Longniddry
Encyclopedia
East Lothian
East Lothian is one of the 32 council areas of Scotland, and a lieutenancy Area. It borders the City of Edinburgh, Scottish Borders and Midlothian. Its administrative centre is Haddington, although its largest town is Musselburgh....
, Scotland
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
, with a population of 2,613 (2001 census
United Kingdom Census 2001
A nationwide census, known as Census 2001, was conducted in the United Kingdom on Sunday, 29 April 2001. This was the 20th UK Census and recorded a resident population of 58,789,194....
).
Longniddry is primarily a dormitory village for commuters to Edinburgh
Edinburgh
Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland, the second largest city in Scotland, and the eighth most populous in the United Kingdom. The City of Edinburgh Council governs one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas. The council area includes urban Edinburgh and a rural area...
, with good transport links by road and rail (Longniddry railway station
Longniddry railway station
Longniddry railway station is located at the southeast corner of the village of Longniddry, East Lothian, Scotland. The station is on the East Coast Main Line 21 km east of Edinburgh Waverley, and is served by stopping passenger trains on the North Berwick Line.-History:The main line between...
is on the North Berwick Line
North Berwick Line
The North Berwick Line is a railway line linking Edinburgh with North Berwick in Scotland. The route follows the East Coast Main Line as far as Drem where it then branches to the north....
) to the capital. The village is mostly middle-class in character: over 80% of residents own their own homes, and more than a third of people are in professional or managerial occupations.
The village has a number of local, community based resources including local shops and Longniddry Community Centre, which also houses the library. Like many coastal towns in East Lothian, Longniddry has a sandy beach beside the golf
Golf
Golf is a precision club and ball sport, in which competing players use many types of clubs to hit balls into a series of holes on a golf course using the fewest number of strokes....
course. This stretch of local coastline lined with dunes and is known as Longniddry Bents
Longniddry Bents
Longniddry Bents is a beach just north of Longniddry in East Lothian, Scotland.The beach is almost 2 miles in length, which includes Gosford Bay to the east side, and the rockier Seton Sands to the west. Along the beach are the remains of a wall of concrete tank traps erected during World War II as...
.
18th century Gosford House
Gosford House
Gosford House is the family seat of the Charteris family and is situated near Longniddry in East Lothian, Scotland. It was recently the home of the late Rt. Hon. David Charteris, 12th Earl of Wemyss and 8th Earl of March, chief of the name and arms of Charteris.Gosford was built by the 7th Earl of...
, home of the Earl of Wemyss and March, stands on the eastern edge of the village.
In 2006, Longniddry and the neighbouring towns of Prestonpans
Prestonpans
Prestonpans is a small town to the east of Edinburgh, Scotland, in the unitary council area of East Lothian. It has a population of 7,153 . It is the site of the 1745 Battle of Prestonpans, and has a history dating back to the 11th century...
, Cockenzie and Port Seton were twinned with the town of Barga
Barga
Barga is a medieval town and comune of the province of Lucca in Tuscany, central Italy. It is home to around 10,000 people and is the chief town of the "Media Valle" of the Serchio.-Geography:...
, Tuscany
Tuscany
Tuscany is a region in Italy. It has an area of about 23,000 square kilometres and a population of about 3.75 million inhabitants. The regional capital is Florence ....
, Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
.
Longniddry Primary School
Longniddry Primary School is located in the village. It educates around 350 pupilsStudent
A student is a learner, or someone who attends an educational institution. In some nations, the English term is reserved for those who attend university, while a schoolchild under the age of eighteen is called a pupil in English...
. In the May 1999 inspection by Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Education
Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Education
Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Education is an executive agency of the Scottish Government, responsible for the inspection of public and independent, primary and secondary schools, as well as further education colleges, community learning, Local Authority Education Departments and teacher...
most aspects of the school's performance were rated Very Good. In 2007 Head Teacher
Head teacher
A head teacher or school principal is the most senior teacher, leader and manager of a school....
