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The recent history of Prestonpans and its surrounding area is both a fascinating and diverse story. Yet as a young child, visiting relatives

in the High Street, my memories mostly relate to the cultivated fruits in their back garden. I recall my face and hands would be stained crimson from picking berries, a preferable activity on long hot Sunday afternoons when adults seemed to talk endlessly of past times. Wanting to play outdoors and explore the surrounding area, as children do, only the here and now was of interest. Indeed, not until I moved to Inverness for work, did I begin to collect old postcards of Edinburgh, East Lothian and the Borders. I never imagined this casual hobby would become an educational journey resulting in an invitation to write for East Lothian Life, followed by a scholarship won towards my idea to create a multi-media history project.

Whilst up north, on regular visits to Prestonpans, I stayed with a friend at Fowler’s Court and was shown a number of old pictures of the building as a brewery. I was fascinated to see women, perched on up-ended beer crates, happily working away in a Health and Safety manner, which would not be allowed today. Additional images showed a long line of Fowler’s beer trucks snaking down the street. I wanted to know more and searching for information on Fowler’s Brewery, my postcard collection grew to include the rest of the town. These old photos were like a window to another world and raised questions on the town’s pottery, soap works and other factories. I wanted to know more about the life of these people.

Why did a picture of the shore show white squares on the beach? My mum explained that these would be sheets, pegged out to be bleached by the sun.

Why was a row of houses called the Barrows? I learned that so many people lived there, locals referred to them as rabbits in burrows and later, it changed to the barrows. Why did a postcard document a large rock by the sea? Superstition claimed that Prestonpans’ fortunes were dependant on the ‘Johnnie Moat stone’, said to resemble the girth of a former harbour master at Morrison’s Haven. Eventually in 1952, the rock was toppled by gales to the shore but forty years on, moved back to its original rocky resting place to ensure the prosperity of Prestonpans.

The more I learned, the more I realised I knew very little about the town. I knew that in 1745, the Battle of Prestonpans had been fought but I did not know the area had traded with ports all over Europe. It was also a surprise to learn

Shona McMillan reviews The ‘Pans – Past, Present and Potential

A hiStory in pictureS

that Walter Scott had stayed in the ‘Pans as a boy, conveyed there for his health to take salt-water baths in the Firth of Forth. Similarly, the connections between Robert Burns and East Lothian and his mother’s family home in Haddington. Many stories of the past came as a surprise but it was not just the area’s history, which was of such interest to me.

As a keen photographer, I rediscovered the John Muir coastal path, which I had walked as a child. Named after this most remarkable man from Dunbar, surely the world’s most famous naturalist, the path rewards walkers with wonderful views of Edinburgh, the Lothians and Fife. From the shoreline, an abundance of birds can be seen including Eider duck, Oyster catchers, Shelduck and Cormorants. So too, the surrounding countryside is alive

with wildlife, including animals, brightly coloured insects and wildflowers. With all the area has to offer, in May 2006, I was pleased to relocate home.

Old photos had been my catalyst to learn more on the ‘Pans, Cockenzie, Port Seton and Longniddry. Yet, I wished I had listened to the tales of my relatives. Nevertheless, I found a wealth of information in the libraries local history sections. How fortunate local history groups have done such a valuable and impressive job in documenting these stories. My simplistic childhood outlook had not realised how interesting the past could be. History is not just about Kings, Queens and nobility but ordinary people. Whilst researching Prestonpans and coal mining, how much better I related to my granny’s stories, Crissie Watson a coal-miner’s daughter from Wallyford. Similarly, my granda’ Billy Thorburn from Fisherrow, who had worked down the pits when the fishing was poor. I was told how he would stroll along to Morrison’s Haven and watch the sun set behind Fisherrow.

How interesting to look at these old photos of Morrison’s Haven, filled in before I was even a child. Yet in my mum’s day, local children had swam there, the harbour warmed by discharging water from the pits. As the silt built up, a large boat the Topaz got stuck in the mud and was then used as a platform from which the children would jump into the water. I enjoyed these stories but also recall my amazement as I learned that Aggie Purdie was not a fictional character. I realised that my mum’s scoldings of ‘tidy your room, it’s like Aggie Purdie’s’ had compared my childhood mess to this ‘local worthy. A memorable visit to Aggie Purdie’s, for a young Jean Thorburn, had forever placed

in her memories this shop as a veritable Aladdin’s cave of discovery.

How fascinating too, the stories from different groups within the town and what each contributed. Tales from the salt-makers, whose produce gave name to the southern part of the town as Saltpans and, in the north, which was later known as Preston, the two finally combining in Prestonpans. Stories too from the miners, whose coal fuelled the area’s saltpans and industry. Then farmers and fishermen providing food for the town and the fishwives, carrying their heavy creels with fish, seasoned and preserved by salt from the ‘Pans. All mentioned and more, contributed to Prestonpans, each with a valuable story to share but all these stories showing the connections between the people, that they were are all just Jock Tamson’s Bairns.

People’s stories explain the past, give meaning to the present and can define an area’s potential for the future. From this thought grew my idea for P3P: the ‘Pans – Past, Present and Potential. A story through subject areas: coal mining, salt making, industry, fishing, farming, business, literary, music, art, environment, 1745 battle, social and sport. In July 2006, I won the Lord Novar scholarship, gaining part funding for P3P from Prestoungrange Arts Festival. Now in 2008, a centenary year of celebration for Prestonpans, I am delighted to present my P3P exhibition and website as part of the town’s celebrations.

From July 23 to August 8, you can visit P3P for free at the Gothenburg, Prestonpans. From July 24th, I will launch P3P online on: www.myspace.com/P3PprestonpansFor information in advance, visit my site on: www.myspace.com/shona_M_mcmillan

Above: Cockenzie Power Station sunrise

History is not just about Kings, Queens and nobility but ordinary people

Above: 1745 Battle Monument

Below: Morrison’s Haven

Above: Prestonpans High Street Above: The shore at old Prestonpans