Shank’s pony and the bicycle were the main means of transport in 1946 but this soon began to change. The rise of the internal combustion engine was not however an unalloyed blessing, even to the motorist. The A1 bordered the parish, and apart from the A198 the roads were very secondary. They were in a good state of maintenance at the beginning of the period (possibly like small parishes all over the county, because there was a resident roadman) and very little used; then, with a perverse logic as use increased sharply, the standard of maintenance fell equally sharply. By the end of the period half the signposts had disappeared, many road surfaces were breaking up and pothole-dodging had become a necessary sport. The situation was aggravated by irresponsible use. Farmers and others were using ever larger and more powerful machines; haulage contractors’ 40-ton articulated lorries broke up the edges as well as the surface of the minor roads, and the smaller roads – first laid down for horse-drawn vehicles – suffered as a consequence. Many farmers forgot their obligation to clean up after themselves, nor did the police enforce the law on this.
Bus services to Dunbar, East Linton and North Berwick were sporadic for much of the period but by 2000 there was a regular hourly service in each direction. Several footpaths and rights of way remained in the parish though walking and cycling both declined after 1945. An occasional pony and trap was to be seen until well into the period – and here and there someone on horseback.
The nearest railway stations were at East Linton, East Fortune and North Berwick – not much more than a four-mile walk for most, so access to Edinburgh was rather easy. After the Beeching cuts (1964) only North Berwick remained.