St Andrews in focus •• shopping shopping •• eating eating •• events events •• town/gown town/gown •• people people and and more more
March March // April April 2010 2010 Issue Issue 39, 39, £1.50 £1.50
the award winning magazine for St Andrews www.standrewsinfocus.com www.standrewsinfocus.com
St Andrews in focus • shopping • eating • events • town/gown • people and more
From the Editor I know the snow and ice already seem a long time ago, but I really do want to thank Elspeth of Guardbridge and her team for distributing St Andrews in Focus as quickly as they could following the unexpected adverse conditions last January. Elspeth refused to allow any of her helpers to be endangered, and I’m sure all the magazine’s readers respect her for it, as I do. Idly watching a vapour trail crossing high up in a clear blue sky one day, it struck me that there were a seemingly impossible 200 or 400 people sitting in that tiniest speck of an aircraft. And that set me thinking how truly insignificant we are within the vastness of our universe. Largely because it suits us, we forget that. Or maybe it’s because that vastness, and what it might really mean, frightens us and we’d rather not know. All the same, I think we should dim our street lights at night (as they do in Germany and other countries) not just in order to save electricity, but because it would allow us to see the stars again. Seeing that immense beauty, that infinity of wonder, would be a salutary reminder of who and where we are – it could even bring back some much-needed humility. Back to our earth: spring is here, with all its promise! Let’s look ahead to what I trust will be happier times for all of us. Flora Selwyn
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The views expressed elsewhere in this magazine are not necessarily those of the Editor. MARCH / APRIL 2010 EDITOR Flora Selwyn Tel: 01334 472375 Email: editor@standrewsinfocus.com DESIGNER University of St Andrews Reprographics Unit PRINTER Trendell Simpson DISTRIBUTER Elspeth’s of Guardbridge PUBLISHER (address for correspondence) Local Publishing (Fife) Ltd., PO Box 29210, St Andrews, Fife, KY16 9YZ. Tel: 01334 472375 Email: editor@standrewsinfocus.com SUBSCRIPTIONS St Andrews in Focus is published 6 times a year. Subscriptions for 6 issues are: £12.50 in the UK (post & packing included). Please send cheques to: Local Publishing (Fife) Ltd., PO Box 29210, St Andrews, Fife, KY16 9YZ. £22 overseas (post and packing included). Please use PayPal account: editor@StAndrewsinFocus.com NOTE: please pay with a Personal Bank Account, as credit cards incur a 3.9% charge. REGISTERED IN SCOTLAND: 255564 THE PAPER USED IS 80% RECYCLED POST-CONSUMER WASTE
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Contents FEATURES • From the Community Council • Hamish, still here • Stovies • John Davidson Sharp III • Twixt Friday and Sunday • House-swap • The Pensioner volunteers • Saving the world through taxes • St Rules Tower • Ask the Curator • Internet conundrum • Toonspot • Reviews – A Gift of Tears – All the King’s Men – The Lost Ark of St Andrews – Easterly, Force 10 – Janet Beaton
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ORGANISATIONS • Sailing • The Community Council 200 Club
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SHOPS & SERVICES • Advertising advice • A triple celebration • Ardross • Rusacks Hotel • Roving Reporter
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TOWN/GOWN • Print & Design • Chimwemwe • The Management Society • The Rocks Arts Festival • Stamp collecting
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EVENTS • The Kate Kennedy Procession • St Andrews Chorus • All about Mermaids • Stroke Awareness • Poetry in Conflict • Selected Events List
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OUT AND ABOUT • Fife’s far frontiers • Nature notes • Red Squirrels
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NEXT ISSUE – May/Jun 2010 COPY DEADLINE: STRICTLY 28 MARCH
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All contributions welcome. The Editor reserves the right to publish copy according to available space. Cover photo courtesy Alan Selwyn
FEATURES Ian Goudie, Chair of the Community Council
Singing from the same hymn sheet From time to time it is suggested in the press that St Andrews suffers from a plethora of organisations with widely divergent views about where the town should be heading. Further investigation usually reveals ulterior motives on the part of those propagating such opinions. They wish to find excuses for disregarding local opinion or for establishing some new organisation which will purport to take a more measured overview. Far from revealing divisions of opinion, the Local Plan consultation at the end of last year showed a high level of agreement on the medium-term planning strategy between several organisations with interests in the town. You did not have to look hard to find common themes in the responses of the Community Councils in Boarhills and in St Andrews, the Preservation Trust, the Green Belt Forum, and the Architectural Heritage Society of Scotland. To my mind, such agreement is the more impressive when it arises from separate bodies with differing remits. One recurring theme has been the need to ensure that full use is made of “brownfield” (i.e. previously developed) sites in the town to accommodate new housing before recourse is made to greenfield sites on the edge of town. Indeed, in stark contrast to what has been widely believed for the last five years, the need to use greenfield sites in the plan period to 2018 will at worst be small, and may be non-existent. Local organisations have also been re-iterating that, if greenfield land is required, it should be on the relatively low-lying ground of the Kinness Valley. The Community Council has not been alone in stressing the need for more affordable housing in the town. The
I’m still around, in case you wondered!
reduction of carbon emissions is in everyone’s interest, and locating housing near to places of employment makes an important contribution. The severe weather at the start of the year also emphasised the dangers inherent in being forced to travel significant distances to work on icy roads – particularly for those, such as some University cleaners, whose employer requires them to start at 6.00a.m. Yet this does not mean that we should mindlessly give the nod to all proposals for housing, as some developers would seem to wish. The Structure Plan requirement that 30% of new housing in St Andrews should be affordable was a small step in the right direction, but it still means that we get seven top-of-the range houses that we don’t need, for every three affordable ones that we want, and it failed to require that affordable housing should remain affordable indefinitely. Although the figure of 30% was above the national benchmark of 25%, it has produced no diminution in the desire of builders to develop in St Andrews and the surrounding area. So clearly the market can sustain a larger proportion of affordable housing than the proposed 30%. The Community Council in its Local Plan response, therefore, called for a requirement for 50% affordable, unless the 30% figure could be guaranteed to be affordable in perpetuity. This is not just whistling in the wind. The opportunity for progress exists because a footnote in the Structure Plan indicates that the percentage targets are to be reviewed biennially. St Andrews must continue to press for them to be raised. The full text of the Community Council’s response to the Local Plan consultation can be found by going to the webpage: http://www.standrewscc.net/localplan.php and using the “detailed response” link.
Colin McAllister waxes lyrical about
Stovies
Haggis may well be Scotland’s national dish, But a plate of stovies is all I wish!
Reamin’, reekin’, tasty in ev’ry way, What better meal for a wintry day?
Pommes étouffées is what the French would say, Mince, onions, and tatties, give me I pray!
Stovies are the food that Scots bairns do crave,
Stovies are what has made Scotland the Brave!
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FEATURES Flora Selwyn had great pleasure hearing
John Davidson Sharp III – a very full life Born in Paisley, where his father was a banker for 52 years, John years clinical training and research benefited from an excellent, broad education at what was then the John with newborns” for his Doctorate. Neilson Institution, having been interviewed and accepted at age 5. Plans to return to Canada were Second of four children, (“girl, boy, boy, girl”) John remarked that the dropped when John met and sexes in his family had always been equal through the generations. “I married Barbara in 1972 “and I am now the last John Davidson. I didn’t name my son John Davidson” settled down,” moving to his first after the childless Ayrshire member of the family some generations back, post in Edinburgh at Moray House, as Lecturer in Child Development because the tradition had simply “run its course”. specialising in Early Childhood, with clinical work at the Sick Children’s The John Neilson Institution was a Merchant Company school, “for Hospital. Three years on, and before he was 30, John was headhunted the education of the children of the worthy poor”. It was here John was by the Royal Hospital for Sick Children in Glasgow, “to create and introduced to music, “we had four orchestras, and one rugby team!” – that develop a service for sick children”, possibly “the youngest consultant was in the 1950s, and it boasted the first Highers music pupil in Scotland, in Scotland”. In those days, the prognosis for normal psychological Kenneth McKellar. “I didn’t enjoy school, but I loved the music.” At the development in premature babies was not very positive. John and age of 12, having tried, but not liked, the trumpet, John his team developed the ‘responsive crib’, which took up the French horn, which at first he largely taught “was sensitive to the baby’s eye movements”, both John was in his himself to play. Chosen to attend a fortnight’s summer stimulating and recording brain development. Clinics element; he even residential music course in Ayrshire, “I made a lot of were run for “heads, hearts, legs, bums, behaviour! friends” among pupils from all over Scotland. At his first played under the great It was a great reality training” for students. Then the camp he played the “lovely horn solo” in Borodin’s In Conservatives won the 1979 election, and everything Leonard Bernstein on The Steppes of Central Asia. As, at that time, he hadn’t changed. General mangement arrived in the Health had enough experience to read music well, John’s Service. John had been appointed to the Health one occasion! teacher taught him the next piece “by singing in my Service Planning Council at the Scottish Office in ear!” Returning home in September he found a brand new French horn 1975, with its “wonderful, wonderful piece of brilliant British Civil Service bought for him by the school, and private lessons with Professor of the effectiveness....made up of people in the field” – all abolished. Horn, Farquharson Cousins, already arranged. Professor Cousins, now in “I was now Professor Sharp, Dr John on the radio, I was running a his 90s, still calls John, “Boy”. charity, talking at functions, running a service for children with cancer.” The Professor’s generosity not only ran to meals and extended Going home in the evening to help with the children, he would then return lessons, but even to providing tickets to Glasgow concerts by the Scottish to work. In short, John became a workaholic; “I paid for it in the end.” National Orchestra. John, and his music, thrived. From the age of 15 to Health and marriage both suffered, “I was just worn out.” John’s doctor about 19 John was able to further his musical education at the Glasgow wrote, “continuing to work for the NHS is seriously damaging this man’s Academy of Music. “I played in the orchestras and attended performance health!” classes”, but with his Professor’s encouragement, John went to Glasgow At 50, John retired. He came to St Andrews, where he had spent his University and achieved a 1st Class Hons Degree in child psychology. Still honeymoon, and bought a 17th century derelict house that had been continuing with music lessons, he also played in both the University and used as a store. Designing, and putting into effect, its renovation (and Academy orchestras, as well as the odd stint in the pre-Scottish Opera just recently he achieved the final part of his vision) proved therapeutic. Kings Theatre performances. During the year that this took, John returned to the Glasgow Academy of In 1966, with four job offers to choose from, John decided to go Music to retrain on the horn, “I decided, I wanted my music.” With him to to Canada, to be an Assistant Professor in child psychology in the St Andrews came the family’s two Lhasa Apso dogs, Oliver and Rupert, University of Guelph, Toronto, “and within two months of graduating dogs that are reputed to be the incarnation of Tibetan monks. His health with my first degree, I was being addressed in the supermarket, as restored, John went back to part-time work in the NHS, “the head of ‘good morning Professor!’ Imagine what that did to a young ego!” department was a student of mine I’d trained, so she became my boss, Resulting from a serendipitous contact made while playing in concerts and we loved that!” He also taught horn in schools, and was consultant in on board the Empress of England during the Atlantic crossing, John a residential unit for teenage boys in Aberdour. Then serious illness struck was appointed, after a searching audition, second horn player in the in 2008 and John retired once more. Hamilton Philharmonic Orchestra. “I also started doing music and recitals “I’ve always been associated with churches.” A choir boy in the on campus” having wondered initially if he actually could do two jobs at Paisley Abbey Choir when young, John taught Bible classes while an the same time. Having seemingly unlimited opportunities to run clinics, undergraduate, and at 26 became an Elder. Since his illness, horn playing teach, and also play music with internationally acclaimed artists like has become difficult, so John bought a viola! He continues to teach Rostropovich, John was in his element; he even played under the great the Vienna horn having formed the Scottish Vienna Horn Ensemble, Leonard Bernstein on one occasion! specialising in Austrian repertoire. So what now of the future, and does After three years, wishing to add to his professional qualifications, John have any regrets? “No regrets; your journey is your journey. My John returned in1969 to Strathclyde University in Glasgow to “do three future is God, and the viola!”
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FEATURES John Sharp
Twixt Friday and Sunday
Holy Trinity crocuses (Photo by Flora Selwyn)
Twixt ‘hide’ and ‘seek’ Twixt ‘lost’ and ‘found’ That Saturday That Saturday Twixt Friday and Sunday What was happening That Saturday That Saturday Twixt Friday and Sunday When God’s very self Lay dead in a grave Hidden but sought Lost and not yet found That Saturday That Saturday Twixt Friday and Sunday O Son of Adam Son of God Cross-nailed grave-buried Son of God Where were you That Saturday That Saturday Twixt Friday and Sunday
Were you with us – against us Waiting for us To catch up To get the message To feel what Hell is like That Saturday That Saturday Twixt Friday and Sunday So glory be that THAT Sunday came In spite of us In spite of us And what a Saturday What a Saturday THAT Saturday Must have been Twixt ‘hide’ and ‘seek’ Twixt ‘lost’ and ‘found’ That Saturday That Saturday Twixt Friday and Sunday
Sandy Cameron discovered a cheap way to travel the world with his family, by doing a
House-swap
My wife and I have always had ambitious plans to travel the world, but not occasion, we looked after the required bank balance. However, some years ago now, we hit on the a Staffordshire terrier. She idea of exchanging our house with people in other countries. Thus started joined us on our long walks for us a series of adventures round the globe. At the time, the only way and loved it. On one of these, to do this was to advertise in the respective national newspapers. Later, to the Tavistock Gorge in Kyoto gion we used the Rotary International Scheme. To-day , of course, the internet Devon, she fell into a fastoffers a proliferation of companies specialising in House Exchange, and flowing stream and was so the process is much easier. One such is home exchange.com This swept to within inches of a company costs $50 to join, but it provides an excellent service and has a hundred-foot precipice before good reputation. we managed to rescue her. To date, we have exchanged our modest dwelling in St Andrews with There was no doubt that families in England, France, Australia, South Africa, Japan, Canada, and she would have perished on USA (several times). On not one occasion were we disappointed with our the jagged rocks below. In holiday, and many times we had an absolutely outstanding experience. retrospect, I wonder if it is Mostly the cost was less than half of what a package deal would be to a worth the risk involved. similar location. There are no hidden costs. You only pay for your airfare. Many people are The usual method of starting the ball rolling is to log your house in worried about damage to and invite offers for the time and place you wish to go. You are required to their property in this type of New Hampshire House post photos of your house on the website with the various features it holiday. All I can say is that possesses, including bedrooms, garden, and other amenities. St Andrews, in more than 20 years of swapping, our damage bill amounted to one being a world-famous destination, brings in a cornucopia of attractive broken tumbler! If it is a real sticking point, your house-insurance can be offers, from Anchorage to Asuncion, begging to lend you their igloo extended to cover the period of exchange for a small premium and some or hacienda. It is important that you specify any restrictions you may policies include such a contingency. One of the great things (and there have, e.g. no smokers, no children etc. You will get the hang of this as are many) about house-exchange is how remarkably little administration you browse the site. By the same token, you is involved. Once dates are agreed, you and can narrow your choice by delineating any your swapee exchange emails to sort out The usual method of starting requirements of the house you wish to go details such as key collection and use of the the ball rolling is to log your to, e.g. swimming-pool, rural area, golf club landline phone. This can be made easier by membership, and so on. I have had access a neighbour, friend, or relative to house in and invite offers for the appointing to some of the top courses in the world. Most oversee the settling-in of your guests. There time and place you wish to go swaps include a car, and one of our most are no contracts to sign and no formalities. memorable visits to New Hampshire included a And you are not required to leave your house lake with inboard motor boat, kayaks, fishing gear, mountain bikes, and any more than normally tidy and clean. The basic standard of domestic a luxury SUV, not to mention guest membership of Manchester Golf and cleanliness is all that is required, with one wardrobe cleared. It’s helpful to Country Club! Some of the North American swaps threw in a holiday cabin leave as much as you can in the way of maps and local information and in the wilderness for good measure. any necessary instructions for household appliances. A nice touch is to Dog owners can, if they so wish, arrange reciprocal care. One leave some food for the first day or so. of the problems here, of course, is the responsibility for ensuring the The basic rule of all exchanges is, as in life, ‘do unto others as you management and safety of the animal in question. In one experience, in would be done by’, and remember that for that period of time, mi casa es France, the dog we were looking after massacred the neighbour’s prize su casa.This way not much can go wrong and much can go right. You will bantam chickens, which caused a very unpleasant scene! On another have a whale of a time, I guarantee it.
