Saturday 10th June 1905, a trail run was made from Edinburgh to North Berwick, when the journey was completed in 1 hour 30 minutes. The service to Aberlady started the following Monday, with the fare from North Berwick to the three villages being fourpence each stage, the full journey to Aberlady costing one shilling.

From 1790-1870 the industries in which Scotland excelled - textiles, iron and coal required a cheap and abundant labour force with little or no skill. The development of Neilson's Hot Blast in 1828 using hot air in the smelting of iron, permitted the exploitation of Scotland's vast reserves of coal and blackhand ironstone (a native iron-ore).

From 1870 onwards the direction of Scottish economic development began to shift towards a greater degree of specialisation. As other modern industrial nations moved towards mass production, Scotland retained craftsmanship in design and production. Nowhere in the world, it was argued could you find better companies and engineers to design and build high quality ships, engines, locomotives and heavy machinery to such exact standards and specifications. This was a golden era for North Berwick with many wealthy industrialists building property in the town as their summer residence and the local economy flourished.

On the eve of the First World War, the Clyde produced 18% of all the ships launched in the world that year and the Scottish shipbuilding industry was bigger than that of Germany or the United States. Glasgow was the largest locomotive production centre in the world and Scotland produced about 20% of the steel made in Britain. With only 10% of the population, Scotland accounted for 17.5% of all manufactured goods in the UK.

The 1914-18 war brought uncertainty and hardship with 152 of the towns men folk loosing their lives in active service. The recruitment policy during the Great War was to keep men from the same area together, this meant that casualties were usually specific to local recruiting areas. As 'Pals' fought together, more often then not they died together. This meant that local communities experienced collective mass grief rather than individual loss. An unlucky shell could wipe out a third of the adult male population of a small town. The War Memorials in every town and village are testament to the sacrifice made by rural society.

One of the most famous 'Pals' regiments was 'C' company of the 16th Royal Scots, known as 'McCrae's Battalion'. Raised by Colonel Sir George McCrae in November 1914 and among those who enlisted was the entire Heart of Midlothian football team. McCrae's Battalion was blooded in the Battle of the Somme in 1916, losing three-quarters of their strength on the first day alone when seven Hearts players lost their lives and eleven others wounded or gassed. McCrea commanding the regiment was himself invalided home. In time, the battalion recovered. It came of age at Arras, endured the muddy horror of Passchendaele, and held the line unbroken in the face of furious German attacks on the Lys in 1918.

Sir George McCrae who came from a poor background, clawed is way to become a pillar of the Edinburgh establishment and was elected Member of Parliament for East Edinburgh in 1899. He died in 1928 at his home at 9, Tantallon Terrace, North Berwick, aged 68 years. His funeral was the largest ever witnessed in Scotland. Businesses closed, traffic suspended and the southside of Edinburgh came to a standstill with thousands of mourners lining the streets to the Grange Cemetery. The clock tower that stands at Haymarket in Edinburgh, (unveiled in 1920 to a crowd of 40,000) is dedicated to the players and supporters of Heart Of Midlothian FC who died serving in 'McCrae's Battalion'.

East Fortune was established in 1915 as a Royal Naval Air Station to combat the anticipated threat from Zeppelins. During WW1 airships flew from East Fortune to carry out fleet spotting and submarine hunting duties. From 1918 aircrews were trained on the beach at Belhaven Sands in torpedo dropping techniques. This was pioneering work as the world's first torpedo dropping aeroplane that could operate from aircraft carriers (Sopwith T.I Cuckoo) was stationed at East Fortune.

In 1917, HMS Seacliff, the Royal Navy top secret base in the outbuildings of Seacliff House was the landfall site of the easternmost line of detector loops that ran across the entrance to the Firth of Forth. The other line ran to the east of the May island and made landfall at Crail (RNAS Jackdaw). These 'detectors' were huge lines of hydrophones laid in a series across the seabed to detect U-Boots entering the Firth. It must have been a skilled and intensive task, listening to underwater noise, as apparently the operatives only did two hours 'on watch' before being relieved. During the Second War this earlier detector system was replaced with two great induction loops laid across the Forth with the whole lot being controlled from HMS Isle of May. The passage of any submerged Kreigsmarine steel over the loops induced a measurable current that would then betray its presence. The landfall of the cables can still be seen at Kirk Haven in Fife.

