St Andrews in Focus Issue 43 Nov Dec 2010

St Andrews in focus • shopping • eating • events • town/gown • people and more

November / December 2010 Issue 43, £1.50

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Bonnytown Farm Roman Camp “Take me to Bonnytown Farm!” said my Old Man. “Why?” It turned out that in1965, the late Professor Kenneth St Joseph, director of the Cambridge University Aerial Archaeological Unit, identified positive evidence of a Roman Marching Camp at Bonnytown Farm, which lies three miles South East of St Andrews. In 1967 parts of the site were chosen for excavation by the Scottish Field Archaeological Group. Results confirmed the existence of the Roman Camp dating from the Flavian period.

That was forty-three years ago. Given the rich and ancient history of this part of Fife, the discovery, surprisingly, did not generate any long-term interest. It isn’t too late to re-assess and appreciate the impact of the Romans on our ‘little corner of Scotland’, the ‘East Neuk’.

In the summer of 1968 I visited the site with my father.

He surprised by revealing an extensive knowledge of, and interest in, the Romans. During his years throughout the 1930s as a Polish Diplomatic Courier, serving his country’s embassies, consulates, and Trade Missions, first throughout the Balkans, and then from ‘35 to ‘39 doing the North Africa Run from Alexandria to Casablanca and Marrakech, he had repeatedly crossed the old Roman Limes – the ‘Limits’ or ‘Frontiers’ along the Danube; had seen the countless forts, ramparts, ruins and bridges of the Roman Empire. He had, in his words, followed these Limes southwards, westwards, and after 1940, north, to encounter Hadrian’s Wall and the Antonine Wall. Now there was the ‘Final Frontier’, the long unbroken string of camps and forts arcing Northeast from the Forth / Clyde isthmus.

We visited the site barely a year after the excavations.

After much bickering and arguing in which we did much ‘agreeing to disagree’, we came to the rough and ready conclusion that this Camp was a ‘strategic surveying Camp’. What did this mean? The position and topography offered some clues. It lies on high ground within sight of the sea at its north corner. The huge camp itself, whilst enormous, sits astride an even larger slab of land. Roman field engineers would have cleared the scattering of trees and bushes, thus depriving any hostile intruders of cover. The felled trees provided fuel and stout timber for the construction of the four gates. The soil was easy to excavate for the construction of the defensive ditch and rampart. The gentle slope of the field provided good drainage and ready access to the Kenly Burn, whose clear water provided for men and horses, for cooking and cleaning. ‘A clean army is a healthy army’ ran the Roman motto. It was a ‘town thrown up in an afternoon’.

Three adjacent hills overlooking the Camp provided an orbit of watchtowers. From each of these hills, notably Easter Balrymonth and Kenly Law, panoramic vistas were achieved – natural elements for surveying and signalling purposes. Thus could the Romans see into the corridor of Strathern lying beyond the rising line of the Ochils in the West. A vast bay provided safe anchorage for the accompanying naval fleet of the Governor of Britain and General of the Army, Gnaeus Julius Agricola, at whose command the invasion of North Britain was initiated and led. Two estuaries are clearly seen, that of the Eden (Romanised to Tina) and the Tay, (Latinised to Tava).

Across the Bay rises the undulating profile of the Angus

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Hills, and behind them and Strathmore, the foothills of the distant Grampian mountains. The brooding mass of distant Cairn O’Mount glowering over the Mearns marks the pivot, the turning point on which Agricola’s Army wheeled North to its triumph over the Confederation of the Caledones, tribes at the Battle of Bennachie Hill, or Mons Graupius, in AD 83.

A1 Roman armies surveyed, measured, and mapped as they advanced. At Bonnytown this auxiliary army of thirteen hundred men and three hundred horses halted, and then ‘threw up their town in an afternoon’. Meantime, other specialist teams methodically and relentlessly continued to survey and signal, reconnoitre and report, measure, map, describe, and name; and if they did not have a name for a physical feature of distinction, be it river or rock, hill or haven, they would have the natives provide one of their own. And the effect of all this immensely powerful display of alien organisation and order upon the local tribes? – ‘Shock and awe!’.

In 1978, St Joseph and his team identified yet another Roman camp at Edenwood near Cupar in Fife, not far from another enormous Roman Camp at Auchtermuchty.

The quest to uncover yet more camps continues. Roman Scotland still fascinates.

PS – The irony is that the Italians returned to the same location in World War 2 – as prisoners of war! © Jurek Alexander Pütter

St Andrews in focus • shopping • eating • events • town/gown • people and more

From the Editor Jamie the Florist had a very pleasant surprise – an order for a bouquet of flowers telephoned to him from Nashville, Tennessee, in America! It transpired that a reader of this magazine sends copies regularly to her mother, who wished to send flowers to someone in St Andrews.

Having noted Jamie’s advert, she phoned her order, geographically the furthest Jamie had ever received.

Naturally this story made your editor’s day! (And yet there are still some people who think adverts are a waste of time!) A reader in Strathkinness has asked for 31 back numbers to take to California with her; another nice compliment!

Thank you, all those who have sent in completed Town Surveys – they make interesting reading! If you haven’t done so yet, you still have time till the end of December. Please keep them coming – the more we have the better the results, which hopefully can be ready by the end of January.

Be well, be happy, as the song says, and may you all have a truly wonderful Christmas and Hogmanay.

Flora Selwyn

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The views expressed elsewhere in this magazine are not necessarily those of the Editor.

NOVEMBER / DECEMBER 2010 EDITOR Flora Selwyn Tel: 01334 472375 Email: editor@standrewsinfocus.com DESIGNER University of St Andrews Print & Design 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.

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Contents TOWN/GOWN • There is grandeur...

• Maths in Focus • Holocaust Studies

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SHOPS & SERVICES • An Inspector calls • The Grizzly Gourmet • Kerstin Florian at Fairmont • Tenements talk • Roving Reporter

7 8 9 10 12

ORGANISATIONS • BASE • University Madrigal Group • NT Birdwatch Survey • St Andrews Pilgrim Foundation

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EVENTS • The Russians Return • St Andrews Day in the Garden • Selected Events

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OUT AND ABOUT • Fife’s Far Frontiers • Nature Notes • October Song • Champion Trees • Toonspot

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FEATURES • Reviews – Tales of G12 – Running my Life – Dream On – A Matter of trust – Scottish Native Trees • The Community Council • Madras War Memorials • Grubb’s Model Coal Wagon • Margot Waterston • Andrew Barman • Madras Young Writers • First Steps • Show Jumping • Mary Heal in London • In Transit...

• “Pub” Quiz • A Scottish Christmas

24 24 25 25 26 27 27 28 29 29 30 30 31 32 33 34 35

NEXT ISSUE – Jan/Feb 2011 COPY DEADLINE: STRICTLY 28 NOVEMBER

All contributions welcome. The Editor reserves the right to publish copy according to available space.

COVER: Original artwork © Jurek Alexander Pütter

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TOWN & GOWN It is with the greatest sadness that we report the death last December of Dr Jacqueline Falconer, who so kindly sponsored this magazine’s Dr Falconer Essay Prize Competition for first-year science undergraduates. Her infectious enthusiasm made the Competition possible. She enjoyed reading all the entries and shared our desire to encourage aspiring scientists to share their knowledge with the general public. Our sincere condolences go to her sister, Gillian Falconer.

Natasha Latysheva is the winner of this year’s Dr Falconer Essay Prize Competition, with her essay

“There is grandeur in this view of life” In the closing paragraph of his magnum opus On the Origin of Species, the behaviour of entire forests of animals Darwin endeavoured to express the breathtaking wonder he felt at at the same time! And it’s excellent that the endless complexity and beauty – the ‘grandeur’ – that he saw biologically-themed conferences and as he examined, with a keener eye than anyone before him, the research labs invite and attract lively relationships that governed the natural world. I think I’ve caught a bit thinkers and innovators from numerous of his awe, and I’ll attempt to convey this sort of aesthetic admiration. disciplines, encouraging more fusions like But biology’s elegance and stimulating explanatory richness aside, the those of ‘evolutionary psychology’ and ‘biofield’s attractiveness is further amplified by its promise for revolutionary engineering’. ‘Traditional’ biology’s focus, the technologies in the upcoming century (I’m an extravagant technology specific properties that arise once we have enthusiast!); if Darwin, my idol, was enraptured by life’s ‘grandeur’ in a living, squirming being on our hands, is 1850, contemporary biology would have rendered him into a bouncing, no less interesting. For example, the field of gleeful infant. embryology details how I think one of biology’s most appealing aspects a human being forms I now regularly delight is how surprisingly wide-reaching its core ideas are. from one tiny, tiny cell.

Here on Earth, we can be certain that any living thing in examining the biology Just one! How impressive is that? we might run across (or perhaps run away from) will I now regularly delight in examining the biology behind everyday life want to do things like avoid pain, and fight to stay behind everyday life, but it hasn’t always captivated alive, and reproduce its genetic code. As dissimilar as, me. In high school, I took science classes in for example, grasshoppers and tulips are, these biological undercurrents preparation for a career in medicine. Every half-way decent teenage neatly unite the two. Another such theme is adaptation: organisms are student in the American mid-west prepares for a career in medicine; I so finely and meticulously adapted to the places they’ve lived in and the was no exception. Soon I was forcing interests in electron orbits and daily problems they’ve faced that we can reconstruct entire environments tediously drawing the most immaculate portraits of the reproductive just by looking at the animal! This astounds me because the world in no structures of flowers (the raunchy indulgence of an over-worked future way must be filled with doctor). This continued such fine specialists, yet until I was filled with there they all are – and sometimes close to we know something about a raging, murderous the reason why. And rancour for any and all if there is life on other textbook science. planets, we can be sure Thankfully, my plans that they also evolved to enter a demanding by a sort of Darwinian 6-year med-school were natural selection, whether thwarted, and soon or not the aliens don afterwards I discovered carbon bodies or silicon or popular science books: krypton ones. We would Desmond Morris’s book still expect them to be The Naked Ape was responsive to the world my first one. I learned around them, take in food, about the history of the use energy, grow, maybe human species, how our even wriggle around a bit. ancestors organized into My carbon atoms are tribes, and theories on the same as yours, and why humans are almost Views of a foetus in the womb they are the same as hairless (well, most of us).

Dilophosaurus (by Leonardo da Vinci) they were in the sexual A myriad of other popular display crests on the head science books followed. Truly, I can’t overestimate the influence popular of my favourite carnivorous science books have had on my development, and I will be a fervent dinosaur Dilophosaurus. partisan of these treasures forever. And perhaps, following the steps of Biology not only tries to my idols, I will eventually pen one of my own. explain why in the world But my main aspirations lie in the field of research – it’s simply atoms would ever want to astounding that there are actually people who get to play around with assemble into organisms, science, its ideas and hypotheses and puzzles, all day long! And actually, but to detail how you, this is a particularly exciting time to get into biological research: a popular reader, the astronomically saying states that, similarly to how the 20th century was the ‘century of improbable product of physics’, the 21st is destined to be the ‘century of biology’. This is an billions of tiny changes, era for knitting together knowledge from various fields, and biological climate shifts, and epic science is positioned to form a backbone (quite fittingly) for many future survival struggles, is related technologies. I think that we will continue to see marvellous excursions to all the life that has into the limits of mankind’s creativities; just what kind of neat gems might Black monkey existed on Earth, starting biological research dig out? with your humble one-celled ancestor 3.5 billion years ago. Facts like Well, researchers are now working on slowing common human these have inspired me to study a degree in Evolutionary Biology. ageing, upgrading our mental powers, and manipulating the land to I like that the study of biology isn’t self-contained and reclusive, feed more and more people; work on eradicating illnesses like cancers but social and collaborative: biologists turn to physics to understand and viral infections inspire hope for a greatly improved life in many; and how skeletal structures evolved to handle the huge mechanical stress countless other developments – expect exciting, monumental things. I feel involved in feats like human walking, or the fierce head butting of very, very privileged to have a chance to dive into the fervent deep-end of some rams (and some people); chemistry enlightens us about intricate all of these stimulating and challenging questions, and equally gleeful and metabolic processes. Mathematics, amazingly, allows us to think about eager, as Darwin would have surely understood.

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TOWN & GOWN Rhiannon Dougall is the runner-up in this year’s Dr Falconer Essay Prize Competition

Maths in Focus Maths. Frequently followed by “urghh...” What did Pascal, Fermat and the gang do to deserve this?! Many of us fall out-of-love with maths in our adolescence. Somewhere between chanting our times tables and being force-fed trigonometric ratios we become disillusioned. I disagree with all the negative laments against maths, however. It’s so much more than just algebra’s abuse of the alphabet. I know this; which is why I’ve decided to spend the next four years and hopefully rest of my life learning the subject.

What I find most remarkable about maths is the paradox between its complexity and accessibility.

Take the most publicised and pursued problem in mathematics: Fermat’s Last Theorem. A problem so simple even young minds could grasp it, yet it took centuries and the conglomeration of the most specialised mathematical minds of the time to prove.

As children, we believe there is no more to mathematics than arithmetic. I distinctly remember the moment at which I first appreciated the intangible, science-fiction aspect of mathematics. Sitting in my high school maths classroom, we were posed the question, “if 2 x 3 = 6 and 6 ÷ 3 takes us back to 2, and 0 x 1 = 0, then what does 0 ÷ 0 give us?”

This was new and perplexing territory in our study of maths. The error message on a calculator one receives upon dividing by zero had always been an accepted fact of life – one of those things you just didn’t talk about. Earlier queries as to this peculiarity had always been hastily stifled by teachers without much as to an explanation, as being ‘shushed’ by parents upon saying something inappropriate in public.

Closely related to the uncertainties surrounding zero are the implications of trying to define a number as infinite. This important mathematical concept is likewise just as misunderstood, and incorrectly employed in playground arguments, “I bagsy it times infinity...

I bagsy it times infinity plus one...”

Well, it doesn’t quite work like that, but by determining what happens to a variable as it tends to infinity we are able to explore the limit of a sum or number series. The concept of an infinite sum has also allowed complex functions to be greatly simplified with Fourier transformation; the ability to simplify functions and corresponding signals has resulted in its prevalence in telecommunications, electrical engineering and optics amongst numerous other areas.

Maths has an ability to captivate wide audiences.

It questions things, such as the implications of a number being zero, and forces you to think deeper and see further. A favourite problem of mine, from the field of topology, is that one cannot comb the hair flat on a hairy ball without creating a cowlick. This kind of problem, as a child, I would determinedly attempt to refute with brute force on the physical object. Now, however, being only slightly more mature, I am more interested in the fundamental mathematical proof. There’s great satisfaction in the infallibility of a written text proof.

Maths keeps us safe.

It was at the root of the technology revolution which has evolved to become integral to our modern existence; one of its core contributions being the creation of a binary numbering system. In particular, computers now dominate our lives, and due to this the luxury of e-commerce has thrived. However, hackers too can utilise advances in mathematics.

E-commerce would be at the mercy of hackers were it not for cryptology, used to disguise our sensitive details. Prime numbers are used as building blocks in the algorithms which instantly convert our details, such as passwords and credit card numbers, to incomprehensible data which can then only be understood by those in

possession of the key to this algorithm. This current conventional method of cryptology exploits the difficulty in factorising numbers, namely the product of two large primes. Cryptologists can confidently predict that their most secure keys and corresponding codes could take trillions of years to crack using current methods of factorisation. Despite their present security, future computational speed advances are set to undermine current methods by significantly cutting down the time necessary to decipher their codes. The science of cryptology has been in existence for hundreds of years and continues to adapt, keeping ahead of potential infiltrators. A relatively new innovation is that of quantum cryptology, which could further protect our security by sending information via photons – exploiting a known principle in quantum physics that the properties of polarised photons cannot be inspected without the interception then being apparent to a viewer at a later stage. This is an exciting technique which could hopefully open up an entire new realm of cryptography.

