Sayings and doings of 25 years ago...

A CYCLIST, aged seven, who fell into Dunbar Harbour was kept afloat by his padded helmet, told the East Lothian Courier of February 14, 1997.

Schoolboy Shaun Ward found expert help was at hand when he plunged into the chilly waters of Dunbar Harbour on his bike on Saturday.

For the seven-year-old landed just yards from the two lifeboats which had just returned from a rescue.

As Shaun, a non-swimmer, was amazingly kept afloat by his padded crash helmet, RNLI crewman Gary Fairbairn, 26, dived 20 feet from the harbour wall and Duncan MacKay, 30, went over the side of the inshore rescue boat and swam to the floundering child.

He was put into the rescue boat and later dashed to his home in near-by Victoria Street, where he made a quick recovery after a bath.

...and 50 years ago

THE game was a bogey for a pro golfer who didn’t want to pay for a round, the East Lothian Courier reported on February 11, 1972.

An unemployed professional golfer was fined £2 at Musselburgh Burgh Court on Monday for playing golf on Musselburgh Links without paying.

He was Douglas Wilson Dalzell, of Windsor Park Place, Musselburgh, who denied playing golf on October 27 last year “without having paid the charge exigible from golfers and without being the holder of a weekly, monthly, yearly or other ticket.”

The Burgh Prosecutor, Mr Alistair Leslie, said that when Mr Robert Rae, the starter, asked the accused for the fee of 8 n.p. he replied: “You are getting no money from me.”

Provost William Caird, chairman, said: “I know what an attractive game golf is.

“As a professional golfer and a former member of the P.G.A., you must know where you can play and where you cannot play.”

...and 100 years ago

A STORM battered the county, as reported by The Haddingtonshire Courier on February 10, 1922.

The gale of Friday will not readily be forgotten by fishermen and others along this coast, for an angrier sea has not been witnessed for many years.

In some respects the storm presented unusual aspects.

For instance, the sea broke fully two miles northward, and at times the roar of the backwash could be heard far inland.

The outlook seawards was awe-inspiring, as for some hours the breakers were from twelve to twenty feet high, and enormous volumes of water were rocketed over the harbour wall to a height of nearly one hundred feet.

Driving clouds of sleet and rain were the prevailing conditions from early morning till midnight, and the outlook was as bleak and wild as could possibly be conceived.