Ann McLanachan won the Scottish Daily Record Award for Lifetime Achievement after 30 years service at this school. The Scottish Parliament
Scottish Parliament
The Scottish Parliament is the devolved national, unicameral legislature of Scotland, located in the Holyrood area of the capital, Edinburgh. The Parliament, informally referred to as "Holyrood", is a democratically elected body comprising 129 members known as Members of the Scottish Parliament...
Minister for Education and Young People
Cabinet Secretary for Education and Lifelong Learning
The Cabinet Secretary for Education and Lifelong Learning is a position in the Scottish Government cabinet responsible for the Education department...
, Cathy Jamieson
Cathy Jamieson
Catherine Mary "Cathy" Jamieson is a UK Labour party politician and the Member of Parliament for Kilmarnock & Loudoun. She has previously been Deputy Leader and Acting Leader of the Scottish Labour Party, former Minister for Justice in the Scottish Executive, and Labour Co-operative Member of the...
visited the school in late 2002 and described its approach to literacy
Literacy
Literacy has traditionally been described as the ability to read for knowledge, write coherently and think critically about printed material.Literacy represents the lifelong, intellectual process of gaining meaning from print...
as "using an imaginative approach that has been developed by a range of people in the school who are part of the school team ... I want such good practice to be highlighted." The International Union for Health Promotion and Education described Longniddry in 2005 as "one of Scotland’s active primary schools". The school's badminton
Badminton
Badminton is a racquet sport played by either two opposing players or two opposing pairs , who take positions on opposite halves of a rectangular court that is divided by a net. Players score points by striking a shuttlecock with their racquet so that it passes over the net and lands in their...
team won, for the third year running, the Mid and East Primary Schools Quaich
Quaich
A quaich , archaically quaigh, is a special kind of shallow two-handled drinking cup or bowl in Scotland. It derives from the Scottish Gaelic cuach meaning a cup....
, in February 2008.
Notable people
- John KnoxJohn KnoxJohn Knox was a Scottish clergyman and a leader of the Protestant Reformation who brought reformation to the church in Scotland. He was educated at the University of St Andrews or possibly the University of Glasgow and was ordained to the Catholic priesthood in 1536...
, main figure in the Scottish Reformation and disciple of John CalvinJohn CalvinJohn Calvin was an influential French theologian and pastor during the Protestant Reformation. He was a principal figure in the development of the system of Christian theology later called Calvinism. Originally trained as a humanist lawyer, he broke from the Roman Catholic Church around 1530...
spent significant time in Longniddry as tutor to the sons of the Douglas family who lived at the west side of the village. - Hugh MacDiarmidHugh MacDiarmidHugh MacDiarmid is the pen name of Christopher Murray Grieve , a significant Scottish poet of the 20th century. He was instrumental in creating a Scottish version of modernism and was a leading light in the Scottish Renaissance of the 20th century...
, the Scottish poet, is alleged to have lived in Longniddry for a short while. - James Bond actor Pierce BrosnanPierce BrosnanPierce Brendan Brosnan, OBE is an Irish actor, film producer and environmentalist. After leaving school at 16, Brosnan began training in commercial illustration, but trained at the Drama Centre in London for three years...
lived in Longniddry from August 1964 with his mother and new stepfather William Carmichael before moving to London. - Author Mollie HunterMollie HunterMaureen Mollie Hunter McIlwraith, more commonly known as Mollie Hunter , is a Scottish writer. Born and bred near Edinburgh in the small village of Longniddry. She currently resides in Inverness. Her debut was The Smartest Man in Ireland in 1963. She writes fantasy for children, historical stories...
, winner of the 1974 Carnegie Medal for outstanding books for children.
See also
- Longniddry BentsLongniddry BentsLongniddry Bents is a beach just north of Longniddry in East Lothian, Scotland.The beach is almost 2 miles in length, which includes Gosford Bay to the east side, and the rockier Seton Sands to the west. Along the beach are the remains of a wall of concrete tank traps erected during World War II as...
- Longniddry railway stationLongniddry railway stationLongniddry railway station is located at the southeast corner of the village of Longniddry, East Lothian, Scotland. The station is on the East Coast Main Line 21 km east of Edinburgh Waverley, and is served by stopping passenger trains on the North Berwick Line.-History:The main line between...
- List of places in East Lothian