What's on in our museums

Winter season museum opportunities

Explore historic records and online exhibitions at www.johngraycentre.org or pop in for a visit to discover the history of East Lothian in 1000 objects in this innovative, interactive museum at John Gray Centre in Haddington. Uncover how ordinary and extraordinary people earned their living and spent their time from the Stone Age to the present day. Temporary exhibition about local D Day veteran, fisherman, husband, father and great dancer Charlie Horn!

Visit John Muir’s Birthplace and discover how a boy born in Dunbar became one of the driving forces behind the global conservation movement. His life and work continue to inspire people all over the world. Today his legacy helps connect with wellbeing, sustainability and communities. New temporary exhibition explores and celebrates the remaining woodlands found in East Lothian with their pockets of old oak trees. www.jmbt.org.uk

Explore the woods and grounds of Prestongrange Museum using the mobile phone tour as a guide through 400 years of local industry. The harbour, glass works, pottery, colliery and brickworks have all left their marks on the landscape including winding gear, a vast brick kiln and a Cornish beam engine. www.eastlothian.gov.uk/prestongrange

Take a tour of Dunbar Town House Museum and Gallery with Dunbar and District History Society. The Town House has been the focus of town life since the 16th century and is home to a local history display and the temporary exhibition about shopfronts. www.eastlothian.gov.uk/dunbar-town-house

Discover land, sea and peoples stories at the Coastal Communities Museum in North Berwick during October. Travel through time and discover more about the history and pre-history of this captivating coastline and associated hinterland. www.coastalmuseum.org

Exhibitions

'Duir' oak : door

This exhibition explores and celebrates the remaining woodlands found in East Lothian with their pockets of old oak trees. As artists we are working to highlight our dependence and necessary engagement with our environment and woodland through foraging, creating, learning and being amongst woodland for its healing aspects, mindfulness and creative work.

The title of our exhibition is Duir which is an old Celtic word for oak and where the word for door derives. Oak supports more wildlife than any other tree species. This highlights the biodiversity value associated with them. They are also long-lived making them significant carbon stores. Woodlands are an essential part of our community and our exhibition highlights the necessity of preservation and regeneration.

The three artists contributing to this are Karin Chipulina, Stella Robertson and Anna Davis. Karin Chipulina’s work includes eco printed cloth, dyed with local leaves from the woods using oak gall mordants, natural fibres, prints using local woodland, foraged materials and cloth sewn, dyed and worked on with plant fibre.

A quote by John Muir
‘Between every two pine trees there is a door, leading to a new way of life’

Saturday 4 October to Sunday 30 November.
Wednesday to Saturday 10am to 5pm and Sunday 1pm to 5pm. Free admission
John Muir’s Birthplace, High Street, Dunbar, EH42 1JJ.

Scottish shopfronts and Dunbar shops exhibition

Dunbar Town House and Museum and Gallery (Wednesday to Sunday 1pm to 5pm every week)

Come and view the fantastic exhibition on the development of Scottish shopfronts by Lindsay Lennie. There will also be a history of Dunbar High Street shops theme, and we will be encouraging you to bring in stories and information about some of the old High Street shops.

We will also run a series of walks and talks, and activities every Wednesday afternoon during the exhibition. Check out the noticeboard in the Town House window for updates about what’s on.

Saturday 2-4pm courtesy of Dunbar and District History Society. Free admission.
Dunbar Town House Museum and Gallery, High Street, Dunbar, EH42 1ER.

shopfronts

Golden Days: The life of Charlie Horne

Charlie Horne is a local D-Day veteran, fisherman, husband, father and a great dancer!

Using images and material from Charlies own extensive collection, Golden Days looks back over his life. Featuring audio recordings from Charlie, a diary he kept during D-Day, film footage, family letters and images, Golden Days tells the story of a fascinating life well-lived.

30 August through until December. Free admission.
John Gray Centre (Museum) 15 Lodge Street, Haddington, EH41 3DX.
johngraycentre.org
GDays 600

Events

Dunbar Art Route

Saturday 18 and Sunday 19 October

Explore incredible art in Dunbar, Belhaven and West Barns.

meet the artists
see behind the scenes
discover hidden gems
take part in workshops

Dunbar Town House Museum and Gallery will be hosting nine of the artists 10am to 4pm both days.
www.dunbarartroute.co.uk
@dunbarartroute
Dunbar Art Route

Hope, healing and creativity in wild times.

For anyone feeling overwhelmed, a free talk/ discussion.

Stella shares the creative process behind her work (DUIR, oak:door) on loss as a portal to transformation. This interactive talk/ Q & A, explores the importance of creativity and imagination in difficult times. personal and environmental, discusses why slowing down enough to listen to the land can be a radical act of healing and a slow burning activism, and reveals how both can help build the capacity to help us through these wild times.

This session includes some short grounding exercises (visualisation/ breathing)

hope qr

Saturday 25 October, 2pm to 3pm
Saturday 22 November, 2pm to 3pm

John Muir’s Birthplace, High Street, Dunbar, EH42 1JJ.

Book with QR code at eventbrite or message via instagram @dunbarartroute

hope and healing stone

Workshop Printing with Karin Chipulina

Part of the Duir exhibition

My work includes eco printed cloth, dyed with local leaves from the woods using oak gall mordants, natural fibres, prints using local woodland foraged materials and cloth sewn, dyed and worked on with plant fibre. Within a woodland we can access free materials to use in art forms, we can learn from working in that space of inspiration and use materials consciously to give a voice through our art.

Drop in workshop Saturday 18 October Time TBC

John Muir’s Birthplace, High Street, Dunbar, EH42 1JJ.

workshop poster

October 2025