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FEATURES Anne Tait describes how she and her husband Hamish spent two years as
The Pensioner Volunteers! Having been asked to write this article for St Andrews in Focus, I have been moved to reflect on how my husband Hamish and I came to spend the last two years as volunteers with VSO (Voluntary Service Overseas) in the remote Extreme North of Cameroon, West Africa. We had both heard of VSO as teenagers in the late ‘60s, although we were ignorant of the fact that it was a very young organisation at that time, having been started by Scotsman, Alec Dickson, in 1958. (He later advised John F Kennedy on setting up the Peace Corps). Hamish and I were unaware of each other’s existence at that time, but a seed had been planted in both minds, and as retirement drew ever closer, we pondered on meaningful ways to spend it. We were agreed that retirement should not mean a slow decline into senility, but the beginning of a freedom we had never known before, with all sorts of new challenges and experiences. Retired first, I returned to university in 2002 to take a second degree, enjoying every moment of my studies as one of the most mature students at Dundee Law School. Having spent more than 30 years as a busy GP, Hamish wanted to end his medical career working in the developing world and that fact brought us back to our vague knowledge of VSO. In 2005 we found on Google some VSO meetings to attend in Dundee and Edinburgh to further our knowledge of volunteering and to find out if we had anything to offer. In 2006 we eventually decided to take the plunge, applying as separate individuals, not as Daughter Shona at work doctor and “accompanying with a TB patient spouse”. After 38 years as a doctor’s wife, half of which have been spent waiting for him to come home, I knew that I had to have a job too or I would not enjoy the experience. In January 2007, VSO invited us to their British headquarters in Putney, London, for an assessment day, along with two other men, both older than us, and two young women. Hamish consulting That day proved to be one of the most challenging of the whole volunteering experience as we were observed throughout the entire day taking part in group activities with the other potential volunteers and experienced hour-long individual interviews. Four assessors with clipboards followed the six of us, making notes, listening to our every word and noting Delivering books bought with our every reaction, but not Citizen readers’ money to speaking at all. Unnerving Mofou-sud school’s head teacher to say the least! Hamish and I were interviewed separately by the same assessor, finding out later that he had asked us the same searching questions about our marriage, any difficulties we had faced together and our hopes and fears for volunteering. Comparing notes later, we discovered that we had given completely different answers! At the end of an exhausting day, we were spat out into the night to await our fate, told that we would be informed within three weeks whether our applications had been successful or not. Off we went to contemplate the options: would one of us be accepted without the other? Which one? Would neither be accepted? Would both of us be accepted? After three weeks we finally got the word we had been hoping for: we had both been accepted. The next few months were a blur of weekend trips to a training centre in Birmingham to learn SKWID: Skills for Working in Development. These training sessions proved invaluable and allowed us to meet like-minded people with whom we could share our
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thoughts on the experience ahead. At the end of this training, we felt well prepared for what lay ahead. We knew that we would have to be flexible, that the jobs we Sunset over Waza National Park would be offered might not be the ones we ended up doing, that our experience would be a roller coaster of highs and lows and, most importantly, that if anyone asked us to do something, it was because they thought we could do it. Next came the offer of placements in Cameroon. As neither of us had a clear idea of the exact location of Cameroon, our first move was to find the atlas and do some background reading. VSO is happy to offer several possible destinations, but only one at a time. Prospective volunteers have to give reasons for refusing one before another will be offered, however, we could see no reason to refuse our first offer and duly accepted Cameroon. After months of waiting, we finally knew where we would be going. Hamish was to develop services for HIV and AIDS patients at a bush hospital, while I was to become an Education Adviser to four schools in the same area. Initially I was expected to live and work thirty miles Chief Abdouraman with away from him, but rejected his bodyguard that; if we were volunteering together, we wanted to live together and work in the same community. As things unfolded over the next couple of years, we did in fact spend more nights apart than ever before. Between January and the end of August 2007, we packed up our home of thirty years, had medical and dental checks, started malaria prophylaxis and had Children shelling peanuts all the vaccines required – eleven for me, nine for Hamish. We then prepared ourselves to part from our family and friends for two whole years. After more farewell parties than we had envisaged, the great day finally arrived and at 4.00am on 1st September, we drove to Edinburgh airport for our long flight to Yaoundé, Cameroon’s capital. We have never enjoyed a flight A Development Committee meeting as much as that one! I think at Mandoula School where the we were so exhausted Rotary well will be situated by all the preparations that we relaxed for the first time in months and thoroughly enjoyed Air France’s champagne meals. At Yaoundé we were met by a noisy, jostling throng of men, all trying to relieve us of our luggage, our money, or both. Fortunately VSO’s representatives were on hand to protect us and deliver us safely to the dirtiest hotel we have ever stayed in, where mice ran joyfully over the beds, and used condoms were carelessly left lying. Next morning we awoke to the sound of a small child being beaten. Life was going to be different! After breakfast all the newly-arrived volunteers met for the first time: one Portuguese girl, a group of ten bilingual French Canadians, aged between twenty-two and thirty-something, and us – the pensioner volunteers! From that moment on, we were very much a group, supportive of each other and with no hint of ageism. Hamish and I were included in all invitations, but discretion being the better part of valour, there were
FEATURES some we declined – like a 3-day trek up Mount Cameroon! There followed He worked longer hours than he had as a junior doctor thirty odd years a week of “in-country training”, studying culture, language, health, previously, with minimal supplies and equipment and survived as a jack of financial and relationship issues, before being taken to the station for the all trades, working in the French language, dealing with tropical medicine, daily overnight train on the next stage of our journey to the Extreme North. radiography, ultrasound, and some surgery, only escaping from the It is difficult to describe the mêlée at the crowded station as porters grab hospital complex every second weekend for a well-earned rest. Because heavy suitcases, put several on their heads, and head off at breakneck of the nature and demands of his work, he had little communication with speed into the noisy crowd towards your compartment. They know where other volunteers, while I, on the other hand, saw quite a lot of the other they are going! education volunteers in Maroua, where there The train itself has seen better days, is were frequent meetings to discuss progress and We were agreed that usually running late – up to three days late! – share ideas as we helped our schools prepare retirement should not mean a development plans for the next five years, tried and frequently derails. The volunteers were split up and put into first class four-berth sleeping to increase school rolls, encourage parents that slow decline into senility, but compartments, but first class is a little different in girls are worth educating, discourage the use of the beginning of a freedom Cameroon. There is a bed for each passenger, sticks on children, introduce the notion of human but the bedding was last changed a decade or rights etc. My job was varied, interesting and we had never known before two ago judging by the appearance and aroma, challenging. Having always regarded myself as a toilet floors swim with urine, people sleep on good Indian, but not a good chief, I was forced to floors everywhere and there are loud, agitated voices at all times. I was take a leadership role if anything was to be achieved in my four schools. put in a compartment with a Canadian volunteer, an elderly Cameroonian We were both way out of our comfort zone on many occasions, but lady and a young woman with her three children. I wondered how much somehow together we coped. sleep we would get sharing with young children, but need not have Highlights for us were visits from most of our close family, sharing worried. The children behaved impeccably and the older lady was a great tourism with them. Our physiotherapist daughter even worked as a help, assuring us that it was normal procedure when an official prised volunteer in the hospital for three months – the first time they had ever from our reluctant fingers the bus tickets needed for the last stage of our had that service. Our two years in Cameroon were indeed a roller coaster journey. An uncomfortably hot eight hour “chicken bus” journey further experience and one which neither of us could have done without the north on dreadful roads followed, punctuated five times by the arrival on support of the other. We had our triumphs and our disasters, but with as board of rifle-toting policemen to check passports. This was something many fun situations as harrowing ones, we never felt like giving up. Would we soon got used to. Having been spared train derailment, our luck held; we recommend it to others? Absolutely. Would we do it again? No. Well, the bus had no punctures (we later experienced 35 when we had our probably not. Well, maybe if the right placements came along……. but own car!) and eventually got to Maroua, regional capital, twenty-six hours we do feel that we have been hugely privileged to have been accepted after leaving Yaoundé. Yet another week of “in-country training” followed, by and lived with people from a very different culture, people who have before finally being delivered to our new home at Zidim hospital in the little to give, but are generous with what they have. Now home again, we bush thirty miles from Maroua, half of which was over an uneven track miss the warmth and friendship of these people and the challenge each still thick with mud at the end of the rainy season. We were lucky. While new day in Africa brought. Together we had an amazing experience as most of our neighbours lived in mud huts, we had a proper house with volunteers in Cameroon and, like Arnold Schwarzenegger, we’ll be back. running water (most days!) and electricity four hours per day from the hospital generator (when it worked!). Along with the house, we acquired Thomas, our alcoholic and wily old housekeeper who bullied me into paying him for whole days’ work when he would leave after a couple of hours to catch up on his drinking or sleep. We eventually parted company as he became bolder in his behaviour. There were only three white faces in Zidim village: our two plus that of a Dutch doctor. By Cameroonian standards, we were old. In fact we should have been dead! Months later we learned that when hospital staff first saw Hamish’s white hair, they wondered if he would be able to run in an emergency situation. Meanwhile my young local colleague, deeply disappointed that he was not to work with a young, beautiful Canadian volunteer, wondered, as he jerked a thumb in my direction, how he was expected to “move her around”. After a few months, we bought a car and I moved him around – a little like driving royalty, judging by his regal, but condescending, waves. Even twenty-year old cars like ours are a rarity in the bush. As we had been warned by VSO, Hamish’s job did not match the placement description. It turned out to be that of a busy hospital doctor, with little or no time for much development work. As the only doctor there from time to time, he had to deal with 120 beds which were usually full, and as many outpatients daily. Photos courtesy Anne & Hamish Tait (together on far right of volunteer group)
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FEATURES Andrew Wright, on what is meant by
Saving the World Through Taxes Whichever political party wins the next election, it is a fair bet that they will rely on green taxes to raise additional revenues. After all, it is difficult to argue against a policy that can both curb climate change and replenish the Treasury coffers. Currently 7.4% of our total tax revenue comes from green taxes, but this is projected to rise to between 15 and 20% by 2020.There are also various levies raised on businesses (who then pass on the cost to the consumer); for example, “Renewals Obligation”, where energy suppliers are required to obtain a set % of the electricity they supply from renewable energy sources. The proceeds of this levy are then divided between the main renewable energy sources as development funding. Wind energy receives 40% while Landfill Gas receives approximately 25% with other energy sources receiving smaller amounts. By far the most important of the green taxes at the moment is Fuel Duty, followed by Vehicle Excise Duty. These raised £34 billion in the latest published figures. There is a stated policy aim that these taxes will increase in future by more than the rate of inflation. Initially these taxes were reinvested in road and infrastructure projects, but that link was broken many years ago and the money now goes directly to the Exchequer. Other green taxes are “Air Passenger Duty” (£1.9 billion), “Landfill Tax” (£0.9 billion), “Climate Change Levy” (£0.7 billion), and “Aggregates Levy (£0.3 billion). At the moment, there is no “Carbon Tax” as such, although France and Ireland are considering introducing one. There is also talk of increasing “Air Passenger Duty” from its present level of £11 per passenger to a considerably higher rate. More generally, the economic
nature of taxes means that any tax change may have an environmental impact. For example, some economists argue that the proposed introduction of transferable allowances between husband and wife for inheritance tax purposes could discourage elderly house-owners from down-sizing so that they remain in the family home with the inevitably larger carbon footprints. This is rather far-fetched perhaps, but it illustrates the point. In addition to green taxes themselves, our traditional taxes are also being “greened”. For example, with Corporation Tax enhanced capital allowances have been introduced for buying energy saving assets. With VAT, there is a lower 5% rate for the installation of energy saving materials. With PAYE, there are hefty tax charges for having a “gas guzzler” for a company car. It is not clear whether traditional taxes will be reduced in line with the increase in green taxes. What do you think? For further information on this, or other matters, please consult: Henderson Black & Co. 149 Market St., St Andrews. Tel: 01334 472 255
Jan Read
St Rule’s Tower
Photos by Flora Selwyn
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An empty stair, the beat of wings, A platform poised beneath the sky, Outlasting all the Scottish kings The tower will stand, and we must die.
They loved this little strip of land, This college of the scarlet gown, The white-flecked sea and mirrored sand, The open streets, the old grey town.
Between the quay and crooked pier No fisherman will sail to-day; The harbour lies a burnished mere, The fishermen have left the bay.
Built to last the passing hour, Let this their only headstone be; Look long upon the ancient tower And look for those who no more see
Though now no sailor scans the coast For an upright finger, lean and grey, It stands, unaltered, at its post, It stands and still it points the way.
It’s ghostly bulk against the sky, Its stonework, smoothed by wind and spray, Standing where its builders lie, Lonely by a landlocked bay.
Among the tombs that lie so near, It stands, a nobler monument To men whose single love was here Yet heard the call of arms and went.
(From, A Gift of Tears)
FEATURES Welcome back Lesley-Anne Lettice! Once more, you can
Ask the Curator
Q. I recently saw a photo of the old Boots building on the corner of South Street and Church Square and wondered if you could tell me anything about the pillar-like object on the far right of the photo? A. The object you are referring to is the Baden-Powell drinking fountain. Made of pink granite, it can now be found in Kinburn Park near the bowling green and clubhouse. I’m afraid I’m not entirely sure when it was relocated, but perhaps a knowledgeable reader can help answer this? Q. Can you tell me when T T Fordyce first opened in St Andrews and where the shop was? A. A native of Banffshire, T T Fordyce (later Provost of St Andrews from 1961-70) came to St Andrews in 1924. Already the proprietor of drapery businesses in Turriff and Methil, he purchased the existing business at No. 65 South Street from William Moyes Greig. The top floor of the building was converted into living accommodation for himself and his family. In 1932 a new shop front, designed by Frank Pryde, of local firm Walker & Pryde, was added. In 1934, Mr Fordyce took over the lease of No. 135 South Street, when the business formerly run by Mr J M Ritchie came on the market. The Fordyces decided to keep both shops, re-naming No. 135 ‘The Drapery House’. Mr Fordyce went on to buy another business in Cupar’s Bonnygate in 1949.
