The first talk of the new DDHS season was given by Society Treasurer Alasdair Swan and he sent this summary of his talk. Text by Alasdair Swan and links by Jim Herring.
Dunbar Harbour Trust (good photos) was formed by Act of Parliament twenty years ago on 30th September 2004. The speaker, who was a trustee for twelve of those years, told of the Trust’s achievements and of some of the main characters involved with the Trust over those two decades.
The story started back in 1996 when East Lothian Council became a single tier local authority. By 1999 a charity had been formed under the guidance of the “father of Dunbar Harbour Trust”, Dave Johnstone and support of Councillor Norman Hampshire.. It took a further five years before a Trust could be established by the Scottish Parliament, at which point the harbour and Dunbar Castle (history and photos) were passed into the ownership of the new Dunbar Harbour Trust. The years between 2004 and 2010 were a hive of activity under the leadership of Colin McWhannell and the financial stewardship of Becky Donald. A hydraulic system was fitted to the harbour bridge; ladders were put in for the fishermen to use instead of chains; a fuel distribution service was introduced; but, above all, the most exciting achievement was the complete refurbishment of McArthur’s Store (photo below), a project that cost more than £1million. Originally known as Spott’s Girnell, the store has been in active use since 1658. McArthur’s Store is now the Head Office of the Trust with a Community Room which has been used by many, and stores that are hugely valued by our fishermen.
For the next two years the Trust under Stuart Turnbull explored the vision of building a major new breakwater with the hope that the harbour could see the permanent return of the RNLI lifeboat and provide a base for the off-shore windfarm maintenance vessels. This was a period of high emotion at the harbour.
Between 2012 and 2015 the Trust returned to its roots, concentrating on being a harbour run by the community for the community. Over the years 56 different volunteers have served as trustees, and during the consolidation years Marine Scotland supported the work of the Trust as the attention turned to repairing the sea defences. Robin Hamilton, an engineer by profession, led this work, and was ably supported by local contractor AG Thomson, and Kevin Thomson in particular.
Between 2015 and 2024 the Trust was led by Alasdair Swan who introduced three three year plans for harbour improvements. During this period, Dunbar Battery (photo below) was totally re-purposed under the watchful eye of Steve Anderson, harbour events flourished under the management of Yvonne Wemyss and the history of the harbours and the castle were interpreted through notice boards and a monthly newsletter by Kenny Maule. Although a shot was never fired in anger from Dunbar Battery it now has migrated from being a hospital site to a place where the creative arts thrive.
In 2004, the Trust took over responsibility for the historic buildings around the harbour. During the talk we learned about the investigations into the Castle vaults, and the possible answer as to how the castle inhabitants received their fresh water during the lengthy sieges, as well as the reason why the vaults ceased to be of use after the creation of the Victoria Harbour.
Many of the improvements around the harbour are a reflection of the hard work of the charity’s volunteers over twelve years. The Dr Badger’s Bench with its Fibonacci spiral is a tribute to a well loved local GP who served the RNLI well during his life. Wilson’s propellor is a tribute to a Dunbar-born man who invented the “rotating skulls” that we now know as propellors. All of these projects were managed by the Trust’s trustees.
Important as the trustees have been, Dunbar Harbour would not have been the place it is without the wonderful harbour staff who have looked after it day after day. Bob Clunas and Jimmy Knox were the original team, followed by Gary Lawson, Quentin Dimmer and now the highly regarded team of Fiona Kibby and Denholm Horsburgh. They are all recognised as being key to the success of the first two decades of the Dunbar Harbour Trust. The photo below shows a group of trustees and volunteers.
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