The government rented houses for the duration of the conflict to accommodate the servicemen and one such was Carlekemp in Abbotsford Road which was used as an officers convalescent home. The name Carlekemp means - 'camp of the young men' and one officer recalls seeing the long procession of the surrendering German Fleet, 70 warships steaming up the Forth, while in the foreground a leather booted horse was drawing a mower over the fairways.

The airship R.34 lifted off from East Fortune to cross the Atlantic on 2nd July 1919 with a crew of 30, crossing the Nova Scotia coast in 59 hours. Then on to New York before the return journey taking 75 hours to become the first airship in history to complete the double crossing of the Atlantic. The R.34 was constructed in William Beardmore's gigantic airship works at Inchinnan outside Glasgow, and transported to East Fortune. The wire used on the airship was supplied by Brunton Wire Works at Inveresk. The company established in 1902, originally produced piano wire and were pioneers in the development of wire used in the early biplanes.

For the first time new businesses were being established in the town, catering entirely for the visitors, such as the letting of property, hiring bathing boxes and children's golf clubs. Alex Hutchison's two pleasure boats, St. Nicholas, and St. Baldred (later a third Britannia) sailed round the islands and a factory producing aerated water was established in Forth Street. It was also the practice during the summer months for many households to let out a room to visitors. The original Guest House was Mrs. Annie Abel's Tantallon House (4 West Bay Road ) and among the other boarding houses in 1871 were, Miss Smith at Parkend Villa; Mrs. Morgan, Rockville; Miss Elliot and Mrs. Hall in Quality Street and Mrs. J. Smith at 15, Shore Street. The Commercial Hotel (County Hotel) and the Dalrymple Arms Hotel in Quality Street, were the only post houses.

By 1861, the Royal Hotel was constructed and in 1872 an extension to the south elevation was added, also a bowling green and cricket-ground (on the site now Craigleith View Apartments). The addition was run as a separate Private Hotel by Charles Johnston and three years later he took over the lease of the Royal Hotel from the North British Railway Company and combined both into one establishment.

In 1875, the Marine Hotel designed by architect W. Beattie was built by J.& R. Whitecross, Shore Street, North Berwick at a cost of £20,000. At that time a new access road was also constructed (Cromwell Road). The speciality of the hotel was the salt and fresh water baths, with a pipe laid from the sea conveying salt water into tanks. The fresh water was supplied from a well in the grounds, which were laid out with a bowling green and putting green designed by Ben Sayers. Following a fire in 1882, part of the hotel was rebuilt to drawings by Mr. Pilkington. The Bradbury Hotel (1 York Road) was constructed in 1870 for Edward Bradbury; the Bass Rock Hotel at 6 York Road (Welbent) was opened in 1902 by Mary and Annie Maxwell, and Tantallon Hotel overlooking the East Links was opened in May 1908.

The Dalrymple Buildings (89-102 High Street) constructed in 1885, was originally designed as a hotel, but the developers went into liquidation before the site was completed. The ground floor shops remain from the original plans, but the upper floor was converted into the Temperance Hotel, which occupied the full length of the first floor. The entrance was by a stair in Balderstone Wynd, adjacent to what was the hotel kitchen and now the hairdresser's salon. The second and third floors of the Dalrymple Buildings were apartments, accessed from two common stairs. The ground floor premises (Readmore Book Store) was originally Simpson Henderson's Public Bar and later the Temperance Cafe Room.

During the 1880s there was a movement against drinking, gambling and playing sport on a Sunday. The Temperance Movement was at the forefront of this crusade, which also included a group named the Good Templars who met in the Burgh School in Market Place and whose members pledged to abstain from alcohol, tobacco, gambling and strong language.