(Photo courtesy Fife Council Libraries & Museums, St Andrews Museum) T T Fordyce is just one of the St Andrews shopkeepers featured in a new exhibition at St Andrews Museum. Running from 20 March-16 May, the exhibition, ‘Are You Being Served?’, features a host of objects and photographs relating to shops and shopping in St Andrews over the last 100 years.
Internet Conundrum: There were four people – Everybody, Somebody, Anybody and Nobody. There was an important job to be done and Everybody was asked to do it. Everybody was sure Somebody would do it. Anybody could have done it, but Nobody did. Somebody got angry about that because it was Everybody’s job. Everybody thought that Anybody could do it, but Nobody realized that Everybody was too busy. It ended up that Everybody blamed Somebody when Nobody did what Anybody could have done.
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FEATURES: REVIEWS Jean Lemaitre reviews
A Gift of Tears; Poems 1939-1946 by Jan Read Published by Jan Read, 2010 Of all the forms of written communication, poetry is surely the most intimate, the most personal. So it is with this collection by Jan Read. Whilst he has chosen for these poems to be published (privately), it nonetheless seems something of an intrusion for a reader to comment on them in any way. The dates of the title besides the author’s note make it clear why almost all of the work is tinged with melancholy. ‘I found myself at a laboratory bench during World War II when most of my friends were fighting.’ Time and again the reader is left with a profound sense of loss, of disbelief, of sorrow, of bewilderment. There is the soldier ‘…whose snapshot of a girl…he wears….as a bible to turn the bullets away..’.; here is the loneliness of the poet facing a blank sheet of paper and feeling that ‘…poetry is meagre dress to hide its nakedness or mine.’ The subject matter is by no means confined to thoughts on war, but ranges from reflections on train journeys, on rivers, and places visited and places loved. The wavering of a precision instrument such as a galvanometer or those of an audition at Pinewood Studios come alive, albeit, as ever, with negative overtones. Only the gentle little song of praise for a favoured bookbinder tries to shed this mood to give the reader a rare moment of respite from what is otherwise a deeply felt baring of a poet’s soul.
Jonathan A Kemp BSc PhD LLCM(TD) MIOA, Module Coordinator for Physics of Music, Electronic Music and Scottish Music, University of St Andrews, reviews the CD
Annakate “All the King’s Men”
To listen to sample tracks: www.myspace.com/annakateputter or: www.myspace.com/whathewolfstole To purchase the CD: whathewolfstole@yahoo.co.uk Price £6 (incl. post & packing) Any CD which consists almost entirely of solo voice and piano is going to have to come from an exceptional talent to stand up as an engaging listening experience. Here the task is not fully achieved, but there are moments within this album where Annakate Putter hits the mark. Running to 12 tracks over its 50 minutes, the overriding impression is one of angst, pain, a hint of Tori Amos and a sprinkling of Kate Bush. Each track starts with an exquisitely if forcefully played piano riff, usually using a pedal note and an accented rhythmic ostinato and after 4 bars we have the first of umpteen repeats with relatively little variation. If you reckon that sound formulaic then you would be right. That said, her chorus writing shows considerable promise, with unexpected harmonic invention and soaring vocals to take the breath away. If she can give the verses structure and invention to match her choruses then the future looks rosy. I only wish I could tell you about her lyrics. If only the words were pronounced with good diction we might actually have an idea what on earth she is so angry about. The musical highlights are Track 6, Kartoon Kyote, a shanty-like ditty that brings a welcome smile to contrast with the otherwise heavy tone of the album and Track 7, the delicate and intricate Veronica, in which the piano performance doubled on drums using technology in a thoroughly convincing and musical way. Many will enjoy this talented singer-songwriter, including when she plays at the Pittenweem Festival this August and I’m sure that this CD is intended first and foremost to demonstrate her considerable gifts in terms of banging out really engaging performances live. Recorded in 10 hours, mainly in one take, the production is mostly bare and some ugly distortion has crept into some of the songs, something that doesn’t appear to be present on the version on her myspace site: http://www.myspace.com/annakateputter Cover © Jurek Pütter
Dr Peter Clive reviews
The Lost Ark of St Andrews by John Ferguson Published by, and available at Psyche’s Garden (2009), price £4.99 On the trail of times past … The Lost Ark of St Andrews is a slim, but timely volume, which reminds us of the significance which St Andrews, and in particular the ornate reliquary around which the cathedral was built, held in the mediaeval mind. In an age of warrior monks, when God’s direct intervention was still the most widely accepted explanatory paradigm for all phenomena, the relics of St Andrew attracted pilgrims to the East Neuk from all of Christendom. And yet seemingly overnight this priceless artefact disappears as the Reformation convulses and realigns Scottish society, and it is not heard of again. Until now: this book is the first serious attempt in the modern era to acknowledge the existence of the Morbrac and investigate its possible fates. The presentation is often dramatic, entertaining and engaging, and in treating the subject of a major lost relic the author might be perceived to run the risk of straying unintentionally into non-historical genres already well served by bestsellers and blockbusters. Doubtless this perception has deterred investigators hitherto. However, this book is substantial and well researched, and the author’s commitment to revealing the past, rather than merely revelling in it, shines through on every page. The best history displays an ability to place us in the time and place described, to enable us to begin to understand how people in a remote time hoped and feared, lived and died, and indeed prayed, as human beings in every important respect exactly like ourselves. Well-written history reminds us of the transience of quotidian trappings in all ages including our own, and brings us closer to the more enduring concerns that we all have always had in common. From this point of
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view the search for a highly-revered object which drew people to St Andrews from all over Europe during the pre-Reformation period before its disappearance, a search which takes us and the author up the streets and through the wynds of the St Andrews of today, is an ideal choice of subject. Academics (the author is a lay person writing primarily for his lay peers) may prefer to analyse the grist and grit of history and disregard the subject of this book as epiphenomenal froth, but we must always remember that people are moved by their faith at least as much as by their fleas, then as now. Sometimes speculation is required to fill in blanks: connections between events and relationships between individuals must often be inferred in any historical work on the basis of incomplete evidence. The author makes very clear what is derived from his meticulous scrutiny of primary sources and what is plausible conjecture designed to raise his subject from the dusty pages of the archives he surveys. He creates a vibrant living picture into which he invites us to join him in the exercise of understanding the past which he adumbrates and populates for us. The principal deficiency of this publication is its brevity. It is clear the author has undertaken a great deal more research than the investigations whose results are presented here, and this reviewer awaits a second edition eagerly.
FEATURES: REVIEWS Anna Crowe reviews
Miles Collins reviews
by Lyn Moir Calder Wood Press, 2009. Available at Waterstones and all good bookshops, price £4.50
by Anne Edgar Published by Anne & Colin Edgar 2009 (ISBN: 978-0-9538388-2-0) Available at J & G Innes and Waterstones price £6
Easterly, Force 10 That Lyn Moir is not only a fine poet, but also a painter, stands out in every poem in this hugely enjoyable collection, in which her seeing eye meticulously observes and chronicles the behaviour of birds, the shape of waves, and the action of wind on her particular bit of shore. There is a keen relish of the natural world and an awareness of the history of this corner of the Fife coast, as when she reminds us, in the title poem, of ‘timber ships/plying Gdansk-Dundee, running Murmansk-/Montrose with whale oil’ – an industry that left echoes of ‘Plattdeutsch, Flemish, Scand’ in the vocabulary of fishermen, but which have now been ‘shunted into dialect’. Her poems are like small engines built to observe what often goes unremarked: in ‘It Only Happened Once’ she sees ‘a ring of herons solemn on the sand’ who make ‘An almost perfect circle, facing in’. There are more herons in ‘Unlike the Heron’, whom she depicts as an ‘archer at full draw’, but the subject of this poem is a curlew, which she paints memorably for us, with its ‘sail-needle beak a curving dagger, prey impaled’. This is the most exact description I have ever come across of the downcurving beak of a curlew, and the sequence of vowel sounds in ‘sail...prey...impaled’ effortlessly takes the mind’s eye down that curve. The harbour swans feature largely in this book, in all their angelic majesty and tyranny, as do gulls, cormorants, eider, sanderlings, oyster-catchers, puffins, and swallows, all observed with a loving, humorous eye and wonderful accuracy. In ‘Black’, the blend of registers, with echoes of Norse funeral tradition and twentieth century advertising, is a rich one: a solitary cygnet, darker than usual, shadows his parents, sailing in charcoal glory, scorched timbers of a long-dead longboat, relic of Vikings. He’ll be reborn in flames of glory, whiter than white. The reader gradually becomes aware that the real landscape ‘out there’ is also memory’s landscape ‘in here’ that is being scrutinised, mapped and surveyed, with its ‘unseen dangers/shifts in rock formations/rising sandbanks, exposed wrecks.’ These lines are from ‘Survey Ship’, for like the poet, the ship too is mapping those ‘belowthe-surface/surface changes’. We all experience loss and bereavement at some time in our lives, and towards the end of the book are poems which acknowledge the haunting presence of an old lover, now dead. Here, Lyn Moir’s self-deprecating humour comes to her rescue, as she pictures him assuming the disguise of seabirds in ‘Not You, Birds’. These spare, gallant poems chart the acceptance of loss with great honesty and in language that is sophisticated, but accessible. Her poetry reminds us how the inner world can sometimes seem clearer than the outer, as in these final lines from ‘Visibility, Variable’: In this damp wind your image is real, more solid than the stones – ochre, brown and seaweed green – which blend transparent into the sea beyond, while you acquire a clarity I have not seen for years. There is something in this collection for everyone who cares about the natural world, and who has ever loved and suffered as a human being: poems that are beautifully crafted, understated, but moving.
Janet Beaton
Reader, shelter I pray you, this little squib, this vernal squill, from too harsh a wind off the North Sea. This is not a true review, but an appreciation of the creative process. This little book is about a local girl made bad; except that Janet Beaton was not that bad. She married everyone she slept with, but not necessarily in that order. Anne Edgar found her turning up in any book about the times of James V, The Regency, and Mary Queen of Scots, but there was no book about her herself. So she wrote this one. Janet Beaton gives one a delicious feeling that this is someone that you would like to know better (but perhaps if Best Friends, she would certainly pinch your boyfriend). Janet Beaton was one of those characters in history that make up the detail of the background as in a big Holbein. She was the niece of Cardinal Beaton (and the daughter of the Laird of Creich – castle still visible) – and the aunt of Mary Beaton in ‘The Four Maries’. Janet Beaton moved in Court circles. She married three or four times, and had lots of babies. Her last marriage, possibly hand-fast, was to James Hepburn, 4th Earl of Bothwell, (not everyone’s choice), who moved on to Mary the Queen. She was not quite the ancestress of the Dukes of Buccleuch, but the late Duke helpfully provided the copy of her signature for the book. She is a character and definite force to be reckoned with in the works of Sir Walter Scott and Dorothy Dunnett. On the property side, her husbands held a major Border Tower and five castles, including Craigmillar, and The Hermitage. As always with Anne Edgar, there is a good map. The complex marriage arrangements of Janet Beaton and Walter Scott of Buccleugh are well set out. This little book fills one of those gaps in one’s knowledge, leaving more to learn from more magisterial works. It stops well short of being a serious work much cited in academic bibliography. We know that Janet’s story is not fully told. The play has still to be written and Janet Beaton may yet ride again. But the creation team hope that if is good enough for a duke to dally with, it might amuse you, Gentle Reader. One more thing: Anne Edgar and husband Colin were appointed to the Keepership of Innerpeffray Library, near Crieff (2005-09) and they still take people to visit the Library from St Andrews.
