St Andrews in Focus Issue 49 Nov Dec 2011

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

November/December 2011 Issue 49, £2.00

www.standrewsinfocus.com

the award winning magazine for St Andrews

A Medieval East Neuk Winter’s Pilgrimage The Flight of the Holy Family Into Egypt All roads in Medieval Scotland led to St Andrews, the de facto Pilgrim and Principal City of the Nation till AD1559. Its fame rested since AD732 on the presence of the accredited corporeal relics of Saint Andrew the Apostle, brought north

by Bishop Acca of Hexham in that year. As a Pilgrim Shrine and City it was internationally famous, and in Northern Europe ranked coequal with Walsingham in Norfolk, Canterbury in Kent, and Santiago de Compostella in Spain. Pilgrims came on foot along long-established pilgrim routes enhanced by the provision of Pilgrim Stations or Statios, Hostelries, Inns, and Ferries. The greatest Statios were placed in orbit around the City within a day’s easy journey.

This picture, after the illustrative style of a Medieval devotional prayer book or ‘Book of Hours’, depicts the famous ‘Last Roads’ and ‘Last Shrines’ which pilgrims would tread and venerate before arrival at St Andrews. They all lie within the triangular peninsula of the East Neuk or Corner of the ancient Kingdom of Fife. Here Pilgrims cross the hazardous winter waters of the Forth Estuary from North Berwick to the South Fife Coast. A boat capsizes with fearful consequences; another vessel sails to its aid. Each of the coastal Burghs professed its own Patron Saint, the most renowned being Saints Fillan and Adrian of Pittenweem, and Saint Ninian of St Monans and Kilrenny. Pilgrims stream forth from the great Statios of St Ayles at Anstruther on the south

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shore, and Garebrig at the western end of the Eden Estuary. They pass ubiquitous wayside shrines and cairns upon which each pilgrim places a stone to commemorate his passing. Into this landscape of snowcapped hills and frozen coastal plains the medieval illustrator would amplify the devotional nature of the picture by incorporating an event from the Gospels, in this case the flight of the Holy Family into Egypt, and the

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sycamore tree at Matariya, under whose canopy of boughs the Holy Family first found refuge in Egypt.

Thus did the Medieval miniaturist further enhance the spiritual reputation of the East Neuk by depicting the Holy Family and Pilgrim families alike sharing the hardships of winter, and the joys of safe arrival.

Illustration and text © Jurek Alexander Pütter

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

From the Editor This has been a memorable year. On 25 February we welcomed back Prince William and Kate Middleton to launch the University’s 600th Anniversary celebrations. On 29th April we celebrated the Royal Wedding with a magnificent Wedding Breakfast for as many of the whole town as the University Quad could accommodate. That same location saw the BBC Antiques Roadshow on 26 May. To everyone’s relief, the sun happily blessed all these events. Market Street was dug up to make massive improvements to the town’s centre. New, efficient street lighting has been installed. What has struck me particularly in all this, is the good nature of the people of St Andrews. We have proved that we can all work together as a real community. We have proved that we can put up with great inconvenience gracefully and with good humour; I have personally heard no grumbles. I have also seen new businesses opening and others expanding, in defiance of all expectations. Students call St Andrews The Bubble, a special place outwith the norm. Let’s make sure this year’s wonderful community spirit lives on. Happy Christmas, and may the New Year bring new joys to all of us.

Contents Features • A Busy Life • Community Council • Hindmaist • Community Ownership • Ask the curator • Competition winners • Who rules the ruler?

• St Andrews Is...

• Reviews: – James Colquhoun Irvine – The Tsar’s Doctor – Pitmilly House – View from the bench

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NOVEMBER / DECEMBER 2011

Shops & Services • Coffee Heaven • Toonspot • The Glass House • Made in Britain • Money • OSCR eight years on • Separation Agreements • Roving Reporter

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EDITOR Flora Selwyn Tel: 01334 472375 Email: editor@standrewsinfocus.com

Organisations • RSE Masterclasses • Rotary’s anti-polio campaign

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Designer University of St Andrews Print & Design (printanddesign@st-andrews.ac.uk)

Town & Gown • Warm memories of Dr McIver • Jamie Peters at the UN • Student Services • MUSA Young Artist Awards • The Mock Funeral revisited

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Events • Dad’s Army • Gigs at Inn at Lathones • STOP PRESS – New York Marathon • Selected Events

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Out And About • Building Stones of St Andrews • Practice makes pruning • Tammie-Norrie • Crippled wildlife • Showing the way in Culross • Sailing • Apple Day at the Botanic Garden • Nature Notes

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Flora Selwyn

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

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FEATURES Provost Frances Melville kindly made time to chat to Flora Selwyn about her

Busy Life – as Civic Head of Fife Born in Dundee, brought up in Glasgow, Provost of Fife, Frances Melville enjoys an amazingly rich, multi-faceted life. The list of her achievements, together with the list of her many official duties, literally fill several sheets of A4 paper! Indeed, it is quite hard to know how to write more than just a glimpse of the work involved as Provost.

While still at school, although in both hockey and tennis teams, Frances also played golf, practising assiduously, to be rewarded with representing Scotland both at junior and youth level. She also represented Dunbartonshire and Argyll County Ladies Team, Fife County Ladies Team, and the Scottish University teams. Strathclyde University awarded her a Golf Blue. Then she upped and went to London as sub-editor of Golf Illustrated, Hamsworth Press, but continued playing county and competitive golf.

Returning to Glasgow, she became an Editorial Assistant at Golf Monthly, followed by a spell as a feature reporter for D C Thomson in Dundee. Then Frances became a library assistant in Reader Services at St Andrews University. The next step was in Public Relations and administration with the Hurd Rolland Partnership of architects in Burntisland/Edinburgh and at that time in 1990, Frances was elected to Fife Regional Council for St Andrews West.

After working for Hurd Rolland, Frances became a Public Relations Administrator with the Chartered Surveyors/Land Agents Bell Ingram in Perth, and then Personal Assistant to a Member of the Scottish Parliament in Edinburgh. At the same time she was carrying out her elected member duties, which included membership of numerous committees, some of which she then chaired, such as the St Andrews Harbour Trust and Chairman of the East Area Development Committee.

The unifying thread in all these areas has been that of public relations. Underlying this aspect was Frances’ work as a Justice of the Peace in East Fife from 1980-2007, serving on the District Court from 1981-2004, the Justice of the Peace Committee, Fife, from 19962007, and on the Justice of the Peace Advisory Committee in the same period.

Frances was elected in 2007 as Provost of Fife, Civic Head of Fife and Chairman of Fife Council. Yet she still retains all the responsibilities of being a Fife Councillor, dealing with ward casework, meeting constituents and attending committee meetings.

As Provost she also chairs the full, 78-member Fife Council meetings, in which role she must be completely apolitical.

Elected every 5 years (it was 4 previously) from among all the members of the Council, the Provost acts as its civic head at ceremonial, formal, and other important occasions.

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Her role is set out as follows: • • • •

to promote the values of the Council provide an example to others; enhance the reputation of the Council and Fife. encourage networks with other organisations in both the private and public sectors to enhance the development of Fife.

She meets Royalty, hosts functions of all kinds, and promotes Fife through public appearances at cultural and business events. Her badge of office is the chain she wears, featuring the ‘Thane of Fife.’ During the Middle Ages, a succession of Thanes, or Knights, kept order in Fife on behalf of the Kings of Scotland, and so the badge is a physical symbol of the pride Fife has in its history and in the importance of the office of Provost. The complex description of Fife’s Coat of Arms can be found on the Council’s website: www.fife.gov.uk A glance at just some of the engagements throughout this year, leaves one breathless: • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •

Citizenship ceremonies held monthly in Dunfermline, Cupar, and Kirkcaldy Civic reception to mark the Centenary of Girlguiding UK Pan Disability Open Golf Championships Prince’s Scottish Youth Trust Annual Awards for Fife Rededication of Ladybank War Memorial Battle of Britain Anniversary Beautiful Scotland Awards ( held in Fife ) Cadets 150th Anniversary Doors Open Day reception Visit by HRH Prince William to St Andrews University Royal Naval Association West Fife Diamond Jubilee Opening of General Assembly Visit of Lord High Commissioner to Fife Official presentation of Awards for Fife’s Blue Flag beaches Long Service Awards for Fife Council employees Local Authority Apprentice of the Year Taking the Salute at the Armed Forces Day parade in St Andrews Visit by HRH Duke of Edinburgh to Methil Heritage Centre Presentation of New Colours to Royal Regiment of Scotland at Holyrood by the Queen.

There are currently 32 Provosts throughout Scotland. They meet four times a year as the Scottish Provosts Association to exchange ideas and discuss any issues regarding their duties and responsibilities. All Provosts have a distinctive Chain of Office and Frances says she has been honoured to be permitted to wear the St Andrews Burgh Chain, with the Fife badge, whilst carrying out Provost duties.

Frances has a son, James, living in Cornwall, a daughter, Vikki, in Edinburgh, and two grandchildren. Somehow, she finds time to garden, read, and enjoy music. A busy life, indeed.

(Photo courtesy France Melville)

FEATURES

Kyffin Roberts, Chairman,

The Royal Burgh of St Andrews Community Council There is a long tradition of the St Andrews Town Council arranging a Christmas treat for the senior citizens of the town, some suggest that the tradition goes back more than 100 years. The tradition will continue in 2011 with The Royal Burgh of St Andrews Community Council, Senior Citizens’ Christmas Treat taking place in the Town Hall on Friday, 9 December from 2.00-4.30pm.

The Community Council hope to be joined by many “regulars” who have enjoyed this event over the years, but they are also keen to invite people who may not have attended in previous years, and particularly those who may not have the opportunity to attend festive celebrations with friends and neighbours.

If you, or someone you know, would like to join in the celebrations please contact Marysia Denyer on 01334 476 623 or Catherine Rowe on 01334 474 215.

The Community Council hope the senior citizens of St Andrews will start the festive season of 2011 by joining the celebrations in the Town Hall on 9 December.

Hope to see you there !

For further details visit http://www.standrewscc.net

Lillias Forbes

Hindmaist This hindmaist winter plagues me in my rest I mind him yet as in my bairnie days Yon awesome ghaist Fidgin by the sneck, smoorin winnock an wa Wi a dooncome o’ white drift I hugger doon like I wis bairn agin Like as the de’il hissel Wis come tae deave me in my doited days EttIin tae be lat in – an my puir hert Fair stottin pit-a-pat wi dreid

But noo, lang winters past, I mind fu weel He wis my freen, my eldrich faither Yon braw, reid-chafted winter spreit; First blink o’ morn, a’ ghaisties fleed The hedge new skenklin wi a sprenkle stern Deid leaves sleepin saft i’ the moul ‘Neath a glaister o’ snaw.

(Photo by Flora Selwyn)

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FEATURES Flora Selwyn did a bit of research into the concept of

Community Land Trusts ‘Sustainability’, ‘ownership’ – these words are everywhere, especially when talking about how to build what I’m sure we all desire, sustainable communities. “To deliver a more sustainable society,” Triodos Bank’s Autumn 2011 publication The Colour of Money proclaims, “we need a transition to ownership structures that value more than just profit maximisation.”

How can it work in practice? I was struck by the story of High Bickington in North Devon.