Prospectively, I intend to succeed my degree with further study, namely with a PhD. I feel having a solid grounding in maths will lead paths into many other subject areas, most significantly in physics, as the two subjects are strongly intertwined. Maths manifests itself everywhere: I could be applying my heightened analytical skills in any corner of business, exploiting my ability to think outwith the conventional parameters in the glamorous life of espionage, or employing mathematics more directly in the intensive career of an actuary. Personally, I’m unlikely to choose something so audacious; I’d be content in the life of an eccentric, grey-haired lecturer.

If all else fails there’s always what is arguably the most profitable, albeit risqué, application of maths: card-counting in the casinos...

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TOWN & GOWN Paula Cowan, Senior Lecturer in Education at the University of the West of Scotland, is co-editing, Teaching Controversial Issues in the Classroom: Key Issues and Debates; to be published by Continuum in September 2011.

Holocaust Studies in Schools

areas to participate in the school’s Holocaust Across Scotland pupils are now settled back in schools and the new project, and at least one teacher from every subject curriculum, ‘Curriculum for Excellence’, is being introduced into the first area became involved. The Holocaust provided year of secondary schools. This curriculum aims to reduce formulaic a context for learning activities in Art, Drama, teaching and achieve more innovative, interdisciplinary and creative Maths, German, Technology classes, also History teaching. With its commitment to declutter the curriculum, it is no surprise Paula Cowan and English. Excepting senior classes, who were that there is no requirement to teach the Holocaust. Unlike in England engaged in prelims, every year group participated and teachers of and Wales, where the Holocaust is a compulsory named topic in the different subject areas worked in each others’ classrooms.

National Curriculum for 13-14 year olds, its teaching in Scotland relies Mrs Dixon invited Dorrith Sim, a former Jewish refugee from Kassel, on teachers, schools, and local authorities who are keen that it is taught Germany, to speak to a group of 1st and 2nd year students. Dorrith, a to their pupils. One benefit is that the Holocaust is commonly taught children’s author and former honorary member of the Ayr Writers’ Club, in many other subject areas in our schools; for example, in English, told pupils of her memories of clutching her favourite toy dog as she, then Religious, Moral and Philosophical Studies, Drama, Psychology, and Art, 7 years old, hugged her parents at Hamburg station for what would be as well as History. Another advantage is that secondary teachers choose the last time. She arrived in the UK on a kindertransport rescue operation to teach it. in 1939. Dorrith showed pupils her precious artefacts, one of which was a Curriculum for Excellence has set new challenges for Holocaust small cutlery set with her name engraved on it. She told pupils about the Education. Enthusiastic teachers with a particular interest in it continue journey and about her Scottish foster parents. As her audience included to have a vital role in its development in Scotland. One such teacher four pupils with hearing impairments, one of the is Mrs Lauren Dixon, who was recently awarded a teachers from the hearing impaired unit signed. Keen Professional Recognition in Holocaust Education by Curriculum for to have a permanent record of this talk, Mrs Dixon the General Teaching Council of Scotland (GTCS). To Excellence has set facilitated its recording that captured both the speaker receive this award, fully registered teachers with the and the sign writer. With the assistance of a computing GTCS are required to fulfil a set of criteria that include new challenges for teacher colleague the school then produced a DVD demonstrating an enhanced knowledge of their specific Holocaust Education containing the 40-minute recording of the talk with the area evident by their teaching and collaborative work signage and extras such as Dorrith’s personal photos. with colleagues. Given that the application form does It is hoped that this will soon be available for teachers across the country not include Holocaust Education in its list of specific areas of expertise, it through Glow, Scotland’s national intranet for schools. is easy to understand why this is the first time that such recognition has This approach was conducive to a positive working ethos as Mrs been awarded for Holocaust Education.

Dixon reported that a class with pupils with behavioural difficulties had no Mrs Dixon teaches English at Grange Academy in East Ayrshire. discipline issues during this programme of work. There were two other Her interest in the Holocaust deepened after participating in a teachers’ unforeseen consequences. Firstly, when a 3rd year student enquired why visit to Berlin last year. Organised by Learning and Teaching Scotland as an Art teacher was teaching the Holocaust when this was ‘something that part of its Scottish Continuing International Professional Development Mrs Dixon did’, Mrs Dixon seized this opportunity to discuss the benefits Programme, this visit aimed to develop teachers’ global perspectives of interdisciplinary teaching to this pupil and how it would benefit his and Holocaust educational teaching approaches. However, it achieved learning. Secondly, though she had not planned to teach the Holocaust a lot more. There, Mrs Dixon met Katie Winterburn, a History teacher to her foundation class, once these pupils had heard what she was at Cumnock Academy, also in East Ayrshire, and they shared an doing with the other classes, they asked to learn something about the enthusiasm to learn more about teaching the Holocaust. Aware that 2010 Holocaust too. Mrs Dixon responded by adapting the timetable to suit would commemorate 65 years of the end of WW2, they agreed to work their request and so they, too, developed their language skills through collaboratively on a Holocaust-related proposal a Holocaust text. It is likely that pupils were more engaged because the for schools in their authority on their return. The impetus for this teaching came from them and not their teacher. result was a collection of around 50,000 paper Mrs Dixon has learned that a teacher like herself, with responsibility clips involving the participation of pupils from for co-ordinating Holocaust education, is essential to sustaining and seven secondary schools and several primary developing such activities in secondary schools. She would like to schools. This formed a memorial to victims of the develop collaboration between her colleagues from different subject Holocaust. areas so that they work closer together, sharing ideas and generating In meeting the principles of Scotland’s synergies, rather than teaching a common topic in isolation. She will also new curriculum, Mrs Dixon encouraged more further her skills in making the Holocaust more personal to pupils, as she teaching across and beyond the traditional considers this to be important in helping pupils understand the world in subject areas and boundaries. She invited her which they live. school colleagues from a wide range of subject Lauren Dixon

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SHOPS & SERVICES Andrew Wright

An Inspector Calls What do you do if HM Revenue and Customs During a visit, the Inspectors can inspect Inspectors turn up unannounced at your business assets and documents, including business premises? I suggest you first ask to computer records. Recently, there was a case see if they have written authorisation for the where computers were removed from the visit from the Tax Tribunal or from a senior premises to be examined at HMRC offices. authorised HMRC Officer and, if not, suggest They were returned within a couple of days, but that they return at a mutually convenient time it is not clear whether this is allowable under the within the next seven days. You should also law unless the particular circumstances of the telephone your Accountant or Solicitor. investigation justify it.

In serious cases, this will not work because A new system of penalties has been the whole point of the visit is to give no warning introduced where errors have been made in and the HMRC Officers will have taken care to Tax Returns. These have been formalised so obtain the necessary authorisations in advance. that there is a maximum and minimum % of This new power of inspection (Finance Acts penalty (based on tax underpaid as a result of 2008 and 2009) does not extend to visits to a the error) whereas previously an Inspector had person’s home, but is part of a more discretion in suggesting whole raft of new powers given a suitable rate of penalty A new system of to HMRC by the previous and it was often a matter Parliament. In the majority of of bargaining between the penalties has been cases, inspections of business two parties (the Inspector introduced where premises will be made by would accept a lower rate arrangement and need not be in order to get agreement errors have been too stressful. wrongdoing from the made in Tax Returns of There are procedures that taxpayer at an earlier stage HMRC have to go through of the investigation). before the visit takes place. They must record Where an error is a result of “carelessness”, beforehand why they have chosen to make the penalty will be lower than if it is “deliberate a visit, including identifying the risk (of loss and concealed”. The rate varies depending of tax) and why a visit rather than a letter is on whether the taxpayer has reported it appropriate. In terms of the “Human Rights” Act, voluntarily (lower penalty) or whether it has the course of action chosen must be reasonable been discovered by the Inspector. Another area and proportionate to the circumstances. where HMRC powers have increased is in the

deadline they have to enquire into a Tax Return. Until recently, if HMRC had not raised an enquiry within a year after the latest filing date (that is, the second 31st January after the tax year end), then the taxpayer could feel safe that no challenge would be made. This has now changed and, in the event of a “discovery” by HMRC, they have four years to make a challenge. This is why Accountants encourage the use of the “white space” on the last page of your Tax Return to allow you to give fuller details of a transaction so as to minimise the chance of a future “discovery”. (HMRC cannot make a discovery if all the relevant facts were given to them in the first place).

Finally I am aware that the older we become, the more we worry about these things.

By way of reassurance, I have not come across a case where an elderly taxpayer has been persistently harassed by a Tax Inspector. So, please do not have nightmares!

For further information on this, or other matters, please consult: Henderson Black & Co. 149 Market St., St Andrews.

Tel: 01334 472 255

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SHOPS & SERVICES Restaurant Review by Hugo D’Bere – your Grizzly Gourmet

The Vineleaf

131 South Street, St Andrews The Vineleaf has become something of a was the father and not the son, and this was St Andrews Institution. The restaurant has after he had demitted office. An aide, phoning been in the same premises since its inception, to ask if they could have a table, was told that although the premises have at one stage the Restaurant was fully booked. On insisting been enlarged. Ian & Morag that it was George Bush, the Hamilton have been running ex-President of the USA, they The Vineleaf has the restaurant for longer than were still told the Restaurant become something of a even they remember. Ian does was fully booked, Mr Bush St Andrews Institution front of house and Morag is in was not a regular, therefore charge of the cooking. he could not get a table. The The most famous story surrounding the moral of the story is that Ian and Morag have Vineleaf relates to George Bush, who was at built up a very regular clientele and outsiders one stage staying in The Old Course Hotel. This may have to push to find a table.

The restaurant is not open at lunch time, nor on Sundays or Mondays, and perhaps more people in the catering trade should adopt this more relaxed attitude. The result is a more consistent quality of produce and a more relaxed atmosphere during the times when the restaurant is open. No doubt it does much for the proprietors’ quality of life.

The menu itself is an astonishing variety of meat, game, fish, and vegetarian dishes, and a wine list which is very reasonable. Ian is extremely knowledgeable in relation to the wine list and I can safely say I have never had a duff bottle or, for that matter, a duff carafe of house wine. Prices at £26.50 for two courses and Hugo dining

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£29.95 for three courses are very competitive, although there are an increasing number of supplements. On the other hand, could one really expect a seafood platter for £29.95!

I had the crab, ginger and lemon tart, which was not overpoweringly flavoured with crab, which would put some people off, and Muffy had asparagus with smoked salmon and hollandaise. The halibut with the spinach glaze was excellent, as was Muffy’s game trio.

The good old-fashioned traditional desert was consumed with gusto, being chocolate orange bread and butter pudding with custard, and a sticky toffee pudding. Being full, I skipped coffee, although perhaps drinking a cup or two after a bottle of white Château-Neuf would have been a good idea as sleep soon called.

All in all, a very enjoyable experience.

Overall score 9/10. Suitable for couples and groups (but not children)

SHOPS & SERVICES Your Editor recently received a delightful invitation from Fairmont to

The Kerstin Florian Caviar Launch ‘mind/body fitness’. The Caviar Range, now Ushered into the Robert Louis Stevenson introduced at Fairmont, exemplifies the function room at Fairmont St Andrews on a care taken in choosing ingredients. Caviar beautiful summer evening, I was met with a surprisingly appears to be a ‘powerful skin glass of champagne and an eclectic mix of regenerator’ possessing invited guests all wondering vitamins, proteins, and what caviar had to do with Fairmont St Andrews minerals. It is used in the beauty treatments. Displayed Spa has had exclusive Company’s skin cleanser, around the room were use of this product anti-ageing preparations, attractive containers of skin since August 2010 night creams, eye creams, care products by Kerstin and rehydration formulations.

Florian.

Fairmont’s assembled guests were treated to a All Kerstin Florian products state that they pampering session of care on one hand each, are based on natural ingredients; mineral-rich the other hand being a sort of double-blind water, plant extracts, vitamins, antioxidants, substitute for comparison with before/and/after/ and organics. In fact Kerstin seems to have treatment. We went round critically examining been in advance of her time in her field of each others’ treated and untreated hands, discussing our findings – mostly positive!

Fairmont St Andrews Spa has had exclusive use of this product since August 2010. The Spa, which boasts a 16-meter pool (Prince William swam there when he was an undergraduate at St Andrews University!) along with sauna, steam room, and Jacuzzi is a place of utter tranquility, reflected in the fact that they have just been awarded 5 bubbles by The pool the Good Spa Guide

Spa Reception – an extremely prestigious honour! You can also find a nail bar and couples suite. Men, please don’t feel left out, for you have a male grooming room specially designed! On top of that there’s a fully equipped gym for that allimportant fitness regime.

Megan Collins, our youthful, glowing hostess, finally led us to a sumptuous celebratory gala 3-course dinner. With conversation – and wine, of course! – freely flowing, the wonderful food created by the new head chef, David Andrews, complemented the fine offerings of the evening, underlining the emphasis on healthy eating.

To enjoy Kerstin Florian’s Caviar Range yourself, do book into Fairmont’s Spa (tel: 01334 837 000) and give yourself a treat! Go on, pamper yourself!

(Photos courtesy Fairmont)

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SHOPS & SERVICES David Adie, Adie Hunter Solicitors & Notaries, writes, “This article is intended to give general advice and is no substitute for specific advice on a particular problem�.

Tenements and Common Repairs It is often the source of concern to owners of flats in tenement buildings that other people do not maintain their flats and will not contribute to the common repair costs. To try and prevent this and to improve the housing stock in Scotland generally we now have the Tenements (Scotland) Act 2004.

One always imagines that a tenement is some form of Victorian slum, or at least a Victorian traditional stone-built Glasgow-style building. In actual fact, a tenement is legally any flatted building, whether purpose built, converted, or partly commercial.

The Common Law used to apply and to some extent still does.

The new Statutory Law in the Act is a form of default code. If the titles are silent the Statutory Rules will govern. This is retrospective and includes tenements which were built before the Act was brought into force. If the titles still make provision the titles will prevail. The net result of this was that some people who found they had an exclusive responsibility for the cost of maintaining the roof suddenly found after the Act came into force that this was spread among all the proprietors in the tenement (as it should have been).

The practice in Scotland varies. In Glasgow most tenement buildings old or new have a Deed of Conditions which regulates the common parts and the liability for maintenance of the common parts.

They also regulate the individual liability of proprietors to pay, provide for appointment of a Factor and usually have prohibitions on certain uses and other rules and regulations.

The Royal Faculty of Procurators in Glasgow used to have a style Deed of Conditions which was widely in use.

In the East of Scotland and in particular in Edinburgh, the position was different and there was rarely a Deed of Conditions. Edinburgh New Town and Victorian tenement titles were and are notoriously fickle and not only did not contain a Deed of Conditions, but also often had an unfair or peculiar liability for common repair costs. When we look at a title, therefore, one may now have to look not only at the Common Law and the 2004 Act, but also the written title conditions.

The St Andrews position is much more akin to the Edinburgh position than the Glasgow position, i.e. few Deeds of Conditions.

The position is usually different with a modern block because invariably (certainly since the 1970s) new blocks have had Deeds of Conditions.

The scope of this article does not permit me to go into any great detail about what the Law says about tenements, liability and who owns what.

A few points are useful to make: Management /Maintenance Virtually no provision for management or maintenance was made by the Common Law. A detailed tenement management scheme is however set out in the Schedule to the 2004 Act and applies except for alternative provisions made in the titles. Decisions under the Scheme may be made by a simple majority with or without a meeting, although if no meeting is held all owners must be consulted except where it is impracticable to do so. Most decisions will obviously be about maintenance, but

owners are also allowed to appoint a factor or arrange common insurance policies. The rule is that the owner of each flat pays the same except for flats of unequal size. The major change I mentioned earlier was that under the Common Law of the tenement the roof was the sole property of the top owner and had to be maintained by that owner unless the titles provided otherwise. Under the new Law the roof is part of the common property and falls to be maintained by everyone, unless of course the title specifically says something about it to the contrary.