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ORGANISATIONS David Adie shares his personal experience of
Sailing in St Andrews People assume sailing The 19th capsize became a bit tiring, righting the boat and hauling myself is expensive, but the dinghy back on board. At the time I was in the Caribbean – the water was warm. cost only £1500, albeit it That was 1993, my first sailing experience. was 5 years old. Now 19 I always fancied the idea of sailing a dinghy, but despite reaching years old, it is still seaworthy. the advanced age of 35, had never actually done it, or bothered to take Admittedly, it has had a hull repair, new sails, new top cover, new trailer, lessons. On holiday in the Caribbean, it seemed a good idea. My wife and various other bits and pieces, but spread over 14 years it is far from shot past on another Sunfish, the instructor shouting what appeared to be standing in a cold shower tearing up £10 notes, that some people think incomprehensible instructions, “pull the main sheet in man, go about, you sailing is. The great advantage of St Andrews Sailing Club is that it has are too close hauled” – splash, another capsize! quite a range of boats available to Club members, which can be sailed at Coming ashore I determined to learn to sail. So I decided to join the very modest cost. Clyde Cruising Club dinghy section at Bardowie Loch, near Milngavie. Racing or cruising? After many years trying to race unsuccessfully, Bardowie Loch is a small enclosed freshwater loch in a very picturesque I came to the conclusion that I was a cruiser and much preferred sailing setting. Clyde Cruising Club has a fleet of boats, including GP14s and for the fun of it, rather than as a competitive sport. I am afraid my racing Optimists. In1993 therefore, I mastered the very basics of sailing, getting performance became something of a joke at most Regattas. On the other the boat from A to B without capsizing. Spring of 1994 saw me eager hand, it is very pleasant to cruise down to Pitmilly or, more often, across to try more. I took my wife out on a GP14 in Bardowie Loch, her first the bay to Tentsmuir. It is quite amazing that you can experience, when I did manage to capsize the boat, ended cross St Andrews Bay to Tentsmuir in half an hour in a up inverting it, hauling her, still fully clothed, onto the I have always fairly strong wind. It can be quite exhilarating if the wind upturned hull. Since there was still snow on the Campsie Hills, that was a slightly chilly experience. She and I both, found the Sailing is in the right direction and the sea is calm. Nothing better than clearing the cobwebs away by having a blast around however, determined to progress. Since we live in St Club friendly the Bay on a Sunday. Andrews at the weekend, we decided to try sailing at St I have always found the Sailing Club friendly. There is Andrews Sailing Club and joined in 1994. One aspect of quite a mix of people, from old salts to the very junior. In recent years the the pact was that we would also learn to sail “big yachts”, keel boats. Club has managed to train a large number, running courses on a regular My first experience of sailing in St Andrews was a familiar one. At that basis. The Club is accredited by the Royal Yachting Association (RYA). time the Club had a very elderly Mirror dinghy. I went sailing without wet Over the years my wife and I have taken courses at Glasgow Nautical suit with George Young (of Pottery fame). We were both messing around College, allowing us to sail larger boats. Accordingly, I now have a Day in the surf trying to wrestle with the boat and get in. I remember George Skipper (theory and practical), a Sea Survival course Certificate and saying, “it is all a matter of balance David” as we both heaved ourselves an International Certificate of Competence, for sailing keel boats within into the dinghy, promptly capsizing it. My immediate purchase the next certain restricted limits, with the great advantage of allowing one to week was a decent wet suit! The rest of the 1994 sailing season in charter keel boats abroad. For example, one year, 6 of us chartered a 44ft St Andrews Bay was a very different experience from Bardowie Loch. To yacht in Greece. start with, it is tidal, secondly, there is surf, and thirdly, you can go a lot There are relatively few keel boats in St Andrews, mainly because the further. The Club had an old 420 dinghy which proved to be a great boat. harbour is very tidal, but people who want a taster session will be able It was much less likely to tip over than the GP14, but it can still be quite to do so this Summer, as the Club is trying to expand membership and tricky trying to master the conditions, especially when a wind whips up. attract new adults in particular. Lottery money has helped to provide new I experienced the first Club Regatta that year and like all Regattas, one boats and refurbish the Club house, now available for social events. day seemed to be very windy, the next more or less flat calm; you could The sailing year falls into a defined pattern: Easter to the end of almost sail a 420 on its side in a strong wind. September, starting with putting the boats in the water, and ending with 1995 saw purchase of our own boat, which is another 420 called Ursa the AGM. I definitely feel fitter throughout the summer months because Minor. It was 5 years old and had been bashed around a bit, but none-theof the fairly energetic jumping around that dinghy sailing involves, but less was seaworthy, any damage being merely cosmetic. A complicated it is also a great experience having learned the basics in St Andrews journey ensued carrying the boat on its trailer from Bay. It gives confidence in sailing on larger boats and we have managed Helensburgh to St Andrews, to charter boats and sail round Mull, Jura, and the various Islands and depositing it safely in Lochs on the Clyde. It makes places like Iona and Staffa accessible by the Club yard. small boat – believe me much better than going on a Ferry! Oh yes, there are days when it does feel like standing in a cold shower tearing up £10 notes, but this is offset by sailing of an evening in St Andrews and finding seals at Tentsmuir and dolphins playing around in the Bay. Incidentally, I did return to the same Island in the Bahamas in 2007 to another session on the dinghies. There were no capsizes that time. By coincidence the same instructor was still there, still teaching. I did get the seal of approval from him, so his efforts had not been in vain. If anyone wants a sail or just a taster, it can all be arranged. Contact : Julie Frankl, 01334 479 059. Photos courtesy Colin Toppings
Wholesale and Retail Fruit & Vegetable Merchants
St Andrews & District Community Safety Panel
For more information about your local panel please contact PC Paul Buttercase, Community Safety Officer Tel. 01334 418745 EMail paul.buttercase@fife.pnn.police.uk
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The Warehouse, Kinnessburn Road & the shop at
201 South Street, St Andrews. Tel: (01334) 472138 (24 hour answering service) Fax: (01334) 479316
ORGANISATIONS From Judith Harding, Administrator of the
St Andrews Community Council 200 Club This is a call from St Andrews Community Community Council 200 Club has been Council for those who live or work in the town raising funds since 1988 and anyone can to join the 200 Club. apply for an award. Applications must be The Club is run under the rules of the approved by a small committee from the Lotteries and Amusements Act 1976 and Community Council. Among others, last year is registered each year with the Club supported a tenpin Fife Council. It’s function bowling group at the Special Membership costs is to support and sponsor Olympics; a hearing group; £2 per month – less a children’s summer holiday events and environmental improvements, and to help week; the Fullerton Football than a posh coffee local groups, organisations, Trust; a ‘welcome’ ceilidh or a glass of wine and individuals. It is open to for University Freshers; all. playground improvements; Many readers will have been a member St Andrews in Bloom; a befriending project for of a 100 or 200 club, where the object has those with mental health problems, as well as been to raise funds for a particular project, local Guides, Scouts, and the Boys Brigade, such as mending a church roof or helping but, individuals can also apply. young people to participate in an educational Membership costs £2 per month – less or sporting trip and the like. The St Andrews than a posh coffee or a glass of wine –
payable by standing order or annual cheque. Members are given a number which goes into the monthly draw held at the Community Council meeting. Prizes of £50, £30, and £20 are available and the rest awaits applications and awards. Prizewinners are announced in the St Andrews Citizen. Businesses and citizens of St Andrews, go on, have a risk-free flutter – join our Club! You may be lucky and win a prize, but you will always be supporting your local community. Application forms are available from the library, Church Square, the local office at St Mary’s Place, and from the Administrator, J Harding, Viewfield, Argyle Street, St Andrews KY16 9BU.
Invite you to visit a hidden treasure in the heart of St Andrews
WOODLAND & WATERGARDENS HERBACEOUS & SCREE ALPINES & RHODODENDRONS GLORIOUS GLASSHOUSE COLLECTIONS OPEN DAILY ALL YEAR ROUND
WINTER LECTURE PROGRAMME TUESDAY 2nd MARCH at 7.30pm TUESDAY 6th APRIL at 7.30pm Chemistry Dept., North Haugh Entry Free – All Welcome
CONDUCTED WALKS AT 2PM First Sunday from March to October
SPRING SALE IN THE GLASSHOUSE Saturday 13th March 10am – 12 noon
TO JOIN THE FRIENDS AND SUPPORT THE GARDEN CONTACT MEMBERSHIP SECRETARY. Canongate, St Andrews, Fife KY16 8RT. Tel: 01334 476452. www.st-andrews-botanic.org Charity No. SC006432
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SHOPS & SERVICES Good advice from Ronnie Grant of R B Grant Electrical Contractors
Advertising – get the most from it Was Santa Claus good to you this Christmas? According to the polls, not as good as last year. It’s at this time of the year that many companies look to advertising to increase sales within the difficult first quarter. In the UK, online advertising expenditure grew 4.6% in the first 6 months, to £1.75bn, overtaking TV at £1.6bn for the first time. Press advertising is a close third, and for many companies newspaper or magazine adverts are a more affordable and realistic medium. So before you give out those 3 numbers on the back of the card or sign that agreement, here are a few tips to press advertising success in 5 simple steps: Define the campaign: It’s most important to consider the correct type of advertising for your company, and the right people to provide it. Generally, companies are approached with sales calls and agree without really considering the benefits. Firstly, make sure the provider is relevant to your business and that the people who will see the advert are likely to purchase. No point in advertising a St Andrews’ ice cream company in an Essex diet-society journal! Secondly, how many people will see the advert? What is the number of publications sold or distributed, and which areas are covered? It’s always good to remember a newspaper will quickly be in the cat litter tray, where a magazine or calendar may be in a dentist’s surgery for many months. Are there examples of other happy customers who have already agreed there is a good return on investment that you may contact and confirm? Discuss: Once you think you’ve found the right advertiser, you need to find out exactly what you’re getting for your money. Size and positioning of the advert within publications are important factors for visibility. The main reason people do not respond to an advert is that they just don’t see it. As we flick through our paper or magazine how many of us actually pay attention to the adverts? Consumers have quickly learnt to ignore this information. It’s important to post in a position which holds relevance; sports shop near the sports pages and a restaurant in the entertainment section, for example. Many publications use a standard generic advert – avoid this at all costs. You want to be different from the rest to draw in the reader’s attention. You need to be clear what exactly the advert is going to look like, and always proof-read before publishing. Consider a special offer or a discount for readers to attract business, everyone loves a good deal.
success of the campaign. Track the number of sales going through the till or collect cut-out tokens. Companies with a website would probably list the address in the advert. Using many free tools like Google analytics you can graph the rise in your page views and new visitors. Be careful to assess whether this is relevant to the advertisement and not any factors like customer email shots. Track your total sales and make comparisons from previous weeks. Once you have this information together you want to mark the percentage rise and the financial effects. Take note of any other advertising campaigns you have running, and consider how they may also affect sales or enquiries. Review: Once you have collected the data it’s time to see if the campaign has been successful and has supplied a suitable return on investment. For many, however, financial gain is secondary to the increase in customer base. As we all know, sometimes you have to speculate to accumulate: especially with magazines, it may be some months/years before you see the real benefits. Subliminally people do return to something they have seen before, even if they are unaware of it. So if you’ve not seen a huge rise in sales within the first week, do not be too let down. You may think the campaign has flopped, but it may not have. If the advert has been unsuccessful you need to consider why. Was it influenced by another factor like weather; was there a better offer; or was it the wrong advertiser for you? If you have seen a huge rise in sales and found success, well celebrate, for you’ve got the most out of it. You have found a medium that works for you and you should replicate this success again and again. But remember, don’t take your eye of the ball: current advertising is changing rapidly, what is relevant for your company now may not be in a year’s time, or even tomorrow.
Proceed: So you are happy with the advertiser and the advert to be published. Make sure you have the date of the publication and inform your staff when it’s “going live”. It’s imperative that everyone is aware that there may be an increase in sales and that any discounts or special offers should be honoured. Many campaigns are pinpointed to new customers and you may only get one chance to impress them with the service or product you supply, so get it right first time. Collect Data: It can be difficult to make this step an exact science, as many factors can affect a rise in sales; the weather, the financial climate, and the time of year, for instance. There are a few things you can do, however, to assess the success of the article and the return on your investment. You can always ask your customer, “Where did you hear about us?” This works well for phone or email sales, not so well if you run a restaurant or small shop, for you may annoy and confuse customers – “Well, I shop here everyday”, “I was just passing”. If you have offered a discount or special offer this is an easy way to rate the
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SHOPS & SERVICES Flora Selwyn was delighted to learn about Jamie’s the Florist’s
Triple Celebration – 60, 25, 18 years
Margaret Fraser and her son Jamie have good reason to celebrate. Margaret grew up surrounded by flowers, her grandfather being a horticulturist who regularly took part in flower shows, violas being his particular speciality. The family had a nursery in Kippen and one in Stirling, “and we grew all sorts of things, vegetables, and fruits, and flowers obviously.” The Stirling nursery had different levels growing “beautiful tomatoes and all sorts of unusual flowers”. Margaret qualified as a secretary in the sheriff court. However, in those days, women had to give up work when they married. Husband Bill’s family was also in horticulture, so you could say horticulture was in their genes! Called up, Bill captained the army football team, and “had a wonderful time.” Meantime, at home, Margaret ran the shop, eventually employing berry pickers, and making jam, selling produce 24/7 from a From the left, Margaret, Jamie, Jakki, Rachel stone outhouse with wooden benches, “and I got lots of customers.” The them again, “I thought about advertising for people to do it,” but he had first time Margaret was asked to do the flowers for a wedding – “and I’d no response, “I think it’s basically the cost involved; certainly around here, never done a wedding before” – her van broke down on the way. She saw with what land is worth. And probably the very little return that you really the bin lorry. Because she knew the men, she asked them to help, and get.” Margaret agrees, remembering the distances she and her husband they took her, along with the flowers, on top of the lorry. Her first funeral used to travel to pick up stock, “for all the return you got.” Is it possible to flowers also caused a problem, for by the time she drove to Edinburgh the sell fruit and vegetables as well as flowers? “No,” said Jamie emphatically, tulips and daffodils had wilted. Fortunately she had fresh flowers with her. “fruit and flowers don’t go together.” Apples and bananas, for instance, “I shouldn’t have taken it on, but I did,” says Margaret triumphantly. exude a lot of ethylene, which can kill cut flowers. Bill became the Scottish International goal keeper while playing Jamie’s the Florist is proud to be part of the eFlorist (formally for Sunderland, so the couple moved there in the ‘50s. They thought Teleflorist) network. Like Interflora, but entirely British, it offers a worldwide of opening a flower shop up there, but instead, Jamie was born. They floral gift service for all occasions. Within the UK it guarantees same-day opened their County Fayre florist shop in Cupar in 1984, “I never gave delivery of flowers if ordered by 3.00pm. eFlorist allows individual florists up my interest in that.” Jamie went to Mold in North Wales to train in to make up orders according to customers’ wishes, floristry and flower production, earning his HND after three unlike Interflora which has only fixed styles across the years. He then joined his parents in the business. The Margaret Fraser board. Jamie has honed his skills and knowledge of Frasers soon opened their present shop in South Street, St Andrews, also calling it County Fayre. Once the Cupar and her son Jamie plants and flowers to a high degree, so he values that freedom, which “always puts the cusomer first.” shop was sold, County Fayre became Jamie’s the Florist have good reason Assistant Jakki, with an HNC in floristry, has, for the in mid-1991, “because it was meant for him in the first past five years, been very much part of the business, place.” to celebrate too; a much-needed extra pair of hands when large Now 18 years later, the St Andrews business is orders come in. With only four days’ notice last year, thriving. Jamie pointed out that, although anyone can Jamie was called to supply the many floral arrangements for the G20 open a florist shop, “you really need to know basically what you’re doing. conference. He had quickly to decide what flowers he needed, how to There’re an awful lot of rules you need to know about before you actually arrange them, phone his order, take the flowers to the hotel, and set them do anything.” When Jamie started “there was a flower industry in this up with Jakki, all before the delegates arrived. Ultra-tight security, with country.” Today, every flower comes from abroad, channelled through searches and sniffer dogs, added to the sense of the occasion – “one Holland. Guernsey and Jersey have surprisingly lost their trade too. thing they didn’t search was the actual flowers!” Another time, an entire Jamie’s flowers come from Colombia, Ecuador, Israel, South Africa. local hotel was filled with flowers for a large wedding party. At a different Even daffodils now come from abroad, “there’re fields of them around event in a castle on the Tay, “it wasn’t just for the week. We had to go Montrose, and they actually export the bulbs from there, but we can’t back halfway through the week and change all the flowers. There was get them. It seems daft, doesn’t it?” Dutch growers enjoy government nothing wrong with them whatsoever, but they needed them done twice, price protection, but are becoming disgruntled even with that. Jamie is not just once, just to make sure they were absolute perfection. It’s another convinced that local people would much rather buy flowers produced world!” locally, though the range might be restricted. He compares the flower “There’s the happy side, and the sad side of the business – I wouldn’t industry today to the supermarkets, with the huge choice of produce their want to change!” Warmest congratulations are in order on the Diamond customers have become accustomed to. Margaret and Jamie are truly Anniversary of the business, Jamie’s 25 years at the helm, and the shop’s sorry to see the disappearance of such old favourites as chrysanthemums own18th birthday! and geraniums grown locally. Jamie has tried to interest people in starting
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SHOPS & SERVICES
Elspeth’s of St Andrews Dress up for bed!
