Club Administration
More about our Club
The club was founded in 1980; its charter date is May 2nd of that year. Our club is the largest in East Lothian and covers the villages and small towns of Aberlady, Cockenzie & Port Seton, Longniddry and Prestonpans. Our neighbouring clubs are Musselburgh, North Berwick, Haddington, Dunbar and Tranent (our 'mother' club').
The Club's geneology begins with the formation of Edinburgh Rotary Club (RIBI Charter number 6) in 1912. The Edinburgh Club was 'mother club' to a large number of Clubs all over the UK including the Rotary Club of Haddington (#921) in 1960. The Haddington Club proceeded to initiate a club in Dunbar in 1964. Dunbar Rotary Club (#983) proceeded to extend Rotary to Tranent in 1971 where Club #1134 came into being. Tranent Rotarians along with the energetic PDG Bill Caird helped introduce Rotary to Longniddry in 1980 when we became the 1,395th RIBI Club.
The President's Chain
Our unique chain of office, was designed by the late John Hutchison and made by Kirkwoods of Edinburgh, was presented to the Club by the Royal Bank of Scotland on 29th January 1981.
The chain is made of silver links with the Scottish Thistle set between the letters LDRC (Longniddry & District Rotary Club). The names of past Presidents of the Club are engraved on the reverse of the links.
The chain terminates at the Rotary International wheel emblem surmounted with the Rotary motto "Service Above Self". Beneath this, the Club's enamelled crest shows elements symbolising our area. In the centre is the heraldic swan from the Arms of the House of Weymss and March, the feudal landowner of Longniddry and its surrounding area. Above this is a ship device from the Arms of Cockenzie and Port Seton, the second town in our area. Above that on each side of the RI emblem intertwined ears of corn and of thrift or sea pink, Armeria maritima represent the club's position between the agricultural landscape of East Lothian and the shoreline of the Firth of Forth.
Longniddry lies 12 miles east of Edinburgh and existed from the 17th century with its residents working at weaving, agriculture, lime-burning and coal mining. The railway station, opened when the Edinburgh to London line was built in 1845/6, was an important centre for transporting goods and passengers. The branch line from the county town of Haddington joined the main line here, but this closed to passengers in 1949 and then completely in 1968. Longniddry station, now a halt, remains in daily use. Longniddry began to develop after 1916 when cottages near the station were built by the Scottish War Veterens' Garden City Association. With the building of the golf course and clubhouse in 1923 the village began to develop further as large houses in one-acre plots were built next to the course. Further private and local authority housing came between the wars then the village began to expand rapidly with new commuter housing developments beginning in the 1960s and continuing til the 1990s. Between the village and the sea lies Longniddry Bents, a fine recreational coastal links with magnificent views of Edinburgh and Fife. Longniddry now has a population of over 3,000. Important buildings include Longniddry House (early 18th century) and Gosford House (1790- early 19th century) - a Robert Adam mansion home to the Earl of Weymss. Longniddry's 18 hole golf course (6,219 yards) has hosted British Open qualifying rounds when the Open is based at Muirfield, some 5 miles distant.
Cockenzie & Port Seton are combined burghs with long traditions of fishing. Cockenzie in particular was a fishing and whaling centre with a harbour built in the early 1700s. Port Seton is now a holiday resort, but was traditionally a fishing and salt making village. The 1200 megawatt coal-fired Cockenzie Power Station, built in 1962, has two 500 ft chimneys which tower over the burgh. Coal has long been important to the local economy and Cockenzie may have had the earliest railway ever when a wooden wagonway using horse power was built in 1722 to transport coal. Nearby stands the Collegiate Church of Seton (14th century) and Seton Castle (1790) by Robert Adam.
Aberlady was formerly the port of Haddington and is situated next to Aberlady Bay, now a nature reserve and a favoured wintering ground for wild geese. The village had a pier and harbour until the mid-1800s when the Peffer Burn and the bay silted up, creating salt marshes and mud flats. The old custom-house, Haddington House, remains to this day at the Point. Other buildings nearby include Luffness House, Kilspindie Castle, the parish church with its 15th century tower and the ruins of a Carmelite nunnery (13th century). There is also an 18-hole golf course.
Prestonpans was created a burgh in 1552. Known mainly for its coal and salt industries, there was also fishing (including oyster beds offshore) and the making of pottery and bricks. Mining ended with the closure of Prestongrange Colliery in 1952. The early post-Reformation parish church (1596, anlarged 1774) has an 18th century painting of a fishing scene. Other sights include the Mercat Cross, Preston Tower (15th century shell), a War Memorial (1921), two large doocots and two 17th century mansions- Hamilton House and Northfield House. The defeat of the Government (Hanoverian) troops at the Battle of Prestonpans on September 21st 1745 gave the Jacobites control of most of Scotland. There is also an 18-hole golf course!