Around the start of the century, this small village was threatened by a large development of “hundreds of homes that would principally appeal to North Devon’s second home and commuter market.” The site for this was a council-owned tenant farm considered surplus to requirements. In 2003, High Bickington Community Property Trust was formed with the purpose of developing the site “in line with the community’s needs, rather than working with a private developer….” David Brown, the Trust’s chairman said, “We wanted to make the village more sustainable by tackling a whole set of issues through a holistic approach.”

To start with, an initial plan was rejected by a Local Public Inquiry in January 2006 (sound familiar?) “At times,” said David Brown, “it felt like the Government was against us.” With perseverance, however, the Trust understood what was needed for a viable two-way process “to get the right packages together.” The upshot by 2023 will be “16 affordable homes and 6 workshops, a new school and community buildings, as well as sporting and recreational facilities including community-managed woodland” – 3000 broad-leaved trees were planted in January 2005 by adult volunteers and local primary-school children.

Across Scotland other community land trusts have sprung up under Community Right to Buy schemes, such as at Comrie in Perthshire, Udny in Aberdeenshire, the Sleat Peninsula on Skye etc. All these reflect the individual needs of each community.

Now, if St Andrews were to acquire ownership of Craigtoun and the Western Approaches, what might we achieve?

Certainly a new school. And why should we not be in charge of the kind of homes and their surroundings that we control, instead of having

a huge estate foisted on us against our better judgement? Funding is available if we look for it in the right places.

For full details of the High Bickington Community Property Trust please visit: http://www.highbickington.org/ This article has kindly been approved by David Brown, Chairman of High Bickington Community Property Trust.

(Photo of new housing going up, courtesy the HBCPT)

Jennifer Reid, Curator of the Preservation Trust Museum

Answers Your Questions Q. I recently purchased a print by the artist Leckie Ewing of a St Andrews Scene. What can you tell me about the artist?

A. James Grant Leckie Ewing was active between roughly 1890 and 1910, although some sources say that he was active as early as 1840.

He is best known for his watercolours and he specialised in views of St Andrews. The St Andrews Preservation Trust has two oil paintings by Ewing, about which we have little information.

Original paintings by Leckie Ewing often fetch thousands of pounds at auction.

Competition Winners • An Evening of Burlesque – Krista Ivanova (Jude Innes of J & G Innes kindly pulled the name out of the hat!)

• Shopping Spree at Viyella, St Andrews – Miss Angela Fowlis Congratulations! And best wishes to you both!

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Q. I have come across some photos of old St Andrews. They feature an upper-class family in the grounds of a large house, and are dated around 1900. On the reverse of these photos they state that they were taken at “Kinnessburn”, but are obviously not taken at the Kinness Burn. Would you be able to shed some light on this for me?

A. Certainly. There is a house called “Kinnessburn” in Kennedy Gardens, which is, misleadingly, not on the Kinness Burn! It dates from around 1862-63 and is attributed to George Rae (1811-1869). George Rae was the first native-born St Andrews citizen to become a qualified architect. He left a legacy of many fine buildings in St Andrews, the most iconic of which is probably “Edgecliffe” on The Scores. Kennedy Gardens was built in the 19th century as a response to the expanding population in St Andrews. Whereas most of the town centre consists of midcentury terraces, Kennedy Gardens and its neighbouring Wardlaw and Hepburn Gardens, mostly consist of free-standing and individually-designed villas. Although the buildings in this area of town vary considerably in design and scale, the majority of them are built out of locally-sourced sandstone. The buildings on Kennedy Gardens may seem small compared to other examples of buildings from the time that can be seen on the Scores, but they are still substantial buildings none the less. More recently, Kinnessburn was the home of the University Student Health Service until this was relocated to St Andrews Health Centre in the 1980s.

FEATURES Michael Buchanan asks

Who Rules The Rulers?

Chapel, St Andrews, was named for George Tyranny, abuse of power, and resistance to Buchanan. By chance, the names of the them, are very much in evidence today, both two ancient bells, Katharine and Elizabeth, at home and abroad. mirror the Duchess of Cambridge’s given The 16th century Scottish international names. humanist, poet and dramatist, George George Buchanan deserves to be more Buchanan (1506-1582), wrote incisively on widely known today, as his ideas are of these themes, among others. At St Leonard’s perennial relevance. In College, St Andrews, he particular, he examined was the star pupil of John George Buchanan humanity’s long-standing Major, the inventor of ‘Great constitutional conundrum: Britain’. He lived through deserves to be more Who rules the rulers? He unstable and violent times, widely known today, also addressed related with martyrs, regicides, questions such as: an abdication, and many as his ideas are of When do leaders exceed political assassinations. perennial relevance their powers? On what Although he survived many grounds can tyranny be dangers of the Reformation, resisted? And: Where does executive power including the Inquisition in Portugal, his books ultimately reside? were variously banned by the Papacy, and For the quincentenary of his birth, in by his former pupil, King James VI & I, and 2006, several, very readable books were burnt at Oxford University. Nevertheless, published, authored by scholars at his pan-European reputation persisted for St Andrews University: well over 200 years after his death, reflected in the magnificent 101ft high obelisk in • R A Mason and M S Smith (2006), his birthplace, Killearn, funded by public George Buchanan’s Law of Kingship, subscription in 1788, and expensively (over Saltire Society £100 K ) restored in 2008 with public and • R Crawford, Ed. (2006), Apollos of the private funds.

North, Polygon (Selected poems of The tenor bell (1 of 6) in the recentlyGeorge Buchanan and Arthur Johnston) enhanced belfry of 550 years-old St Salvator’s

George Buchanan (Reproduced courtesy of the University of St Andrews Museum Collections Unit) ‘Ask not for whom the bell tolls’, it tolls for George Buchanan, a very learned Scotsman and perhaps, the man of the moment.

Tom Foggo

St Andrews is . . .

St Andrews is a clean, sleepy kind of town.

A town of broad streets, trees of green and brown, A flock of shops, filled with colour, and filled with change.

A panoramic scene from the Eden to the Grange.

St Andrews is a town where the air is fresh and free, A peninsula of land extending out to sea, Where fishermen set sail in the cold hours of light From the calm harbour waters to threshing horses white.

St Andrews is a town of colleges and schools, of saintly names – St Salvators and St Rules.

St Leonards, St Regulus are spoken of with feeling, Their old grey walls, a hundred mysteries concealing.

St Andrews is a town of spectres, treading streets, Ghostly apparitions that no-one ever meets, White ladies, headless horsemen, coaches, hanging rope, But these are tales of jesters trying to frighten us. We hope!

St Andrews is a town of skyward reaching spires, Where the curfew bells once rang out, ‘Out with every fire.’

An old square tower looks down upon streets nightly stilled And a cathedral graveyard with memories sadly filled.

St Andrews is a town whose ancient seat of learning Watched Royal seeds of love grow from friendly to yearning.

Just a boy, a girl, joyfully understanding The why’s and wherefore’s of love, so demanding.

St Andrews is a town of old provosts and of scrolls, Massive tracts of hallowed land, each hiding eighteen holes Where common men have trodden in the company of kings, Across the distant fairways, where the veiled skylark sings.

St Andrews is the town where all may wish to live, A small town, a busy town, a place with all to give.

To walk along the lovely streets is nothing else but bliss And if you ever should depart, REMEMBER, St Andrews is...

(Photo by Flora Selwyn)

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FEATURES: REVIEWS Ann Kettle, Hon Senior Lecturer in Medieval History, reviews

James Colquhoun Irvine: St Andrews’ Second Founder

by Julia Melvin Published by John Donald, Edinburgh, 2011. ISBN 978-1-906566-31-9. Price £30.

One of the key figures in the twentiethcentury development of St Andrews – both gown and town – has at last received the splendid biography he deserves. Although the author is Sir James Irvine’s granddaughter, this is much more than a work of (grand) filial piety. His life has been thoroughly researched by a professional archivist and research historian who had the advantage of being able to tap into the memories of the family, close friends, colleagues, and former pupils of her subject. Although not a ‘warts and all’ biography, it is not blind to Irvine’s faults and deals sensitively with such matters as his attitude to women (St Andrews must not be ‘taken for a lightweight liberal arts college for female students’) and the ‘Dundee fiasco’ (his failure to appreciate the desire of Dundee for its own independent university).

James Irvine arrived in St Andrews as an undergraduate in 1895 spending the next fifty-seven years in this ‘dear wee gossipy place’, the last thirty-two of them as principal. Irvine himself said that there were three main facets to his successful career: as scientist, university

administrator, and public figure; St Andrews played a central part in all three facets. As Professor of Chemistry he organised the manufacture here of essential bacteriological medicines during the Great War. As one of the most successful principals in the history of the University, indeed as its ‘second founder’, he transformed the institution into one that provided its staff with modern buildings for teaching and research and its students with halls of residence and a union. As a public figure, his celebrity and skill in public relations brought money, in the form of grants for putting up new buildings, restoring old ones, and glamour, in the form of illustrious visitors and glittering academic processions, to the streets of the town he loved and cherished.

This book will be a source of pleasure and instruction for those interested in the recent history of the town and the university. There is, for example, a fascinating account of drawing room society in St Andrews in the early twentieth century and a particularly sympathetic account of the life of Mabel Irvine, as the wife first of a young professor, then of a celebrated principal. This accomplished biography is beautifully produced, lavishly illustrated with nearly fifty fine photographs, and an enthralling read.

Alistair Lawson reviews

The Tsar’s Doctor

by Mary McGrigor, Published in 2010 by the Birlinn Press, Edinburgh, at £9.99.

There is a well-established tradition of Scots leaving their native shores and making good in the wider world, and that certainly holds true in the case of James Wylie, a Fife laddie from Kincardine. Having studied at Edinburgh University in the 1780s, he followed a trail well-trodden by Scottish medics and found his way to Russia. In doing so, he was treading in the footsteps of a near neighbour of a slightly earlier period, Dr Robert Erskine of Alloa, who became personal physician to Tsar Peter the Great. Wylie at first served as a military doctor and was amazed at the callous attitude to death and injury, whereby the common soldiers were generally left untreated on the battlefield and medical attention given only to the officers. His life’s work became the provision of field hospitals, the training of the necessary staff, and the constructing of the necessary infrastructure. His work first brought him to the attention of Tsar Paul, who appointed him his

personal physician, but the principal chapter of Wylie’s life was spent in the same role with Paul’s successor, Tsar Alexander 1. He it was who led Russia through the Napoleonic Wars, first through the calamitous 1812 retreat to Moscow and then, as the tide swung, through the advance back across Europe and, in 1814, all the way to Paris. Wylie witnessed the wanton carnage (tens of thousands at a time) of the famous battles of the period: Austerlitz, Borodino, Jena, plus many lesser engagements besides. His field hospitals gradually began to show a difference, men were treated, restored to health and, ultimately, to active service. In addition to his military role, there is a parallel thread to his life as a favoured member of court circles and as confidant to Alexander, who was fated to bear the mental agony of directing the tremendous battlefield sacrifices of his subjects. Court intrigues were a fact of life in those days, as were sumptuous banquets and

indulgent life styles, even as the peasants and soldiers starved. Wylie’s position meant that he was close to the controversy surrounding the deaths of both Paul and Alexander, mysteries which remain unresolved. Mary McGrigor takes the reader inside all these scenarios; while the historical authenticity is palpable, she does make a few careless errors, such as ascribing the Earl of Mar’s Jacobite Rising to 1725 instead of 1715, and referring to the Confederate Army in America instead of the Continental Army of the 1780s. These slight irritations aside, I can recommend The Tsar’s Doctor as a good read.