14b Woodburn Terrace, St Andrews, Fife, KY16 8BA Tel: 01334 477 491 Mob: 0770 315 4537 www.standrewsplumber.com
* Gas boilers maintained & fitted * * All plumbing / heating works * * Bathrooms & showers *
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9 Church Street, St Andrews Tel: 01334 472494
SHOPS & SERVICES Flora Selwyn followed up a suggestion by a reader of this magazine to visit Fiona Pollock and daughter Nikki in Elie. The result, Nikki’s heart-warming account of her family’s Farm Shop –
Ardross
Our farm shop began from very humble beginnings. A small cart shed Mum can’t bear the thought in our steading was given a face-lift, the family stripped wood, painted of making one more pie! It walls, concreted floors and eventually created what we thought was a is not only our own produce great shop (never mind the lack of windows, no lock, no till, and only that makes our selection one product). So it began, with only our own beef and a few homeso delicious: blessed with Fiona and daughter Nikki grown vegetables; we started on the biggest learning curve of our lives! a wonderful selection of Five years on, we have grown beyond anything we could have artisan products both locally imagined. We have extended the shop four times since 2005 and and nationally we aim to be a farmers’ market that is open every day. our product range now includes 900 lines, grown, produced, made, You will find Nichola Fletcher’s fantastic venison, Gartmorn’s unrivalled or cooked by small artisan companies from around Britain. However, free range chicken, Puddledub pork, and Arran cheese. We hope that no matter what new our customers will products we bring into come and do their the shop, our homeeveryday shopping grown vegetables and with us as well as beef outsell everything. pick up that extra Our vegetables are special something for a not organic, they are present. neglected! Grown for We absolutely taste, and not size, we love what we do: it’s plant our vegetables and been challenging, a leave them to get on big learning curve, with what they do best, frustrating at times growing. The vegetables and tiring, but it has are picked fresh every also been fun. In what day, giving them an other job can you unrivalled taste plus they sit and try biscuits, last a lot longer. This salmon, ice cream, year we grew over forty and chocolates as varieties of vegetables; part of your day-to-day potatoes, carrots, leeks, work? Everything that lettuce, pumpkins, is in the shop has been celeriac, broccoli, researched, tried and romanesco cauliflower, tasted by us, our staff turnips, courgettes, to and our customers, so name a few. All of the that we can personally beef in the shop is from recommend them our own herd, matured on and tell you the story the bone for a minimum behind the product. of three weeks in the There are many traditional manner before amazing families and butchering and packaging small companies However, no matter what new products we bring into a range of choice which hand-make their cuts, delicious sausages, products, and we are into the shop, our home-grown vegetables and mouth-watering roasts, here to tell their story. beef outsell everything tasty mince, and Perhaps my favourite astounding burgers. one is about the Lyle Our kitchen is always busy and filled with the smells of homemade family, who farm on the banks of Loch Ness: having grown organic raspberry jam, steak pies, a variety of burgers, and stock. So busy rhubarb for Covent Garden in London for a number of years, Andrew in fact that we aren’t allowed to have steak pies any more for tea, as noticed that his sales were dropping dramatically in the soft fruit season. Searching for some other outlet for his rhubarb he decided he would make Rhubarb Vodka. After months of making, sampling, and adjusting, he finally got his recipe perfect and we now sell his vodka in our shop. It is a firm favourite with our customers. Fantastic, poured over ice, or even better in champagne to make a lovely cocktail. We have many ideas, mostly inspired by customer comments and suggestions, so who knows where the next five years will take us? One thing we do know, is that as long as we wake up every day looking forward to the day ahead we will still be here, and how can we not with a box of chocolates waiting for us to try! Ardross Farm Shop, Elie, Fife, KY9 1EU Tel: 01333 331 400, Fax: 01333 330 048 Web: www.ardrossfarm.co.uk Photos by Flora Selwyn
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SHOPS & SERVICES
The New Picture House Winner of the RAAM Independent Cinema of the Year Award for Excellence Enjoy a pre-show drink in our lounge or book an exclusive function or children’s party with a private screening
www.nphcinema.co.uk
117 North Street, St Andrews Tel: 013334 474902
SENIOR CITIZENS 20% DISCOUNT MONDAY-FRIDAY From main menu only
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SHOPS & SERVICES Susan Pieraccini and her team are the inspiration behind the Rusacks Hotel’s refurbishment
Iconic Rusacks Hotel to get the “ROC” Factor Macdonald Rusacks Hotel in St Andrews brings the best of Scottish and local produce its dining and beverage experience completely with an Italian influence. Reflecting a up to date, at the same time restoring its modern-day trend towards returning original 19th century buzz and elegance. If that to “simpler food and presentation”, sounds contradictory it nevertheless chimes the interior design has been chosen completely with the vision of Susan Pieraccini, by Susan to complement this, hinting her husband Adrian, and head chef Liam at the original elegance of the Hotel’s Mckenna. origins, but “vibrant, inviting and Award-winning restaurateur Adrian fresh”. Susan and her team aim to Pieraccini has teamed up with Macdonald make “Rocca Grill “the first choice for Hotels to create a new restaurant and bar Sunday lunch in St Andrews! concept within Rusacks. The new restaurant The downstairs Bunker Bar has been “Rocca Grill” opened on the 4th February transformed into the new luxury One Under 2010 in one of St Andrews’ Gastro Pub, the first The downstairs Bunker best locations, with the most gastro-pub in St Andrews. incredible vista of the 18th As explained in that Bar has been transformed Green of The Old Course and know-it-all Wikipedia, “A into the new luxury One beyond to West Sands beach. gastro-pub concentrates Under Gastro Pub, the first Adrian Pieraccini was the on quality food. The gastro-pub in St Andrews creator and operator of the name is a combination highly-acclaimed “Rocpool” of pub and gastronomy brand of restaurants and hotels which the and was coined in 1991 when David Eyre couple sold in 2008. The young enthusiastic and Mike Belben took over The Eagle pub kitchen team here is headed by Liam Mckenna, in Clerkenwell, London. The concept of a who, 3 years ago, won the distinction of The restaurant in a pub reinvigorated both pub Martin Wishart Scottish Chef Scholarship. culture and British dining...” “Rocca Grill” will be Italian in style, a classic True to the definition, Susan describes grill restaurant with an à la carte menu using the One Under as being ”passionately
Adrian and Susan Pieraccini (on the right) about delivering quality in a comfortable pub atmosphere with home cooking and providing good value for money.” Local produce predominates, “doing, we really believe, something truly different in the local area.” As a team they have the distinction of rebranding Rusack’s catering image, their flagship concept being first in Scotland, and which they hope will be followed by other Macdonald hotels in Scotland. “It will be wonderful to see Rusacks, such a fantastic property, have a restaurant to match its history and location. We very much want to get St Andrews right,” says Susan with passion! And they will. Contact: 01334 474 321, email: roccamgmt.rusacks@macdonald-hotels.co.uk
STOP PRESS! Just as the magazine was going to press it was learned that Towry Law (Edward Jones in South Street, reported in issue 38, page 17), has relocated and that Keith Taylor will be at: Towry Law Ltd, 7 Charlotte Street, Perth, PH1 5LW. Tel: 01738 623 277, Mob: 07832 386 510.
67 Lamond Drive, St Andrews, Tel: 01334 467 849
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SHOPS & SERVICES
Reporter, ever Roving! . . . 1.
Murray Duncan and Elaine Guilfoyle saw premises available in the Burghers Close, 141 South Street, “looked on Saturday, leased it on Monday!” and now are the proud owners of The Happy Hacker. Reporter saw the sign and in he went. Another transformation – spacious, welcoming interior filled with everything to appeal to golfers. Murray and Elaine specialise in all golf-related memorabilia, antiques, and gifts. There are early 1900s clubs (yes, 1900s), memorabilia of all descriptions, books on all aspects of the game, as well as pictures and prints, gifts and small things kiddies might like to give Dad on Father’s Day. Prizes for Club & Society Days are also catered for at a discounted rate. For the newer items, the target customer is a beginner or improver. There are clubs for ladies and gents, and “a lot on the junior side”. An ultrasonic cleaner will make your golf clubs spic and span again. Repairs are undertaken. If you fancy dressing up for a party, Murray says he’ll have the clothes for you (pre-1930s)! Prices range from £1.99 for the wee kiddy gifts, to £300 for a certificated set of 20 framed prints. Anyone with a golf-related problem who might be too shy to admit it is invited to have a confidential chat with “Golf Dr” Murray (as he is known to his friends). Reporter was intrigued to hear that many a difficulty has been cleared up nicely, thanks. The shop is open daily from 10.00am. Murray can be contacted on 07881 784 320, Elaine on 07747 115 526. You’ll find a warm welcome. Email: thehappyhacker@btinternet.com
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2. Reporter went a little further afield to visit Monteaths Accountants & Tax Consultants at 14 School Road, Balmullo, Fife, KY16 0BD, where he met Paul Monteath to learn about his thriving firm. Situated in a purpose-built annexe to his house, Paul employs 8 staff, and 4 more who work from home. He explained that some 18 years ago he broke his wrist and was off work for a long time. Morag, Paul’s wife, grew tired of hearing complaints, with the result that June 1992 saw the start of the consultancy. It took just over a year to find the right house with enough land to build the office for the expanding workforce. The firm offers the full range of accountancy services, including tax returns and general taxation advice, etc. Paul is unusual in that he will visit clients in their homes – “I like to know my clients” – and he is available all hours, especially for those who are at work all day, “have car, will travel”. He gives quotes without obligation. Clients can also
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set up monthly standing orders to spread payments. Reporter was surprised to learn that Paul has clients from around the world; thanks to the internet he does business in China, Spain, France, America, Mauritius. At least with the internet clients can’t hand over piles of paper in carrier bags for Paul to sift through, and make sense of! But they miss out on stroking the cat and dogs who wander from time to time into the office. The firm can be contacted on Tel: 01334 870 343 Fax: 01334 871 004 email: paul@monteaths.com Web: www.monteaths.com
one hour walk in winter. In summer we also offer a two hour walk for our more energetic customers. Beaches we visit regularly are West Sands, St Andrews, Tentsmuir at Kinshaldy, and Tayport. Afterwards we return your dog safe and sound, often ready to relax for the rest of the day. We already have many happy canine customers and currently have limited spaces available for walks on most days. So, if your dog would like to join us for one or some fun and friendly daily walks, call Stephanie on 01382 553 048 / mobile 07876 465 083 and let us know your requirements. Our most recent development is the addition of temporary cover for horse owners. The service includes exercising, mucking out, feeding, grooming, rugging up, and turning out. We supply on demand! To ask for references give us a call: 01382 553 048, or look us up at www.mollysmob.co.uk” Reporter almost wishes he were a dog!
Director Mark Reynolds on the left, with Morag & Paul Monteath.
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3. Mrs Innes and Jude, proprietors of J & G Innes Ltd, 107 South Street, St Andrews, have transformed their Christian Institute premises to include Gifts, and Books, Toys, and Children’s Books. This lovely old building now has a bright and simple appearance. Trading is all on ground floor level for the benefit of all customers. Reporter suggests you visit and enjoy this refurbishment.
Jude Innes with assistant Ann
(Photos by Flora Selwyn)
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4. Reporter was pleased to hear from Stephanie Shaw, who writes, “Molly’s Mob dog-walking service is run by Stephanie Shaw accompanied by Molly the collie. We moved to Tayport from Newport in August 2009 and are now operating on a full-time basis. We collect your dog from home on the day/s agreed and drive to our beach of choice for a
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5. George Willett and Ross Dorward, owners of The Paper Rack, 16 Woodburn Terrace (10334 474 050), invited Reporter to visit them. George had been Head Concierge at the Old Course Hotel for 28 years, and Ross was in the motor trade. Reporter was therefore curious to know about their change of direction. George explained, “I was getting a bit stale, and I was looking for something new”. Son-inlaw Ross agreed, so when, in 2006, the internet informed them that the Paper Rack was for sale they jumped at the opportunity, and have never looked back. The biggest change in their lives was the hours they keep – in the shop at 4.00am every day to organise the paper rounds. Weekdays there are 15 paper boys, 8 on Sundays delivering to 500 customers, including hotels and the University. George says they have “probably doubled the clientele” since buying the shop, yet they are “always open to new customers.” Christmas and New Year are the only time they close (for 5 days). Even so, one customer once complained that she couldn’t live without her papers and asked if they would open on Boxing Day just for her! The Paper Rack is also a convenience store, selling food of all kinds, cigarettes, alcohol, sandwiches, drinks. Hedged about by regulations enough to turn anyone’s hair grey, George and Ross are remarkably cheerful. They do close at lunchtime from 12.30 to 1.30pm just to get their breath back. Otherwise you can shop and be welcomed every weekday from 4.00am-5.00pm, and on Saturdays from 4.00am-12 noon. George and Ross particularly wish to thank their wives and
SHOPS & SERVICES
paper boys for all the hard work they do, and their customers for their support. Amen to that, says Reporter with feeling!
Ross (left) and George
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6. Reporter heard from Lesley Bawden that, having previously worked in finance, she opened her dog grooming salon, Paws for Thought after completing intensive training with Agnes Murphy. Agnes was part of
Yoga Classes Thursdays: St Andrews Public Library 12 noon-1pm Crail Town Hall 9:30-11am
For information contact Nicoletta Biassoni: nbiassoni@btinternet.com/ 01333 451595 Nicoletta is a certified Svaroopa Yoga Teacher and Yoga Therapist (www.svaroopayoga.org)
the Scottish Grooming Team, competing internationally. The salon at 64b Argyle Street, (01334 477 955), is equipped with the latest technology to ensure all dogs are groomed to the highest professional standard. Lesley says, “All sizes of dogs are welcome, from the smallest yorkie to the largest Newfoundland, and a variety of services are offered including handstripping. Grooming needs are discussed before grooming begins, and I’m happy to carry out specific breed trims or pet trims. I have had a few unusual requests, for example painting a Chihuahua’s nails, and I’ve been asked to make a dog look like a boy. Unfortunately plastic surgery is not an option! My aim is to make all my fourlegged friends feel special. If the dogs are comfortable, happy, and respected they are on their best behaviour. They love the attention, smell lovely, and look fabulous after their pampering session. No two days
are the same, and I can say with hand on heart, that I love my job – how many people can say that!” Indeed, murmurs Reporter!
