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East Lothian Life captures the very essence of this beautiful county – its people, history, towns, villages, and future, in a quarterly glossy independent magazine, combining lifestyle with local interest. With a stimulating choice of diverse articles and features, every issue covers many aspects of life in East Lothian, past and present.

Well-researched and beautifully written, East Lothian Life is an outstanding example of a county magazine with a truly profound understanding of the county it represents. We work with a team of writers who live locally and have a strong local insight, enabling us to bring content for our readers on the people and places that make East Lothian so unique. Whatever your interest, East Lothian Life’s blend of editorial coupled with a strong sense of heritage captures the faces, places, pastimes and pursuits, which make up this wonderful county. Renowned for its wide-ranging, compelling content, the articles very rarely date and can be constantly referred to.

Highly Commended for six years running by the prestigious PPA Scottish Magazines ‘Best Small Publishing Company’.

Current Issue

Issue 132,
Winter 2025

Letter from the editor

I always leave this letter to the very end. Every. Single. Time. I don’t know why. It’s a simple enough job; sell the tease of the magazine’s content, tally up a few key highlights that might elevate this issue above others beside it on the shelf, while weaving in a personal tale or two. I mean, I can spout personal anecdotes all day long. I could probably share a personal anecdote about my personal anecdotes. But perhaps it’s not the summing up that I struggle with so much as doing justice to what lies behind each page: the spark, the inspiration that connects all these stories.

Recounting all of my highlights does no good for anyone. It also seems kind of trite to capture, in a few lines, the work of someone like artist Darren Woodhead, whose beautiful watercolours capture not only nature, the landscape, the weather, but a sense of the shifting mood and movement of a place. Or someone like Yasmin Hanif, a children’s writer whose debut picture book, Abdullah’s Bear Needs a Name!, was shortlisted for the 2023 Kavya Arts Prize. Or how two sisters growing up making potions now create a unique range of skincare products from their East Lothian apothecary. Or Tom Brownlee’s reminiscences of the county’s vanished cinemas. Or the journey the new owners of the Longniddry Inn have taken to make the local pub the heart of the village community once more.

I mean, where do I begin? I think also that these inspiring stories are a part of East Lothian Life, and what I enjoy covering the most. But they are so different. And that’s kind of the beauty of it. It’s a patchwork of people, passions, and places – all different, all deeply rooted here. When the founder of East Lothian Life, Pauline Jaffray, launched this magazine 36 years ago, she did so with the intention that the customs and habits of people in East Lothian would be recorded, shared and always remembered. And decades on, this continues to be rooted in the magazine’s DNA, even as we keep opening the door to fresh perspectives and new voices.

If I had to sum it up, it’s that inspiration hides everywhere – in a brushstroke, a recipe, a memory, a place. Every story reflects something real and enduring about life in East Lothian. And that, more than anything, is what this magazine has always been about – moments worth celebrating – and remembering.

Until next time

Cover: Fieldfare among Sea Buckthorn Berries, Gullane | Darren Woodhead

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