Lorn Macintyre has written another fascinating book,

Pitmilly House: ‘Poltergeist Manor’ Published by Priormuir Press. Available in local bookshops, price £5.

Though demolished in the late 1960s, Pitmilly House near Kingsbarns continues to have a notorious reputation nationally and internationally through a series of inexplicable events which occurred in the house in the 1930s. The occupants were subjected to spontaneous outbreaks of fires, airborne objects, and other destructive occurrences, indicating the presence of a malicious

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poltergeist. The story of Pitmilly involves a gambler disgraced by royalty, and a connection with Harry Price, the flamboyant psychic investigator of Borley Rectory, ‘the most haunted house in England.’ Lorn Macintyre tells the story for the first time in Pitmilly House: ‘Poltergeist Manor,’ using the recollections and photographs of the two families connected with the Fife mansion.

FEATURES: REVIEWS Gonzalo Mazzei, of Grace Note Publications contributed these tributes on the occasion of the publication of

View from the Bench – My Life in Poetry

by Lillias Scott Forbes Grace Note Publications, 2011, ISBN 978-1-907676-04-8. Paperback, price £9.95.

Prof. Alan Riach wrote in this magazine in 2009 that, “Lillias Scott Forbes is one of Scotland’s national treasures, a vivid and bright personality, a nonagenarian whose memory is magnificently stocked with perceptive accounts of a generation almost lost to our contemporaries.... Her memories reach deep places, where colours are luminous and characters flamboyant, encounters truly challenging, and incidents abundant. Her poignant sense of time passing, her own ageing and maturing, is never cloying or sentimental.

Indeed, her impatience with sentimentalism is ruthless. Many of her younger contemporaries could learn from it.’

Tom Hubbard, Professeur invité, CEMRAEtudes écossaises, Université Stendhal de Grenoble 3, 2011-2012, writes in the Preface, “I’m delighted that Lillias Forbes’s poems are at last appearing in a book of some hundred pages. Such a retrospective is well overdue.

As a poet as well as a person, Lillias has been around a long time, as attested by accolades by the likes of Hugh MacDiarmid. When I worked at the Scottish Poetry Library (198492), I was intrigued by a pamphlet dating from the 1960s, but back then we had no contact with the poet herself. What I didn’t know was that she was working away quietly and that the real harvest was yet to come. I first met her in Kirkcaldy in 1998, by which time she was a spirited near-octogenarian, and a contributor to Ian Nimmo White’s new magazine Fife Lines. Friendship developed on both poetic and musical fronts; these days she’s on the phone to my wife Eleanor as much as to me, as they plan together the next recital of songs

by Lillias’s father, Francis George Scott, and her first husband, Erik Chisholm. Lillias’s poetry

possesses many qualities that we’d associate more with music: her Brown’s Piece Barn has the inevitability of a folk-song – Was it Katie I kissed or brown-eyed, lowbrowed Bess? I found myself hearing something not unlike Paddy Kavanagh’s On Raglan Road, and its speaker’s fateful encounter with a dark-haired Dublin lass.

Lillias and I also discovered a common interest in French literature and culture. In her case it goes back to childhood and regular visits to France, which in many ways was a musical spiritual home to her father. Some of the most moving pieces in her book are evocations of the South, and of Paris around the Boul’ Mich’, as she reaches across time and space to that which has been lost. It’s tougher, this, than mere nostalgia. You won’t catch her being sentimental about the Auld Alliance; true, she likes sitting in the ‘French’ cafés of St Andrews, but you get the sense that she’s only too aware it’s not the real thing. Over the past year or so, she’s called me with the words ‘Give me work! I need work!’ – by which she means that she wants me to keep on sending her selections of translatable francophone poetry from my (chaotic) library at home. I say ‘francophone’ because her interests venture beyond the bounds of the Hexagon. She took quickly to the work of the nineteenth-century Swiss poet Alice de Chambrier, who died young, but who had been praised by the ageing Victor Hugo. More recently she’s been tackling Québec’s poète maudit Emile Nelligan. She’s working her way through other texts – I often choose for her poems about music – and her collected translations could well form her next book, unless her complete memoirs get there first! (On which point, check out her essay on

1930s St Andrews cultural life in the online magazine The Pathhead Review).

There’s a reference in one of the poems (here reprinted) to Sully-André Peyre’s literary magazine Marsyas, which published work in both French and Provençal. In the course of my last-ever research days for BOSLIT (the online Bibliography of Scottish Literature in Translation), I was in the Bibliothèque Nationale, attempting to fulfil a promise I’d made to Lillias – to track down a French translation of one of her poems. It had been in Marsyas, sometime in the early 1950s, but she hadn’t been sure of the exact date. I called up all the issues, went through them, and was about to give up when – there it was! The BN’s holding was too fragile for a photocopy, but we were able to obtain one from another library.

So we’ve come a long way from the 1980s when documentation of Lillias’s work was hard to come by, and indeed when it seemed she’d been forgotten by the Scot. Lit. industry. The complete oeuvre, as I say, has still to appear.

In the course of my own learning curve, a revelatory moment came when I was at a songrecital in the cathedral at Millport, and for the first time I heard Erik Chisholm’s settings of her lyrics. These lovely pieces are barely known to us Scots, like so much else in our buried lives.

If a fraction of the money and energy we devote to fretting about football sectarianism could be channelled into our culture … but don’t get me started.

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SHOPS & SERVICES Jan Leenhouts chatted to Flora Selwyn

Coffee Heaven!

Parents who worry when their children seem Belgrade Theatre undecided about their educational direction in Coventry. While should talk to Jan for reassurance. Having lottery money was signed on to study psychology and economics freely available at Amsterdam University, Jan changed to the theatres “were building contractor, because his father was a looking to make some building contractor. In the end, however, he capital investment. changed his mind again and turned his hobby It was quite a nice – cooking, eating, drinking, and meeting people thing to do”. When – into his very successful profession! the money ran out, Jan grew up in Sluis, a small Dutch town Jan found himself in near Bruges. Working in a couple of pubs while St Andrews. Here he he was a student, Jan met his wife, Scottish met Willie Knox at Ruth Morrison from Glasgow, who was living what was then the in Amsterdam at the time. Once their first Inn on North Street. child was born Ruth hankered after Scotland, Together they set up so they went to live in Glasgow. Here, Jan a new company with found work as a consultant with Whitbread in Iain Maclean in order 1987. Whitbread’s Oblomov Pub in Glasgow, to improve the small (there was a pub with that name in Amsterdam coffee shop, Taste, in as well) was the very first pub to open on a North Street.

Sunday afternoon serving coffee; it was very Quintessentially, Taste is a homely nook busy too. The following year Jan and Ruth set to relax in, drink coffee, read the papers, use up their own small café/restaurant, Janssens, your laptop, and meet people. “Coffee is our modelled on what you might find in Amsterdam. business” Jan explains. He sources his coffee It proved a winner, running for 13 years! “We from the best companies, with the best quality. were one of the first places to sell tapas, we Accompaniments are equally high quality. were open seven days a Croissants, for example, week, and at that time we Quintessentially, Taste is are imported from France, had an espresso machine and baked as needed; I a homely nook to relax as well.” The food on offer can attest to their crisp, was eclectic, which was in, drink coffee, read the wholly delicious flavour! new to Glasgow. There fridge is stocked with papers, use your laptop, The were dishes from different panninis, sometimes also parts of Europe, and with freshly-made sushi, and meet people Indonesian food prepared and there are biscuits, by an Indonesian chef who just happened chocolates, also teas. The Fair Trade label is to offer his services! Jan reminded me that prominent. Needless to say students love the Indonesia was once a Dutch colony, so it was place. Jan employs students too, last year they natural for him to serve food from that country. were six different nationalities. But oldies like There followed a stint as a consultant me are equally welcome. In fact, Jan would like for theatres, setting up bars. Jan travelled all more of the older generation to feel at home in over, including to our own Byre, and even the Taste, especially when the students are away.

Nightwear at Elspeth’s of St Andrews

9 Church St St Andrews

Tel: 01334 472494

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Jan Leenhouts By talking to and looking after them Jan is confident that more local people will become regulars. Strangers on their own would find themselves talking to people “within minutes of coming in, be it the news of the day, or what you’re drinking....”

Seven days a week Jan can be found in his North Street eyrie. He loves the poems, messages, stories, pictures that customers stick on the counter and the walls. The windows have notices of shows, or places to rent, anything that might be useful. He leaves well alone, knowing that once the words become illegible someone will stick something new in their place, “That’s one of the nicest things that happens in a small place like this.”

A family man with 3 daughters and a son, all with different interests and doing well, Jan brings his fatherly attributes to the benefit of his wider world. A happy and contented man, he is one to cherish – lucky St Andrews!

SHOPS & SERVICES

Just Ask,

says Elizabeth Calderwood Surfing the Internet, I recently came across the top things to do in your seventies.

Live with purpose, it said. Engage your brain, exercise to feel great and keep good sleeping habits were also on the list. One activity not mentioned, but which I strongly believe should be there if you want to continue to lead a happy, independent life, is ‘learn to ask for help’.

If you are in or approaching your seventies you are in one of the fastest growing age groups within the population. The 75 plus age group is projected to grow by 84% over the period from 2008 – 2033. As a result, the range of support services and care provision is expanding rapidly giving you real choice in terms of how you live your life as you get older.

The key is not to be afraid to plan ahead.

One of the most important moves made by the government has been to set up the direct payment system for care at home. It means you can control how the money due is spent. You can even add to it yourself to get the kind of care or support that you really want or need.

For many people who have had the courage to ask for an assessment for the payments, this scheme has meant that they have been able to make their own choices that allow them to continue to lead a fulfilling life at home rather than or before they need to go into fulltime care.

Another huge help can be to appoint an Attorney by signing a Power of Attorney: someone you trust to take care of everything from care provision through to your finances. This is not about giving up your independence, just ensuring there is always someone acting in your best interests when it comes to paying bills, checking bank statements or even dealing with junk mail and filling in forms when you need them.

Pagan Osborne acts as Attorney for a number of elderly clients and for us it also means being there for a chat if you would like this.

There are a few small, practical steps like this which with a little bit of planning can make dealing with age and infirmity a little less daunting.

It can also mean that you have more time on your hands to concentrate on another item on my internet list which was to ‘love aging’. Researchers found that people with a positive attitude to aging lived up to 7.5 years longer than those with negative attitudes.

What could make you positive about getting older could be relaxation and the peace of mind knowing that your future is all under control.

Elizabeth Calderwood heads up Pagan Osborne’s lateryears service in Fife alongside her colleague, solicitor Harry Greig.

Invite you to visit a hidden treasure in the heart of St Andrews OPEN DAILY ALL YEAR ROUND

WINTER LECTURE PROGRAMMME 1st Tuesday at 7.30pm Chemistry Dept. North Haugh Entry Free – All Welcome

CHRISTMAS PLANT SALES Saturdays 10th & 17th December 10am-12noon

TO JOIN THE FRIENDS AND SUPPORT THE GARDEN CONTACT MEMBERSHIP SECRETARY Tel: 01334 476452 Charity No. SC006432

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SHOPS & SERVICES Hugo D’Bere, your Grizzly Gourmet, dined in

The Glass House, North Street, St Andrews Muffy and I went with two bearish friends to the former Salvation Army hall in North Street, which is now The Glass House. I can report that there was not a tambourine in sight! Although small, the premises are ultra modern, and they even have a very small patio outdoors on the first floor, for the hardy. The interior is largely hard surfaces such as brick, so it can be very noisy, especially with the sound bouncing off the walls when it’s busy.