(Photo courtesy Lesley Bawden)
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George Ferguson Shoe Repairs
The Spon Company
Steven George Ferguson Traditional Cobbler
For the cook, the chef, and the baker. Gifts all year round. www.thesponco.com Tannochbrae Tearoom, 44 High Street, Auchtermuchty. Tel: 01337 827 447
Luggage, Shoe Repairs and Accessories
151 South Street St Andrews KY16 9UN steven@fergos.plus.com 01334 472134
Monteaths
Accountants & Tax Consultants APPOINTMENTS: MORNING, AFTERNOON or EVENING, OUR OFFICE, YOUR HOME or PREMISES QUALIFIED CHARTERED ACCOUNTANCY STAFF OVER 30 YEARS TAXATION EXPERIENCE We prepare annual accounts for multi –million £ turnover businesses. Vat Returns: Flat rate schemes, partial exemption, fixed monthly vat payments. PAYE: Weekly & monthly. We set-up new businesses, Ltd’s and partnerships. Cashflow projections, letting income calculations, dividend reports, Capital gains tax calculations. We prepare Tax Returns, advise on tax liabilities and offer tax advice. WE HELP – WE SAVE YOU MONEY
14 School Road, Balmullo, St Andrews, Fife, KY16 0BD Tel: 01334 870343 Fax: 01334 871004E mail: morag@monteaths.com Web: monteaths.com
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TOWN & GOWN University Reprographics, incorporated in Print & Design –
David Roche – Print & Design At the start of this year, the University’s Reprographics Unit became part of Print & Design. David Roche joined this larger group incorporating Publications and the Print Unit, from the previous Bute failed completely Photographic Unit. He brings a wide to deliver anything range of equipment, experience, equating to the and skills to Print & Design, so that performance we the Unit can now offer a greatly had come to expect expanded, high-quality digital from the conventional imaging and printing service. photographic process.” David explains, “My association Thankfully, however, with the University started in the ’70s with training as one of a group of this deficiency affected technical staff in the then Department of Zoology”. Through this intense a relatively short period training he acquired the variety of skills needed to function effectively, of time in the discipline, both academically, and in terms of practical “hands on” experience. It and the transition very rapidly was not long before he was involved in the day-to-day running of the launched into opportunities department’s electron microscope, as well as the functioning of the “we could never have previously department’s photographic component. David also tutored both staff and contemplated.” Before computers and the students in the use of the electron microscope, and the processes through relevant software, the repair and manipulation of photos was achieved which specimens must go before finally being ready for analysis in the by retouching – a darkroom produced photographic print with ink, or electron microscope itself. This was extremely labour intensive. The end paint, or by multiple exposures, or ganging negatives together in a process of specimen analysis was the recording of the viewed images photographic enlarger. Today, photographs are taken with a digital camera onto photographic film or plates. and input directly into a computer. Transparencies (slides!) negatives At that time, all users of the microscope facility were taught darkroom (glass plate, or films of any format) or printed photographs are digitized skills. In the 1980s, Zoology and other related departments were using a scanner. The digital files can then be altered or manipulated with amalgamated to form the School of Biology. A dedicated Photographic dedicated software such as Adobe Photoshop, Unit was formed, staffed by individuals fluent one of the most powerful image modification in the many areas one would find, not only in massive computing power and programmes on the market today. Large photo the School of Biology, but in the University as a digital equipment are used collections can be showcased by these means, whole. The Photographic Unit evolved rapidly, or developed as a single image. The possibilities addressing not only the needs of the wider routinely to produce absolutely appeared limitless. University, but also those of other establishments: spectacular results Within two decades, the conventional such as the NHS, local government (the district photographic world of film, darkroom, and wet museum service) and commercial enterprises. process, has moved through the early stages of computers to embryonic Local artists also relied heavily on the services of the Photographic Unit. digital technology, to today, when massive computing power and digital As new technology emerged and rapidly evolved, the Photographic Unit equipment are used routinely to produce absolutely spectacular results. wholeheartedly embraced and applied the very obvious, ever-expanding The essential elements of an acceptable image remain unchanged from possibilities of a union between conventional photography and computer the original photographic process: what has changed in breathtaking and digital technology, which appeared to take a quantum leap forward fashion is the level of control that is now in the hands of a competent user, on almost a daily basis. For David and his colleagues, this period in time whether that be subtle alteration, repair, or photo manipulation. Indeed, was a very steep learning curve indeed, as they attempted to make the photo manipulation is today widely accepted as an art form since the learning, understanding, and application of new technology as seamless resulting image may have little or no resemblance to its origins. as possible. “In my view,” David claims, “there was a period when “The main thrust of my work at this time is digitisation, making photography as we had known it was seriously compromised, as more available vast archives of material currently on film or as printed material,” and more manufacturers and David said. He can restore tired, faded, or tattered originals with suppliers jumped on the digital staggering results, bringing back to life an image as it once appeared, but band wagon. Quite frankly, in keeping intact the original source. many areas the digital process The wealth of material thus produced can now be printed digitally onto a wide rage of materials; various photo paper finishes (faithfully replicating the surface nature of the photographic prints with which we are all familiar), canvas which can be stretched and framed like an oil painting, fine art paper which can faithfully reproduce a drawing, a watercolour, or a work in pastels, so faithfully as to become barely discernable from the original work. Examples of David’s work are shown on this page. Along the corridor in Print & Design at St Katharine’s West, 16 The Scores, you can view some of the remarkable results that digital printing can now achieve. “People make the mistake of believing we only do work for the University, this is not so, we welcome enquiries from the public.” Print & Design can be contacted on 01334 463020 or via printanddesign@st-andrews.ac.uk (see also www.st-andrews.ac.uk/printanddesign). (Images courtesy David Roche)
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TOWN & GOWN Amanda Fleet sent this article and photos, direct from Malawi, via email
Chimwemwe I’m a physiologist and I’ve been working in the Bute Medical School have not completed their secondary in the University of St Andrews for about 13 years, having done my education and literacy levels are undergraduate degree at the University. I am back and forth to Malawi on amongst the lowest in the world. a project with the University, working with the University of Malawi Medical Chimwemwe also recognises the School on redevelopment of their curriculum. importance of sport and recreation to In October 2008, on one of these visits, I got talking to a man both physical and mental health and called Macdonald Nkhutabasa in the airport at Johannesburg. Mac is organises football tournaments with a social worker who works with the street orphans in Blantyre, Malawi. the children. In addition, the project This chance meeting with him changed my life, changed his life, and aims to tackle some of the root causes of children coming onto the street, changed the lives of some of the street-children of Malawi. giving families and communities advice, training, and start-up loans for Macdonald is a quiet, unassuming man, who works with the streetincome-generation projects. children to try to keep them off the streets, try to get them into school, and There is currently a shortage of orphanage places in Blantyre and one fight for their rights. The children he meets either have no family, or have of the long-term aims of the charity is to buy or rent premises in central run away from their families, and have ended up homeless. Many have Blantyre to be sure of a safe haven for the children. Ideally, the project been orphaned by HIV/AIDS. When I met him, he was working through would like to buy an acre of land to build a centre providing shelter for the one of the churches in Blantyre, but in the spring of boys, and office space for the charity. The gardens 2009, I helped Mac to set up the project as a distinct would be used to grow vegetables, not only to help The name Chimwemwe charity – sending money for the registration and legal feed the children, but also to teach them basic was chosen by the fees, proof-reading constitution documents etc – and cultivation. in July 2009 Chimwemwe Children’s Centre became Since registration, Chimwemwe has managed children themselves and a fully-fledged charity, registered with the Malawian to secure support from UNICEF, Tearfund, and means ‘We are happy’ government. The name Chimwemwe was chosen by Norwegian Church Aid and is currently preparing an the children themselves and means ‘We are happy’. application to Comic Relief. There is also support The children chose this name because they were happy that someone from Fife: the local Army Cadets have adopted Chimwemwe as one of was caring about them. Becoming registered as a charity for children has their main causes to support over the next few years and are aiming to allowed Chimwemwe to apply for funding from several charities such as raise £1000 per annum for the project. In addition, the Rotary of the Howe UNICEF, which would not have been possible before registration. of Fife has given the project £500, and many of my friends and family are Chimwemwe works with approximately 40 street-children in Blantyre, sponsors. supporting them in their community where possible, and by finding them What started out as a chance meeting has resulted in the support of shelter in orphanages, where necessary. It also offers food and shelter, some of the poorest children in the world, and I am proud to be able to be and works with the local schools, not only to register the children with a part of it. schools, but also to support them in their schooling, providing uniforms, school funds, and school supplies. Although primary schooling is free in If you want to find out more about the work of Chimwemwe Children’s Malawi, the children must wear a uniform – something that is beyond the Centre, please visit their website: www.chimwemwe.net means of some families and certainly beyond the means of homeless children. Secondary schooling is not free. In Malawi, the majority of adults (Photos courtesy Amanda Fleet)
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TOWN & GOWN Mustafa Khalifa is a 4th year student at the University of St Andrews and a committee member of its Management Society
University of St Andrews Management Society Within the Students’ Association there are over a hundred affiliated societies which cover nearly every area of student life; activities, nationalities, charities, entertainment, and many more. In recent years the Management Society (MNG Society) has begun to emerge as one of the most popular at the University of St Andrews. The Management Society offers its members an appreciation of how the academic and analytical tools learnt at St Andrews can be applied in a variety of practical ways. In addition to this, the Society also welcomes non-students who wish to learn more about everyday business processes, or hear from speakers on a variety of business-related topics. All citizens within the town are encouraged by the Management Society to attend any of the events held. It is important to the Society that town and gown relations are not only maintained, but strengthened in St Andrews. The Management Society has been working in conjunction with several groups in the town’s community in order to deliver the best results for our members. A small fee of £4 allows anyone to become a member for the academic year. The money is put towards organizing events and bringing speakers. With membership comes a card that offers discounts at several restaurants within St Andrews. Our sponsors include The Victoria Cafe, offering 30% off all food; Le Rendez-Vous, offering a 10% discount with the membership card; and The Raisin, who offer Yellow Card discounts plus other deals. In addition to the local
sponsors, the Management Society is backed history of Thorntons the chocolatiers entitled, by our corporate sponsor, Accenture. “Thorntons: A Business Tale”. Collaborating with our sponsors has given The Society also hosts a number of annual us the opportunity to provide the best service events for members and non-members. We that we possibly can to our members. A number hold an annual book sale for all students at the of events throughout the year are intended University of St Andrews who are looking to to provide an insight into the areas of applied sell their old books. They drop off their books, management. The Society aspires to continually we sell them and they pick up the money. They bring established leaders from many areas can also come to look at the books on sale, of the business environment to St Andrews. and buy them at discounted prices. Another All those who attend have the opportunity to event is the annual Management Society BBQ speak with these personalities first-hand. For held near the end of every academic year. This us, it is essential to provide tomorrow’s leaders gives students and staff an opportunity to meet with support related to their future careers and in a casual environment and enjoy good food specific interests. We have had events centred cooked by the Management Society committee. on industries such as film, clothing, banking, However, the biggest annual event we host is advertising, chocolate, and many more. the St Andrews Business Summit (SABS), an Within the past two years, the Management all-day event filled with high-calibre speakers Society has brought in a number of key from some of the world’s leading companies, executives from various multinational as well as in-depth workshops on specific organisations. One of the most topic areas. Last November popular speakers was the saw speakers from Disney, It is important to the CEO of Salvatore Ferragamo BBC, Microsoft, Coca Cola, Society that town and and Campbells come to Italy, Michele Norsa, who spoke on “Strategies for St Andrews and deliver gown relations are Luxury Goods in key emerging presentations to students and not only maintained, markets – going forward from staff alike. the present crisis”. In March The Management but strengthened in 2009 Mr Norsa was the first Society committee is St Andrews speaker in St Andrews to representative of the diversity give a presentation at Holy of students in St Andrews Trinity Church, South Street, something the University. The ten committee members Management Society is very proud of, as no comprise 3 Indians, an American, a Welshman, other societies had ever used this location a Malaysian, a German, a Greek, an Italian, a before. Last December, we hosted our second Scotswoman, and myself a Sudanese Briton. speaker at Holy Trinity Church, the CEO of If you are passionate about business, then we Jack Wills, Peter Williams, who spoke on “The look forward to welcoming you into the Society. Founding of Jack Wills and Brand Building in the 21st Century”. Last winter the Management For more information please visit the Society was proud to present the CEO of Management Society website: Thorntons, Mike Davis, who spoke about the www.mngsociety.com
Julie Amphlett, Administrator, the Barron Theatre
The Rocks Arts Festival On The Rocks Arts Festival aims to showcase the very best in new Scottish and student talent across the widest variety of art forms with drama, music, dance, comedy, poetry, art, and film in venues across St Andrews, including The Byre, The Barron Theatre, Students Union, Younger Hall, King James Library, and St Andrews Castle. Now in its 2nd year, the eight-day festival is organised by students and staff of the University of St Andrews Students’ Association. The festival this year runs from 18th – 25th April. The programme is online now at www.ontherocksfestival.com and the programme guide will be available free, from shops, venues, and other locations around town from the middle of March. Tickets are available online from 17th March and from our box office during the festival.
Highlights this year include: • The Minister, an opera by acclaimed philosopher, writer, and composer Roger Scruton • Waiting for Godot by Samuel Beckett • The Scottish Premiere of Bhanu Singher Padabali, a dance drama by Nobel prize winner Rabindranath Tagor • Fireworks, and an outside ceilidh in St Salvator’s Quad.
CaptainHook (Photo courtesy Gayle Cook)
Also returning as part of On The Rocks is our free twoweek Youth Theatre Project. Auditions are held in the first week of March and the project runs over the Easter holiday, culminating in a performance in St Andrews Castle on Monday, 19th April. Last year’s project saw a sellout performance of Peter Pan, with costumes and script created by the cast. This year we’re looking at fairy tales, so there will be plenty of chances to be goblins, elves, princesses, and knights in shining armour! All children from 10 yrs upwards are welcome. Throughout the week there will be exhibitions, storytelling, comedy, music, film, and theatre all over town, so there should be something for everyone, any age, to enjoy! The ceilidh (Photos courtesy Ben Goulter)
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TOWN & GOWN Andrew Titley is in his 4th year at St Andrews University studying International Relations and Management. He would be happy to interest younger people in stamp collecting and is willing to send them free stamps!
