'East Lothian' (''Lodainn an Ear'' in
Gaelic) is one of 32 unitary
council areas in
Scotland, and a
lieutenancy Area. It borders the
City of Edinburgh,
Scottish Borders and
Midlothian. Its administrative capital is
Haddington, although its largest town is
Musselburgh.
The council area was created in 1996, under the
Local Government etc. (Scotland) Act 1994, with the boundaries of the East Lothian
district of the
Lothian region. The district had been created in 1975, under the
Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973, and it consisted of the
local government county of East Lothian, plus the
burgh of
Musselburgh and the
Inveresk area, both formerly within the
county of Midlothian.
When abolished, for local government purposes, in 1975, the county of East Lothian bordered the
county of Midlothian to the west, and the
county of Berwick to the south. The county was called 'Haddingtonshire' until 1921. Although border changes saw several villages on the outskirts of Edinburgh (e.g.
Whitecraig) transferred to the county, most residents of "Haddingtonshire" do not regard them as part of the same county.
Towns and villages
Places of interest
★
Aberlady Bay
★
Bass Rock
★
Dirleton Castle
★
Fenton Barns Retail & Leisure Village
★
Gullane Bents
★
Hailes Castle
★
Hopetoun Monument
★
Lennoxlove historic house
★
Longniddry Bents
★
Museum of Flight,
East Fortune
★
North Berwick Harbour
★
North Berwick Law
★
Preston Mill
★
Seacliff Beach
★
Scottish Seabird Centre,
North Berwick
★
Tantallon Castle
★
Chesters Hill Fort
★
Torness Nuclear Power Station
★
Traprain Law
★
Yellowcraigs, a beach and conservation area
Notable people from East Lothian
★
Alexander II, King of Scots
★
Arthur Balfour, Prime Minister, 1902-1905
★
Sawney Bean,
cannibal and
outlaw
★
John Bellany, painter
★
Rhona Cameron, comedienne and activist
★
Catriona Matthew, elite golfer
★
John Muir, father of the US National Parks
★
Ben Sayers, professional golfer & club maker
★ Rev. Dr.
John Witherspoon, signatory to the
United States Declaration of Independence
Local media
East Lothian is served by two local paid-for weekly newspapers, the ''East Lothian Courier'' and the ''East Lothian News''. Both are officially published on Friday. However, the Courier is generally available by Thursday afternoon and consequently refers to events of the following day in the past tense. To avoid further confusion it has the interesting habit of clarifying which day it means: ''the event took place today (Friday)'' or ''there will be a gala tomorrow (Saturday)''.
The Courier, the best-selling of the two, began life as the ''Haddingtonshire Courier'' in
1859, presumably updating its title when the county changed its name in
1921. The family firm of D.J. Croal, based in Haddington, owned and operated the paper and two other titles in southern Scotland. Border Weeklies remained independent for much of its history, but was bought by the Dunfermline Press Group in
2004. This resulted in a change of printers and format, moving from the
'midi' size to a
tabloid. The long-held boast of being "the only newspaper printed and published in East Lothian", which featured on the masthead, also had to be dropped when printing moved from Haddington to
Cumbria (although editorial staff remain in Haddington). This necessitated an earlier deadline for readers' letters, although the newspaper was enhanced with the addition of colour photographs and text for the first time (the photographs remain at a similar level of quality under the new regime). Regular features of the Courier include court reports, pages from the major towns (
Haddington,
North Berwick,
Tranent,
Dunbar and
Musselburgh), a round-up of village activities, and coverage of local amateur sport.
The ''East Lothian News'' was first published in
1972, as part of Scottish County Press group, with editorial offices in
Dalkeith and printing at
Bonnyrigg (both in
Midlothian). SCP was acquired by Regional Independent Media in
2000, which was in turn bought by
Johnston Press in
2002. The News is also in
tabloid format, and has used colour photos for many years. The content is often very similar to the Courier, often including identical readers' letters, and covering the same local events.
The Courier is by far the more popular of the 2 newspapers in the old "Haddingtonshire" area, while the East Lothian News is more widely read in the western part of the county.
''East Lothian Life'' is an independent quarterly glossy magazine produced by a
PR company based in
Dunbar and sold by subscription and in newsagents. The content includes lifestyle features related to the county including articles on local businesses and attractions, profiles of prominent people, activities such as sport and walking in the area, and areas of historical interest.
East Lothian Council
East Lothian Council is based at John Muir House, Haddington
Council political compositions
★
Labour - 7
★
Scottish National Party - 7
★
Liberal Democrat - 6
★
Conservative - 2
★
Independent - 1
External links
★
East Lothian Courier
★
East Lothian News
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