Growing Up

This section relates the experiences of 32 very different individuals who spent their childhood and youth in various parts of East Lothian. That so many made the effort to write their reminiscences is largely due to the persistence of Stephen Bunyan, Chairman of the East Lothian Statistical Account Society, and to his wide network of contacts maintained over many years. Some contributors grew up in the nineteen forties and fifties, others in the sixties, seventies and eighties, so their experiences are splendidly diverse.

Some contributors have remained in the county during their lifetime, others have travelled further afield over the years but returned to East Lothian to live, while some are living elsewhere. Their reminiscences, when read in conjunction with the parish accounts, provide a vivid impression of life in East Lothian between 1945 and 2000.

What unites these people is their love of the county and the joy, warmth and affection they communicate in their memories of growing up here. Welcome to their world, a world that, despite the passage of time, still lingers on in this lovely county.

Sonia Baker, Editor