Stamp Collecting and Philately: ‘hobby of the commons’ What do the Former American President as The Philatelic Society, London) began in Franklin Delano Roosevelt, tennis player 1869; The American Philatelic Society in 1886; Maria Sharapova, John Lennon, King and the Collectors’ Club of New York in 1896. George V, and President Nicolas Sarkozy all All of these are still fully functional and running have in common? That’s right, they all are/ today. Specialty societies are widely available were stamp collectors! Stamp collecting is as well. Regardless of the topic, there will be a one of the world’s most popular hobbies – society pertaining to that collecting field. boasting estimates of up to half a million As with any collectible, there are a large serious collectors in the United States alone. number of forgeries, alterations, reprints, and Philately and stamp collecting are often used counterfeits, which range widely in quality. simultaneously and in conjunction with each Some are generated to fool collectors into other, but there is a difference; philately merely buying an item, while others were actually refers to the study of stamps and related designed to fake postage, revenue taxes, etc. objects, rather than just collecting. Sometimes Therefore, stamp collecting has well-known referred to as the ‘hobby of Kings’, as the title individuals, foundations, and companies, indicates, it is anything but limited only to the who will certify, or “expertise” as it is known, world’s royalty. Stamp collectors come from stamps and covers to ensure authenticity. a variety of backgrounds, These certificates of races, nationalities, and authenticity are truly It’s one of those hobbies incomes. Walking into a a valuable addition to in which anyone who stamp show, you can as the hobby, and many easily find a young child stamps require them to wishes to participate can as you can a millionaire. sell. It certainly helps do so on any budget It’s one of those hobbies stamp buyers to have in which anyone who authenticity ensured, and wishes to participate can do so on any budget. more importantly, without any alterations or Moreover, putting aside the stereotypes, some repairs. As mentioned before, quality is key in of the people you would least have thought of the hobby of stamps. Take the Penny Black as being a stamp collector could very well be one. an example; a rough copy can go for as low The first modern postage stamp was (or lower) than £25. On the other hand, a very issued in 1840 in Great Britain. Nicknamed nice copy with full margins and no damage the Penny Black, the stamp was printed in can go for well over £110. the millions and despite being 170 years old, It seems that everyone knows at least they can still be found at very affordable prices one person who collects stamps. If not, most depending upon condition. Stamps were people either know someone with, or who designed to change the way the post works. has, an album put away in a closet or attic Rather than pick up and pay for letters and somewhere belonging to an old collector of the envelopes, the system was designed such family. Stamp collecting is a hobby that has that all items were prepaid before delivery, a touched most people’s childhoods in one way system still in place today. The hobby of stamp or another. Stamps are an easy gateway to collecting quickly emerged only years after another era or country far, far away – basically Great Britain issued its first stamps. By 1856, bringing the world to the owner’s hands. It’s stamp companies such as Stanley Gibbons a portal to an unfamiliar land with different (still around today!) began to form to meet the cultures, traditions, religions, and holidays. demand of new collectors. Societies, which It can shed light on how others live their life. brought collectors together through a variety Letters are a small piece of authentic, firstof programmes, grew as collecting became hand history from those who lived it. You can popular. The Royal Philatelic Society (founded only learn so much from reading textbooks. If,
for argument’s sake, you can read the letter of a soldier sent from the front line trenches of World War I to family members, it’s this invaluable link which makes stamp collecting more than just hoarding pieces of paper and used envelopes. Another key component of stamp collecting is that there is variety – and much more than meets the eye. Some collectors seek to collect everything, while others specialise. The various different routes to collecting are vast, whether it be particular countries, issues, time periods, colours, topics, types, among many others. Some also seek stamps as financial investments. Some see stamps as a way to diversify their portfolios. However, caution should always be used when dealing in stamps this way, as quality is the key to value. As with any collectible, or any investment for that matter, knowledge of the subject is crucial for it to be profitable. One benefit of stamps is that there are only a certain number available, and nothing can alter that. For example, the error stamp known as the “CIA invert”; only 100 were issued, so if one is destroyed, only 99 would be left, increasing scarcity, price, and so on. The idea that stamp collecting is slowly dying out, with collectors becoming further and fewer apart, is a hotly contested argument within philatelic circles. Are children around the world becoming less interested in hobbies such as stamp collecting? Many support this theory, insofar that children would much rather play video games, and the like, than collect stamps. On the other hand, some argue that serious collectors revisit the hobby at an older age. Regardless, stamp collecting provides a young child an education in worldly affairs, geography, and history, among many other things. At any rate, allowing a hobby like this to dwindle away would be a true shame. Contact Andrew at: andrew.titley33@googlemail.com
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EVENTS Digby Don, this year’s Marshal, last year’s Kate, on
The Kate Kennedy Procession – The revival of 1925, running today The Procession also has a “Citizens, let there be silence fitting to the miracle which is about to wonderful relationship with the local happen. The centuries of history and mystery are to live again before your community of St Andrews – it is this eyes…Kings, Queens, heroes, prelates, and soldiers…we summon you relationship that is most noticeable to appear,” to us, in the 21st Century. The So reads the Announcer’s Script from the Kate Kennedy Procession Procession Committee comprises of 1935. On the 17th April this year the procession will, once again, visit students and local residents, the streets of St Andrews, travelling the wrong way around the Ancient who offer invaluable advice and City’s modern one-way system. experience accumulated from This time last year I had a vague idea of what the Kate Kennedy years in various professions. On Procession was. My broken understanding was formed from snippets of the committee sits none other than conversation, anecdotes alluding to cross-dressing and controlling excited the Editor of this publication! horses (while cross-dressing). Learning about the Procession was an It is a great pleasure to bridge immensely enlightening experience – fascinating, both in relation to its the gap between the ‘Town and Gown’ – I often ask myself if there is own history and the history of St Andrews, the City it celebrates. an event anywhere else, which does so to quite the same extent. A fun It is impossible to say when the festival known as Kate Kennedy’s aspect to the build-up of last year’s Procession was the trip to the Cosmos Day began, or to what extent it commemorated a lady. There can be little Centre; last year’s Marshal, William Dawson, revealed three characters, doubt of the existence of Lady Katherine Kennedy, niece of Bishop James Tom Morris, St Andrew, and Kate’s Jester to the children and set them Kennedy, founder of St Salvators. Even so, mysticism surrounds her, the challenge of creating the best drawing of one played to the fore by the announcer in 1935, who of them. Three days later the children were shown asked, “Was she the beautiful niece of the Good While the Rector urged, the carriages in the newly-restored Abbotsford Bishop Kennedy? Is she the daughter of a student the Students responded, Coach House. This year I intend to repeat the fancy?” What is certain, is that in the 1870s the In addition, Canongate Primary School pageant degenerated to the point where “Saturnalia and the Principal supported initiative. has generously agreed to host us on Monday 8th reigned in St Andrews”, the Senatus banned it, the idea they formed February for a similar talk. once and for all. Perhaps most wonderful of all, however, are The Procession we see today derives from the crowds which come out on the third Saturday of April each year to 1925, when the pageant was reborn under the stewardship of two enjoy the spectacle. The crowds, in fact, complete the Procession – it students, and supervised by Principal Irvine. In a letter, in 1941, Irvine would be but half the occasion without them. Last year the sun peeped gives an account of the revival. In his eyes, the Great War of 1914/18 had out for two hours, the community lined the streets and watched from effected change in the “soldier-students” such that they took on “a new windows, some lucky ones caught daffodils from Kate’s carriage, and respect for the dignity and value of traditions”, and it was in 1925 that two some received sweets from Kate’s Jester. I am extremely grateful for students, James Doak and Donald Kennedy, approached their Principal the support the Procession receives from St Andrews, and encourage with their proposal to revive the Festival of Kate. everyone to come again this year. It was happy coincidence, perhaps, that Rector J.M. Barrie had For a final thought we can look back to the archives. In 1940, on delivered his famous address to the Students of St Andrews in 1922. The the cusp of World War II, Principal Irvine wrote speech, given the title ‘Courage’, has since been to the organisers, “As the pageant moved before published, and extracts are to be found in most I am extremely grateful for me I was conscious of a new sense of pride in collected works of famous quotations. The two young men were allegedly inspired by this address, the support the Procession our country and a conviction that all this had to be preserved from being trampled under in a inspired perhaps to see to it that they did not simply receives from St Andrews, mechanised world.” go through their days “toddling to a competency.” Seeing the Procession cleared Irvine of the Barrie’s address draws the future years up against and encourage everyone to doubts he had in the build up. He admitted to the horrors of the last; he told the young men, “there come again this year fearing that they would be accused of “fiddling are glorious years ahead of you if you choose to while Rome is burning” by staging such a Parade make them glorious.” While the Rector urged, the at a time when War pressed the consciousness of all. Last year, Frances Students responded, and the Principal supported the idea they formed. Melville, Provost of Fife, mentioned that in a period of recession we could The revival of the procession so well demonstrates a valuable all gain heart from the colour and light-heartedness of the Procession. Rerelationship between the Rector, University Court, and Students, and born during the 1920s at a time of great hope, the Procession continues between the Students and their Principal. Irvine gave his backing for the to remind us of the history of St Andrews. As the announcer of 1935 Procession to go ahead before the meeting of the Senate, which had concluded, “so the shadows pass, O Citizens, and darkness sinks on the banned it half a century before: “In short, I emphasised to what extent I Bay, the stars come out that looked down on this earth when the shadows was placing myself in Student hands and trusting not only to the honour were real people.” and good intentions of the two men beside me, but of the whole student (Photos www.BenGoulter.com courtesy KK Club) body.” It was quite something for an eminent figure to place his trust in his students; it is testament to his foresight that the Procession still runs today.
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EVENTS Mary Popple declares that the
St Andrews Chorus Proves the Popularity of Choral Singing St Andrews Chorus is enjoying a very successful season with a large that boast such a strong tenor section. In growth in the number of singers of all ages and voices. In December pursuing the link with the University the last year, the Chorus performed its first concert under the new Musical Chorus now provides scholarships for Michael Downes Director, Michael Downes, with a wonderful programme of Handel and three students to receive singing lessons Vivaldi, Vivaldi’s Gloria being the centrepiece. through the The Chorus were delighted to be joined in the St Andrews Chorus is enjoying academic year. Gloria by the Singers from Madras College. Commenting on his first year with the a very successful season with Chorus, Michael Downes said: “The Chorus This proved a great way of giving young people the opportunity of singing in a large choir and a large growth in the number of is now rehearsing for an all-Mozart concert with a very good orchestra. The Chorus is now in April. The main work in this concert will be singers of all ages and voices rehearsing for the next concert in April, more the ‘Mass in C Minor’ and will also include the about which below. ‘Venite populi’, ‘Kyrie in D minor’, and ‘Ave Under the leadership of Michael Downes, who is also Musical verum corpus’, shorter works. The concert will take place in the Younger Director of the University, and President Eric Priest, the Chorus has Hall in St Andrews on 24 April at 7.30pm. Tickets will be available at the attracted a large number of students as well as many new members University Music Centre, from members of the Chorus, and at the door from the town and beyond. Around a half of all members are currently and will cost £9, £7 (concessions), £3 (students)”. students, and the Chorus has benefited with a richer sound coming from both male and female voices. There can’t be many amateur choirs (Photo courtesy the Chorus)
Sam Fowles, President,
All About Mermaids St Andrews is a city imbued with drama. From the desperate battle for possession of the Bishop’s castle, through captivating tales of martyrdom, to the countless moments of indescribable tension as a small white ball trickles agonisingly towards the 18th hole. These days when we talk of drama it is of a slightly less dangerous nature (and yes, anyone who has seen Ian Coulter on a bad day can attest to the danger involved in a game of golf!), we mean, of course, theatre. The relationship between the Students’ Association and other members of the St Andrews community is incredibly important to all of us and theatre is undoubtedly something that we can all share in. As President of the University Performing Arts Society and Fund (affectionately known as “Mermaids”) I was delighted to be given the opportunity to tell the readers of St Andrews In Focus a little about our upcoming season. Mermaids is the oldest organisation of its kind in Scotland and, investing up to £20,000 per year in the performing arts, we are also the most prolific. In recent years we have sent shows to the Edinburgh Fringe Festival and London’s West End. In St Andrews we work with local venues and businesses, including the Byre Theatre, to provide as many opportunities as possible for the performing arts. I hope that, after reading this and seeing exactly what we have on offer, we will see more local people in our audiences, making theatre in St Andrews truly a community activity. Our 2010 season kicked off with “That Face” by Polly Stenham (Byre Studio, 12th and 13th Feb, mat. and eve). Stenham won the Critics Circle award when “That Face”
premiered at the Royal Court Theatre in locations around the town. At present the 2007. She remains the youngest playwright precise dates and locations have been kept to do so. With a fantastically witty script secret and I hope that this surprise element and ingeniously complex characters, “That will add something unique to the project. Face” turns a devastating scrutiny on family Directed by “Fringe First” winner Charlie relationships. Ward, this production promises to shed New work has become something of an entirely new light on a contemporary a theme for the early part of our season, masterpiece. “That Face” was followed by “iGod” (23rd St Andrews students have always Feb, Students’ Association), a student work retained a certain fondness for the works of imagining the second coming of Christ; very Gilbert and Sullivan, none more so than the much for the context of modern society. This University’s G&S Society. This year they are will undoubtedly have been a controversial offering a production of “Ruddygore” (Byre work, but the script stands on its construction Theatre, 23rd-25th March). Director Ella and the poetry of its narrative, rather than Ormorod has revolutionised the Society’s simply seeking to upset sensibilities. For one productions in recent years and, with the night only, I recommended this highly to all incredible resources of the Byre Theatre at those who like a little thought in their theatre. her disposal, this promises to be her best After the, somewhat untraditional, early work yet. weeks, as March rolls in, we’re rolling out Undoubtedly one of the highlights of the some classics. William Shakespeare’s “Julius 2010 season will be the “On The Rocks” Caesar” (13th-15th March, festival. Beginning as a Students’ Association) remains small theatre festival, “On Mermaids is the unparalleled, both as a thrilling The Rocks” has grown to tale of political intrigue and as oldest organisation be the largest student arts a meditation on the ethics and festival in the country. Not of its kind in dangers of government. In an only does it offer theatre, age when we face terror without including David Hare’s Scotland and the encroachment of an “My Zinc Bed” and William increasingly powerful state on our personal Shakespeare’s “The Tempest” (performed on freedom, this could not be more relevant. the Castle Sands!), from universities across Later the same week the first production Scotland, but it also includes art, music, film, of the new year in the Barron Theatre (the and dance in 12 venues across the town (see official “home of Mermaids”) will be Edward this magazine page 24). Albee’s “Who’s Afraid of Virginia Wolf” (Barron These are just a few of the highlights of Theatre, 18th-21st March). This production the Mermaids 2010 Season. The beauty of will be the work of one of St Andrews’ our set up is that new ideas can be proposed most experienced student director (who, at any time, which means we are always among other projects, was the mind behind offering new opportunities to our members. last year’s award winning “Bent”) with a But theatre should never be reserved for reputation for producing theatre both slick and just one section of the community. Anyone challenging. wishing to get involved, find out more about Continuing the run of twentieth century Mermaids or simply just see a show will find a classics, Samuel Beckett’s “Waiting for warm welcome. Godot” will be staged in a variety of different
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EVENTS Hamish A Tait on behalf of Rotary and Heart Start :
Stroke Awareness St Andrews Rotary Club and Heart Start St Andrews and East Neuk of Fife are teaming up on 17th April 2010 to promote stroke awareness. The public of North East Fife is urged to come along to St Andrews Town Hall between 1.00 and 5.00 pm to an exhibition and demonstration of how to reduce the danger of suffering a stroke or heart attack, how to recognise the symptoms and how to help a victim. The event is designed to be fun, but at the same time informative. Stroke is a disabling and potentially deadly condition, but there are simple steps an individual can take to reduce their risk. As part of the afternoon’s programme, members of the public will have an opportunity to have their own risk estimated with advice on what steps to take to stay healthy. They will also be invited to take part in a demonstration of simple life-saving skills.
Thanks to money donated by the public Heart Start has been able to place defibrillators (machines to treat victims of collapse from heart attack) in various locations in the community, but the value of these machines is much reduced if people do not know the simple steps to take to support a victim while waiting for the defibrillator to arrive. Modern medical advances have changed the treatment of stroke and as a result, it is possible to significantly reduce the risk of death and disability provided the symptoms are recognised and action taken rapidly. The Rotary Club of St Andrews is promoting “Stroke Awareness” to help the fight. The NHS has developed a programme called FAST to aid the recognition.
F is for Face – is there weakness of one side of the face? A is for Arm – is there weakness of one arm? S is for Speech – can the person speak clearly and be understood? T is for Time – don’t delay, call 999. So, to discover how to protect the health of yourself, your family and your friends, Rotary and Heart Start urge you to come along to the Town Hall on the afternoon of Saturday 17th April.
