William Auld & Son Beach Hut

Click here to watch our short film ‘A Conversation with Stuart Auld’ and hear Stuart’s memories of the beach huts.

These gaily painted beach huts were a regular feature of summer holidays in North Berwick. Several local firms produced them, but this is one of the original huts made by William Auld & Son in the early 1900s. The huts would be dismantled and stored at the end of every season. This one lay untouched at the back of Auld’s workshop for decades until it was donated to the Coastal Communities Museum.

This account of the history of the West Bay Beach Huts was compiled in 2021 by Stewart Auld, who generously donated his beach hut to the museum and is William Auld’s great grandson:

“In the 1860’s my great grandfather, William Auld, came through here from Ayrshire. He was trained as a joiner and cabinet maker.

At that time there was a great building boom in the town, mainly in the West End with the construction of many large houses to provide summer residences for the rich and famous. The coming of the railway to the town in 1850 enabled ease of travel to and from wherever in the country. The initial interest was of course the golf, but also open air bathing and the excellent sandy beaches. There was born the beach hut.

By 1876 William, with the help of his father-in-law had purchased a street building and strip of land in the Westgate. There he established the family firm and employed several craftsmen. He saw a need for suitable changing facilities on the beach for swimmers and families. These had to be sectional and easy to erect and dismantle at the end of the summer season. By the mid 1960s there were no less than 36 huts. They were a good source of income, being hired out mainly by the season or month. Deck chairs and wind breaks were also hired out.

With the advent of package holidays abroad in the 1960s and the selling off of many of the large houses after the Second World War (most being turned into flats), interest in the bathing huts had dwindled. With increasing costs in transporting, erecting, dismantling and winter storage for the first time the beach huts were running at a loss. In the early 1970s it was decided to sell them off. All bar one was sold, many going to the gardens of people who had hired them. That drew an end to an era of family fun on the beach.”

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