The restaurant is part of a chain comprising the Grill House and the Dolls

House in St Andrews, also the River House in Stirling. In conjunction with its sister restaurants it offers very good value for money and I think the food was better than the last time we visited a number of years ago. The basic theme is Italian; that is, pizza, pasta, risotto, etc. The extras tend to be on top of meatballs. They were all excellent, served very that, such as duck, lamb, etc and are similar hot and all huge portions. to the extras which you would find in the Dolls Desserts were out of the question, simply House. The restaurants run a loyalty scheme, because of the volume of the other two so you can have a little card courses, but there was a stamped each visit and in reasonable selection. We Although small, the due course gain benefits made do with some coffee premises are ultra modern, such as a free bottle of and tea. The teas are suki and they even have a very house wine. teas, which come in a little small patio outdoors on the Between us we had teapot. They are real leaf three starters. I had the teas, not bags, and are full first floor, for the hardy Antipasto, which was a large of flavour. portion and very tasty. The meat was not at For wine we shared a bottle of Pinot Noir all dry as can sometimes be the case. One of from New Zealand, which was reasonably our number had Bruschetta, and another had priced at £23.95, and there were jugs of tap mussels (all excellent). water available.

For main course I had a risotto with Not really suitable for children in the smoked haddock, mint and peas. The smoked evening, but ideal for everyone else. I haddock could have had a slightly stronger would rate it 8½/10 and note, it does do an flavour, but otherwise it was very good and early evening menu, as do the other sister very filling. The portion was huge. The others restaurants, which is even better value. had vegetarian lasagne, a goat’s cheese and For the four of us, including wine, coffees sun-blushed tomato risotto, and tagliatelli with etc. the bill was £100 including tip.

Karen Hutchence exhorts us to

Buy British-Made I remember when I was younger, when a family member would come back from an overseas trip with small gifts from other countries. It used to be really exciting to have something that was stamped ‘Made in Britain’, or France, or even Fiji. It didn’t really matter whether you liked the gift or not, it was the pure pleasure of having something made in that country – a treasure brought back from someone’s travels.

Nowadays it’s not only rare to buy something made in the country you’re in, but it’s increasingly hard even to buy a product that’s labelled with where it is made. Something some of us may have just observed and not paid much attention to; unless you want to sample a country’s own-grown food, or buy that gift from your travels, then it can be irritating to fly thousands of miles and find the same old stuff.

It’s really starting to hit home, now that our economy is suffering because of forces outside our businesses that miss out on your trade and, in a I’ve been amazed at how control, but we can take control of how and what we spiralling spin off, end up employing fewer staff much the town, and our spend our money on, and whom we support. It may because business is quieter. That staff member sound extreme to pull up the drawbridge and only may one day be your relative, friend, or even surrounding areas, have buy from your local shops employing local people, yourself. to offer in terms of locallysupplying locally-produced or UK-made things, but the are some things you can do to support produced food, vegetables, yourThere reality is that local economy. Why not try them and discover meat, and other products this is one of how easy it really is to change things for the the ways we better? really can ride out the storm • First and foremost – shop locally – save petrol, and local jobs. and help our towns to buzz • Check out where a product is made before you put it in your again. trolley I’ve been amazed at • Ask retailers to supply UK-made. People power works! how much the town, and • Ask food shops if they buy local ingredients for their meals etc, our surrounding areas, have and if not, ask them to, nicely. to offer in terms of locallyproduced food, vegetables, Of course you can’t buy everything that is UK-made simply because we meat, and other products. don’t have the manufacturers in the quantities we should do to provide We have so much around us, everything. You can, however, create such a demand for UK-made and that it’s a real shame to drive -produced goods that the supply of them will follow fast. Remember for miles to go shopping. A though – you have the power, individually, and collectively, to make this waste of petrol if you ask me, country strong again. So do it!

An arm band Karen has made to and it’s no help to the local (Photos by Karen Hutchence) hold a mobile

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SHOPS & SERVICES

Inspirational Gifts This Christmas

and Christmas Crackers Galore!

Books (Adult & Children)

pens, diaries, filofax/flex home & table stationery toys, games & jigsaws for all ages

107 SOUTH STREET, St Andrews, FIFE, KY16 9QW. 01334 472174 WWW.JG-INNES.CO.UK

Spiritual Light Within Victory Memorial Hall, St Mary’s Place, St Andrews.

Spiritual meetings every Saturday.

Doors open 6.15pm.

Service starts 7.00pm.

Second half starts 8.30pm. until 9.15.

Entry £3.

(Optional raffles £1).

We have different visiting mediums every week.

Private readings are available.

Further information: 01334 476 448

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SHOPS & SERVICES Karen Biggar, Regional Administrator and Marketing Assistant, Triodos Bank, asks

Do you know where your money goes?

Do you know what your bank does with the savings you entrust to it? Have you ever wondered?

Recent research shows that 30% of bank customers admit to having no idea what their bank is doing with their money. Amazingly, one in three of us believes their bank just locks the money away in a vault, and only four in 10 of us are aware that our money may be lent out to a range of companies and organisations.

The fact of the matter is that once out of your hands, your money enters a system which is far from transparent. High Street banks’ lending and investment decisions could see your savings helping to fund businesses and organisations that you do not approve of – for example tobacco firms, arms manufacturers, undemocratic regimes, or businesses with appalling records of pollution.

Have you heard of Triodos? A truly transparent bank.

Triodos Bank strongly believes depositors should know how their money is used.

If you save with Triodos you can see for yourself exactly who we support with your hard-earned savings; locally and throughout the UK. That’s transparency. Have a look at www.triodos.co.uk/knowwhereyourmoneygoes and you’ll see that Triodos will only ever use your money in positive ways, supporting people and organisations whose aim is to make the world a better place – socially, culturally, and environmentally. The website pin-points every organisation the sustainable bank finances in the UK. You can search by location, keyword, sector (like organics or fair trade), or click on a map to zoom in to a region.

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Save for a sustainable future Triodos offer a range of personal savings accounts giving you the flexibility to choose to • • • • • Around St Andrews you’ll find organisations from organic food and farming businesses, pioneering renewable energy enterprises, to recycling companies and nature conservation projects. Comrie Croft, an eco hostel and camping site in Perthshire, Fife Harca, a workspace project at Lochgelly, TLS Power Ltd, who operate a hydroelectric power station near Glenrothes, and Community Recycling Network for Scotland in Stirling are all supported by Triodos Bank.

save for a specific goal, or simply earn monthly interest to boost your income, earn tax-free interest on your savings with a competitive Online Cash ISA, start your children saving ethically, make larger, longer-term deposits with higher rates of interest or select the charities you’d like your savings to support.

If you would like to know more about our products and services, or if you would like to open an account you may log on to www.triodos.co.uk/ or call our customer services co-workers in Bristol on 0800 328 2181. Alternatively, to keep up-to-date with news and views from Triodos for free you can subscribe to or download the latest issue of The Colour of Money, our quarterly magazine.

More green, less greed Triodos’ approach is based on the fundamental belief that economic activity can and should have a positive impact on society, the environment, and culture. The bank values people, planet, and profit – taking all three into account in everything they do. Triodos Bank calls this sustainable banking. And it explains why they invest only in, or lend only to, organisations that contribute to a more sustainable society.

Triodos – using money for the greater good Founded in 1980, Triodos has banking operations across Europe, with branches in the UK, the Netherlands, Belgium, Spain, and Germany. Through its microfinance work, providing vital financial services to underserved communities in the developing world, the bank has a global influence. Its UK head office opened in Bristol in 1995 and the bank has had a presence in Scotland since 2004, with an office in Edinburgh opening in 2006.

Personal customers in the UK save more than £300 million with Triodos. In Scotland the figure is £31 million and growing. The money that savers deposit with Triodos enables them to finance 800 inspiring sustainable organisations across the UK and Ireland.

And finally…

Ask your bank how they are using your savings, and ask them whether they lend to or invest in areas you may disagree with, be it arms, polluting companies, tobacco firms, or undemocratic regimes. Show that you are interested, show that you need them to be accountable to you, their savers, on ethical issues, in just the same way as many other big companies now are to their customers. And if they can’t or won’t answer, or you don’t like what you hear, why not make your voice heard and move your savings to an ethical bank that can, and will.

(Photos courtesy Triodos Bank)

SHOPS & SERVICES

Butler & Co

10 Church Street, St Andrews Deli and Wrap Bar

CHRIS TULLOCH

PAINTER & DECORATOR 01334 479756 07841435477 FREE ESTIMATES

BEST WESTERN SCORES HOTEL Festive Dining

CHRISTMAS LUNCHES 5th-24th December from £12.95 CHRISTMAS DINNERS 5th-24th December £21.95 CHRISTMAS PARTY NIGHTS Friday 2nd and Friday 9th £20.95 Saturday 10th and Thursday 15th £24.95 Friday 16th and Saturday 17th £29.95 Thursday 22nd and Friday 23rd £20.95 CHRISTMAS DAY LUNCH £49.00 BOXING DAY BRUNCH £16.95 HOGMANAY DINNER DANCE £64.00 (Limited Availability)

NEW YEAR’S DAY BRUNCH £16.95

hosting

Minick of St Andrews Artisan Butchers Ltd

76 The Scores, St Andrews, KY16 9BB Tel: 01334 472451 Fax: 01334 473947 Email: events@scoreshotel.co.uk Website: www.bw-scoreshotel.co.uk

15

SHOPS & SERVICES Jonnie Adamson

OSCR Eight Years On seek further explanations from a number of Back in 2003 charities where there have been suggestions the Office of the of problems, or inconsistencies in their Scottish Charities financial information with expectations in the Regulator sector. This, although somewhat broad brush (OSCR) was set in approach, has encouraged those involved up, taking over in the running of charities to question the from the Scottish application of the funds they receive and hold.

Charities Office. OSCR was charged with the Autumn should bring about a new objectives of enhancing public confidence in development as OCSR is now in the the charities sector, increasing awareness of process of introducing an online service the responsibilities amongst those running allowing charities to update their details, charities and investigating individual charities file accounts and their annual returns that gave cause for concern. After an initial electronically. Surveys carried out by the period where charities were allowed some regulator have indicated that 60% of charities leeway in getting their affairs in order, OSCR intend to file online. has now collated the This development list of active charities in At the turn of this century will also coincide with Scotland and has made more information this available to everyone a series of high profile about charities being on its website. At the turn scandals were uncovered published on the of this century a series website. To date only of high profile scandals larger charities have had their income and were uncovered. This involved questions expenditure shown. This will apply to smaller over charities which were spending a low charities and will be published along with the proportion of the amount donated on their number of paid employees and the number of ultimate charitable activities, as well as others trustees. Larger charities will also have more where funds were misappropriated, revealing detailed financial information published on the the need for a specialised regulatory body. website and charities that do not complete One aspect of OSCR’s work has been to

The Little Italian Shop Selected as one of the top 50 UK deli’s – Independent Newspaper March 2011

The Little Italian Shop in St Andrews is considered a hidden treasure for lovers of good food and wine. We provide only the very best Italian fayre.