Statutory Notices These are usually a convenient way to ensure that the failure of owners to reach agreement and make repairs can be overcome and the Local Authority will often put a Statutory Notice on a property. This is more often used in Edinburgh than in Glasgow and usually because of the absence of clarity in the title conditions.

Roof voids and spaces above the roof Sometimes the top owner wishes to build an upper floor in the roof void.

Under the statutory code the roof void belongs to the owner of the top flat. The title deeds may often vary this. A top owner cannot lawfully build an extra storey. The reason is that in Law the air space above the roof belongs to the owner of the solum. In practice either the owner of the lowest flat (under the default rule) or all the owners in the tenement would need to give permission.

Notice of Potential Liability for Costs One useful thing which the Tenements Act does is provide that any owner who is liable for a relevant cost does not, by ceasing to be an owner, cease to be liable for those costs. When a new owner becomes the owner, that person is also liable with any former owner for any relevant costs for which the former owner is liable. The new owner however is only liable for relevant costs relating to maintenance or work carried out before the acquisition date only if notice of the maintenance or work in the form set out in the Act containing the relevant information was registered at least 14 days before the acquisition date. It is therefore quite a useful feature to force an old owner to pay to put this sort of notice on a tenement property. Sometimes a Notice can lie there for several months or years, but on the sale of the property it is flagged up and at least ensures that the property cannot be sold on without this becoming an issue and without someone paying it. Obviously, a new owner has to watch out for this, but the entry should appear in the Land Register and should therefore be obvious. Solicitors should always be on the look out for a Notice of Potential Liability for costs.

The bottom line is if you have a problem with a tenement flat, take legal advice because the Law, although much more rigorous than it used to be, is far from straight forward and can lead to interpretation difficulties.

FOR OUT OF TOWN LEGAL ADVICE Wills / Inheritance Tax Planning / Executries / Powers of Attorney / Guardianship Conveyancing / Commercial Property / Business Law

We can consult locally 10

ADIE HUNTER Solicitors and Notaries 15 Newton Terrace Glasgow Telephone: 0141 248 3828 Fax: 0141 221 2384 email: enquiries@adiehunter.co.uk

SHOPS & SERVICES

Minick Minick of of St St Andrews Andrews (the (the Artisan Artisan Butcher) Butcher) Ltd Ltd 183 183 South South Street, Street, St St Andrews Andrews

Your Quality Traditional Butcher

George Ferguson Shoe Repairs Luggage, Shoe Repairs and Accessories

Steven George Ferguson Traditional Cobbler 151 South Street St Andrews KY16 9UN steven@fergos.plus.com 01334 472134

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Wednesday 1st – Friday 24th December 76 The Scores, St Andrews, KY16 9BB Tel: 01334 472451 Fax: 01334 473947 Website: www.scoreshotel.co.uk

Alan Tulleth Ltd. (Dyno Secure)

151 South Street, St Andrews. Tel: 01334 478 274 Wish all their customers a happy Christmas and prosperous New Year We cut all types of keys: electronic keys • keys cut to code • normal household keys • also install security systems We operate as a 24-hour locksmith, 7 days a week NO CALL OUT CHARGE Established for 15 years working from our bright Orange Vans, we are proud to serve the community with good, reliable service for all your lock and key needs

11

SHOPS & SERVICES

Roving Reporter,

happily as always, has lots to report!!

1.

Reporter welcomed this useful information: “The Preservation Company Ltd is a newly-formed, privately-owned Building Preservation business managed

by Gavin White. Gavin is well known in the local area, having in his previous business life operated here and across the heart of Scotland in his specialist field of Building Preservation, taking care of problems relating to Dampness, Wood Boring Infestation, and Fungal Decay.

The Preservation Company, with its Head Office base at 14 Argyle Street, St Andrews, Tel: 01334 461 065, will ensure Gavin is well equipped and on hand to assess and deal with any property preservation issues that you may have.

With nearly 30 years’ experience in the Building Preservation Industry dealing with the smallest concern to very large commercial dry rot contracts in historic and listed buildings, Gavin’s most reliable consultancy, advice, and specification is invaluable. Given the nature of the works, and often the necessity to disturb wall surfaces, structural timbers, ornate joinery, and plaster cornicing, the aim is always to provide the property owner with the highest standards of excellence using both the Company’s own highly-trained operatives, and trained and trusted local contractors. Gavin qualified with industryrecognised CSRT status in 1997, and also as a Hidden Defects Insurance Auditor in 2009. All specialist works are covered by the Company’s 20-year insured guarantee to the treated areas. For the majority of the population, property is their most valuable asset; therefore, it is essential that at the earliest opportunity an accurate diagnosis is made in respect of any building defects.”

(Photo courtesy Gavin White)

2.

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* * * *Reporter * chatted

to Chris Tulloch, Painter & Decorator (Tel: 01334 479 756.

Mobile: 0784 143 5477). Chris happily said that now he has fewer overheads he can afford to be more competitive. Though it is physically more challenging working on his own, he is doing what he enjoys most; that is, working

3.

on the job rather than doing paperwork in the office, “I am happier, and I’m back on the tools!” Lee, in his final year of a degree in sports and fitness at Abertay University, also helps Dad when he can. Formerly, J & W Tulloch, Chris said he would like to thank all his customers for their support over the last 15 years. In addition, he very sincerely wishes Brian Donaldson, who has taken over the old business (together with the name), every success in the future. Reporter wishes Chris every success too.

*****

Florist Pamela Newlands, owner of Twigs and Twine, (01334 871 545) wrote to Reporter, “Fresh from providing flowers for the Open Championships 2010, local St Andrews florist Twigs & Twine have launched an exciting new website, just in time for winter weddings and the Christmas season: www.twigsandtwine.co.uk Supplying an extensive range of flowers for all occasions, Twigs & Twine provides a bespoke florist service across Fife and central Scotland. We specialise in weddings, corporate events, flowers for your home, and individual bouquets can be ordered by phone. We can quote for all budgets and ensure that each client receives a personal service tailored to their unique requirements. Pamela Newlands comments that the interpretation of flowers is particularly important and especially relevant when considering special occasions. She hopes that in creating her floral designs she can reflect and complement the client’s personality.

A unique occasion deserves thought and time to provide inspiring and exciting flowers, whether modern, traditional, country or city chic. Pamela also offers flower classes, where you can learn how to create hand-ties and table flowers.

Dates for the various classes, including Christmas designs, are available at the web site.Twigs & Twine is based in Balmullo, near St Andrews, and Pamela works from her garden studio to provide her unique floristry service. Recent clients include The Peat Inn, St Andrews Links Golf, and St Andrews University. Various wedding venues include the Craigsanqhar Hotel, North Queensferry Hotel, and the Scores Hotel, St Andrews”.

*****

4. Another welcome make-over can to be found in Market Street at Methuselah‘s, 1B St Mary’s Place (01334 478 968).

Reporter enjoyed chatting to Anne Hervey, who owns the shop together with her partner John Sinclair. The bright interior is dedicated to 20th Century decorative arts. Anne said, “we enjoy what we do, so let’s go for it – and that’s what we’ve done!” It’s obvious, Reporter notes, that pleasure motivates the owners. There is something for everyone, every age range, every desire. From one-off objects d’art, to furniture, to paintings, to glassware, to greetings cards, jewellery, even books.

John’s travels are reflected in African sculptures. Research into their market has been thorough. A nice sense of humour is to be found lurking in a booklet called The Haggis – an Endangered Species, by Seumas a’ Ghlinne. There is also a spoof autobiography of Methuselah, printed for customers by request. Reporter asked how the name of the shop was chosen and learned that John’s father always thought it a good name for a shop because it suggested longevity (969 years in fact)!

The ‘staggering compliments’ Anne says they have already received suggest that John’s father was right! But go and see for yourselves, urges Reporter.

*****

5. Success is always a pleasure, especially in St Andrews. Reporter went to see Susan Westwood, who, on 1st September, became the new owner of Bibi’s Café, 5 Ellice Place, (01334 474 689). With her emphasis on “simple, healthy, good quality food” Susan is never short of happy customers. Open from 9.30am to 5.00pm, Monday to Saturday (11.00am to 5.00pm on Sunday) the day starts with a mouthwatering choice of Breakfast Bites, from £1.75 to £4.95. On Saturday and Sunday you can enjoy Bibi’s Brunch (until 3.00pm, for late risers! No wonder students come here!) – priced between £3.95 and £5.50.

Then there’s an All Day Menu, as well as

SHOPS & SERVICES

one for Under 10s, which has a Bizzy Bag on offer too. Drinks choices take up the entire back page of the printed menu, and Susan now stocks Fair Trade Puro Coffee, which supports rain forest conservation.

On sale is the popular range of Tea Pigs (Reporter just had to try one!), also Matcha green tea and ginger& lemon. Ambitious plans are afoot for opening till 10.00pm. In the pipeline, too, are craft days, such as children’s pottery painting, and jewellery making (in conjunction with Open Gallery).

Reporter feels inspired!

(Susan Westwood, centre, and staff)

*****

6. A love of music got Reporter talking to Bill Baxter.

Very happily The St Andrews String Orchestra has made a good start this academic year, rehearsing on Wednesday evenings, 7.15 to 9.15pm at Holy Trinity Church Hall, Queen’s Terrace (go down Queen’s Gardens, turn left, and go on past the building site). Bill says, “string players are most welcome to come along and find out more about the Orchestra, as we are planning future concerts.”

of stoves at Unit 1, Avalon Business Park, Guardbridge, KY16 8PE. Bags of split, kiln-dried logs are available from the showroom; larger quantities can be ordered and delivered direct. Stoveco can also supply, deliver, and erect timber log stores to keep your winter fuel supply dry.

For showroom opening hours, telephone 01334 848 913 or visit the website: www.thestoveco.com

An invitation not to be missed, thinks Reporter! For further details please phone: 01334 850 787.

*****

7. Versatile, environmentally-friendly wood-burning appliances are very much in demand. Managing Director of Stoveco, Dan Riach, told Roving Reporter that he was delighted with the rapid growth of the wood-burning stoves business since Reporter first visited the showroom at Avalon Business Park, near Guardbridge. Stoveco is a specialist supplier, providing expert installation and maintenance services. During recent months the experienced installation teams have worked in a challenging variety of buildings, settings, and locations throughout Scotland; including farmhouses, artists’ studios, a prison, private homes, industrial workshops, holiday cottages, a mushroom farm, and a whisky distillery. “We have had to extend the original showroom to accommodate our expanding range from British and European manufacturers, including some distinctive Scottish wood burners, made in Newton Stewart,” Dan explained.

“Additionally we now stock Esse range cookers, which are stylish, efficient, and multi-functional. Nothing could be more effective – or homely.” Four ‘live’ stoves in the showroom, as well as knowledgeable, friendly staff, guarantee you’ll receive a very warm welcome, enjoy a relaxed atmosphere, and find a wide choice

8.

*****

Being somewhat ancient, Reporter has fond memories of Aikman & Terras. After all this time and many changes, it is good to have a brand new shop in the same location, 165 South Street, where you now have Pretty Things (01334) 477 651. Owners Catriona Cramb and Irene Harley have inaugurated a sister shop to their Perth outlet. The bright refurbished premises are very inviting, with their cornucopia of stylish accessories, inspired choices of costume and semi-precious jewellery. Launched at the end of September they already feel very much part of St Andrews, and they have received many well-deserved compliments. Reporter recommends a visit, where the friendly staff will proudly show you round. Or have a peek at the website: www.prettythingsperth.co.uk (Photo courtesy Pretty Things)

*****

13

SHOPS & SERVICES

Inspirational Gifts This Christmas

Nightwear at Elspeth’s of St Andrews 9 Church Street St Andrews

Tel: 01334 472494

14

Books (adult & children) Pens, Diaries, Filofax Home & Table Stationery Childrens Games, Jigsaws for all ages and . . .

Christmas Crackers Galore!

ORGANISATIONS Dr J W Lamb, Chairman, BASE, on

Visually Impaired People (VIP) Choosing the Way Ahead just to enjoy the events we offer, but also Sight loss affects nearly all areas of the informally to offer friendship and an opportunity information that fully-able people take for to “compare notes” and experiences on how it granted. is to be a VIP in East Fife.

The RNIB estimates that 90-95% of the information that comes into the brain is visual, Background to BASE and that c. 50% of the higher brain is given In 2004, at VONEF, the group met Toni over to processing visual images. The loss O’Toole, who was working in NHS Health of all, or part, of the brain’s main information Promotion. Toni became interested in the source is a big blow, and apart from often ideas behind BASE and its aims. She significantly affecting VIP’s self confidence provided help in setting up meetings, getting leaves them dependent upon the remaining initial funding, and bringing in new members.

5-10% of their sensory information, or that of a Without Toni’s help BASE would not exist. guide dog. In the UK, 75% of working-age VIP Helen Rorrison of VONEF are unemployed. This figure, drew up the constitution, unlike that for other groups with We bring VIP in advising on developing good a disability, has not improved East Fife together practice; Kate Hughes, Fife much in the last 20-30 years.

Council Locality Manager, Many VIP would be delighted gave BASE a seed corn grant and the use of if the policies, organisations, and legislation a meeting room; Audrey Jones, our treasurer, designed to support them were more effective. helped us achieve charitable status in October BASE (Blind Activities Support Events) is 2006, and access our first grants. Mary Ray of a charity registered in Scotland, charity no.

Volunteering Fife acquired key volunteers for SCO 37538, set up by VIP to provide supported BASE, identifying funding sources, providing physical and social activities in East Fife. There secretarial support and valuable advice. was once very little available in the area. An organisation run by VIP (a DPO – a Disabled Early Activities Person’s Organisation), rather than run by Our first event in October 2005 was canoeing fully-sighted people, was required, so that VIP down the River Tay over two days, staying were able to express what they needed, and overnight at Dunkeld. This involved three ensure that this was delivered. BASE gets help VIP, Joe O’Brien (Vice Chair BASE), Barbara and support from people without a disability, Cyrkowicz (Publicity), and Joe Lamb but the decision-making within it is set in the (Chairman). The event was supported by constitution to be determined by VIP. Fife Council’s Outdoor Education Centre BASE’s objectives are to provide events at Lochore Meadows, and four St Andrews for VIP, supported by sighted guides to University students, John Cassells, Jamie enable them to overcome barriers they face Adams, Laura Tomlinson, and Rob Harris who (physical, attitudinal, and legal) which prevent came as guides. full participation in contemporary life. Events In 2006, and until this year, BASE has are selected by VIP. Apart from providing been running an event approximately once a enjoyment, their purpose is to support month, or more. wellbeing, and sometimes additionally provide a Some walks were undertaken in little knowledge and education. collaboration with the Fieldfare Trust, which Guide Dogs for the Blind wrote a aims to develop an accessible network of report for the Scottish Rehabilitation Group paths within Fife, eventually across Scotland.

(Independence and Wellbeing in Sight – BASE was involved in helping Ian Newman Developing the Vision: February 2007), which and Mike Robertson of the Trust, in a said that, “the impact of sight loss on mental pilot project in Fife, by VIP walking paths health cannot be over emphasised.” They they suggested, and providing feedback. identified rehabilitation for VIP, sometimes This proved to be a fruitful and enjoyable including formal counselling, as the key initial collaboration, certainly for the VIP and BASE. step to get over the immediate trauma of sight BASE arranged swimming lessons for loss, and to return to useful functioning. two VIP, Morag Stewart, and Joe O’Brien, Peer group support may also be of who wanted to learn to swim, but lacked considerable help. Sharing experiences, confidence and opportunity. Lessons were finding sources of useful information and arranged at Cupar swimming technology that can make a difference, hearing pool supported by two sighted of opportunities, such as training, seminars, holidays, courses, which can be a big help, This is where BASE comes in. We bring VIP in East Fife together, not

guides, St Andrews University students Christopher Pridmore and Stephanie Harris.

