‘CLOSE call for pensioners as ceiling crashes’ was a headline in the East Lothian Courier of January 5, 1996. The big freeze brought disaster for an elderly Macmerry couple when a burst pipe in their loft caused their living room ceiling to cave in. George and Gabrielle Gibb, both 77, couldn’t believe their eyes when a torrent of water and plaster came crashing to the floor of their Station Row cottage last Wednesday afternoon. George had just turned off the mains after he noticed water trickling down the light flex in the lounge and Gabrielle had gone through with a basin to catch the drops.