In 1906, almost every large property in North Berwick was let from June until September, including the servants quarters and stabling. George Sheil & Sons,104 High Street was the main letting agent and their 1908 catalogue listed over 250 properties for let in the town. The families who rented the furnished houses sent their staff ahead with all the household requisites for the summer season. Trunks packed with china, crockery, bed linen, and clothes were then transported from the railway station by local carriers in their horse and cart to the various residences.

At this time motor vehicles were a luxury and daily excursions in a variety of horse drawn vehicles was the normal mode of transport. In 1909, a return trip to Tantallon Castle cost 4/6d and a request for a pair of horses was charged half-fare extra. Half-an-hour waiting by the driver was free, but two hours waiting was included if the journey was over 10 miles. A return trip to Haddington cost 15 shillings. Later the well-to-do families had a motor vehicle which was garaged in North Berwick during the winter months. James Gilbert (Old Abbey Road) and George Fowler (May Terrace) rented out purpose-built lock-up space where the vehicles were stored.

In 1924, a through sleeper service began from London to North Berwick. The sleeper car was detached from the 10.35 pm night express from Kings Cross at Drem and conveyed from there to North Berwick by the branch engine, returning in the evening to Drem. A number of London sleepers continued to stop at Drem until 1980. This facility started in 1900 to accommodate local member of Parliament Arthur J. Balfour (Prime Minister 1902-05) who lived in the nearby village of Whittinghame. In 1926 North Berwick station enjoyed the highest ever number of passengers, almost 94,000 and at Hogmanay that year three extra third class carriages were required to cope with the additional traffic to Edinburgh.

In 1928, the Town Council purchased the first motorised Fire Engine which was housed in a new building next to where the old fire unit was stored on a site east of the Bass Rock Garage in Station Hill. It's bell is now on display at the present fire station. During the 1950s the call-out for the volunteer fire crew was the sounding of two Second World War sirens, situated at the old slaughter house in Dunbar Road and to the west in the grounds of the former Royal Hotel.

Most families were large in number and ten or more children per family was not uncommon. The Edington Home (Health Centre) was constructed in 1911 and opened the following year as a 'home for tired mothers'. The building was funded by a donation of £10,000 from Anne and Francis Edington, owners of the Commercial Hotel (County Hotel). Overcrowding in the community was a problem with one third of the population living three or more to a room. In 1920, the Scottish Electricity Board was connected to the National Grid, and mains electricity was supplied to every property, although 6% of those connected did not own an electrical appliance. The Board of Health encouraged more house building and in 1927 the Town Council set about developing the cottages in Lochbridge Road and three years later four blocks of houses in Glenburn Road. The Council also purchased the recreation park in 1927 and the single track bridge over the Glen Burn was considerably enlarged and Dunbar Road widened.

Calling out a Doctor was expensive and giving birth in a Maternity Home was beyond the budget of most families, so the majority of babies were born at home. In 1921, 107 out of every 1,000 baby's died at birth and over 500 women died each year having an abortion. In 1817, Robert Lewins was born in North Berwick, the son of a medical practitioner. Lewins qualified as a physician and made a special study of the brain, publishing two works on the subject. The earliest registered surgeons and druggists in the town were John Kesson in the 1820s, John Watson for 16 years until his death in 1848 and Hugh MacBain (1862-1888). MacBain lived in Marine Lodge, 21 Westgate and was a Town Councillor and an elder in the Blackadder Church. He published an article in the Edinburgh Medical Journal in 1877 on the successful treatment of coal gas poisoning by steam baths. Dr Hugh Gillies MacBain died in 1902.

John C. Hislop (1855-1868) was the general medical practitioner living in East Road. He was followed by Dr. John L. Crombie, who retained the position for 54 years. In the 1890s James Richardson, house surgeon at the Royal Infirmary Hospital lived at 7, Tantallon Terrace where his family still reside.