Our Hampers always make a welcome gift for Christmas and can be made to order to suit every budget. This Christmas we will have Panettoni from the renowed Italian maker Loison, Prosecco Valdobbiane from Fos Marei, Tuscan wines from Frescobaldi, Panforte di Siena, Grappe from Trentino and many other special Christmas treats . . . but only while stocks last!

You can also send your family and friends one of our Gift Vouchers.

Open 7 days a week in December.

33 Bell Street, St Andrews, KY16 9UR Telephone +44 (0)1334 478396

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their annual return and accounts in time will have this fact highlighted.

The process of reviewing charities has been well publicised, and generally regarded as successful with a wide range of charities reviewed on a rolling basis. Some charities have had detailed reviews arising from third party complaints and non-compliance. A recent enquiry resulted in identification of a misappropriation of funds by a Trustee resulting in criminal conviction. This gives us some assurance that the regulator is achieving its objectives. This autumn, bringing about the online services as well as a new chief executive, it will be interesting to see what direction the regulator takes in the coming years.

For further information on this, or other matters, please consult: Henderson Black & Co. 149 Market St St Andrews Tel: 01334 472 255

SHOPS & SERVICES David Adie advises. This Article is just intended to give very general advice and is no substitute for taking full and proper advice taking into account your own circumstances.

Separation Agreements

at assets which may have been acquired by Separation Agreements are, generally speaking, a good idea, succession or gift from an older relative, and because otherwise the matrimonial assets can be used up in litigation, pension provisions. Actuarial advice may be resulting in no money for anyone. necessary on the value of a pension, because Despite moaning and groaning and posturing, the majority of couples certain pensions in particular, can be worth separating when their marriage breaks down will sort out their matrimonial a very large amount of money. The part of affairs by some form of agreement, even if they do have a preliminary the pension acquired during the period of the skirmish in Court, and will enter into a Separation Agreement. This can marriage may well be a matrimonial asset. save the expense of litigation, which can certainly eat into matrimonial Pensions enjoyed by members of the armed assets by way of legal fees. services, or police, or the health service, are usually of considerable An Agreement is something which requires the input of a Lawyer and value. It is necessary to establish the value at the date of separation. It should not be undertaken lightly. Each party requires detailed advice to may be necessary to employ an Actuary. In some cases it is necessary to make sure the Agreement is fair to them. If parties have any assets at establish a thing called a CETV, otherwise known as the Cash Equivalent all, they have to establish who gets what on separation. That depends Transfer Value. There are various ways of dealing with a pension. Either on a number of factors. The property acquired by the parties during the one party can keep it and other assets are given to subsistence of a marriage, other than by way of gift or the second party, or in some cases subject to various succession, is called matrimonial property. Once the An Agreement is complicated regulations, the pension can be split into parties have established the extent of the matrimonial something which two bits with the other party starting a new pension property, it should be valued at the relevant date, which scheme with part of the original fund. is usually the date when the parties ceased to live requires the input of a A properly drawn-up Separation Agreement together as man and wife.

Lawyer and should not should also deal with payments for a wife/husband Broadly speaking, the Law provides that for some time after divorce (which may be a minimal matrimonial assets should be split 50/50 subject to a be undertaken lightly period) and also payments ongoing for children under number of exceptions. Very often, if one party (usually 16, or who remain in education. the woman) has the burden of providing a home for her Hopefully, if the parties can agree the finances the divorce can follow and the children she will get more than 50% of the matrimonial assets. through as more or less a formality. If there are children of the marriage Sadly, in many cases, there are more matrimonial debts than assets. Guilt under 16 information is provided to the Court to ensure that the children or fault is not relevant. have been well cared for and adequately provided for.

Matrimonial assets will consist of the obvious things, such as money As always in these articles please take specific legal advice on your in a Bank or Building Society, pensions, a house, furniture and fixtures, situation. In many cases it is important to take specific separate tax a car etc. The value of matrimonial property is the total of these assets, advice on the implications of separation and any financial matters and the less ,of course, the debts secured on these. Other things have to be consequences of a split. taken into account, however, and in particular, one should look carefully

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

We can consult locally

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

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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SHOPS & SERVICES

On his rounds, our Roving 1.

Reporter happily continues to hear of expanding businesses. The latest is Manifesto Classics, 171 South Street, (Tel: 01334 478 886) a new outlet to complement stores in Dunfermline, Dundee, Perth, and Kirkcaldy. Reporter spoke to Manager Scott Duncan, who points out the “quite homely feel” to this first Manifesto Classics shop in the group.

Catering mainly to the high end and casual menswear market, with ladieswear also included, Scott spoke enthusiastically about the wide range of brands on offer; Barbour; Lyle & Scott Heritage; Ralph Lauren; Fred Perry; Canterbury etc. “We’ve had all sorts of ages in,” Scott said, underlining the appeal of classic, original designs. To go with the shirts, jackets, trousers, a whole lot of accompanying accessories are available, including shoes/boots, ties/bow ties, braces, belts, scarves, and so on. There are even some comforting cushions to cheer the home! Prices are competitive, from £60 for a top Canterbury polo, to £35 for a smart bow tie. Ladies can find Australia Luxe boots, and denims by Ralph Lauren.

A welcome addition to the St Andrews retail scene, says Reporter.

Reporter still finds much to cheer him

3. Since it was a while since he had treated himself to a creamily delicious Jahangir Speciality Kurma, Reporter trotted along to the Jahangir Restaurant in South Street (Tel: 01334 470 300). A beaming Zulfi told Reporter that he is celebrating 13 years in St Andrews. Another success story in our town, says Reporter, who is astonished that so far this year he hasn’t heard a single grumble about poor trade, in spite of everything. Zulfi is rightly proud of his success, listing many celebrities he has had the privilege of serving, some of whose names, like Gary Lineker, Andrew Neil, Hazel Irvine, and others are pictured on his wall and listed in the menu. Still among the Top 200 Masterchefs UK, and with other awards, Zulfi offers a fine dining experience in his welcoming restaurant.

Goldfish swim under the floor, there is soft lighting, a warm décor, all adding up to a unique atmosphere. Zulfi is grateful for his success, wishing to say a big ‘thank you’ to all his loyal customers. His brother Wali cooks for every taste, “always experimenting to bring something new.”

Zulfi himself “is never bored, regularly meeting people from all over the world.”

As this magazine wrote in issue 32, the Jahangir is indeed a treasure, and note, it is open for business both Christmas Day and Hogmanay!

*****

2. Rosemary Dewar, experienced journalist and news writer, has added St Andrews Promotions as a PR arm to her successful online St Andrews News & Promotions site, launched in 2009.

An innovative (Photo courtesy service for the Rosemary Dewar) word-shy, Reporter advises those who wish to promote their businesses, but don’t quite know the best way, to contact Rosemary. She can show you how to attract attention with words tailored to fit individual needs. Years of work “in creating and producing advertorials, features, and news stories on all sorts of subjects” have honed Rosemary’s particular skill with words. Also, exploiting St Andrews’ fame in so many spheres could form the basis to “rewrite the story of your business!” As Reporter knows only too well, a business can thrive if it communicates specifically and directly with its intended customers, or clients. If you would like help, you can contact Rosemary: http://standrewspromotions.co.uk

*****

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*****

4. Reporter, it must be said, is unusual, for he’s a vegetarian who buys his milk and free-range eggs at the butcher’s! Now he’s delighted to find that he doesn’t have to walk so far since Stuart Minick has opened a second shop, Minick at Butler & Co. at 10 Church Street. Stuart is keeping the old name as he is continuing the well-established deli line. Interestingly, Butlers was originally the old-established firm of Niven’s the Butcher. With help from the Niven family, Stuart has several prints of the original shop on display.

Lovers of wraps will be relieved to learn they can still find their favourite range of delicious goodies: names such as Big Chief; Madam I’m Adam; Old Blue Eyes; the latest addition being the Butcher’s Beast, a non-vegitarian option; other immaginative ones together with their contents, are all displayed on a huge board. Reporter says it made him hungry just reading them! Then there are the jams, chutneys, cheeses, cooked meats, and all the other deli items. Naturally, there is butcher meat too! Stuart works with local suppliers, such as John Stewart of Langraw (Highland cattle beef), Ian Munro of Ladybank, Gillespie of Windygates (free-range eggs etc) and

many other well kent names. The new shop will be specialising in ‘oven ready’ products, catering for today’s busy people.

Reporter wishes Stuart well, raising a hearty cheer for another thriving St Andrews business.

Stuart Minick and staff

*****

5. The town’s gardeners will be delighted to learn that The Potting Shed has opened in what was once the garden centre at 199 South Street (Tel: 01334 476 716).

Co-owners Joan Baxendale and Susan Copland are both passionate gardeners with a lot of experience. Reporter waylaid Susan one cold and rainy day when he realised the premises were up and running again. “Getting back to our roots – gardening”, is how Susan describes what she and Joan are planning. She knows “the market is there”, so together they will provide what the customer wants, and since both know the area well they can give valuable advice on what will grow where. In addition to gardening products, there will be provision for pets.

A dog owner, Susan understands what treats are missing. There will be plenty of bird food too. Kindling and logs for fires are plentiful, as well as pots of all sizes and shapes. The old flower shop area is being refurbished as the main shop, which will stock gardening gifts, but no more cut flowers. Yet another very welcome enterprise for the town, says Reporter.

*****

6. On a sunny autumn afternoon Eilidh Smith welcomed Reporter to the family farm where she grew up, Morton of Pitmilly, Kingsbarns, by St Andrews, KY16 8QF (tel: 01334 880 466). Morton of Pitmilly is a real gem, enthuses Reporter. A diversified arable farm of 150 acres with sea views, the farm buildings have been transformed into 10 luxury self-catering cottages (soon to be 16).

But that’s not all: Reporter was taken to see the wonderful, brand new indoor tennis court – Fife’s only indoor court! Not

SHOPS & SERVICES

for nothing did Morton of Pitmilly win the Fife Business Awards Best Tourism Business in 2010. The tennis court has a wellequipped gym alongside (with local gym membership offered at £20 per month), and treatment rooms for therapeutic massage, facials, reflexology, manicures etc, which Eilidh rightly calls, “Pampering at Pitmilly”.

These treatments are available to local people, as well as guests. The reception area has home-grown fruits, vegetables, and eggs available for guests, as well as two freezers filled with high-quality ready meals by COOK food, on sale to all. Innovation doesn’t end there, for Eilidh has replaced local information leaflets with an efficient touch screen. Eilidh is a Senior Performance qualified tennis coach with a BSc in Sports Science. Lessons on the indoor court can be arranged for £25 per hour. The court itself can be booked for play throughout the winter for £16 per hour (off peak), or £24 per hour (peak times, ie Saturdays, Sundays, and evenings after 5.00pm). Apart from this there are 5 miles of country walks full of wildlife. Such a short drive from St Andrews, such a wealth of pleasures!

There’s a website too: www.pitmilly.co.uk or you can follow @pitmilly on Twitter, and ‘like’ Morton of Pitmilly on Facebook.

Eilidh receiving Fife Business Awards 2010 (Photos courtesy Eilidh Smith)

*****

7. Reporter cheered when he came across specialist artisan bread, which he had missed for some years. So he was delighted to meet the baker, Murray W Barnett, whose family owns the bakery at 35 Rodger Street, Cellardyke,

by Anstruther (01333 310 205). At the turn of the last century, one of Murray’s ancestors came from the West Coast to be Head Gamekeeper at Balcarres. There he met and married the Head Seamstress.