MOSAICI: Poetry in Conflict Mosaici, The St Andrews Journal of Italian Poetry (www.st-andrews.ac.uk/mosaici), is organising its second International Conference in Parliament Hall on 15-17 March 2010. The event, a collaboration of the Universities of St Andrews, Glasgow, and Hull, is supported by a number of local bodies: StAnza, The St Andrews Poetry Forum (based in the School of Modern Languages), The Italian Cultural Institute in Edinburgh, SIS (The Society for Italian Studies). This International Conference seeks to open up a field of enquiry concerning the transformation of conflict into creation through poetry. Special guests will be Valerio Magrelli (Rome); Laura Barile (Siena); and Alberto Bertoni (Bologna); Marco Fazzini (Venice). The tail end of the conference (17 March), co-organised with the St Andrews Poetry Forum and visiting Poetry in Conflict across two European languages (Catalan and Russian), will have as special guests, Douglas Dunn (St Andrews) and Alexandra Petrova (St Petersburg – Rome). For further details on the Programme, see http://www.st-andrews.ac.uk/~mosaici/index.php?sectID=7
Evening Degree Programme Keen to get a degree? Too busy to study full-time? Try the flexible route to your MA General degree at the University of St Andrews via the Evening Degree Programme • One or two evenings of classes per week • Modules taken from a broad range of subjects • Credits for many existing qualifications • Financial help (ILA or Fee Waiver) for low income students • Supportive study environment Find out more from: Nicky Haxell The Evening Degree Co-ordinator Telephone: 01334 462203 Email: parttime@st-andrews.ac.uk www.st-andrews.ac.uk/eveningdegree/ The University of St Andrews is a charity registered in Scotland, No: SC013532
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Elegance unlimited! 1a Greyfriars Garden St Andrews Fife KY16 9HG Tel: 01334 477070
Print & Design
We welcome commercial enquiries St Katharine’s West, 16 The Scores St Andrews, Fife KY16 9AX
T: (01334) 463020 E: printanddesign@st-andrews.ac.uk The University of St Andrews is a charity registered in Scotland, No: SC013532
EVENTS
Selected Events Wednesday 3, 10, 17, 24 March – 1.15pm Younger Hall, North Street. Lunchtime concerts. Tickets at the door £2. Contact: 01334 462 226. Thursday, 4 March – 8.00pm. St Salvators Chapel, North Street. Concert. Rafal Zambrzycki-Payne and Agnieszka Marucha, violins. Music by Bach, Telemann, Bartok, Berio, Prokofiev, Bacewicz. Tickets: £10/£8/£6 from the Younger Hall or at the door. Contact: 01334 462 226. Saturday, 6 March – 9.00am-1.00pm. Argyle Street car park. Farmers’ Market. Wednesday, 10 March – 7.30pm Town Hall, St Andrews. The how and why of birdsong, talk by Peter Slater; Scottish Ornithologists Club, Fife Branch Contact: Rob Armstrong, 01334 838 279. Wednesday, 10 to Friday, 12 March – St Salvators Chapel & other venues. Music, Meaning, and Morality – a collaboration between the University Music Centre and the Centre for Ethics, Philosophy and Public Affairs, with James MacMillan, Roger Scruton, and musical performances. Information at www.standrews.ac.uk/ceppa/music.htm Friday, 12 March – 10.00am-9.00pm. also Saturday, 13 March – 10.00am-1.00pm. Town Hall, St Andrews. A drop-in public consultation on the future of Hamilton Hall. For information visit: www.oldcoursehotel.co.uk/Hamilton Hall – 6.15-8.30pm Holy Trinity Church, St Andrews. A talk by Mr Kevin Roberts CEO Saatchi & Saatchi. The student Management Society. Contact: www.mngsociety.com Monday, 15 to Wednesday 17 March – From10.00am. Parliament Hall, South Street. Mosaici – a St Andrews Journal of Italian Poetry Directed by Rossella Riccobono. Information: http://www.st-andrews.ac.uk/mosaici/ index.php?p=show_item_home&ID=25 – 9.30am-1.00pm The Buchanan Building, Union Street, St Andrews. Poetry Forum/Mosaici Symposium – Poetry and Conflict. Special guest Alexandra Petrova (St Petersburg). http://www.st-andrews.ac.uk/~mosaici/ index.php?p=show_item_home&ID=14). Wednesday, 17 to Sunday, 21 March – StAnza Poetry Festival. Full details on: http://www.stanzapoetry.org/ Thursday, 18 March – 7.30pm. St Salvator’s Chapel, North Street, St Andrews. Concert. St Salvator’s Chapel Choir, Directed by Tom Wilkinson. Tickets £12, (£10), £4 students & under 18s, from the Music Centre, Younger Hall. Contact: 01334 462 226, music@st-andrews.ac.uk Saturday, 20 March – 4.00pm. Younger Hall, North Street. University String Orchestra. Directed by William Baxter. Music by Corelli, Mozart, Warlock, Gade. Tickets from Younger Hall or at the door, £5 / £4 / £3. Contact: 01334 462 226. Saturday, 20 March to Sunday, 16 May – 10.00am-5.00pm. St Andrews Museum, Doubledykes Road. The history of shops & shopping in St Andrews, curated by the University’s Museum & Galleries students. Admission Free. Contact: 01334 659 380. Monday, 22 March – 5.15pm. Buchanan Building, Union Street, St Andrews. Paolo Bartoloni (Galway) – Ending into the real: on the thingness of art through Giorgio Caproni and Michelangelo Antonioni. Information at: http://www.st-andrews.ac.uk/ modlangs/centres/poetryforum/ – 8.00pm. St Salvator’s Chapel, North Street. Music Club Piano recital. Sharona Joshua plays an 1853 Pleyel piano. Music by Beethoven; Schumann; Bach; Mendelssohn; Chopin. Tickets (at the door) £10, concessions £9, students £2, children £1. Contact: katie.elliott@btopenworld.com Website: www.saint-andrews.co.uk/smc/
Wednesday, 24 March – 5.15-6.15pm.School III, St Salvator’s Quad, North Street. Libraries and the Modern Writer talk by Dr Stephen Enniss, Folger Shakespeare Library, Washington D.C.; King James Library Lecture. Contact: ac101@st-andrews.ac.uk – 7.30pm. Younger Hall, North Street. Scottish Chamber Orchestra, Conductor, Olari Elts; Mezzo, Karen Cargill. Music by Weber, Wagner, Schumann. Tickets from the Byre Theatre, & Younger Hall. Contact: 01334 475 000 and 01334 462 226. Saturday, 27 March – 2.30pm. Glasite Hall, St Andrews Church Hall Complex, King Street, DUNDEE. Haig: The Man behind the Mask of Command. A talk by George A Webster, University of St Andrews, for the Tayside Branch of the Western Front Asociation. Free (donations welcomed). Contact, Bob Paterson: 01382 775 000, email: wfatayside@lochnagar.fr Wednesday, 31 March – 7.30pm. Younger Hall, North Street. Camerata Scotland play music by Mozart, Britten, Purcell, Beethoven. Tickets from the Music Centre, or at the door, £10, £6, £2. Contact: 01334 462 226. Saturday, 3 April – 9.00am – 1.00pm. Argyle Street car park. Farmers’ Market. Thursday, 15 April – 8.00pm Younger Hall, North Street. Music Centre Scholarship holders. Information from Younger Hall, 01334 462 226. Saturday, 17 April – 1.00pm-5.00pm Town Hall, St Andrews. Stroke Awareness. Exhibition & demonstration. Organised by the Rotary Club. – 2.00pm. The annual Kate Kennedy Procession. (see page 26) Sunday, 18 to Sunday, 25 April – On the Rocks Arts Festival – see page 24. Thursday, 22 April – 5.15pm. Buchanan Building, Union Street, St Andrews. Giorgio Caproni and Michelangelo Antonioni. (with ITALICA). For further information see: http://www.st-andrews.ac.uk/modlangs/ centres/poetryforum – 7.30pm. Younger Hall, North Street. Scottish Chamber Orchestra. Conductor, Robin Ticciati; piano, Tom Poster. Music by Dvorak, Ligeti, Beethoven. Pre-concert talk on Ligeti’s Piano Concerto (for ticket holders) at 6.30pm by Dr Michael Downes. Contact: 01334 462 226. Saturday, 24 April – 7.30pm. Younger Hall, North Street. St Andrews Chorus. An all-Mozart concert. (see page 27) Tickets, £9, £7-concessions, £3- students from the Music Centre, Younger Hall, and at the door. Contact: 01334 462 226. Thursday, 29 April – 5.15-7.00pm. Younger Hall, North Street. The Mind – Brain or Spirit? talk by Bill Newsome; James Gregory Public Lecture. Contact: 01334 462 226. – 8.00pm. St Leonards Music Auditorium. Music Club, Hoot – Flute & Harp recital, sponsored by Enterprise Music, Scotland Residency Project. Music by McGuire; Lutoslawski; Mozart; Schaposhnikov; Andriessen; Dodson; Persichetti; Piazolla. Tickets (at the door) £10, concessions £9, students £2, children £1. Contact: katie.elliott@btopenworld.com Website: www.saint-andrews.co.uk/smc/ Friday, 30 April – 6.30-9.00pm. Cambo Estate, Kingsbarns. The Tulip; the most seductive of bulbs. An illustrated talk by Anna Pavord, author of ‘The Tulip’. This talk will cover the history of the bulb and suggestions for gardeners. Tickets (including a glass of wine) £22.50; RHS members £18. Contact: 01333 450 313. Web: www.camboestate.com – 8.00pm. Younger Hall, North Street. St Andrews Chamber Orchestra. Conductor, Michael Downes; piano, Noé Kains. Music by Fauré, Mozart, Ravel. Tickets from the Younger Hall and at the door £7, £6, £5. Contact: 01334 462 226.
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OUT & ABOUT Alistair Lawson has another offering in his occasional series
Fife’s Far Frontiers and signs; all of which has been costed at over £200,000. Funding is Away in the far west, almost below the curve of the earth, is a part of currently being sought, on the basis of Bell Ingram’s feasibility study. Fife scarcely known to the inhabitants of St Andrews and the East Neuk. An interesting historical aspect of the plan is that part of the route This far-off place is known as West Fife or, if you prefer, Dunfermline will follow what is thought to be the old District. In fact, it is so far away that it (18th century and before) highway from shares a boundary with another mysterious Perhaps readers of “St Andrews in Focus” Clackmannan to Newmills – see orange unknown – namely the “Wee Coonty”, or would like to explore these remote places line on map. It is also interesting to note Clackmannanshire. on the furthest frontier of Fife? that the map shows the Kincardine area Like every other part of Scotland, the as being a detached part of Perthshire West Fife countryside is shortly to have a and, of course, it shows how the river looked before the building of the network of Core Paths, such that every citizen will have easy access to Kincardine (1936) and Clackmannanshire (2009) bridges. a range of opportunities for outdoor exercise. The villages of Carnock, Perhaps readers of “St Andrews in Focus” would like to explore Oakley, Comrie, and Blairhall, strung out along the A907 west of these remote places on the furthest frontier of Fife? Dunfermline, are no exception and have been duly provided for, yet a band of local enthusiasts want to go beyond the provisions of the (Map, courtesy Alistair Lawson) Core Path Network and create an additional link, joining the above communities to Devilla Forest and Kincardine. These enthusiasts have Old Routeways in Tulliallan Parish formed themselves into “West Fife Stobie 1783 Woodlands” and have raised funds to commission a feasibility study from Messrs Bell Ingram, Tourism & Leisure Consultants. The route proposed will run from near Blairhall and Shires Mill westwards, crossing the Bluther Burn (which enters the Forth estuary between Valleyfield and Newmills), then by Gallowridge and into Devilla Forest. The forest was named Devilla after a farmhouse located near the curiously-named Bathmuir wood near the Bluther Burn [see: oldmaps.co.uk]. Bathmuir, together with nearby Balgownie, was the first woodland that the Forestry Commission bought in this area, in 1929. What we now call Devilla was bought after the Second World War. According to the book, “Place names of the Kingdom of Fife”, Devilla means black island from the Gaelic dubh plus illann. It is close to the nearby Lockshaw moss SSSI (Site of Special Scientific Interest) – so was it perhaps an island-like area of high and firm ground in amongst the more extensive raised Line of Highway from Clackmannan to Newmilnbridge prior to opening of Turnpike Road in around 1800 bog of the past? Line of route from Kincardine to pre-Reformation Parish Church of Culross (West Kirk) Returning to the present, a bold plan has been devised, Drove Road (?) to Kincardine Ferry, south from Crieff, Glendevon, Forrest Mill including vegetation clearance, path consolidation, bridges, gates,
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OUT & ABOUT Tony Hardie retired as estate factor for Lord Lothian and the Lothian Estates, came to live in St Andrews in 1998. After National Service in the Royal Navy, he founded an estate management business in Dundee in 1957. In the ‘70s he was unable to resist the opportunity to take up a post as senior land agent for the Nature Conservancy in Scotland. He has been interested in wild birds since his boyhood.
Nature Notes – January 2010
Oyster catcher
We are fortunate in St Andrews to be able to walk to the Eden Estuary in winter and at high water to watch the wildfowl at close quarters. The wigeon love to graze as the tide ebbs washing the vegetation clean. The drakes, with their chestnut heads and white crests, gleam in the low sun as with the ducks they appear so busy, oblivious to the waves breaking over them. The foreshore is alive with their soft whistle for, unlike the mallard, they do not quack. Recently and rather unusually, whilst the foreshore was lined with some of our waders, mostly oyster catchers, curlew and redshank, all waiting for the tide to recede and expose their feeding grounds, there were several small flocks of teal, our smallest wild duck with little more than their feet in the water. They reminded me of dumplings, fat and round, but again the drakes blessed with the most lovely colours, a green eye stripe leading to the neck and on their rump the most beautiful quartering of yellow. Indeed all our wild ducks look so smart in winter; no surprise here because if they are not feeding they are preening! The teal are mostly a freshwater duck and I am sure that the hard frost had driven them to the estuary. Among the wigeon were some pintail, not all that common on our waters, but a beautiful duck too. I write of the drake which has a very proud chocolate-coloured head with a white stripe behind the eye leading to a white neck, and a very smart tail tapered to the finest of points. All these to be seen at once, and I have not mentioned the brilliant shelduck, nor the Brent geese which sailed past me like galleons under sail. They will be with us all winter so there will be time to write about them later in the year. But for the next issue I hope the editor will allow me space for the birds of our gardens, which give us so much joy. Note: The walk from the Eden Golf Centre to the estuary takes little more than seven or eight minutes. Binoculars are a great asset, and if the wind is from a northerly or easterly direction, dress warmly.
Pintail
Photos by kind permission of John Anderson (Crail Birder: http://www.pbase.com/crail_birder)
Wigeon
Lynda Samuel
Red Squirrels Of all God’s bonnie beasties, it’s you I love the best; The way you dart and scurry from branch to drey (your nest). I’m proud to say that, in Dundee, red squirrels grow in number, In Camperdown and Templeton, among the trees and lumber. In wooded copse and leafy glades, I love to watch your escapades; You scoot on flimsy tops of trees with gravity-defying ease. I hear that you’re endangered; that saddens me no end. My woodland walks won’t be the same without my furry friend. The grey one is the rascal, that hulking ugly rat – An immigrant from Canada – so hungry, huge and fat! I guess I’m colour prejudiced; I’m biased to the red. I’d send the grey ones packing so you’ll increase instead. In summer time you store your nuts and cones in different places. Then when you go to look for them, you find just empty spaces. (I’m just like you in certain ways, my tiny mind is failing. My memory plays tricks with me and winter finds me ailing). I love your twitching, tufted ears, your scrabbling little paws; Your handsome ruddy bushy tail. A most deserving cause For nature’s conservationists, the RSPCA, And me, who loves you most of all – red squirrels, please do stay! (Originally contributed to the Charleston Writers’ Group in 2008) Photos courtesy John Anderson (Crail Birder: johnw.anderson@btinternet.com)
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freshly cooked fish and chips in St Andrews! LUNCHTIME MEAL DEALS DAILY 11am-3pm supper with a can * * ½ fish of Coke, etc £3.25 and chips with * * Cheeseburger a can of coke £2.75 garlic mayo and * * Chips,acheese, can of coke £2.65 Roll, Fish Finger Roll * * Chip Butty, Fritter – all £1.15 AND MANY MORE!!
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HOME-MADE PIZZAS NOW AVAILABLE 1 Union Street St Andrews Formerly PM’s – we’re at The east end of Market Street