For many years Dr. Angus Mathieson practised medicine from his residence at 'Duntulm', 19, Westgate. During the 1930s Dr. Douglas Donald M.C. held his surgery at 'St Helens' 1, West End Place where he was later joined by Dr. John MacDonald and Dr. Derek Morton. The other medical practice was at the 'Garve' in Beach Road where Dr. Alexander Mallace M.C. resided. He was joined by Dr. Mercer and following the foundation of the National Health Service in 1948, there was a marked improvement in the health of the community. When Dr. Mallace retired, Dr. John MacDonald moved into the 'Garve' forming a group medical practice with Dr. Derek Morton and Dr. Mercer. The first lady to practice medicine in the town was Dr. Jessie Eeles, the daughter of Provost George Eeles. With the population increase in the 1950s the surgery was enlarged and Dr. Jean Walinck joined the practice in 1958 and later Dr. Norman Waugh.

It was reported in The Mercury - Hobart, Tasmania that the suffragettes using inflammable-liquid mild explosives destroyed Whitekirk church in East Lothian. The church was erected in 1297 and contained priceless furniture and a historic Bible which was destroyed. Enormous slabs of stone were dislodged and shattered as the roof timbers burnt down. - Saturday 14th February 1914. Catherine Blair founder of the Scottish Women's Rural Institute and the famous Mak'Merry Pottery, lived in North Berwick for many years. Born in Bathgate Catherine Shields was interested in women's issues and supported the Suffragette movement by writing letters to the Scottish Press. She married Thomas Blair, a farmer at Hoprig Mains Farm near Gladsmuir, East Lothian. In June 1917, Catherine started the first Scottish Branch of the Women's Rural Institute where the ladies could meet socially and make jam and cakes to raise funds.

The first meeting took place in Longniddry village hall when Lady Wemyss was installed as President. One of the first talks the SWRI organised was a demonstration on painting pottery and this inspired Catherine in 1919 to establish the Mak'Merry pottery studio in a shed on her farm as a practical example of a co-operative rural enterprise. Her objective was income generation for poor and isolated rural women rather than leisure activities. The Institute members came from all over to design and paint the pottery while others would teach embroidery, rug-making and sell their work to enable them to keep going.

In 1932, Catherine and Tom retired to Seaworthy Cottage in North Berwick where a new Mak'Merry Studio was established. The pottery won prizes at many exhibitions and the Queen Mother ordered a crockery set at the 1933 Highland Show. Catherine died on 18th November 1946 at 1 Tantallon Terrace, North Berwick. Mak'Merry pottery remains highly collectable and is often featured on the BBC Antiques Roadshow.

During the 1930s, listening to gramophone records and the radio eased the pain of reality, the only escape for the working class was the cinema and by 1937 there were 114 cinema's in Glasgow alone. The Playhouse Cinema in North Berwick owned by Scott's Empires later Caledonian Associated Cinemas was built in 1938 on the site of the Foresters' Hall (Tigh Mhor) in the High Street. During this period it was becoming more acceptable for girls to participate in sports. Scottish speed champions Ellen King and Jean McDowall (both Olympic swimmers) were coached at North Berwick swimming pool at a time when a daily ticket cost six pence. Every swimmer of repute in the country appeared in exhibitions at the pool, including regular visits from world famous American divers.

The drinking fountain at the top of the Quadrant was erected by the Town Council in 1939 following a generous bequest by Miss Isabella Catherine Lewis. Originally she lived in Edinburgh with her uncle James Lewis, a successful Grocer and Wine Merchant and her brother John at 55, George Square. In the 1890s Isabella moved to North Berwick where she resided at Duneaton for over forty years. The house stands at the junction of Links Road and West Bay Road overlooking the West Links golf course.

In September 1875 her brother John Lewis was in the crowd at North Berwick watching a golf challenge match between the Park brothers from Musselburgh and the Morrises from St Andrews, Old Tom and his son Young Tom. The match ended abruptly when a messenger boy handed a telegram to Old Tom with the news that Young Tom's wife was seriously ill in St. Andrews following the birth of their child.