Murray’s maternal grandfather was a storeman at the Secret Bunker. Murray himself was brought up in Cellardyke, educated at Dundee High School and at the age of 17 started work with his father in the bakery founded by his grandfather (with the money he received at the end of his National Service). Murray’s apprenticeship lasted some 4 years on the job. As he points out there are no courses in bakery in Scotland. Traditional breads at one point in the 1970s had to compete with cheap, tasteless square loaves churned out by industrial processes. To keep afloat, the Barnett’s actually had to buy in these loaves for a while. Slowly, taste improved and traditional baking returned.

Today, with the addition of some 12 to 20 varieties of artisan breads Murray says, “we’ve got busier. I hope it’s not just another fashion, and that people will go on appreciating good food.” There are no artificial ingredients in these loaves.

Flour is sourced from the south of England and Canada, where the warmer climate produces the right amount of gluten. French bread is made with flour imported from France. And the bakery uses a mixture of fresh yeast & self-produced yeast. “we have also recently teamed up with a few small local producers, such as the St Andrews Farmhouse Cheese Co., and Chillilicious, the new Ceres chilli grower, and are in talks with them to produce a new range.” All the pastry for pies and sausage rolls is made in-house. There are traditional cakes and biscuits, now also soup and sandwiches, for “I don’t think you can survive nowadays with

just one variety of produce.” Murray works in the shop along with Mum and Dad, while an uncle does outside catering. Reporter says you can find Barnett’s artisan breads in St Andrews in The Little Italian Shop, Mellis, Mitchells, and The Balgove, or you can enjoy them with a meal at Little Italy.

“The staff of life”, indeed!

8.

* * * * Young * and

enthusiastic Alastair Mcnicol chatted to Reporter about his work.

Ally, as he likes to be known, is a joiner to trade, working around The East Neuk and St Andrews area. Born and brought up in Anstruther, he was educated at Waid Academy, then graduated in Business Studies from University, giving him a solid grounding in life. He has an engaging getup-and-go attitude. As he says, joinery “is not just cutting a piece of wood”. Ally’s day-to-day workings include conversions, renovations, extensions, kitchens, and bathrooms, to name but a few. He also offers damp proofing and timber treatments, being a Kingfisher-approved installer. Ally also looks after several student properties on behalf of landlords and students as part of his property management; “it’s amazing what can go wrong in a house in a short space of time”. Reporter was amused to hear that Ally was once threatened by the police for hammering very late at night!

He has been known to start as early as 6.00am, working to 3.00am next day. Ally is a keen golfer, however trying to fit in time to play is another matter, but as Ally says, “work comes first”. Ally has built up a very successful business, now well established, with no looking back. He also has a large number of contacts and associates within the trade and other trades, always “knowing the man for any part of the building game. No job is too small, and every job is as important as the next“. Ally can be contacted by mobile: 07736 836 996 and email allymcnicol@hotmail.com

*****

19

ORGANISATIONS Maggie Twomey, Events Officer of The Royal Society of Edinburgh, introduces

Autumn Science Masterclasses at the University of St Andrews The Royal Society of Edinburgh, in conjunction Classes kick off on 12 November with with the University of St Andrews, will run a the physics-based class “Bagpipes and series of free Science Electrons”. Led Masterclasses at the

by Bruce Sinclair, Indeed, the RSE has been working University this autumn. students will build with the universities across Scotland Open to S1 and S2 their own electronic on Masterclasses. It is very proud of pupils, these classes bagpipes and learn the strong working relationship it has aim to encourage about the physics of and inspire students music through a set with the University of St Andrews by showing them the of demonstrations. practical side of science, along with the fun and This popular class sets the tone for the the downright crazy! The classes will run over season of Masterclasses – fun, interactive, four consecutive Saturdays and each one will and occasionally quite noisy! focus on a different aspect of Science.

The second class will take a quieter tone with a fun twist on the family favourite ‘Cleudo’.

In this chemistry-focused class run by Dr Sharon Ashbrook, students will take on the role of forensic scientists, solving a mystery with six suspects!

Geoscience is the focus of the third class this autumn, when Ruth Robinson and Stuart Allison will lead, “It’s a Wonderful Life: Fossils and their Stories’. This class will address things such as, what fossils tell us about the history of the Earth; how to use fossils to find out how old rocks are; how environments have changed in the past; and even estimate how fast a T-Rex would have moved.

Biology is the subject of the final Masterclass in this series. The class, titled ‘A Closer Look at Life and Disease’, will take students on an exciting adventure into the world of biology, investigating such things as human cheek and skin cells under the microscope, and exploring disease-causing bacteria and viruses.

The Royal Society of Edinburgh (RSE) and St Andrews University have worked on these classes over a number of years. The RSE is Scotland’s National Academy. Its mission is to advance learning and useful knowledge: by doing so it supports the cultural, economic, and social well-being of Scotland and its people. It is not influenced by causes promoted by others, and is an important source of independent expertise across the whole range of intellectual, business, and public life in Scotland. In delivering its activities the RSE draws upon the strengths and multidisciplinary expertise of over 1500 peer-elected Fellows, based in Scotland and beyond.

The RSE Schools programme delivers free events to schools across the country and the Masterclasses are some of the most wellestablished of the core activities. Indeed, the RSE has been working with the universities across Scotland on Masterclasses. It is very proud of the strong working relationship it has with the University of St Andrews.

Dr Bruce Sinclair, the local co-ordinator from the University of St Andrews said, “We are delighted to welcome interested pupils from the local area to these RSE Masterclasses. We are always impressed by the enthusiasm of these pupils and their thoughtful questions” Masterclasses take place on 4 consecutive Saturdays, from Saturday,12 November – Saturday, 3 December, and will take place again in spring 2012. To apply for a place, or to find out more, please contact Maggie Twomey, RSE Events Officer, Tel: 0131 240 5035 or visit the website: www.royalsoced.org

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organisations President Kathleen Thain, Past President Alan Constable, St Andrews Rotary Club, report on

Rotary Clubs’ Worldwide Fight to End Polio On 24 October, 2011 Rotarians observed both Rotary World Polio Day and the birthday of Dr Jonas Salk, who developed the world’s first safe and effective vaccine against polio.

We celebrate the fact that the world is on the verge of eradicating one of the most feared diseases of the 20th century. As there is no cure, the best protection is prevention. For as little as 50p-worth of vaccine, a child can be protected again this crippling disease for life.

In 2002 Europe was polio free. By 2008 there were only four remaining polio-endemic countries: Afghanistan, India, Nigeria, and Pakistan. We have not had polio in Great Britain for a long time now, but polio is only an air flight away, and so we must fight to eradicate it completely in the world.

When Rotary launched its push to end polio in 1985, the polio virus crippled nearly 1,000 people every day. Since then, Rotary and its partners in the Global Polio Eradication Initiative have reduced the incidence by 99%.

This year India has the lowest number of polio cases in history.

Since l985, Rotary has contributed more than £1 billion and countless volunteer hours to the protection from the disease of more than 2 billion children in 122 countries.

250,000 deaths have been averted and 5 million have been spared from disability.

Despite this tremendous progress, children

administering the oral polio vaccine to young people in the underprivileged areas of the larger towns and cities of that area.

The commitment of Rotarians worldwide demonstrates the extraordinary role civil society can play in improving global health.

In honour of World Polio Day, Rotary Clubs all over the world are doing their part to raise awareness and critically-needed funds to eradicate polio forever. Once eradicated, polio will join smallpox as the only two human diseases ever eradicated, fulfilling Rotary’s promise to create a polio-free world.

Rotary International is a worldwide organisation of business and professional in some developing countries continue to be men and women who volunteer their time infected. This is why Rotary and its partners and talents to serve their communities at must reach every child in some of the most home and overseas. It is the largest and most challenging regions of the world with the influential international oral polio vaccine. But the humanitarian service greatest challenge to the polio On 24 October, 2011 organisation in the world, eradication effort is a funding Rotarians observed with 1.2 million members in shortage. Rotary’s most recent both Rotary World Polio more than 200 countries. campaign is to match a £235 Participating in international million challenge grant from Day and the birthday service projects allows the Bill and Melinda Gates of Dr Jonas Salk, who members to connect with Foundation with £133 million developed the world’s people from around the by 30 June 2012; Rotary is first safe and effective world, promoting crossclose to reaching its goal, with cultural understanding more than £120 million raised vaccine against polio and peace through its to date. educational and humanitarian projects.

The Rotary Club of St Andrews has so Rotary addresses the underlying causes of far raised £10,500 for this project, with the social instability and conflict, such as hunger, help of many people who have supported poverty, disease, and illiteracy. £1 helps to their fundraising efforts. Particular thanks vaccinate 5 children against polio. must go to St Leonards Junior School and Madras College and its associated primary schools, who enthusiastically raised £9,000 If you wish to make a contribution to this through their involvement in the ‘Purple Pinkie’ international humanitarian initiative, please activities during 2010. contact any member of St Andrews Rotary The St Andrews Rotary Clubs continue to Club: www.standrewsrotary.org For further raise money for this polio eradication scheme. information visit: www.polioeradiction.org In February 2012 Alan and Irene Constable and Sylvia Donaldson are planning to travel to (Photos courtesy Rotary) Uttar Pradesh in India, to take part in National Immunisation Day. They will spend three days

Foot Clinic For Total Foot Care from an HPC Registered Podiatry Team Advice and Treatment in all areas of Podiatry/Chiropody and Biomechanics Foot Clinics: 43a Argyle Street St Andrews KY16 9BX

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21

TOWN & GOWN Elizabeth Traill

An Alumna Remembers Dr Kathleen MacIver (1921-2011)

Dr Kay MacIver (Courtesy of University of St Andrews Library)

Dr MacIver was certainly a formative influence in my life when I was at the University, and we kept in contact down the years. I am so glad that I wrote to her last Christmas with real appreciation of her teaching and friendship since I first knew her in 1957. That year, she welcomed me as a shy bejantine with an interest in studying Geography. The Department was a small one and so we students had more personal contact with our lecturers than many of our fellows. Dr MacIver was an active Head of Department, lecturing and leading seminars and field trips.

She used interactive methods, causing us to think hard and to express what we knew before the class. She took an interest in us and I remember her sympathy when my grandmother died and the burial was in St Andrews. She had a passion for Uganda, mentioning that country

many times in her lectures, with specialist knowledge gleaned during her years in the Colonial Administrative Service. This built on my own early fascination with that country, which began at school. When the time came for me to do research for a thesis at MA Honours level, she encouraged me to take the opportunity of contacts with missionaries working in Teso District, Eastern Uganda, to go there during the long vacation in 1961. She arranged academic support through Professor Langlands and Dr McMaster at Makerere University. She helped me by robust comments to bring the thesis up to the required standard. As students we were more than a little in awe of her, but we knew that she had a very kind heart and we trusted her advice.

I shall always remember her with deep affection and gratitude.

