When a wreck occurred within a mile or two of the town we often managed by running fast to reach it and pick up some of the spoils. (John Muir. The Story of My Boyhood and Youth, 1912)
Beachmen pulling the Sarah Pickard on Belhaven sands
In 1153 a piece of land was given to the monks of the May Island Juxta meum portum de Bele (next to Belhaven) by Cospatrick, Earl of Dunbar. For centuries Belhaven Bay provided a natural anchorage for local fishermen. From the 1840s they sailed from the new Victoria Harbour, at the east end of the Park.
Shipwrecks occurred frequently in the days of sail and oar. Many boats foundered on the rocks around the Dunbar coast. In 1745 the Fox, a naval ‘man of war’ drifted on to the Tyne Sands. Her cargo was said to include treasure sent for safekeeping by East Lothian nobility after the Battle of Prestonpans, also the arms and ammunition of the town. The crew of over 100 men perished - some were buried at West Barns.
The story of Dunbar’s lifeboat began in 1808 with the
purchase of the first boat by public subscription. The town’s RNLI lifeboats were often launched from Belhaven Bay. Scores of ‘beachmen’ pulled the lifeboat carriage via Hedderwick Hill and across the sands.
After 1968 Dunbar had its own Inshore Rescue Boat, introduced in response to an increase in accidents involving small craft, swimmers and holidaymakers.
Saving life took on a different form in the 1970s with local lifeguards, based in a hut at the end of Belhaven’s Shore Road.
Water of life
Water from a spa, built by a local physician on Belhaven Beach in the early 19th century, was said to cure many ailments. Later, the benefits of fresh air and exercise were recognised when the new West Promenade, linking Bayswell with Winterfield, was gifted by Mrs James Baird in 1896.