According to The Scotsman, John Lewis offered to sail the Morrises back to St Andrews in his twenty-eight foot ketch anchored in North Berwick harbour. They sailed all night in arduous conditions to reach the Fife coast but unknown to Lewis and his crew a second telegram arrived just as the yacht slipped its moorings at North Berwick which read 'Mrs Morris had a son, both mother and child are dead'.

With talk of war in 1935, came increased employment in the armament related industries, and by the following year unemployment had fallen to one and a half million. The first action by the Scottish fighter squadron of the Auxiliary Air Force - the accountants, lawyers, farmers and bankers who were the so-called 'weekend fliers', some of them not yet 20, took place on 16th October 1939, over the Firth of Forth. The skirmish involving the Spitfires of 602 and 603 Squadron based at Turnhouse and Drem (Fenton Barns) happened when the Luftwaffe launched its first major air raid on Britain, with Rosyth as the target.

A squadron of new Junkers 88 bombers flew to the Firth of Forth in search of HMS Hood, the Royal Navy's largest battleship, which they failed to find, but instead attacked two Royal Navy cruisers near the Forth Bridge. The leading Junkers 88 was intercepted just as it pulled out of its attack on HMS Mohawk, killing 15 sailors including the captain.

The German bomber was hit repeatedly off Kirkcaldy and finally shot down near Crail. Another ditched into the sea off Port Seton and the pilot was rescued by local fisherman John Dickson, and transfered to the military hospital at Edinburgh Castle. The dogfight, the first time Spitfires were used in anger, was witnessed by thousands in Fife and East Lothian. In the course of the first few months the activity at Drem was such that two pilots had won the DFC and the station was visited by King George VI. Drem, an all grass airfield was originally referred to as West Fenton and later Gullane and was used by the Royal Flying Corps during WW1. When Drem came back into service in the late 1930s the 13th Flying Training School was based there. In July 1940 there were 12 Spitfires from 602 squadron and 8 Hurricanes from 605 squadron based at Drem The Spitfires of both 602 and 603 squadrons played a crucial role in the 1940 Battle of Britain flying from airfields in the south of England such as Westhampnet and Hornchurch. 602 (City of Glasgow) in particular would outlast all the regular RAF fighter squadrons in the front line, testimony to the skill and bravery of those part-time pilots.

The North Berwick Observer Corps formed in 1938, was made up with volunteers and their lookout post was situated on Castle Hill. When war was declared the Observer Corps went into action with a 24 hour watch, two on at a time with direct communications with their HQ at Galashiels who in turn informed the RAF.

On 9th February 1940 a German Heinkel bomber was shot down over North Berwick, crashing in a field behind the bus shelter at Lime Grove. The two observers on duty that day were Wishart and Sim who took the credit. George Sim (1922-28) and James Wishart (1959-65) were both Provosts of the Royal Burgh.

The defence organisations in North Berwick included Air Raid Wardens, Fire Service and Home Guard. The fire watchers were based on the roof of the Post Office in Westgate where beds were installed in the rest rooms on the upper floor. The Home Guard who manned road blocks on Dirleton Avenue and Dunbar Road were based in the Hope Rooms and Caddie Shed on the West Links.

Throughout the Second World War when forty of the town's young men gave the ultimate sacrifice, life in the community continued, despite the constrictions and uncertainty that prevailed. The Bass Rock lighthouse was unmanned and the light extinguished for the duration of the conflict. Percy Pearson the local lobster fisherman was often instructed by the Ministry to make for the Bass and switch on the light, to allow a convoy of Royal Navy Destroyers save passage to Rosyth.