Jamie Peters, of The University of St Andrews

At The United Nations Climate Change Talks This December the world’s leaders and negotiators will get together in cold environment. That is one reason I Durban, South Africa, to continue global efforts to find a global solution think it is so great that the world’s youth to climate change at an international level. These talks, which are known are represented at the UN. We are trying as the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change to make sure that nations see that young (UNFCCC) have become (in)famous over the years, especially since people really care about the issue and that Copenhagen in 2009, where there was a real sense of disappointment no decisions are taken about us without us. and frustration over the slow progress on climate change at an In June this year, I went to the initial talks in Bonn, Germany, where international level. This year I will be going, and I hope to represent I worked with youth from all around the world to represent what we call young people in St Andrews and in the UK. ‘public society’ in the talks. It was good to work with so many people, I am going with the United Kingdom Youth Climate Coalition holding meetings with negotiators and UN leaders who listened to our (UKYCC), a youth organisation that I applied to join as part of their views and engaged in dialogue with us. I got the opportunity to deliver an delegation way back in April. A large number of people intervention, a short speech, to the UN at the closing applied to volunteer, so I was delighted to be selected, of the talks. It was an incredible experience, very A large number of people and I am the only Scottish representative. refreshing to hear a Scottish accent at the UN! applied to volunteer, so Currently, I work in St Andrews as part of a great The whole experience and the most important I was delighted to be grassroots movement called Transition University of part is just coming up in Durban. I have found it St Andrews (based in North Street, if anyone wants to truly inspiring, but also really exhausting at times. selected, and I am the only get involved!). So to contrast working with communities A lot of people I speak to think the talks are merely Scottish representative doing grassroots work with international climate change a means of finding a ‘fair, legal, and binding’ deal, talks at the highest level has been really interesting. but after going along to the talks I now appreciate Working with the community in St Andrews makes things much more how important they are, and how important it is that we can make them tangible and so much more fun to get involved in. The UN climate accessible and participatory for everyone. As individuals in our local change talks can be really disconnected from people, seeming a really communities it is vital that we all keep our minds on how things develop at an international level.

The whole trip is self-funded (as well as raising money for a Kenyan delegation to attend). This has been one of the toughest parts of the experience (visit http://un.ukycc.org/get-involved/donate if you wish to donate to the delegation). Fitting this into my work with Transition University of St Andrews has been very demanding, but it will be well worth the hard work I am sure. I feel so privileged to have been selected to represent the youth of the UK. It is vital that world leaders recognize how important this issue is to us. I, along with the rest of our delegation, will be blogging and keeping everyone back home up-todate on how the talks progress. Please visit UKYCC’s website. I would also thoroughly recommend any community members in St Andrews to consider getting involved in the UKYCC next year. Follow Youth at UN here – http://un.ukycc.org/ Get involved in climate change in St Andrews here – www.st-andrews.ac.uk/transition (Photos courtesy Jamie)

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TOWN & GOWN Dr Chris Lusk, Director of Student Services, University of St Andrews

Student Services As a “toonie” myself, I am frequently told by local friends that their image of a St Andrews student is one of privilege; intelligent, fit, predominantly wealthy young people, all with supportive parents and an assured future career. It would be wrong to think there aren’t a few in this category, however, it is a false image for the majority of our students.

St Andrews has developed into a modern, international institution at the cutting edge of research and learning. It believes, without compromise, in excellence. However, if it is going to produce excellent students – the best in the land – then it has to do so without discrimination of race, disability, socio-economic background. We want the best minds, and we have to find a way of bringing them in and helping them to succeed, irrespective of how much they can pay, how difficult it is for them to access a building, whether they come from Crail, or Outer Mongolia. This isn’t an empty promise – it is a reality in action.

Nobody wants to teach clones.

The average student today will have to find over £600 per month to live in St Andrews. This figure disregards tuition fees, which can mount into the many thousands per annum for international students. Hundreds of students will register a disability with us. Many, as in any institution, will not have the support of their family. A huge proportion will travel, at a very young age, across the world to attend here (93% of our students live away from home). Most will not previously have lived independently. They are learning how to be a tenant, how to budget, cook, how to look after a house. Some are homesick, many do not speak English as a first language (albeit much more proficient than we are at speaking their language!) and the vast majority are, simultaneously, going through the same trials and challenges that our own young people do in crossing into adulthood.

Of those that aren’t – mature students – many with families and battling through winter conditions and Fife roads, commute Project Zambia sends a container of to the University from as equipment and clothes to Lusaka far afield as Edinburgh and Aberdeenshire. And if this diverse group of people is going to face financial hardship, hanging over them in 2011 is the uncertain employment opportunities allowing them to pay back their investment at the end. It is natural, normal, and right that we help them.

In response, the The whole Student Services team University has developed a large team of people genuinely committed to helping these young people develop the skills they need to work their way through to independent living and success in their studies. Developed in 2006, Student Services is now a night-and-day service working on the frontline with students, critically, helping them learn survival strategies for life along the way. Alongside general welfare advising and counselling, the department offers specialist advising teams, nighttime residential support, and all operate through the front door of an information service called “The ASC” (The Advice and Support Centre) based at 79 North Street, where students, parents, staff, and members of the public, can present with any problem they have with University business.

Even before entry, the International team faces the challenging task of sorting out students’ visas, study and work permits, and also of trying to assist the large number of students facing cultural shocks adjusting to our ways. On entry, Maggie Winton interviews all students who “don’t know the right place to go, but…..help”. Volunteer students help Maggie run proactive befriending services for the students.

The Disability team supports the hundreds of students managing their studies with the challenge of physical and learning disabilities; they put in place study aids, rearrange timetables, and ensure physical access to classes. The University’s AFS (Alternative Format Suite), actively recruits approximately 50 local volunteering townspeople to read books on tape for severely dyslexic, sight-impaired, or blind students.

A Money Adviser works with the students to understand budgeting, face unexpected bills, apply for hardship funds. When trying to manage their way through the complex academic protocols, an Academic Adviser explains the academic processes. A team of Counsellors works alongside the students throughout the year to help with the everyday, usual problems of simply living. The students are not exempt from physical illness, mental illness, emotional problems. Unfortunately some suffer from chronic problems, depression, eating disorders, anxiety. If parents die, family is many miles away. Relationships, familial and romantic, can break down. The Counsellors work tirelessly to help students to develop the skills they need to cope while maintaining their study course.

At night, a team of over 55 Wardens lives throughout the range of halls of residence (the University has the highest proportion of in-house managed accommodation of any institution in the UK). These people do not just give out keys – they build the community of students there.

They organise weekly quizzes, academic nights, balls. From the moment they welcome the students to their hall, they are on a duty rota to ensure that there is always someone there for the health and welfare crises, when a doctor is called, to maintain control, and to oversee discipline.

Staff at the Discipline is maintained ASC front line in a format consistent with training for appropriate behaviour and taking responsibility for individual actions.

Nobody is whipped, nobody is humiliated.

These are young people learning, but they are not allowed to escape from the consequences of their actions.

Although we are very The front line service lucky in that serious offences are extremely rare, even the resultant re-offending rate of trivial cases has steadily declined since this approach was adopted in 2006.

Proactive development work sees the unit running “Mental Wealth Wednesdays” – a promotion to adopt a mentally healthy lifestyle.

“Discovering Scotland” for international students, and work with local groups, sees the students working tirelessly for charity and, in conjunction with other University units, running “Project Zambia”, supporting, teaching, and equipping the street children of Lusaka, and in distant bush villages.

I have met many who are unaware of the University’s commitment to its students’ welfare. However we need the town to help us provide the necessary nurturing environment to develop the very impressive potential of these people, an environment that has a fundamental tolerance to welcoming our differences at its core.

(Photos courtesy Chris Lusk)

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TOWN & GOWN From Alison Hadfield, Learning & Access Curator, MUSA

Celebrating Five Years of Fife’s Young Artist Competition In Spring 2007, as building got underway on the portraits, including works by Wilkie, Lely, and Scores for MUSA (Museum of the University of Raeburn, are displayed.

St Andrews), another exciting development took In total, 588 pupils participated in workshops place behind the scenes which has enabled and 421 entries were received from young artists more than 2,500 local schoolchildren to enjoy aged between three and fourteen. Winners were the University’s historic collections. This was the judged according to originality, confidence, impact, creation of the MUSA Young Artist Award, an and a clear link to the collections on display. The annual art competition for schoolchildren in Fife. panel of judges were impressed by the especially Established with the generous support of high standard of the works and awarded special the Vettriano Trust, the MUSA Young Artist merits to 20 entries, as well as first, second, and Award aims to recognise and support creativity third prizes in each category. in schools, and to promote learning, inspiration The winning artworks were displayed and excellence in art and design. It is open to at the Gateway Galleries from mid-June to all schools and special education units in Fife, the end of August and can still be viewed from nursery age to early secondary level. on the competition website: Every year the competition has a www.st-andrews.ac.uk/musa/art-competition different theme which links to both the Deborah Hart, a pupil at Greyfriars School, University’s collections and the Curriculum won second prize in the Primary 6-7 category for for Excellence. Past topics have included her drawing based on a marble bust of Laura, a ‘Wild Things’ (natural history), ‘The Garden copy of a work by Antonio Canova. Deborah said, of Secrets’ (botany and ecology), ‘Close “I am very proud of having won a prize, especially Up – Far Away’ (scientific instruments and a medal, and am very pleased that my drawing exploration) and ‘My MUSA’ (a celebration will be appreciated by lots of different people of the new museum). who visit the Young Artist With the University’s long exhibition. It is also good Every year the competition tradition of commissioning because my whole family has a different theme and collecting portraits, can see it on the website!”

‘Making Faces’ was an Since the competition which links to both the obvious topic for 2011. was established in 2007, University’s collections In preparation for the it has attracted growing competition, curators numbers of participants and the Curriculum for trawled through the from all corners of Fife, Excellence collections for artworks many of whom are firstdepicting the human time visitors to MUSA. figure, and selected some fascinating Feedback from teachers, pupils and parents examples, from a 5,000 year-old Cypriot has been consistently positive, showing that the figurine, to John Bellany’s 1997 watercolour competition is very much valued in the community. painting ‘Woman of the North Sea’. Pupils However, 2011 is the concluding year of the were encouraged to explore these artworks funding agreement with the Vettriano Trust: the at MUSA, or on the competition website, University is now looking for a new sponsor to and create a portrait of their own in any 2D take this highly successful project to an even or 3D medium. They approached the task with wider audience. imagination and flare – and some unusual Looking back at the achievements over the materials, including fruit and vegetables! past five years Alison Hadfield, the principle To help pupils develop ideas for their organiser of the MUSA Young Artist Award, said, artworks schools were invited to take part in “We are extremely grateful for the support of the free educational workshops at MUSA, led by the Vettriano Trust. It has helped us form new and University’s friendly and enthusiastic Learning & lasting relationships with schools and nurseries Access staff. Here, children discovered through from all parts of Fife and it is great to see children a bit of detective work that portraits can tell great enjoying themselves at MUSA.” stories; every last detail from choice of clothes to Ian Carradice, Director of the University’s facial expression and posture reveals something Museum Collections Unit, added, “The about the sitter’s identity. To find out how it might competition funding has enabled us to provide a feel to pose for a portrait pupils dressed up transport subsidy to schools who would otherwise and stepped into a giant picture frame, whilst struggle to finance trips to the museum, helping classmates tried to guess their character or us tackle issues of social exclusion.” profession. Then it was time to learn some practical techniques; from the proportions of If you would like more information about the face to pastel drawing and clay modelling. the 2011 competition, or you are interested At secondary level, a Study Day provided in supporting this project, please contact a unique opportunity for pupils to learn from Alison Hadfield, Learning & Access professional artists Elaine Shemilt and Curator, Museum Collections Unit, Sarah McLeod, who provided insights into University of St Andrews, Tel: 01334 461 their working practices and practical tips for 683 Email: alh10@st-andrews.ac.uk creating portraits. This hugely popular event took place in Parliament Hall and the Senate (Photos courtesy MUSA) Room, where some of the University’s finest

24

TOWN & GOWN The postie brought a delightful surprise – a letter by John Rankin, now living in St Andrews, answering Alan Robertson’s query about

The Mock Funeral “I remember the mock funeral of the lost St Andrews Day holiday – in fact I helped to organise it. Unfortunately, I appeared prominently in a photograph in the Dundee Courier, an incident which was not lost on Malcolm Knox! Some years later I applied for a post in the University, for which he was one of the selection board. Unsurprisingly I was not successful!