Both Joe and Morag now continue to swim and several other VIP have joined our swimming group.

Recent BASE Activities The following events were run in session 2009-10: Visits to the Falkirk Wheel; Dundee Rep Productions of “The Elephant Man,” and “The Steamie”; exploring Historic Culross with “Forth Pilgrims”; walks around Falkland; Christmas lunch; Burns Lunch at Elmwood College; walks at Cambo House Estate, Letham Glen, Leven; a multiactivity session with “East Neuk Outdoors” at Cellardyke; visit to Kellie Castle and gardens; weekly swimming, with tuition when required, supported by University students at the St Andrews Leisure Centre.

Future plans under consideration include visiting Loch Leven; Stirling Castle; Bannockburn Battle site; Secret Bunker; Scottish Parliament; Royal Yacht Britannia; historic visits with Forth Pilgrims; walks near Falkland, and Leven, (some guided by Outdoor Rangers); canoeing; tandem cycling at Lochore Meadows; theatre visits, regular swimming sessions; some Tai Chi. Why has BASE worked well? Two reasons I think. Firstly, because of the support of volunteer sighted guides, our treasurer, secretarial support, DTP support, transport support. The BASE Board recognises that it is absolutely vital to maintain the goodwill of all these people, who give their time and effort for nothing. Without their goodwill, without their help, BASE could do nothing.

Secondly, because VIP have been central to the decision-making in BASE, the policies and events we have developed and run have been tailored by the end users, for the end users.

To improve the appalling employment record of VIP in the UK it is essential that they become more central to the decision-making processes to reduce barriers, increase support, and opportunities.

Anyone interested in participating in BASE events, or wishing to volunteer help, please phone 01334 475 909 / 840 490 or see: www.fifebase.org

(Photos courtesy BASE)

15

ORGANISATIONS Tristan Franklinos and Ros Powell introduce

The University Madrigal Group The University of St Andrews Madrigal Group allegorical Golden Age. The group will open its brings together musical undergraduate and 2010-11 season by continuing this theme with postgraduate students studying a broad range a performance of music and readings exploring of subjects, to sing and perform on a regular literary depictions of bucolic scenes and their basis. It was founded in 1946 by Evelyn musical counterparts: Into Arcadia: The Golden Webb to introduce audiences to the oeuvre of Age of Music (Saturday 4th December, 7.30pm, sixteenth-century English composers. In more St Salvator’s Chapel). recent years, our repertoire The highlight of our year, has expanded to include music both musically and socially, The highlight of our is a summer tour around ranging from fifteenth-century plainchant and polyphony year, both musically the U.K. A long-standing through to contemporary tradition, giving us the unique and socially, is secular and sacred works. We opportunity for a fortnight have also explored music from of intensive rehearsal and a summer tour the Franco-Flemish and Italian performance (and equally around the U.K. traditions, with a view to placing intensive frolicking!), after the English Madrigal School which it is not uncommon to within its continental context. find some of us singing snippets of madrigals Concerts in the past few years have to anyone willing (or unwilling) to listen. In pursued a variety of themes found throughout February 2010, we travelled abroad for the the madrigalian corpus. These programmes first time in some years, visiting Brussels and have included The Ages of Elizabeth and Love performing a concert in St Andrew’s Church, and Rejoicing at the Court of Elizabeth, in which where the group received a warm welcome the group presented madrigals written to elicit from the Church of Scotland congregation, the patronage of the late Tudor and early Stuart as well as in Château Valduc, Beauvechain, monarchs. The concerts were centred around a castle outside the city. The group hopes to Thomas Morley’s The Triumphs of Oriana continue touring abroad in the future, and plans (1601), a collection of twenty-five madrigals are already afoot for the coming year. by various composers written to celebrate the Few living in St Andrews will remain reign of Elizabeth I through the depiction of an unaware of the festivities surrounding the

May Dip, where thousands of students plunge into the North Sea at daybreak. This tradition in fact grew out of the annual singing of madrigals to greet the May morn, along with piping and reels. We now mark this event by holding an impromptu outdoor sing-song late in the evening on the 30th April, before heading down to Castle Sands, after a few drinks, to welcome May with falala-ing atop the cliffs.

The group is also involved in a number of events outside the university, including invitations to sing at private functions ranging from weddings to dinners. For a number of years we have enjoyed close relations with Hope Park Church, receiving a warm welcome whenever we visit, and we are looking forward to singing in the Advent service this year – an annual treat! We are also pleased to announce that on Advent Sunday we will take part in a service at All Saints’ Church, North Castle Street.

We hope to see you at one or more of our performances in the coming year, please do have a look at our website for further information and recordings of the group: http://www.st-andrews.ac.uk/~madgroup/

National Trust Press Release

(Photo courtesy NT)

16

The National Trust for Scotland and the British Trust for Ornithology (BTO) have joined forces to launch a Family Garden Birdwatch Survey.

The survey encourages visitors to several Trust gardens around Scotland to search for robins amidst the ruins and finches amongst the flowerbeds.

Until the end of November, visitors to Arduaine, Crathes, Geilston, Greenbank, Kellie, Pitmedden, and Threave gardens will be able to record the birds that they see using special leaflets that are available at the gardens. Enthusiasts will then have the opportunity to apply their birdwatching skills at home, collecting simple, scientific records of garden birds throughout Scotland.

Mandy Cook, BTO Development Coordinator, said, “With garden bird populations always in a state of flux, information from families about what they find in Trust gardens and in their own patch is invaluable to us. Autumn heralds a return of many species to gardens, so now is a great time to be looking out for them.” She added, “My children and I had great fun completing the survey and we are sure that other families will really enjoy taking part. We are grateful to the Trust for supporting this valuable initiative.”

ORGANISATIONS Graham Smith tells the story of the

St Andrews Pilgrim Foundation

– 10 years of raising money for the community Back in 1998 Patrick Cassells, then a local councillor in St Andrews, had become increasingly concerned about the need to restore and conserve the medieval core of the historic town. Keenly important to him was that the whole community should be able to enjoy the amenities and the historic character of St Andrews. He therefore led an initiative to form a representative body to which trustees were appointed and whose principal aim was to raise funds to help this conservation work. Initial seedcorn capital was kindly provided by Fife Council, The Royal & Ancient Golf Club of St Andrews and the University of St Andrews.

Sadly, Patrick did not live to see his vision translated into full fruition, but he left a legacy of active fund-raising which over recent years has helped many projects in the town achieve their conservation objectives.

The Foundation is a charity registered in Scotland. It has an executive working group, all of whom are local volunteers, responsible for fund raising. The Trustees are then charged with distributing these funds to those worthwhile causes that fall within the Foundation’s remit. Trustees are drawn from Fife Council, the Community Council, the University, and the Preservation Trust to ensure as broad a representation as possible.

We are very fortunate to have Sir Michael Bonallack OBE, former Secretary of the R&A, as our honorary President: he brings a wealth of knowledge and contacts to our Foundation and is one of golf’s foremost ambassadors.

We also are honoured to have many distinguished patrons drawn from the world of golf including Jack Nicklaus, Arnold Palmer, Seve Ballesteros, Sir Nick Faldo and Colin Montgomerie; and from the business world including Johann Rupert, Herb Kohler, and Charles Head; and famous Scots including Sir Sean Connery, Sir Menzies Campbell MP, and Sam Torrance.

As any charitable fund raiser today knows, it is a competitive & congested market so it is essential to have innovative, eye-catching offers to induce the public to part with their hard-earned cash. Therefore the working group puts together high quality golf packages with value-added extras, which are then auctioned on the internet.

Typically, such a package would comprise 7 nights luxury accommodation for 4 golfers with several rounds of golf over famous links courses, such as the Old Course, Carnoustie, and Kingsbarns. In addition a whole range of entertainments from whisky tasting, Himalayas putting, golf lessons from old Tom Morris, and local hospitality, all adding a touch of class.

Finally, mix in some magic ingredients that money cannot buy and you have a golf experience made in Heaven!

We have now entertained several groups of golfers lucky (or clever) enough to have made the winning bid. They have come from USA, India, Malaysia, UK, and Belgium: lack of modesty compels us to boast that they have all had the golfing trip of a lifetime!

None of these packages could be offered without the unstinting support over the past 10 years of many sponsors, to whom we offer our deep gratitude. It is always invidious to pick out a few for special mention, but the following have been exceptional contributors to our Foundation: Alfred Dunhill Links Championship, Fairmont St Andrews Hotel & Resort, The Royal and Ancient Golf Club, Kingsbarns Golf Links, The Old Course Hotel, and Bill’s Taxis & Executive Travel. Thank you most warmly.

Although the Foundation’s principal focus is conserving the historic core of St Andrews, it is pleased to assist with financing several community-based projects as well. We work closely with other professional and charitable groups

and so by pooling our resources & expertise we are more likely to achieve success in a wider variety of projects.

To date we have raised in excess of £200,000, all of which goes to town projects, some examples of which are: Madras College, restoration of sandstone pillars in the cloistered quadrangle.

Harbour, new bridge for the historic harbour and major repair of steps at the Long Pier.

Crail’s Lane, significant restoration to this much-used ancient thoroughfare.

St John’s Restoration Project, stone arch and magnificent new gate to mirror St Mary’s quad.

Cosmos Minibus Appeal, replacement of widelyused community minibus.

Shopfront Pillars, repainting and regilding of many stunning pillars around the town.

Cathedral Cemetery Gates, replacement of 2 large panels on ornamental gates.

Byre Theatre, memorial garden for our founder Patrick Cassells, 4 large sensory planters and external lighting.

Botanic Garden, educational project aimed at children about plants and nature in general.

Louden’s Close, repair to walls and ceiling of this very old walkway.

Other projects to which the Foundation has contributed include re-pointing the Whyte Melville Fountain, repair to the Harrison organ in Holy Trinity church, two handsome shrub containers for St Andrews in Bloom, the Playfair booklet guide to stained glass windows in Holy Trinity church, repair to the George Wishart plaque commemorating his 1546 execution, the Boase Wood Appeal and South Street Christmas lighting.

We are proud to be part of a movement in St Andrews which values the legacy of the past and works hard to preserve it for the present community and for future generations. In the words of our Honorary President, Sir Michael Bonallack: “ I hope you, as resident, student, or visitor find what we do commendable and worthy of your support.”

For more information on golf package auctions and how the funds we raise are being used to benefit St Andrews, please visit our website at www.pilgrimfoundation.org You can contact us: enquiries@pilgrimfoundation.org (Photos courtesy The Pilgrim Foundation)

17

EVENTS

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 SEASON 1st Tuesday at 7.30pm Chemistry Dept., North Haugh Entry free – all welcome

CELEBRATE ST ANDREWS DAY Sunday November 28th Activities for all ages

CHRISTMAS PLANT SALES Saturdays 11th & 18th December 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

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

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EVENTS Jill Craig writes

The Russians Return!

– “Unaccompanied singing of the highest quality” The award-winning Voskresenije Chamber Choir sing Russian sacred music and folk songs .

In Fife we don’t often hear authentic world-class Russian singing voices, with their eastern sonorities and basso profundo, but in Holy

Trinity Church, St Andrews, we can: an exciting award-winning vocal group, based in St Petersburg, will be performing here during its seventh tour of the UK. We can expect unaccompanied singing of the highest quality.

The “Voskresenije” ensemble – its name means ‘resurrection’ or ‘springtime’ – comprises eight professional female and male vocalists, all of whom studied at the St Petersburg Conservatoire. It was founded in 1993 by its musical director Jurij Maruk of the Mariinski Theatre, and has subsequently performed widely in Europe – in Germany, Austria, Switzerland, France, Italy, and the UK. Their concert programme offers pieces of moving Russian sacred music, including by Rachmaninov, and a selection of exhilarating Russian folk songs which give centre-stage to the wonderful individual solo voices, including basso profundo Anatoly Artamonov.

The recital in Holy Trinity Church is at 7.30pm on Monday,15 November. Tickets, £8/ £7 concessions, £4 students, available by telephoning 01382 540 031 and at the door.

(Photo by Bill Anderson, courtesy Jill Craig)

Anne Lightwood, Vice-Chair, Friends of St Andrews Botanic Garden, invites you to the

St Andrews Day Celebrations in the Garden It may not seem long since the last Open Day from her late sister’s library, will be a Book on a beautiful summer Sunday in July, but Sale of botanical, wildlife, natural history and, Friends of St Andrews Botanic Garden are especially, gardening books. Contributions of planning the next one on Sunday, November any of these types of books in good condition, 28th as part of the town which readers may like programme celebrating to pass on, will be very Public support is vital now Scotland’s patron saint. gratefully received. (Details if we are to maintain our This time the theme will at the end of this article) internationally respected gem The sale will be in the be Scottish Trees in Winter and Garden tree trail walks Gatehouse along with will identify the collection of native trees growing turned wooden pieces by Les Hunter made in the Garden while linking with the newly from wood felled in the Garden, a selection published booklet – Scottish Native Trees – with of craft work, artists’ cards, gardening gloves, its clear photographs and straightforward text special tote bags and, of course, some quality (see the Reviews section on page 26). There plants. will be a selection of bare-rooted tree cuttings The Glass Class will house a variety of for families to take home, plant and nurture ‘hands-on’ activities for children – including in suitable positions so that native trees can making ‘tattie beesties’, a great success last continue to flourish and encourage biodiversity. year. There will be teas, coffees, and light Another special event, centred on a refreshments, plus music and sizzling bacon donation by Gillian Falconer of a fine collection butties, all culminating in the Chairman’s Great

Conker Competition, which rounds off the day.

The Botanic Garden has been described as “a hidden gem”, though about 1300 visitors ‘discovered’ it last Open Day and many more before and since. But like many organisations at this time it faces the effects of severe financial cutbacks threatening its future. A survey conducted throughout the past three months, currently being analysed, has revealed how the Garden is viewed both by locals and visitors, and has brought many favourable comments.

Public support is vital now if we are to maintain our internationally respected gem. Come and enjoy all that the Garden has to offer, even in winter, and bring friends and family to celebrate St Andrews Open Day on 28th November when entry is free to all.

(Tel: 01334 476 388 or Email anne@lightwood368.freeserve.co.uk for details if you would like to donate books.)

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EVENTS

Selected Events Thursday, 4 November – 8.00pm.Younger Hall, North Street, St Andrews, Matthew Rose (bass). A preview of his forthcoming Wigmore Hall recital. Music by Schubert, Wolf, Ives. Contact: 01334 462 226.

Saturday, 6 November – 9.00am-1.00pm. Argyle Street car park.

Farmers’ Market.

Saturday, 6 November to 23 January 2011 – St Andrews Museum, Kinburn Park. Textile Magic. Interact with the Fife Embroiderers’ Guild as they work. Try your own skills! Work is on sale. Contact: 01334 659 380.

Sunday, 7 November – 4.00pm. St Leonards School Music Auditorium, The Pends, St Andrews. Concert. The Galliard Wind Ensemble play music

by Rossini, Haydn, Hindemith, Barber, Holst, Patterson.

Tickets at the door, £11, concessions £10, students, £3, child £2. Contact: www.saint-andrews.co.uk/smc – 6.30-7.30pm. All Saints Church Hall, North Castle Street.

Chinese Minority Dance The Chinafan Ladies’ Dance Group.

Contact: dlplilyjackson@yahoo.co.uk Wednesday, 10 November – 12.30-1.30pm. The Gateway Gallery, North Haugh. The Reformation in St Andrews and the villages of Fife. A talk by John McCallum. Contact: 01334 467 400.

