Waggon 45: to the Memory of James Patterson

1722 Heritage Group in Cockenzie on a Roll

The BIG DIG in Cockenzie harbour and neighbourghing Auld Kirk Salt Pan was a great success again this September. It symbolises the unmistakeable renaissance amongst local historians hereabouts, sleuths and professionals alike, when added to all that's been going along with Murals Trails and Re-enactments and Box Meetings these past two decades. At a time when a planner's vision of Edinburgh's penumbrating suburbia beckons, or threatens, such determination to dig to honour our sense of place and to celebrate it together is a vital ingredient of enduring community esteem and enjoyment.

So it's a delight to see young James Patterson, Scottish railways' first fatal casualty, remembered in the naming of the prototype waggon #45, on display already at he 1722 Heritage PopUp Museum, and playing its role at this year's encampment and re-enactments of the Battle of Prestonpans in 1745.



Back in 1745, on the eve of battle, Alan Brady sketched the redcoats taking supper, Preston Tower in the distance