In 1941, aircrew were trained at East Fortune in night fighting techniques for the RAF's Fighter Command. In 1942, Drem and East Fortune became temporary home to six Hurricane squadrons and several other Spitfire squadrons, notably the Poles, Canadians and Australian 453 Squadron. The command of the Polish Free Army was based near Kincardine, and the Poles stationed at East Fortune were billeted at Warrender House and Strathearn Hotel in York Road. Many of the Polish names familiar in the community today such as Sanetra, Gdulewicz, Borge, Skwara, and Rogawska came from that period. When a number of the exiles married local girls and settled in the area rather than returning home to the Soviet domination of Poland after 1945.

Throughout the early sixties the town remained a popular destination for holidaymakers, despite the ease of travel to more exotic destinations. By the end of the decade, holiday patterns began to change and the town gradually move from a tourist based economy to a dormitory for commuters to the capital, Edinburgh.

Our visitors have always been more aware of the town's golfing heritage and the late sixties saw an increase in the number of golfers from round the world wishing to experience the West Links. The popularity of the course was boosted when Arnold Palmer and Tony Jacklin played the famous 15th hole 'Redan', with legendary golf commentator Henry Longhurst during the filming of '18 holes at 18 different courses helicopter round '. The Open Championship at Muirfield in 1959, 1966 and 1972, added to the profile of the area and the West Links became an integral part of the 'golf package tour'.

In May 1966 a lifeboat was stationed at North Berwick for the first time in over fourty-one years. Following an appeal by the children's BBC 'Blue Peter' TV programme, four inshore lifeboats were purchased and Blue Peter III was assigned to North Berwick. The 16 feet D-112 inflatable, was limited to a five mile radius and operational from March until November. The boat is now on display in the RNLI Lifeboat Museum at Chatham.

The marine rescue service in North Berwick dates back to 1857, when a Coastguard Station and Custom House was constructed. The original whitewashed building can be seen today on the Anchor Green, although the signal mast and yard-arm has long gone. The coastguard service was established in the town during the 1840s when Halbert Henderson was the officer in charge and collector of the custom duty, he was later followed by Captain Thomas Woodrow then Henry Thorne. At this time a company of volunteers was established to operate a rescue rocket apparatus supplied by the Board of Trade in 1857 and used from the shore to fire a line across the bows of a stricken vessel.

The first lifeboat to be stationed in the town came about after one particular tragedy left the community feeling helpless, when a rescue boat may have saved the lives of the five crewmen who perished. The tragedy happened on Tuesday 25th October 1859, when the schooner Bubona loaded with coal from the Tyne, was making for Aberdeen with Mr Adams as master. Nearing Dunbar Bay, the wind shifted to the north-east, and a tremendous sea got up. By nine o'clock in the evening, the wind had strengthened to near hurricane force, and the vessel was spotted in difficulties inside the Bass, her sails had given-way and the crew had no choice but to make for the shore.

The Bubona, landed among rocks about two hundred yards west off Canty Bay, and the Coastguard proceeded at once to the scene with the life saving apparatus. They fired four-rockets over the vessel and were successful in landing a line across the stern of the boat but the crew who appeared to be lashed in the bows, were too exhausted to take advantage of the situation.

By this time a large crowd had gathered on the shore, watching in silence as the vessel continued to break up on the rocks, her masts were over the side and the sea was breaking over her. The poor crew, five in number, stuck together in the fore-part of the vessel, until she finally broke up about midnight, when they all perished.

That night the hurricane force winds caused havoc along the coast of the UK and resulted in 200 shipwrecks and the loss of 800 lives. Captain Robert Fitzroy from Suffolk, was so appalled by the number of deaths and the inability to warn ships of bad weather that he developed a line-of-sight communications system. This system consisted of 15 stations around the country which would raise a 3ft cone to warn ships of imminent storms. Fitzroy was also the founder of a scientific system to predict weather conditions, he called it 'the weather forecast'.

In late November 1859 two of the bodies from the Bubona were washed up and taken by cart to the graveyard in Kirkports. The loss of the crew was felt deeply by the community and to avoid such a tragedy happening again, a move to have the town's first lifeboat was instigated by Rev. Stewart from Liberton and coastguards Walter Malcolm and Captain Thomas Woodrow. A committee was formed, subscriptions raised and within twelve months the Royal National Lifeboat Institution agreed to allocate a lifeboat to the town.