Saturday, 13 November – 10.00am-4.00pm. Town Hall, Queen’s Gardens. Christmas Fair. Admission Free.

Contact: info@craftfairsscotland.co.uk Sunday, 14 November – 6.30-7.30pm. All Saints Church Hall, North Castle Street. Chinese Minority Dance The Chinafan Ladies’ Dance Group. Contact: dlplilyjackson@yahoo.co.uk Monday, 15 November – 7.30pm. Holy Trinity Church, St Andrews. Voskresenije Chamber Choir – from Russia, sing Russian sacred and folk music. Tickets £8, £7 concessions, £4 students, at the door, or by telephone: 01382 540 031.

Saturday, 20 November to Sunday, 5 December – Preservation Trust Museum, North Street. Local Heroes – a Celebration.

Sunday, 21 November – 6.30-7.30pm. All Saints Church Hall, North Castle Street. Chinese Minority Dance The Chinafan Ladies’ Dance Group. Contact: dlplilyjackson@yahoo.co.uk Thursday, 25 November – 7.00pm. Madras College, Kilrymont Road. Police community Engagement Meeting. Have your say on local policing matters. Contact: 0845 600 5702.

– 7.30pm. Holy Trinity Church Hall, Queen’s Terrace. Beggar’s Mantle Fringed with Gold. “Performance, a Pie and a Pint (and Plonk)” St Andrews Preservation Trust. Tickets £12 from the Trust and the Byre Theatre.

– 7.30pm. Hope Park Church, St Andrews. Concert with Alastair McDonald, followed by stovies. Tickets: £7 adults, £4 students, £3 children. Contact: Bill Sutherland, FionaandBill@aol.com Friday, 26 to Monday, 30 November – The St Andrews Festival. See the press for details, and the website: www.standrewsfestival.co.uk Saturday, 27 November – 10.00am-12 noon. Saint Andrews Church, Queen’s Gardens, St Andrews. Christmas coffee morning. Entry £1 (includes refreshments).

– 10.00am-4.00pm. St Andrews Library, Church Square.

Genealogy Day; learn about genealogy with the St Andrews Preservation Trust’s Family History Group. Contact: 01334 477 152, email: trust@standrewspreservationtrust.org.uk – 10.30am-12 noon (4 to 7 year-olds) . . .

– 1.30pm-3.00pm (8 to 12 year-olds) at St Andrews Museum, Kinburn Park. Children’s workshops. Arts & crafts with a Scottish theme to celebrate our Patron Saint. Contact: 01334 659 380.

– 2.00pm. New Picture House, North Street, St Andrews. La Traviata: filmed at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden.

Contact: 01334 474 902.

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Sunday, 28 November – Botanic Garden, St Andrews. Scottish Trees in Winter – Open Day. Admission Free. Contact: Tel: 01334 476 452. www.st-andrews-botanic.org – 2.00pm. New Picture House, North Street, St Andrews.

La Traviata: filmed at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden.

Contact: 01334 474 902.

– 6.30-7.30pm. All Saints Church Hall, North Castle Street. Chinese Minority Dance The Chinafan Ladies’ Dance Group. Contact: dlplilyjackson@yahoo.co.uk Thursday, 2 December – 8.00pm.Younger Hall, North Street, St Andrews. Roy Howat (piano). A concert celebrating the bicentenary of Chopin’s birth. Contact: 01334 462 226.

Saturday, 4 December – 9.00am-1.00pm. Argyle Street Car Park. Farmers’ Market.

– 7.30pm. St Salvator’s Chapel, North Street. Into Arcadia: The Golden Age of Music. The University Madrigal Group.

Contact:madgroup@st-andrews.ac.uk Sunday, 5 December – 7.45pm. Holy Trinity Church, St Andrews. Handel’s Messiah.

The St Andrews Chamber Choir, Conductor, Thomas G Duncan.

Tickets £8, £5 students, in advance from tel: 01382 540 031 or at the door.

– 6.30-7.30pm. All Saints Church Hall, North Castle Street. Chinese Minority Dance The Chinafan Ladies’ Dance Group. Contact: dlplilyjackson@yahoo.co.uk Wednesday, 8 December – 8.00pm. St Leonards School Music Auditorium, The Pends, St Andrews. Piano Recital. Junko Kobayashi plays music by Bach, Beethoven, Takemitsu, Debussy, Chopin. Tickets at the door, £11, concessions £10, students £3, child £2. Contact: www.saint-andrews.co.uk/smc Saturday, 11 December – 10.30am-12 noon (4 to 7 year-olds) . . .

– 1.30pm-3.00pm (8 to 12 year-olds) St Andrews Museum, Kinburn Park. Children’s workshops. Christmas sparkle & crafts. Contact: 01334 462 226.

Sunday, 12 December – 6.30-7.30pm. All Saints Church Hall, North Castle Street. Chinese Minority Dance The Chinafan Ladies’ Dance Group. Contact: dlplilyjackson@yahoo.co.uk Wednesday, 15 December – 7.30pm. Younger Hall, North Street.

Christmas in Paris. The SCO, Conductor Louis Langree; with Jian Wang, cello. Music by Haydn, Saint-Saens, Fauré, Ravel.

Tickets online: www.byretheatre.com from the Byre Theatre, or the Music Centre, Younger Hall.

Saturday, 18 December – 10.00am-4.00pm. Victory Memorial Hall, St Mary’s Place. Book Sale. Admission Free.

Sunday, 19 December – 6.30-7.30pm. All Saints Church Hall, North Castle Street. Chinese Minority Dance The Chinafan Ladies’ Dance Group. Contact: dlplilyjackson@yahoo.co.uk

OUT & ABOUT From Alistair Lawson,

Fife’s Far Frontiers – another offering in an occasional series

the derivations, but Most readers of St Andrews in Focus were not prepared to probably reside in the far east (of Fife) and make a judgement. may have little knowledge of what happens in So, my linguistic the wild west (again, of Fife). researches ground Casually surfing my Ordnance Survey to a halt. Is there a map recently, I found my eye coming to university linguist rest on the curiously-named Bath Moor reading this who might Plantation and a property named Bath, care to attempt a both nestling in the border country close to judgement?

Clackmannanshire. Perhaps readers’ minds A Google search have already conjured up mental images of led me to an easier frolicking naturists and al fresco bathing? A line of investigation, little research seemed to be called for. namely the website of My first informant came up with a dual Messrs Strutt & Parker derivation, suggesting that ‘bath’ might and their properties come from the form of Cumbric, which was for sale. They were spoken from Wales to central Scotland about recently offering (I a thousand years ago. The Cumbric word quote): “A superb opportunity to buy one of ‘baedd’, meaning ‘boar’, might well have Scotland’s smallest castles. Bath Castle lies eroded into the modern ‘bath’, and he quoted at the edge of Bath Moor Plantation near the Bathgate in West Lothian as an example hamlet of Bogside, north of the outstanding of that having happened. That seemed an conservation village of Culross. The Royal attractive suggestion, especially as the Burgh of Culross (5 village of Muckhart, miles) dates back to less than 10 miles from Is there a university linguist the 16th century with Bath, also includes a ‘boar’ element. However, reading this who might care winding streets and restored historical my knowledgeable to attempt a judgement? buildings, such as informant also offered an Culross Palace, alternative and conflicting The Town House, and the ruins of Culross suggestion, that ‘bath’ might derive from the Abbey. Culross harbour is believed to be Gaelic ‘beithe’, meaning birch trees. one of the oldest in Scotland and first used Too much knowledge is a dangerous by the monks of Culross Abbey. Recycled thing, especially when scantily presented stone from the Abbey and pantiles brought and half understood, so I contacted both back to the port as ballast from the Low my Welsh-speaking neighbour and an Countries were probably used to build Bath acquaintance in Galloway who teaches Castle. Bath Castle was built around 1650 Gaelic. They supported the possibility of both

YOGA

and is a grade B listed property built on a rocky outcrop and constructed from stone with harled elevations beneath a pantile roof.

This castle is reputed to be the smallest in Scotland. It was restored in the mid- 1980s with a grant from Historic Scotland, and has been further modernised in recent years.”

I just had to go for a walk on Bath Moor, but found no boar and no naturists, but a large number of birch trees, descendants, perhaps, of the birch trees of Gaelic times?

Finally, I asked the Muckhart cartoonist to set down on paper her mental image of activities – ablutions? – on Bath Moor. Here it is, for your delectation: naked bathers indeed!

If you go down in the woods today ...

(Cartoon by Sheila Fisher)

The Spon Company

Mondays: St Andrews Public Library 12 noon-1.00pm Thursdays: Crail Town Hall 9:30-11.00am For information contact Nicoletta Biassoni: nbiassoni@btinternet.com/ 01333 451595 Nicoletta is a certified Svaroopa Yoga Teacher and Yoga Therapist (www.svaroopayoga.org)

01334 478396

Gift Vouchers available

Orders now being taken

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Torrone, Grappa, Olive Oil and much, much more……

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

www.thelittleitalianshop.com

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OUT & ABOUT Tony Hardie’s

Nature Notes – September 2010 When reflecting on our countryside and our gardens I often recall what are “red letter” days. Days when one sees something that is not an everyday occurrence, but which remain indelibly imprinted upon one’s mind. To watch young squirrels at play amongst the autumn leaf fall is just such an occasion. They are so beautiful, all with a lovely glossy coat of some length and of colours that range from chestnut brown to a deep dark brown, almost black, and the chest a cream colour. I would hate to have to teach them anything, and feel for their parents; their attention span seems to endure for seconds only before they search elsewhere, or dig the surface elsewhere, or run to a tree to climb and then descend again.

They are never still for a moment unless disturbed. The presence of their parents is often given away in our pinewoods by the young green cones which have had their scales cut away by sharp incisor teeth to get at the seed within. The Scots Pine about the golf course at Ladybank together with mature beech trees provide a lovely habitat for them. On a dry day in

November it is good to walk below these beech trees. The fallen leaves are copper and rustle as one goes – as good as any red carpet ever laid!

On this golf course one might see the Green Woodpecker. Only in recent years regularly observed in Scotland, the green of the plumage is unique amongst our birds, in the sun as bright as a parrot and with a smart red head. They noticeably rise and fall in flight as they cross a fairway on their way from one old gnarled tree to another. They let us know of their presence with a loud laughing cry which has a metallic ring to it – brilliant!

P.S. The wild geese have returned to our grey waters. These notes are being penned in mid-September and, as ever, I heard their music as we played on the links in the Town Match Images by kind permission of John Anderson (Crail Birder: www.pbase.com/crail_birder)

Tony Hardie’s

October Song The gaggle of grey Lag geese so gay Have now returned To our grey waters, Their winter quarters.

The leaves are burned, Reeds are dying, The wind is sighing, Joyful again.

From potato land, Stubble of grain, From the sky above, This wondrous band, Their music we love.

Punt gunners, they loot, Hunters will shoot.

But tied are these geese, Our firths they lease Till days grow long.

Then restless they throng To leave our land For boreal strand.

And man, their foe, We shall see them go, High in the sky, The tundra to gain.

And we shall sigh For October again.

Greylag Geese

Pink footed geese, courtesy John Anderson (Crail Birder: www.pbase.com/crail_birder) Red Squirrel

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OUT & ABOUT Bob Mitchell describes the

Champion Trees in the Botanic Garden The tallest tree in Britain and Ireland in 2010 is in Scotland; a majestic Grand Fir (Abies grandis) at Ardkinglas in Argyll at 64.28m (210’). It overtook the Stronardon Douglas Fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii), also in Argyll, and the Moniack, Invernessshire Douglas Fir in 2010.

But where would you expect to find the largest apricot tree in the country? Well it is right here in the St Andrews Botanic Garden. Prunus armeniaca is growing with others in the east border of the car park and is 8 metres (26’) tall.

The seeds came from the University Botanical Garden of Latvia in Riga in 1969, and the young seedlings were planted in the early 1970s. The row of apricots flower well each spring. In warm summers they produce a few fruit. Not only do we have the largest apricot, we have another six trees which were declared champion trees in 2004

by Dr Owen Johnson: all are indicated by blue labels.

Picea likiangensis var montegena

Apricot blossom

The Mountain Paper Birch (Betula cordifolia) comes from east Canada at high elevations in boggy ground. It is not widely grown and is closely related to the Paper Birch (Betula papyrifera). Our tree is 11m (36’) tall. It dates from 1961.

Picea likiangensis var montegena, a west Chinese Spruce, was donated to us by the Forestry Commission in 1963. It was named in 1937 and grows in the mountains of west Sechuan. It is a thriving16m (53’) tall.

index, all 100,000 of them. The Commission were always looking for superior trees from which seed could be obtained to produce higher quality plants or better timber. This exercise brought him into contact with estates and private gardens as well as trees in public open spaces. Alan Mitchell was not the first to measure trees.

Interest in trees is Sorbus semi-incisa well recorded by John Claudius Loudon in 1838 in his Arboretum et Fruticetum Britannicum. This was continued by Henry Elwes and Augustine Henry in their Trees of Great Britain and Ireland in 1903, and provided a valuable database.

Vicki Hallett (now Schilling) was assistant to Alan Mitchell and together they were the driving force in the founding of TROBI in 1988 Prunus armeniaca (apricot) with Alan’s records of prime importance.

Alan Mitchell, Vicki and Tony Schilling, and Owen Johnson have all recorded trees in the Botanic Garden and in St Andrews too. Our own Ian Douglas is a member and volunteer measurer for TROBI. Trees are a valuable indictor of climate change through their growth patterns. Cherish them!

(Photos courtesy Bob Mitchell)

Aspen is a native tree, but this selection, Populus tremula ‘Gigas’, named about 1935, is vigorous and is a male plant. It is 20m (66’) tall; good growth from 1970.

The Musk Willow (Salix aegyptiaca), named for the greyness of young shoots and leaves, comes from south-west to central Asia. It was introduced about 1820. It produces its large, showy catkins in February and March. It is 14m (46’) tall and two were planted in 1970.

The best specimen, but not the tallest, is in the Order Beds.

Sorbus rehderiana from west China is another plant not widely grown.

We have grown it since 1971 and it has reached 7m (23’) and with a stem diameter of 25cm (10”). It is a valuable foliage plant as well as providing purple-red berries ripening to pink.

Sorbus semi-incisa, the Buda Hills Whitebeam, whose common name refers to the sole area where it grows near Pilis in Hungary. It, too, is still a rare tree in cultivation although it was named in 1882.

We obtained seed in 1970. It is now 6m (20’) tall and with a stem diameter of 18cm (7”).

These were measured by staff of TROBI (The Tree Register of the British Isles), based in Bedfordshire. Altogether they hold 95 records of the St Andrews Botanic Garden trees, some measured several times. They are part of a valuable national archive of over 150,000 trees, giving valuable information relating to tree growth patterns.

The late Alan Mitchell of the Forestry Commission travelled the country measuring large trees, keeping a meticulous hand-written card

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FEATURES: REVIEWS Sarah McLeod introduces

Tales of G12

Short Stories by Nanzie McLeod On sale at J & G Innes, South Street, St Andrews – price £9.99.

Nanzie McLeod, author of Tales of the East Neuk and Pittenweem Sojourn, has a new book out that is already selling well in her home town of Glasgow.

G12 is the postcode for a large leafy district in the west end of Glasgow. Nanzie McLeod has lived there in the elegant suburb of Hyndland, for most of her long life. Using a mixture of facts, memories, and imagination, she presents a tribute to the district and its residents. Stories of urbane pleasures, foolish

pretensions and idiosyncratic occupations, news items, personal musings, thumbnail sketches of the past and present, as well as some darker moments, make a gossipy, readable, and highly individual book.

