Aberlady Bay

Aberlady Bay in East Lothian, Scotland lies between Aberlady and Gullane.

In 1952, Aberlady Bay became the UK's first Local Nature Reserve (LNR) and is served by the East Lothian Council Rangers.

The Scottish Ornithologists' Club has Waterston House as its headquarters at Aberlady, with panoramic views of the bay.

Aberlady Bay is part of the John Muir Way, a long distance footpath from Fisherrow (Musselburgh) to Dunglass. It is also the East Lothian Section of the transnational North Sea Trail, a path network connecting seven countries and 26 areas.

Wrecks

The wrecks of eight historic (19th or early 20th century) fishing vessels at Kilspindie have been designated as maritime scheduled ancient monuments.

Two wrecks of XT-craft, training versions of the X craft, can be seen. In 1946, the craft were towed to the bay, then moored to a concrete block and used for target practice by aircraft of the Royal Air Force. The wrecks of the submarines lie much closer to the low-water mark than the high-water mark, and tides in the bay rise very quickly.

Aberlady

Coordinates: 56°01′N 2°52′W / 56.01°N 2.86°W / 56.01; -2.86

Aberlady (Scots: Aiberleddy,Gaelic: Obar Lìobhaite) is a coastal village in the Scottish council area of East Lothian.

Aberlady is surrounded by several well-known golf courses including Luffness, Kilspindie and Craigielaw

History

Etymologically, Aberlady seems to be a Cumbric place-name meaning something like 'bushy river mouth' (cognate with Welsh aber 'river mouth' and llusog 'bushy').

In the Middle Ages, Aberlady was an important harbour and was designated "Port of Haddington" by a 1633 Act of Parliament. However, its origins are much earlier.

Aberlady had strong links with the monasteries at Iona and Lindisfarne from the 7th century, and its role was to facilitate the pilgrim traffic between the two sites. Previous archaeological excavations have shown traces of a Culdee chapel, and Pope Gregory X made reference to the church which he called "Aberlefdi". The 8th century Aberlady Cross fragment can be seen at the National Museum of Scotland in Edinburgh. A reconstruction of this finely carved cross was erected in 2011 by Aberlady Conservation & History Society.