In October 1860, the new lifeboat arrived, gifted by Messrs. Jaffray & Son of London, along with its transport carriage and equipment. Despite continuous rain on the day of the launch, the whole community turned out, lining the streets and cheering on the parade. Four horses bedecked with flowers, were yoked to the lifeboat carriage and transported from the station in Shore Street, along Back Street (Forth Street) as far as the West Links, before making a complete circuit of the burgh by High Street and Quadrant to the east beach. A number of the committee climbed on board, including the tall figure of Sir Hew Hamilton-Dalrymple completely enveloped in oilskins, directing the procession from the bow.

The crew consisted of Captain Woodrow, John Murray (coxswain), Richard Thorburn, John Thorburn, David Thomson, James McLean, Robert Marr and Alex Thomson. Protected by a broad life preserver strapped round their bodies, they took their places on board and with oar-in-hand sat ready for the launching apparatus to be brought into action. With the echo of three cheers still ringing in the air, the 'Caroline' as she was named, slid down to meet a coming wave and North Berwick's first lifeboat was successfully launched.

There has been seven lifeboats stationed at North Berwick over the years and four Blue Peter inshore vessels. The latest, Blue Peter 7 is an all weather boat, on call all year round and is housed in the original boat-house (1860) in Victoria Road, where the names of the crews and the lives they have saved are listed.

In October 2002, the North Berwick crew were selected to carry out trials on the new state of the art IB-1 (In-shore Boat 1) lifeboat. RNLI crews from all over Scotland travelled to the town to inspect the rescue craft and take part in the trials.

In the 1950s, the Town Council purchased Rhodes Farm and used the outbuildings as workshops and stabling for a pair of Clydesdale horses which were in regular use until the early 1960s. The agricultural land on the Rhodes Farm was rented out, and in 1954 new council houses built by James Millar & Partners formed Lime Grove. A pig farm was established on ground where later the Burgh Caravan site was laid out. (Rhodes Park). The Town Council collected all domestic food waste in separate containers and this was fed to the pigs, a very profitable venture which reduced the town rates.

In 1958 the Town Council installed electric street lighting for the first time. They decided to use warm white fluorescent light rather than the more efficient and economical sodium filament. The fluorescent light gave a very pleasing warm glow and was so popular with residents and visitors that the street lighting was switched on during the summer evenings. The gas works at Ferrygate closed in 1972, when the town's gas supply was produced at Granton.

In 1959, shortly after the death of Sir Hew Hamilton-Dalrymple, Leuchie House was used as a convent and is now leased to the MS Society. The dowager moved out of Leuchie and resided at Blackdykes where she died in 1979. Their son Sir Hew and his wife Lady Anne Louise Dalrymple commissioned architects Law & Dunbar-Nasmith to design and converted a cottage on the Leuchie estate as their family home in 1960. Their eldest son Hew, and his wife Janey returned from London to live at Blackdykes in 1992.

In the 1960s Grange Road was a quiet country lane and Green Apron Park was farmland. In those days each field was identified by a name and being shaped like an apron its was originally called the Masonic Apron. Glenorchy Road and Highfield Road ended at timber gates leading to the fields of Williamstone farm. To the west of Ware Road was fields of grazing sheep, part of the Hamilton-Dalrymple estate which stretched (Lord President Road) to the market garden at Smiley Knowe. Where the glasshouses produced the first tomatoes to reach the markets in Scotland. (Williamstone Court).

With full employment in the 1960s, a new affluence arrived. Teenagers had more money in their pockets and in 1969 everyone in Britain over the age of eighteen was allowed to vote. The 'Saturday Night Dance' at the Harbour Pavilion was the most popular venue in the county and the Playhouse cinema opened on Sunday, reflecting the times. The swimming pool was heated and the midnight gala with live music on the esplanade was a highlight of the summer.