As well as several tenement suburbs, which offer a wide range of spacious flats, G12 gathers within its own boundaries those impressive nineteenth century terraces and mansions which demonstrate Glasgow’s former opulent wealth, also Glasgow University, the

Western Infirmary, two Gartnaval hospitals, the Botanic Gardens, many beautiful churches and until recently, the BBC centre. Added to this is plentiful shopping to serve the high density population.

(The cover: The G12 Sitting Room,

by Nanzie McLeod)

Ron Morrison reviews

Running My Life

by Donald Forbes Macgregor Published by Pinetree Press (2010), and available at J & G Innes, Waterstone’s, East Neuk Books in Anstruther, and from 15 Kinkell Terrace (dfm237@hotmail.com). Hardback, price £14.99.

It is hard to believe that with his excellent 7th place in Munich in 1972, Don Macgregor is the last male Scot to have run in an Olympic marathon. The other Scottish Olympic marathon runners are Duncan McLeod Wright (Paris 1924 (DNF), Amsterdam 1928 (20th) and Los Angeles 1932 (4th)), Tom Jack (London 1908 – DNF), Donald McNab Robertson (Berlin 1936 – 7th), Jim Alder (Mexico City 1968 – DNF), Liz McColgan (Atlanta 1996 – 16th) and Karen McLeod (Atlanta 1996 – 45th). Jim Alder, who writes the Foreword for this book, is the only other living male Scot left with the insight and experience to pass on to us.

Don has chosen to tell his story chronologically, how else, starting with his childhood where clearly the death of his mother when he was 5 had a profound effect on him. Trauma continued throughout his secondary education where Dr Robbie of Daniel Stewart’s College described him as “a most peculiar boy”. While Don was clearly a talented linguist from an early age he was, ironically, mediocre to bad at sport – at least until he discovered distance running in his 4th year at school. The description of his early years will resonate with many readers of that era and gives a wonderful insight into childhood in the 1950s in Edinburgh.

Don’s love affair with St Andrews began when he arrived at the University as an aspiring student in 1957. Since then he has lived in the town as a student, and teacher of French and German at Madras College, with the exception of short spells as a trainee teacher in France and a year in Germany and as a teacher in Dunoon where he inspired the running of future international runner young Graham Clark.

Much of that love affair comes through in the book where he describes his teaching, his work as: Chair of the Community Council (including the infamous Jack Nicklaus affair); a St Andrews Links Trustee; and as a North East Fife and now Fife Councillor.

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Don’s story is a must for athletics enthusiasts as he describes in detail the major exploits of his running career. In his early years he was not that successful, giving hope to us all, but by the application of clever phasing of his training he achieved heights well beyond his natural talent as well as a career that lasted well beyond most.

Don’s first significant attempt at the marathon resulted in a Scottish Championship silver in 1965, a result he achieved again in 1986 after an intervening 3 golds and 4 more silvers. His long international career started with his first British vest at the Košice Marathon in Czechoslovakia in 1967 with the highlights being the Commonwealth Games in Edinburgh in 1970 and in Christchurch in 1974, the Olympics in 1972 and his World Masters Championships victories in 1979 and 1980. How did he achieve such longevity at this level? It is in the book and is a must read for aspiring endurance runners.

The two chapters covering the lead up to the Munich Olympics including the Israeli massacre and the race itself are essential reading.

The details of the Saltin glycogen bleed out diet, the unknown effects of altitude and Don’s insight as to why Ron Hill (his room mate at altitude) did not win in Munich make fascinating reading. However it is Don’s detailed description of the Olympic final itself that is perhaps the lasting legacy. An almost perfectly run race, except for the last 300 metres, is an example to all of how to get the most out of your talent.

The book is a name-dropper’s paradise – ran with Ron Clarke today, jogged two laps with Gammoudi, Prefontaine et al, shared a room with Ian Stewart, I said to Brendan and Ronnie, passed Clayton (World Record holder) at 36Km … Don’s talent, learned at an early age, for gentle mimicry of all including himself translates well to the written word.

Don’s autobiography is a well–crafted book and a thoroughly enjoyable read.

Cover painting by Morag Muir, “Objets de Donald et de ses enfants” (www.morag.muir.com)

FEATURES: REVIEWS Sandy Cameron on

Dream On

(Sport Book of the Year 2009)

by John Richardson.

Blackstaff Press, Belfast. Available at Waterstone’s, Market Street. Paperback, £9.99 If, like me, you are a golf hacker (usual score 90+), then this book can only inspire you to greater things. It is the story of one hacker’s challenge to himself to match par (return a scratch score) on his own course inside one year.

When he begins, he is at the far end of the hacker’s scale, in that he has never broken 100 in his adult golf career (although he did play a little golf as a teenager). He is an average bloke, (36 years old), who enjoys a game of golf in his spare time. He has a business to run and a wife and young family.

In other words, the time he can devote to golf is limited. Nor does he have any sporting talent and his fitness level is, if anything, less than average for his age. So he is an averageto-poor club player who wonders whether such a thing is possible and sets out to find out if it is. As far as he can establish, such a feat has never been recorded in the annals of golf.

He gets a friend to approach Sam Torrance at a Pro-Am and ask him if he thinks it is possible, ‘‘Sam laughed, then slowly contemplated the question. ‘Well,’ he said, ‘you can tell him from me to dream on’ ’’.

Hence the title of the book.

What follows in this book is the intriguing story of how John took on the challenge in spite of Sam’s scepticism. It is a great heart-warming story of an exhausting, yet exhilarating, roller-coaster year of living, breathing, eating, and sleeping golf. He reckons that he needs to spend a minimum of 15 hours per week working on his game to achieve his goal. Recent research has demonstrated that talent and athleticism are not necessary for elite golfing prowess.* What is required is simply hard graft. In order to get down to scratch, the average player needs to practice and play around 10,000 hours. John was hoping to achieve his aim in around 700 hours. Sam’s scepticism seemed well founded. On the face of it then, he appeared to be taking on an impossible task.

But, of course, he was not trying to get down to a scratch handicap, merely to post one score equal to the par of his course. This is considerably less difficult but still an awesome test for a complete hacker.

‘Dream On’ is a rattling good yarn. It tells of all the highs and lows John encountered in his journey. He demonstrates that if one is sufficiently determined, enough time can be found, even for someone who has a full-

time job and a family (although he describes in detail the stresses involved in both areas).

He also tells of the obsessive nature of the task and how this can impact negatively on both work and home. Yet he clearly shows that anyone can vastly improve their performance if they wish to put in the time.

So, does he achieve his goal? Read the book and find out. There is a twist at the end.

I guarantee that you’ll be captivated.

Personally, I can’t stand golf instruction manuals, but this book reads like the bestseller novel it is. Many of you will be motivated to get out there and knock strokes off your handicap. The author, I predict, will become a full-time writer. *

This research by Professor K.A. Ericsson of Florida State University, and many other scholars around the globe, is that ‘raw talent’ is vastly overrated ; expert performers are made, not born.

Review from America in Affaire de Coeur, a US on-line review magazine, provided by Becky Gunn, PR & Marketing Consultant in Crail.

‘A Matter of Trust’

(published in America as ‘The Long Way Home’) Published by Little Brown Book Group, and available at all good bookshops from December 2010, price (paperback) £7.99 The Long Way Home held my interest throughout the novel. The characters are endearing, irritating, likeable, and genuine. They are artfully drawn and hold a mesmerizing story quite well together. The story’s time line jumps from one decade to another throughout, but the transitions are smooth and the story is easy to follow. There is enough mystery to keep the reader turning the pages; just enough characters fill the pages to keep the story intriguing and colorful. Descriptions bring the settings to life and paint a picture of what life in England, Scotland, and New York is like. The Long Way Home is a five-star novel written by a talented writer. Robin Pilcher, who is the eldest son of author Rosamunde Pilcher, has had many jobs in varied areas. A cowboy, a farmer, an assistant cameraman, and PR consultant, just to name a few, and my guess is that is why his stories ring so true. This is his fifth novel.

“Pilcher writes with an easy accessibility to his character’s depths, and has an excellent sense of the pace of his story.”

– Houston Chronicle “Robin Pilcher has established himself as a writer of unusual ability, a storyteller of the first rank with a unique appeal to both men and women.”

– Chicago Sun-Times

CHRIS TULLOCH

PAINTER & DECORATOR 01334 479756 07841435477 FREE ESTIMATES

For exotic gifts from around the world 16 BELL STREET ST ANDREWS, FIFE, KY16 9UX 01334 472286

25

FEATURES: REVIEWS R M M Crawford reviews

Scottish Native Trees – a comprehensive collection Text: R.J. Mitchell and E. Cormack; Photographs: R.M. Cormack, R.J. Mitchell & J. Anderson; Published by Fife Council & St Andrews Botanic Garden Education Trust; pp 29, (2010) – price £2.

Fife Council, and the St Andrews Botanic Garden Education Trust, have just published a short illustrated guide to Scottish native trees, with particular reference to the species that can be see in the St Andrews Botanic Garden. Appreciation of a landscape is always enhanced when we recognise its trees. Only 17% of Scotland is covered in trees and of this less that 2% can be considered as native woodlands. This relict of our natural heritage, if it is to survive, needs to be appreciated and its constituent tree species recognised. This booklet is, therefore, a most welcome production, particularly as it is not just a catalogue of species, but also an ecological, and generally informative compendium. The header on each page includes the common name of the species in English and Gaelic, the scientific Latin name, and the botanical family to which it belongs. In addition, the excellent photographs of the leaves together with a very useful scale greatly aids correct identification.

Below this, 4 large clear blocks contain brief and succinct listings of the essential facts about each particular tree species in relation to distribution, ecology, as well as current and traditional uses. The simplicity of the blocks of text and attached maps make them ideally suited for consultation out of doors, whether in the Botanic Garden or in the open countryside.

The guide is specifically designed for St Andrews Botanic Garden, which has a well-developed ecological area where our native trees have been planted together with the typical understory vegetation that might be expected to be present in their natural habitats. Thus, the Atlantic oak woodlands, with their typical acidic soils, are under-planted with holly, hazel, and bracken, as they might be in a natural environment.

By contrast, the Ash trees, which come from Tokavaig in Skye, have an under-planting of blackthorn (sloe). This handy publication can be easily carried in a rucksack or car glove-pocket and with its notes on distribution and ecology will also serve as a field guide to our natural Scottish woodlands for handy identification of native trees in the wider landscape.

The inclusion of the Gaelic names for trees is useful for indicating areas or places that were once known for the presence of certain tree species, even though these woodlands may have now disappeared. The Gaelic for Alder, fearna is found in the place-names Fernie and Fearnan, indicating locations where Alder would have been found in the past even though it may have now disappeared. Similarly, Beatha for silver birch is found in the place-name Beath. Scot’s Pine, in Gaelic giubhas or giuthas is the origin of Kingussie, and the Gaelic for Oak, Darroch, is seen in Allt Ruigh an Daraich in Inverness-shire. The Bird-cherry (Prunus padus, Gaelic Fiodhag), can also be found in a place-name, as in Allt nam Fiodhag – Burn of the Bird-cherries.

For those who are interested in rare species, the guide also includes three of the rare species of Whitebeam that are found on the Isle of Arran and can be seen in the St Andrews Botanic Garden. These rare species have evolved by hybridisation between Rowan and related species and are included as examples of evolution in action. Although not mentioned in this guide book, this is a common feature in many tree species and hybrids abound in birches, willows, and oaks, so much so that in the latter, the hybrids are often more common than their ancestral parents.

Overall, possibly the most useful feature of this booklet is its conciseness and its very clear guide to the rich collection of Scottish native trees that are to be found in the St Andrews Botanic Garden. By restricting the list to the two dozen most important tree species that are common in Scotland this publication provides an outstandingly useful introduction to Scotland’s trees.

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

Leuchars Station £10

Leuchars Station £10

Dundee City Centre £25

Dundee City Centre £25

Edinburgh Airport £70

Edinburgh Airport £70

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

26

FEATURES

The Royal Burgh of St Andrews Community Council – Recreation Committee The Recreation Committee organises a number of events on behalf of the Community Council during the year. Our aim is to improve St Andrews citizens’ understanding of the work of the Community Council through a variety of different events involving all age groups. We are keen to make a contribution to the great community spirit which already exists in our town, and are really interested in hearing from you if there are other events you think we could be supporting on your behalf.

This summer saw us playing host to some wonderful brass band concerts in the town’s bandstand on Sunday afternoons.

The season started with a performance by the National Youth Brass Band School, followed by great performances

by Tayport Instrumental Band, Dysart Colliery Band, Buckhaven & Methil Band, and Clackmannan District Band, which were enjoyed by residents and visitors alike. The summer was brought to a close with a bandstand marathon, consisting of simultaneous concerts held across the UK. We also arrange an annual Garden Competition, which covers a variety of types of garden ranging from homeowners to businesses in the town. This was judged in August by Mr Willie Duncan of Largoward, assisted by Community Councillors, with awards being made at the end of September. We look forward to seeing more entrants next year, as the judges observed many fantastic gardens on their tour around the town this year which could have taken part. This year’s worthy winners are pictured below.

St Andrews Festival Week 2010 sees the Community Council as a major sponsor of the street Ceilidh, having donated £3,000 towards the event. The festivities are free to the public and are open to all ages, with a special children’s ceilidh being held on Saturday 27th November. This will be

a great opportunity for everyone in the community to come together for a wonderful celebration of our towns’ namesake.

Our annual Art & Photographic Exhibition will be held in the Assembly Hall at Madras College (South Street) on Saturday 27th and Sunday 28th of November from 10.00am until 4.00pm. This exhibition is open to all members of the public, and you are invited to submit your work if you would like to participate. Entry to the exhibition is free and details can be found on our website: http://www.standrewscc.net/ or by contacting Mr Kyffin Roberts (01334 474 957). We look forward to seeing you all there!

We are currently running our Young Citizen of the Year award; a very important way of celebrating the contribution made to our community by our young adults.

We are looking for young people aged between12 and 18 years of age who live or go to school in St Andrews, and who have made a major contribution to their community to benefit society. If you know of a young person who fits the bill, please fill in a nomination form (available through our website, or contact Mrs Audrey McAnaw on 01334 470 255).

All nominations need to be received by Monday 15th November 2010.

This year’s final event will be the Senior Citizens party

to be held on Friday 10th of December in the Town Hall and which will have a Battle of Britain theme. We will treat our senior citizens to an afternoon of wonderful food, entertainment, and camaraderie. This event is being organised in conjunction with our University student representatives on the Council. Please contact Mrs Marysia Denyer on 01334 476 623 to secure your invitation.

Finally we are planning a coffee morning in the Town Hall on Saturday 22nd January and look forward to meeting you there to hear your views on what else you feel that your Community Council can do for you in 2011. In the meantime, the Community Council would like to wish everyone a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.

(Photos courtesy the Community Council)

The Bandstand

Garden Competition Winners

Ken Paterson seeks further information on

The Madras College War Memorials In the previous edition of St Andrews In Focus, I asked for information that readers might be able to provide about the men who are commemorated on the Madras College War Memorials. Thank you for your response so far. I am asking again for your help with particular reference to R. B. Scott who is remembered on the Second World War Memorial.

