Haddington

Haddington is the county town of East Lothian, which was also known as Haddingtonshire. It is a pleasant town, lying on the A1 and the River Tyne to the east of Edinburgh, and effectively the only inland town in the county. It lies in a farming landscape, with mills along the river, which helped bring prosperity to the town, as reflected in the buildings of the town centre. It is also central in the county, and lying on the Great North Road would have brought markets to town since the middle ages.

The Great North Road from London to Edinburgh passes straight through the town of Haddington. At first it was followed by the A1, but the first bypass was built in the mid 1930s. This is now the A199 along the northern edge of the town, with the older route now the A6093 and B6471. As traffic levels grew, it became clear that a new bypass would be needed, and so the current A1 dual carriageway was built to relieve the town, with a full access GSJ at either end. The bypass is unusual in that it is a Special Road, but not a motorway.

Despite the narrow, often congested streets in the town centre, the A6093 still threads its way through along the Great North Road from east to west, rather than being rerouted onto the A6137 route to the west of the centre. The B6369 and B6368 head south from the town into the hills, following the Gifford Water, the B6369 reaching the pretty village of Gifford, whilst the B6368 is a much longer, more rural route. To the north, the A6137 takes the direct route to the coast at Aberlady, whilst the B1347 is a somewhat longer route, crossing the low hills to North Berwick.

Routes

Route	To	Notes
A1	Edinburgh
A1	Berwick upon Tweed, Dunbar
A199	Gladsmuir, Tranent	Former A1
A199	East Linton, Dunbar	Former A1
A6137	Aberlady
A6093	Pencaitland, (Dalkeith)
B6368	Bolton	Former A6137
B6369	Gifford
B6471		Link to west of town, Great North Road
B1347	North Berwick	via A199