We received this information from our recently retired Community Councillor Nicky Neighbour, who asked us to pass it on to anyone interested in Pencaitland’s recent historical past.
The PAS also hosted lectures covering a range of topics and they also organised fundraising events in the village. The PAS was very active in the early days, but activity and membership dwindled, I think particularly into the 90s. By the early noughties it was in crisis and appealed for committee members to keep it going.
I joined, together with a few other new faces, and we kept it going for another couple of years. However, it was unclear what the focus of the society should be and there was little interest within the community. A decision was made to wind up PAS and all remaining funds were distributed amongst local groups (Brownies, Scouts etc). PAS was subsumed into Haddington and District Amenity Society (HADAS) so that they (together with the Community Council) could represent the views of the village in the future. As far as I am aware there is no longer anyone from Pencaitland on the HADAS committee.
I inherited lots of paperwork relating to the PAS, which has been sitting in my loft gathering dust for many years. It included old minutes; account books; structure plans; correspondence; and journals to which the PAS subscribed (e.g. Scottish Local History); and various other bits and pieces. I made a decision the other day to deposit everything with the Local History Archive at the John Gray Centre. This is being catalogued and will shortly be available for access through the archive website (actually, a quick search suggests it may already be available).
Despite my involvement, I’m afraid my knowledge of the history of the PAS is rather sketchy. I do know it was set up in 1973, aiming to act as a focus for local concerns and a forum for discussion and action in protecting the amenities of the village and parish. It was mainly concerned with planning and environmental issues. For many years it organised “Pencaitland Amenity Week” which included a programme of events, exhibitions etc. In June 2004 it was subsumed into HADAS. It may not be of interest to anyone at all, but at least I have done my civic duty by depositing it all with the archivists!
Best Wishes
Nicky Neighbour
Many thanks to Nicky for having the foresight to save the documents for posterity, many of which have already been digitised and can be searched for via the John Gray Centre’s archive.
Harry thanks for further clarification…
The Pencaitland Amenity Society was established by three villagers – Ralph Barker (my late father); Chloris Wood (primary school teacher who taught most locals in P1 in the 1950/60s, now deceased) and Norman Murphy who later moved to West Saltoun. Its primary concern was inappropriate development in the village following the ploughing up of a cereal crop just before harvest in Autumn 1964 and building of The Maltings following refusal to build them in Haddington. A close relationship was held with Frank Tindall, Planning Officer. They also arranged walks, birdspotting talks, and wild flower lectures and were directly responsible for having some roadside verges left uncut to allow rare (some very rare) species to flourish. This of course was before anything such as a Community Council was thought of.
Nicky
Thanks for taking the trouble to save this information and passing it on for posterity.
Ralph