Tel: 0145 528 2340; Email: kp.paterson@btopenworld.com

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FEATURES Jurek Alexander Pütter has reconstructed

Rutherford and Grubb’s Model Railway Coal Wagon For the better part of the 20th century a model railway coal wagon, Mr Grubb. It was for Mr Grubb’s shop that he made the railway wagon complete with ballasted track, a platform backed vvith a white picket display, proportioning it to fit and suit the window as an ‘eye catcher’. Mr fence, and a station name board, graced the window of Rutherford and Räder made the model to scale, taking as his model, one of Mr Grubb’s Son and Grubb’s coal merchant’s shop in Market Street, St Andrews. coal wagons, which plied between the coalfieldfs of the south and west But in the face of progress as manifested by the Clean Air Act, coal as of Fife and the Goods Station, now the home of the Old Course Hotel. a principal means of heating house and home finally surrendered to the Each of the coal merchants across the land in those days owned his own ecologically cleaner forces of wagons, bearing the family electricity and gas. Imperceptibly name. It was built up just like such shops withdrew one by one the real thing, from the cast from the retail landscape; one alloy chassis platform, beneath day they were there; the next which the complete running day they were gone – end of an gear – suspension springs, axle era. and lubrication boxes, wheels But few coal merchants and brake rods and levers, possessed such an eloquent and buffers and coupling hooks apt advertisement for their trade were located. Above the chassis as did the window of Rutherford the seven plank high wooden and Grubb – the model railway coal box was constructed coal wagon, parked for what complete with metal frame seemed an eternity at the tiny strengtheners and real working custom-made platform. What loading and unloading door. was its status – just arrived, or The reconstruction illustration about to depart? It was full of real depicts this with the same clarity coal; coal destined it seemed for and accuracy as the original the fireplaces magnificent and model. The platform and track modest, of the Ancient City. were treated with the same level Who made it? That question is easy to of attention to detail. It may not have been unique, one day they were there; answer. It was created, fashioned in true scale but it was original. the next day they were gone from scratch, by James Hazelwood Carr Räder, And there it remained, long after its creator master hairdresser of Market Street, St Andrews, passed away in 1937, seemingly permanent, and – end of an era whose premises are now occupied by a Thai ever a source of attraction to the curiosity of small Restaurant. Mr Räder’s father was Karl Räder of a small town called boys and their parents, locals, and visitors alike. It seemed eternal, and in Hahn nestling in the west end of the Taunus Hills just north of Wiesbaden a way a fitting epitaph to James Hazelwood Carr Räder and his skills. and Frankfurt-am-Main in the Rheinland of Germany. Karl, born in 1833, It wasn’t, by a long chalk, the only model he made. The evidence was formally educated and was a student in Frankfurt at the time of the exists of the making of a giant model fairground Carousel, which for Democratic Revolution vvhich swept Europe in 1848 and vvhose centre a while, graced the interior of the hairdressing parlour, and which in the German-speaking part of Europe was Frankfurt. The Revolution incorporated an important innovation of his own creation, that of centrally failed. In its wake a programme of persecution followed, prompting a powered cranked overhead turning rods, which lifted and lowered the mass migration of ‘young revolutionaries’ to Switzerland, Britain, and suspended hobby horses to replicate the movement of a real horse as it the USA. In keeping with many like-minded others, in order to safeguard galloped round in a fixed circle. his family Karl opted for emigration, landing at Leith in 1849. Among his This was inspired by the annual appearance of the Lammas Market later skills he added that of musical instrument maker; a skill which he in August and which filled both Market Street and South Street, as it seems to have passed on to his son James. For he too, despite taking up continues to do today. It was a great the profitable trade of hairdressing, made lutes, mandolins, guitars, and event of street theatre just ouside banjos. A shrewd and canny man armed with a good business sense, he Mr Räder’s barber’s shop. One of financed his musical instrument-making hobby out of the business. In the the showmen, in for his haircut, was south courtyard of the shop he constructed a well-equipped workshop apparently enraptured by the sight of extensively, if not lavishly, equipped with machinery, induding wood and this working model, complete with its metal-turning lathes, static drills, small planers, and hot metal casting innovation, and sought permission to facilities. show it around. Perhaps with some Firmly established in St Andrews with two shops and a business in reluctance, Mr Räder agreed on its Lochgelly (an expanding coal mining town), he became a close friend of removal. Imagine his chagrin when two years later he saw a carousel at the Lammas Market bearing his rising and falling horses. The model was never returned and neither cornpensation nor acknowledgement ever came Mr Räder’s way. It was, as he himself admitted to his granddaughter, my mother Georgiana Räder, his only bad business move – a once-in-a-lifetime lapse of judgement.

Mr Räder’s model railway wagon disappeared with the shop. No photograph (to date) exists of it, nor of the shop on the north side of Market Street. But so strong was its imagery that this reconstruction was deemed possible. It may exist somewhere, its provenance long forgotten. This The banjo made for Mr Grubb’s illustration preserves its memory.

James Hazelwood Carr Räder, Master Barber and maker of models & son who played with the musical instruments, standing outside his shop, 64 Market St, with his Pierrots, on the Scores lllustration and text © Jurek Pütter grandson & apprentice, Hazelwood Räder

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FEATURES: TRIBUTES Tony and Robin Waterston remember their mother

Margot Waterston

(24th November 1913 to 1st August 2010) – a woman of independence and character Independent thinking, political activism, and forming friendships across right across age range, social barriers were the characteristics which stood out about Margot, a very class, ethnic background, well-known figure in St Andrews until just the last few years before her and religion. Margot had an death this summer at the age of 96. Until her 90s she strode rather than amazing capacity to make walked, and was notable for her flair and colour in dressing; but she was friendships that were lasting, best known for her work in the Oxfam shop, and for her campaigning zeal which fitted so well with her for the third world.

Quaker associations.

Born in Dundee in the year before the first world war, she was Scots The two boys were to the core. She was sent to St Leonards, but although she looked sent to a Quaker boarding school, which Jack had attended. Margot back on her time at this school with distaste, it probably contributed to became more and more interested in the spiritual aspects of life. Never her strong character and determination. She did not at that time show very interested in theology, she admired the silence and the strong academic prowess, perhaps because of her love of the social whirl, but commitment to active participation in society that the Friends represented. showed an interest in social causes early on by joining a Red Cross Quakers first met in her front room in Sunnyhill. She was instrumental in course in the Royal Navy in the 1930s. It was not setting up the Quaker Meeting, now thriving in Howard considered necessary for young women to seek a Place (oddly enough, in the house her own mother-inBorn in Dundee in the year career at that time, but she did want to become an law moved to in her old age). before the first world war, opera singer and had a very good voice. A vocal Within the family, Margot became admired as she was Scots to the core nodule prevented that vocational route, which was a an intrepid traveller. She visited Sierra Leone in regret for her.

1969, to visit a student she had befriended. Similar A lover of music, piano playing, dancing, young men, and riding contacts led to later trips to Russia and America where the UN made a big horses, she frequented the Hunt balls in Fife and there it was that she impression. So her work for Oxfam was underpinned by her experience met and quickly married our father, Jack Waterston, one of the three from many countries. Then, when both of us went to work in Africa, she Waterston boys who grew up in St Andrews. Their short marriage lasted made frequent visits both on holiday and to help out at times of illness and only ten years before tragedy struck and Jack died of appendicitis in the pregnancy. She would drop everything at a moment’s notice to come out pre-antibiotic era in 1948. Living at the time in Surrey with two young and when she did, started the process of friendship building once again. boys, Margot was left a widow and without any family living near. Showing With advancing years, Margot travelled less, spending more time in the fortitude and courage that were so marked in her character, Margot the garden, where she could make anything grow, and was very proud moved north to St Andrews, and after living for a short time with her of the willow tree which she planted as a sapling, which grew to tower mother-in-law, settled in the house in the Lade Braes bought by her father. over the whole garden. Her horizons narrowed bit by bit in her later Named Sunnyhill by the two boys, this formed her haven and the garden years, though she was still able to walk up to South St for a coffee in her delight for the remaining sixty years of her life. the last year before her death. Her beloved Sunnyhill with all its family Margot made a fine home for her two sons, her focus in life. She photographs and treasured African carvings remained her comfort until worked for a short time as housekeeper at Strathallan whilst they were the very end. She also greatly treasured all her six grandchildren, who at boarding school, but otherwise stayed at home to be there for them, were so special to her, each in his or her own way, and she loved to follow and threw herself into voluntary work in St Andrews and Dundee, first in their exploits and travels.

Samaritans and later in Amnesty, UNA, and Oxfam. She also for many Margot contributed so much to St Andrews with her feisty nature, years made Sunnyhill a welcoming place for the many young students her strong and loving friendships, her love and zest for life, and her she befriended, both from Scotland and from overseas, and this was a commitment to righting injustice formative experience for the two boys. Having so many friends who were young kept Margot young at heart and in body, and for most of her life she Clea, one of her grandchildren wrote: looked and acted much younger than her years.

Margi told me a story. Walking down the Lade Braes she saw a drop Oxfam became her real love. For many years she was a stalwart in of rain fall into a small puddle of water. Margi stopped and looked for the shop, at that time in Bell Street. She enjoyed the sales, but saw her a while. She saw the rhythm in the rain drops, the sparkle of light, role as a campaigner – to build the window every week with an African glistening as they fell from the leaves of a nearby tree. The rain drops or South American theme, and to make sure that anyone using the shop made ripples in the water and little droplets splashed up. She looked understood the needs of the countries represented. Knowledge of why up to see a passer-by smiling. She smiled back and told me later poor countries are poor must have improved in St Andrews as a result of about how amazing she thought it was that these simple, little things her work. She threw herself into linked events – particularly anti-apartheid, could matter so much.

CND and Central American liberation movements, and became firm friends with Bruce Kent, then as now a leading figure in CND. Through the (Photo courtesy of the family) various meetings that took place she built up friendships, which extended

Andrew Barman Andy loved life. Born in 1957, he grew up in St Andrews, talented and popular. Creative, and showing great patience in fine artwork, he set up his own signwriting business, whose examples can be seen everywhere in St Andrews and around Cupar. For 35 years he was a laboratory technician at St Andrews University.

Meeting people was one of his great pleasures, especially when serving drinks in the bar he co-owned. Andy was a sportsman; for many years he trained the junior football team, the Colts, and he, too, played football, as well as golf. In 2004 he was in America on a golfing holiday. Suddenly, without any warning, he suffered a brain haemorrhage. After an emergency operation he was airlifted home to Ninewells Hospital. For the next five years he was totally paralysed, unable to speak or swallow, though he was obviously conscious, since he could raise his eyebrows or his thumb in response to questions. On 1st June this year he passed away.

Jo, his mother, made the brave decision to donate Andy’s eyes for transplant. The letter she received from Ninewells says simply that they were “successfully implanted into two individuals in their twenties, thus restoring their sight.”

As a result, Jo would like to inspire people to realise that out of tragedy can come good. She and her family express their sincerest thanks to the Organ Transplant Unit for the great work that they do. Through Andy, and his grieving mother’s thoughtfulness, two young people are now able to see for the first time in their lives.

Andrew just before his trip to America in 2004 (courtesy Jo Barman)

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FEATURES An introduction to

Antrazar

by Lewis Crawford winner of The Nicky Johnston Trophy for Creative Writing “Here is the first section of my recently completed 90,000-word fantasy novel, Antrazar. I hope it will be the first in a seven-part series, in which the hero, a sixteen year-old hunter named Timok Yarkinson, must gather the scattered shards of a mystical gem, “The Earth’s Heart”, in order to defeat the demonic lord Zhargodrakk and his never-ending horde of Zorians. The book has taken me around three years to complete, having written it out by hand first, before typing it all up. Antrazar has been extremely satisfying to write, and perhaps, if I am exceedingly lucky, it may even become a published novel someday.”

Chapter 1 – The Hunt Timok ran. Trees sped past him in a blur of brilliant green. Timok was a hunter, born and bred in the forest kingdom of Antrazar. To him the multitudes of bright green deciduous trees posed no obstacle. Timok was a natural hunter.

Now, ducking under low branches, jumping over rocks, Timok pretended to turn from side to side to trick the terrified groafer. All the time he never slowed from his astonishingly fast sprint. The poor groafer didn’t stand a chance.

Groafers are small, furry, pig-like creatures, with back legs twice the size of their front ones.

They have tiny, sharp claws to help them climb trees in a hurry, a small, white puffy tail, and a light brown pelt. Usually there are several faint black stripes on their backs. Groafers are slow compared to most other animals in Antrazar, and many of the younger hunters enjoy sprinting after them for sport, rather than conventional methods, such as laying traps.

As well as being reasonably slow, groafers are ungainly, dim-witted and easy to fool; many hunting tricks had evolved exclusively for catching them. They are by far the most abundant creature in Antrazar, and breed twice as fast as rabbits. Most Tribes relied on them for food and clothing.

Now, Timok tried a difficult trick that only expert hunters used. Once, when he was a lot

younger, he had broken his arm attempting it because he had crashed into a tree. Now that he was sixteen, he could manage it almost perfectly. He ran until he found a suitable rock, and kept running. He tripped. To the groafer it would look as if its pursuer had fallen, but Timok knew what he was doing. Just before he would have landed flat on his face, he went into a diving roll, and let fly his spear.

Normally the dim-witted groafer would stand there looking puzzled, startled that its hunter had fallen just when it had expected to be caught and killed. Groafers aren’t the brightest of creatures. If the trick was performed early enough in the hunt, it would take the groafer several seconds to regain its senses.

However, Timok had been chasing this beast for a while now, and it was so terrified that it kept on dashing wildly through the undergrowth.

It hadn’t even noticed Timok’s fall.

The beech-wood spear thudded into the ground. “Drat!” Timok cursed, shaking his long, slightly tousled, ash-blonde hair out of his eyes in frustration. He picked up his trusty spear and put on an extra burst of speed to make up for his prey’s head start.

Through the swards of tightly packed trees, Timok could make out the fleeing groafer just ahead, its little white tail bobbing up and down as it ran. It continued dashing frantically through

Gavin C Reid

First Steps

Comic, chaotic, but with thrilling purpose, you hazard your first steps.

Wide-eyed, giggling, your Sailor Sam saunters take you tumbling my way.

Your hands grab my calves and your warmth nuzzles to me.

Triumphant, ecstatic, you shriek out ‘Dada, Dada’.

My hand on your head I feel the pulse of life afresh.

30

the forest’s dense undergrowth, but was tiring quickly. Timok was tiring too, although he didn’t show it. He wouldn’t give up. He needed this groafer for his dinner. Since his father, Snorri Yarkinson, had been killed by marauding harpies eight years ago, Timok had been the man of the house, bringing in firewood, hunting, making useful things out of wood or bone, and occasionally helping his mother, Rose, with cooking, cleaning, and mending clothes. Up until a year ago, he had needed to fit these endless chores around attending the small Tribal school that the Beech Tribe held four days a week in the Chieftain’s tent.

The groafer disappeared under a long, low branch at around Timok’s waist height, and ran straight through a thorn bush, regardless of the scratches. Timok couldn’t follow the beast under, because of the huge thorns, but neither could he skirt round the impeding branch. It was several metres long, and the slight detour could mean the difference between success and failure. He was so close now, and couldn’t let the groafer escape. Timok gathered speed and leapt straight on to the branch.

He sprang off, performed a mid-air spin (just for fun), and threw his sturdy beech-wood spear. It hit a tree with a loud THWOK!…pinning the groafer there just as it had started to climb.

FEATURES Alistair Gatherum talked to Flora Selwyn about his life’s passion,

Show Jumping

Born and brought up in St Andrews, where for generations his large family has lived, and still lives, Alistair Gatherum, at four years of age, fell in love at first sight with Boga, the Shetland pony his father Raymond bought. “He put it in the back of the camper van, but he was playing with Billy Anderson (on drums in the band) at St Mikes, so they tied it up outside St Mikes, played, then he took it home! There’s some old cine film of that somewhere.”

