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

25 years ago...

A NASTY-SOUNDING injury made headlines in the East Lothian Courier on July 16, 1999.

A probe into the old-fashioned slam-shut doors on trains used on the Edinburgh-North Berwick line has been called for after a Scotswoman, home on holiday from Canada, had her hand trapped and her thumb almost severed.

Ironically, inside handles were removed from the coaches after complaints of doors opening – and the mystery death of a woman who fell from a train on the North Berwick line last November.

Before the latest incident, Mrs Kathleen Revell had been staying with her brother, Alan McGuinness, and his family in the burgh.

Mr McGuinness, of Victoria Road, North Berwick, said: “Arriving at the coach she had selected, she entered by one of the multiple doors and, in the absence of any staff, and seeing no information or notices about recognised procedures for closing the door, attempted to do so, but with disastrous results.”

50 years ago...

EXCITEMENT was building in Musselburgh for the return, for the first time in 21 years, of a historic event, reported the East Lothian Courier of July 19, 1974.

All eyes will be on Musselburgh this coming week for ‘The Riding of the Marches’ celebrations.

A wide and varied programme of events has been prepared, providing local people and visitors alike with a splendid and colourful spectacle they will remember all their lives.

The festival week starts on Sunday with a grand procession of members of local organisations and the Town Council from the Tolbooth at 1.50pm and the service begins at 2.30pm.

During Sunday afternoon, a mini regatta is to be held at Fisherrow Harbour with yacht and raft races.

There will also be canoe-handling and life-saving displays, and a static display by British Petroleum on ‘The search for North Sea Oil’.

On Monday, the Provost Mrs Jessie Burns, at a special reception, will welcome exiles of Musselburgh who have returned to the town for the ‘Riding of the Marches’.

100 years ago...

A HEROIC rescue was reported in The Haddingtonshire Courier on July 18, 1924.

Had it not been for the gallantry and promptitude of Mrs Mathie, a lady at present on holiday at Dunbar, the probability is that a little boy, named James Brown, would have been drowned.

While playing on the quay, on Friday, the child slipped and fell into the Old Harbour.

Attracted by his cries for assistance, Mrs Mathie, who happened to be in the vicinity, hurried to the scene and dived into the harbour fully clothed.

An expert swimmer, she promptly got hold of and rescued the boy, but in ascending the quayside iron ladder she sustained some bruises.