In the mid-1970s Alistair and his family moved to Edenside, just outside St Andrews, fulfilling a long-held dream of owning a riding Starman training at San Diego, California school. “There was literally an old sheep shed down there in the middle of the field, and we just kept on growing since then.” In those days Knowing that show jumping was his future, and having no time for Alistair loved trekking along the beach. He remembers one occasion anything other than competing, Alistair left school as soon as he could. when he was 7 years old; having reached Shelly Point with his sister At 16 he qualified for the Horse of the Year Show indoors at Wembley and a friend, “the tide was in, and we looked across at the stable, and Stadium in London. “I didn’t win, but just to qualify….” At 16 years of age we said, why don’t we just swim them? No life jackets, no helmets, oh riders exchange ponies for horses, fifteen hands upwards. “I qualified we might have had our hats, bareback again for the Horse of the Year Show on these little ponies – it’s a tidal estuary, for young riders, (16 to 21 years of and we swam right across. I would age).” never, ever do that now! I wouldn’t let When he was 19, in order to any of the kids here do that!” Another expand his horizons, Alistair went to time, at full gallop on Tentsmuir beach Edmonton, Canada for six months Alistair and his friend ended up under in winter, “the coldest place I’ve ever water in what was “like a hole in the been to in my life!” Lee Krueger ground.” He still can’t understand how an trained him in different techniques, ordinary-looking pool could have proved giving him also the opportunity to so dangerous. meet many new people. After a short Growing up with horses, Alistair spell at home, when he acquired developed an instinctive affinity with the young stallion Edenside Ricki, them. He had instruction from Jackie Alistair went back to compete all over Lowmitchel, “and then I started to go Canada, coming second in the Grand to the horse shows”, the first time at Prix in Ottawa, then going on to Leuchars, where “ I think I got to the California, where again he networked fourth jump” and Lady, his pony, wouldn’t widely, “I liked to travel and learn go any further. Nothing daunted, Alistair different ways of doing stuff.” went on competing locally. When he was Had Alistair ever considered other Alistair on Edenside Ricki about ten years old, Edenside affiliated kinds of competition? “No!” He once with the Show Jumping Association, tried cross country, but “I didn’t like allowing him to enter registered events Growing up with horses, Alistair developed the idea that jumps don’t fall down!” at the national level. “I had a pony He competed in Spain with Edenside an instinctive affinity with them called Edenside Bobby and I jumped in Ricki, winning several classes there. the Scottish team several times. And I Generally, Alistair transports horses jumped in Ireland with the British Junior Team. You have to win quite a by road, but he has also flown them, “you’d be very surprised; there are lot to get on the teams. I was Scottish indoor junior champion when I 200 people sitting up front (in the plane) and they have no idea there are was 14.” Indoor facilities are all over Scotland, and are large enough to six horses at the back!” A professional transporter accompanies them to allow normal show jumping events. look after them. All horses have to have passports, too.

After coming back home and competing nationally with Ricki, winning more prizes, Alistair worked for three years in Belgium, at a horse sales stable. Home again, then once more to America, this time to Florida as professional rider for a private family and to train their daughter. Among other prizes, “I won a really nice class, a $50,000 Grand Prix in New Jersey.”

Alistair is home again now, but still plans to travel. This October he hopes to go to Kentucky to support his friend, Scott Brash, who has been selected for the British team for the world championships. “I don’t have a Grand Prix horse currently,” explained Alistair, “to buy one is very expensive.” At present he has ten 5- and 6-year old horses he is training. He has to wait till they’re 9- or 10-years old before they are ready to jump in Grand Prix events. “There are only certain horses that have the ability and the mind to go with it, that are capable of doing it.” He very much hopes that at least one of his horses will eventually qualify. “You just can’t rush it. There’s no other way to do it. The horses have to have the experience, and there’s no fast way to do it.” Training horses is all about body language, and how it’s communicated, the human and horse relationship – it’s nothing to do with whispering in their ears!

Future plans centre around finding that Grand Prix horse from among the ten in training. All his life Alistair has focussed on competing to win. Nothing has ever put him off, not even breaking a leg badly in a fall when he was 17. As he himself says, “You get back what you put in.”

In other words, it’s dedication!

(Photos courtesy Alistair Gatherum) Alistair with 3-year old Bellini

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FEATURES Mary Heal, Bletchley Park Veteran (see issue 38, Jan/Feb 2010, of this magazine) received an invitation to

The City of London Salute to the Battle of Britain Once the service finished, the In spite of her age, Mary Heal took the congregation was divided into three marches, overnight train, not in a sleeping compartment, “with measuring stick at the head to keep us but sitting up, from Leuchars to Euston, in order”, to three separate Guild Halls for a London, and returned the same way 24 hours reception. Mary was down to attend at the later! On her arrival, she discovered that the Plaisterers’ Hall, built in 1669. It entailed a Underground was on strike, necessitating procession of about fifteen minutes from a very long queue for taxis. Fortunately, St Paul’s led by a contingent of the RAF, and someone was kind enough to indicate where Mary was glad that she extra taxis were to be found, “was fit enough, actually, otherwise Mary was afraid Proudly wearing her to join in and get there!” It she might have missed the service at St Paul’s Bletchley Park uniform, was of great importance to Mary, as her late husband Cathedral.

Mary entered St Paul’s was a Londoner and in the Proudly wearing her RAF, and also she felt she Bletchley Park uniform, Mary should represent surviving veterans who were entered St Paul’s for what was probably the not able to march. At the reception a full meal last time the London Blitz would be formally was served, all in bowls to Mary’s surprise, commemorated there. The Duke of Kent, and “the wine was flowing fairly freely!” There representing the Royal Family, was met at the were perhaps some 300 people, including door and led into the Cathedral, along with the “a lot of gold braid, I may add,” enjoying the Mayor of London and other honoured guests. conviviality.

The moving service that followed included “It was a fantastic day,” and several chronological accounts of the Blitz from people have remarked how surprised they survivors. Mary loved the music, but for her have been that Mary went there and back all the most emotional part was the Laying-up of on her own. She may well have been one of the Colour. only a few Scots at the event! Colleagues in England from those distant days are still in touch with Mary, but too frail to travel far. Asked if she was tired when she got back home, she said, “yes, I was tired for a couple of days. But I wouldn’t have missed it for anything!” A WAAF to the core!!

Mary wearing her Bletchley Park Veterans’ uniform, (those operating in the Bletchley Park outstation at Chicksands during the war would have worn regulation WAAF uniforms).

(Photos by Flora Selwyn)

Left: Explaining the Laying-up ceremony (from the Order of Service) Below: The invitation

The blazer badges: – War medal awarded to those who served from before 1945 to the end of the war.

– The WAAF badge, recently renewed.

– The Y Service badge, indicating membership of the code & cypher intercepting section.

– The badge with the blue dot was recently given by Gordon Brown in recognition of Bletchley Park war services.

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FEATURES In the Sept/Oct 2005 issue of this magazine Ronald Matheson wrote about the Scottish connection with Tangier. Now at 81, he told Flora Selwyn he was likely to embark on a new life in the Republic of Vanuatu in the South Pacific.

In Transit...

Ronald discovered a newly-formed Orthodox Born in Huddersfield (father Scottish, mother English), Ronald Matheson congregation. After much heart searching, has packed several lifetimes into his 81 years. He was ordained in he joined them in 2001, changing direction, Newcastle on Tyne as an Anglican priest in 1954, then asked by the meanwhile serving as chaplain at St Andrews Bishop of Durham to lecture to mining trainees in ‘citizenship’ – down the Church in Tangier, Morocco. 2003 saw Ronald in St Andrews, having pit! Every Monday for six years Ronald went down with the miners into the house-sat in between for family in Northern Ireland, gone to California, Washington ‘F’ Pit in County Durham, now an industrial museum. “I had to and spent time with his nephew near Hawick, where “the weather was do a thousand hours underground training on my own. They used to say awful!”. Just when the financial crisis hit Europe, Ronald returned to that if I were unfrocked the only thing I could do was go down the mines.” southern Spain. However, the cost of living there had become exorbitant, Ronald’s greatest fear during this time was injury caused by the pit cage so he came back to St Andrews in April 2009. plonking down roughly at the bottom, “because it just falls like a stone, We digressed briefly into thinking about what might make an effective you know. It’s not like going down in a lift!” politician, agreeing that in order to understand people no-one should be Glenrothes for eight and a half years followed, then five and a half allowed to enter politics before, say, the age of 40 after first experiencing years in Dundee, and Malta for one year, after a relatively short, but the real world. Ronald told of a young curate in Glenrothes unsuccessful, mission in Belize, Central America. The couldn’t relate to people at all, having gone straight Bishop in Europe, convinced that the Central American It’s a matter of who from school to university and into the ministry. “At least,” experience must have made Ronald a fluent Spanish said Ronald, “I had to do National Service. I was in the establishing a speaker, re-appointed him to Spain, where he stayed for the King’s Own Scottish Borderers stationed in Edinburgh for next twelve years. Was he fluent in Spanish? “No, I knew a congregation two years. And at least I got an idea of what life was like for certain amount, but I was dealing with British and Americans somebody else, you might say.” It was while he was in the anyway, so it was all right.” Eventually, however, he did army that he decided on a career in the church. become fluent. He became a Canon of Gibraltar Cathedral. For ten years And now Ronald is contemplating starting his life all over again in he also visited British prisoners in Spanish jails, including Ceuta across Vanuatu. It could prove a wrench leaving St Andrews and his many the Straits of Gibraltar, in North Africa. Ronald explained in an interview friends, “I’ve got two minds about it really”, but it won’t be the first time on the BBC that this brought him into contact with young people, providing he’s been there, since he has been twice to visit his American brothera welcome relief from the predominantly retired population he served in in-law. Nephew Robert intends building an Orthodox church on familyFuengirola! Most of the prisoners were indicted on drugs-related charges, owned land on Efate Island, “he’s trying to organise the Orthodox church including one old man from the mines in East Lothian, who had suffered in Vanuatu, you see, and he thinks that I should start it off. It’s a matter of a severe head injury at work, and who, it turned out, had been chief of establishing a congregation, meeting in people’s houses, or something a gang smuggling drugs from Morocco to Scotland. “There was no after like that.” Before the church itself is actually built, “they need to make it a care” for prisoners, so on release, many of them would stay with Ronald mission to the people there.” First though, Ronald had had to spend time for a while. in Australia with the Archbishop to discuss the project.

In 1994, though officially retired, Ronald returned to Malta for A veteran traveller, Ronald takes long-haul flights in his stride. By three years, staying in the grand Bishop’s House with “a maid and two Christmas this year he will have been there and back to Australia. He gardeners” next to Holy Trinity Church in Sliema. In 1997 Ronald went will now have to decide whether to pack up his life in St Andrews and to California to stay with his sister. The Episcopal Church there “didn’t translocate to the South Pacific. “Everybody keeps saying, you ought to seem to believe settle down somewhere. As far as I’m concerned I would. I think I’ll settle in anything, they permanently in Vanuatu!” If you do decide to go Ronald, bon voyage, and weren’t firm enough”. happy landing!

(Photos courtesy Ronald Matheson)

View from the family house in Vanuatu

Holy Trinity Church in Sliema, Malta, with the Bishop’s House on the left Church in Mijas, Malaga Vanuatu market

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FEATURES Sandy Cameron is generously offering a £10 book token for the first correct answers to this

QUIZ Hanging on

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Send solutions to: The Editor Local Publishing (Fife) Ltd. PO Box 29210 St Andrews Fife KY16 9YZ. Email: editor@standrewsinfocus.com

FEATURES Angus Mitchell, Year 9, form A, St Leonards School, brings “that old, old story” up to date

A Scottish Christmas Now desperate, they It was the crisp morning of Christmas Eve that they set off from had to find somewhere London – Joseph and his wife Mary – to Mary’s hometown of soon. And finally, on the Invemess. They had planned on leaving days earlier, but their edge of town, they found car hadn’t been fixed since the day before. Joseph, a joiner from a welcoming B&B, but London, knew it was a risk taking his heavily pregnant wife to it again, had the ‘NO Scotland, but felt it was important that she was with her family at VACANCY’ sign in the Christmas. “I’m telling you, Joseph – I don’t think this is the best window. But this was the of ideas,” she said. But Joseph reassured her and decided to last place, and Joseph begin the journey in his small car. was not giving up. He The trip was a tiring one, as there were many other people, jumped out of the car, and like Joseph and Mary, on their way to their families in time for banged on the door. “Can Christmas. Not only were the motorways packed with traffic, the I help you?” a little old lady roads were icy too, so it took longer than expected, so much asked as she opened the so that it was dark before they were halfway there. As Joseph door. “We need a room! had never been to Edinburgh before, they decided to make a We have gone all through stop there. When they arrived, the streets were overflowing with the town, and there is people. The whole centre of town was jammed up with traffic, nowhere! My wife is pregnant, and we are both so exhausted. and there was hardly any space on the pavements. So many Please can you help us?” “Well ... ” she hesitated, as he could were finishing their Christmas shopping, or just enjoying the hear her guests conversing inside. “We have no guest rooms, festivities in Edinburgh on the Eve of Christmas. but we do have something ... ” But both Mary and Joseph knew they were never going to The old lady led Joseph and Mary to a make it to Inverness in time for Christmas, and that converted garage that she used when her they were going to have to stay over in Edinburgh. grandchildren came to stay. It wasn’t luxurious, “We’ll have to find somewhere to stay, Mary,” said “We’ll have to but at that point Mary and Joseph would accept Joseph. And with that they set out in search of a anywhere. Just as they got settled in, Mary place to stay. find somewhere could feel her baby coming. “Keep calm, Mary!”

The busy streets of Edinburgh were beautifully to stay, Mary,” said Joseph. “I’ll call an ambulance at once!” lined by coloured lights, which shone in the frosty “No, Joseph, no! We don’t have time to get to a night air, and through restaurant windows Mary and hospital! I can feel it coming!”

Joseph could see families gathered together on And so, soon after, Mary gave birth to her child, a boy.

Christmas Eve for a meal out. Their smiling faces showed their Meanwhile, the old lady wondered what all the commotion happiness at being with their families during that magical time of was about, and so went down to find out what was going on year – but this saddened Mary. How she longed to be with her in her garage. “What’s going on?” she asked. Hearing the family at Christmas, at home relaxing by the warm fire. story, she told her guests, who asked to see the baby. They Their priority, however, was finding somewhere to stay. After searched among their things to give gifts escaping the chaos in the city centre, they found a nice-looking to the special Christmas baby. Mary apartment hotel on an old town house row. Joseph knocked and Joseph were overwhelmed by on the door. “Hello, how can I help?” said the bellboy who the kindness and good will of these answered. “We need a room just for the night,” replied Joseph, strangers. Looking down at her tiny baby the scent of roast turkey wafting out onto the street. “A room son, Mary forgot she wasn’t with her in Edinburgh, tonight? You must be joking! All our rooms went family in Inverness, as she was weeks ago, what with cheap Christmas deals and everything,” just so happy at having the he chuffed. “But I’m sure there’s a nice lodging house about greatest gift she could ever two blocks that way,” he pointed up the street. “Okay, we’ll try want. another place,” said Joseph, “but thank you”. So Joseph got At last, the guests left to back into the car, and drove off down the street in search of leave the mother and another place to stay. father at peace, Finally, they reached a lodging house. It was bigger, it was and so Mary and more modem and Joseph wasn’t the richest of joiners. But he Joseph settled decided it was worth a try, so he got out their car and knocked down to sleep on the door. “Hello, how can I help?” answered the bellboy. beside their special “Have you a room for us?” asked Joseph. The bellboy shook his baby on Christmas Eve. head. “Not one?” asked Joseph. “I’m sorry, we have no room,” said the bellboy. “I doubt you’ll find a room in the whole of Edinburgh. Hasn’t it crossed your mind that it’s Christmas?”

In spite of this, Joseph was determined to find a room for him and his pregnant wife to stay. He drove Mary all around town in search of anywhere that had a room, but in every hotel window was the sign that read ‘NO VACANCY’. It was growing colder and colder every minute, and both Mary and Joseph were getting tired. “I’m so exhausted, Joseph,” breathed Mary. “I need somewhere to lie down.” “Don’t worry,” Joseph said. “We’ll find somewhere.”

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