I can identify two individuals in the photograph. The pall bearer in the front, left, was Robin Wilson, with whom I shared a room in Sallies in my first year. (Unluckily for us, our room was directly above the main door which was always locked at midnight. Our slumbers were often

interrupted by the rattle of stones against our window, launched by latenight revellers demanding to be let in).

The kilted pall-bearer on the left of the coffin was Jimmie Dow, a member of the University golf team of which I was captain in 1957.

Tragically, he was electrocuted in his home a few days after his marriage.

The kilted figure behind Jimmy was, I think, me, although I cannot be certain.

What fun we had taking the mickey out of Malcolm Knox – he laid himself open to it, and deserved it!”

A little later, the magazine was contacted by Anne Lightwood, Jimmie Dow’s elder sister, who recalled that Jimmie, a student of Ronald Cant and Annie Dunlop, graduated at St Andrews in Medieval History. He then worked as editor at Collins the publisher, in Glasgow. A self-taught linguist, he spoke French, German, and Swedish. Awarded a Research Fellowship by Glasgow University, Jimmie studied the history of Scottish mercenaries in European armies – sometimes called, ‘the wild geese of Scotland’. He was also working on a PhD thesis studying Scottish trade with medieval Sweden, which required learning medieval Swedish in order to read the archives. From an early age Jimmie was an award-winning golfer, and a member of the University team during his time in St Andrews. Proudly Scottish, he often wore the kilt. Married to Susan Smith, an alumna of St Leonards School in St Andrews, Jimmie died in a tragic accident a fortnight after their wedding.

Looking again at the photograph of the mock funeral, Anne believes one of the other figures might be that of John Nott.

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25

events St Andrews in Focus recently bumped into David Mundell, who managed to provide an exclusive interview with the highly acclaimed artist, songwriter, producer, and author

Rodney Crowell, and guitarist John Jorgenson Rodney Crowell and Grammy award-winning guitarist John Jorgenson apparently first met in the mid ‘80s, when Jorgenson began going to Nashville with the Desert Rose Band. The two became good friends, and in the early ‘90s toured together as a duo. According to all who were fortunate enough to see one of the shows it was a magical combination, with Crowell’s exquisitely written songs a perfect canvas for Jorgenson’s virtuosic musicianship.

In 2001 the pair planned to revive the duo act for a UK tour, but Jorgenson, who had recently finished a 6-year stint with Elton John, was called back to rejoin Elton to fill in for another band member who had a family emergency, so it was never to be until now!

Finally in 2011 they will celebrate the 20th Anniversary of that original duo tour with 4 shows in Scotland, 2 at the award-winning intimate venue, The Inn at Lathones, in Largoward, Fife. These 2 shows will be the only chance to see these 2 extraordinary artists together, and Rodney Crowell’s only appearances in Scotland this year. We’re assured you don’t want to miss the poetic genius and musical empathy that we’re told will stir your soul and fill your heart!

John, who was in Fife last year with his Jazz band, and is due to stay on with his electric band to do one more gig at Lathones after these unique concerts said, “ I adore the Fife region, especially St Andrews, where I was fortunate enough to dine at The R&A a couple of years ago. So it’s a welcome return. Rodney and myself will enjoy the close environment that makes The Inn at Lathones a truly unique venue, and we always look forward to meeting the Fans. Yes you can expect some of Rodney’s Greatest Hits that Artists Willie Nelson (Till I gain control again), Waylon Jennings (Ain’t living long like this), and Bob Seger (Shame on the Moon), made Famous. It’s going to be a busy few days, but I definitely will make time to visit Anstruther and sample some of those fantastic Fish & Chips!”

Dad’s Army The St Andrews Play Club are to stage two episodes from the classic BBC TV comedy series ‘Dad’s Army’ as their next production at the Byre theatre between 8th and 12th November this year.

The production features two of the most popular episodes from the series ‘The Deadly Attachment’ and ‘Mum’s Army’.

Rehearsals have now been underway since the middle of August with the large cast of wellknown Play Club members and some new faces who have joined as a result of a very successful local advertising campaign. Some of the new members, such as Rebecca Anderson, Lawrence Scott and David Paul will be known to Byre audiences from their performances as part of the Byre Youth Theatre and in recent Byre Pantos.

Others such as David Lee need no introduction.

In addition to the two episodes, the audience will be able to enjoy a good old fashioned sing-along to some of the popular songs from the era.

Who will play Captain Mainwaring? Who gets to be Jonesy? Who gets to say “we’re doomed, we’re a’ doomed”?

To find out, get along to the Byre between 8th and 12th November (matinee on 12th). You’ll have to move fast though as this is already shaping up to be a very popular production. Tickets are on sale from the Byre Theatre Box Office.

For details, or ticketing of these gigs, and others, phone: 01334 840 494, web: www.mundellmusic.com e-mail: Lathones@theinn.co.uk (Photos courtesy Inn at Lathones)

Stop Press From Ben McLeod, manager of the Dolls House Restaurant, “I am running the New York marathon on Sunday 6th November and am looking to raise money for Sue Ryder. (This will be my third marathon, having run London twice (2009 and 2011) and follows a further 5 half marathons this year – Alloa, Angus, Dundee, Islay, and most recently, the Great North Run).

If people wish to support me/Sue Ryder through sponsorship, they can do so in one of three ways: 1. Leave a donation at either the Doll’s, Grill, or Glass House restaurants 2. Leave a donation at the Sue Ryder shop next to Pizza Express 3. Donate online at www.virginmoneygiving.com/BenMcLeod

26

EVENTS

Selected Events Every Wednesday in term-time – 1.15pm. Younger Hall, North Street. Lunchtime concert. Ticket £2 at the door, (free for members of the Music Centre). Contact the Music Centre: 01334 462 226, music@st-andrews.ac.uk End Oct to Sunday, 20 November – 10.30am-4.00pm. St Andrews Museum, Kinburn Park. A collaborative exhibition between Fife Contemporary Art & Craft, St Andrews, and the Oriel Davies Gallery, Newtown, Wales. Free. Contact: 01334 474 610.

Web: www.fcac.co.uk Friday, 4 November – 9.00pm.The Inn at Lathones, Largoward.

Scottish musician, guitarist, singer, songwriter Dick Gaughan.

Tickets, £14. Contact: 01334 840 494. www.mundellmusic.com Saturday, 5 November – 9.00am-1.00pm. Argyle Street, St Andrews. Farmers’ Market.

Contact: info@fifefarmersmarket.co.uk – 10.30am-4.00pm. St Andrews Museum, Kinburn Park.

‘Placement’ exhibition symposium. Fife Contemporary Art & Craft. Talks by artists & discussion. Free, but booking required.

Contact: 01334 474 610.

Wednesday, 9 November – 5.30pm. Younger Hall, North Street. Scottish Chamber Orchestra Early Evening Concert. Alison Mitchell (flute), Maximiliano Martin (clarinet) and Scott Mitchell (piano) Includes Tarantella by Saint-Saëns. Contact the Music Centre: 01334 462 226, music@st-andrews.ac.uk – 7.30pm. Town Hall, Queen’s Gardens. Where to find shags in winter – talk by Hannah Grist for the Fife Branch of the Ornithological Society. Contact: Karen Dick, 01334 848 278.

Thursday, 10 November – 8.00pm. School 1 St Salvators Quad, North Street. Imaging Past Landscapes: Environmental Reconstruction and Rock Art in the Kilmartin area – a talk by Dr Richard Tipping, University of Stirling, for St Andrews University Archaeological Society.

Friday, 11 November – 6.00pm. The Guid Cheese Shop, Burghers Close, South Street. Oh So Sweet! Life is short, so eat dessert first!

Discover cheeses paired with after-dinner drinks, including wines, beers, and digestifs. £20 per person. Contact: 01334 477 355.

Saturday, 12 November – 9.00pm. The Inn at Lathones, Largoward.

Classic Clapton – “The world’s No 1 Eric Clapton Tribute Band”.

Tickets £25. Contact: 01334 840 494, www.mundellmusic.com Wednesday, 16 November – 8.00pm. St Leonards Music School, the Pends. The Edinburgh String Quartet . Music by Mozart; Shostakovich; Beethoven. Season tickets, £49. Tickets at the door, £11 Concessions, £10 Students, £3 Children, £2. Contact: www.saint-andrews.co.uk/smc Thursday, 17 November – 8.00pm. Younger Hall, North Street.

Jeremy Huw Williams (baritone) and Tom Wilkinson (piano).

Schumann Dichterliebe and music by Paul Mealor. Contact the Music Centre: 01334 462 226, music@st-andrews.ac.uk Saturday, 19 November – 10.00am – 5.00pm. Victory Memorial Hall, St Mary’s Place. Pamela Randal, Solo Art Exhibition. Free. Contact: pamelarandal@hotmail.com – 7.30pm. Holy Trinity Church, St Andrews.The Vosrenije Choir of St Petersburg, directed by Maruk Jurij make their annual visit here. A programme of Russian music. Tickets from the Music Centre, or at the door. Contact: 01382 540 031.

Saturday, 3 December – 9.00am-1.00pm. Argyle Street, St Andrews. Farmers’ Market.

Contact: info@fifefarmersmarket.co.uk – 10.00-11.30am. Supper Room, Town Hall. 1st St Andrews Boys Brigade Company, Coffee morning with Christmas flavour & raffle. Tickets £1 for adults, children free.

– 10.00-12 noon. St Andrews Episcopal Church, Queen’s Terrace, St Andrews. Coffee Morning. Entry, £1 (includes coffee/biscuits). Contact: 01334 472 063.

– 2.30pm. DUNDEE, Glasite Hall, St Andrews Church Hall Complex, King Street. Jutland Peter Hart, Oral Historian, The Imperial War Museum. The Western Front Association.

Free, but donations welcomed. Contact: Bob Paterson, 01382 775 000, email: wfatayside@lochnagar.fr – 7.30pm. Holy Trinity Church, St Andrews. Come and sing Messiah, conductor Gillian Craig. A warm invitation to all to join this popular event (reserve your place in advance if possible, or just turn up on the day!). Rehearsals during the day at 10.30am-1.00pm and 2.30-5.00pm. £10 fee includes loan of music where necessary, tea and coffee, and donation to ‘The Friends of Holy Trinity’ for works within the church. Audience tickets £5 available at the door. Contact: 01334 462 226.

Sunday, 4 December – 4.00pm. St Leonards Music School, The Pends. Clarion 3 – piano, clarinet, and bassoon. Music by Beethoven; Hurlstone; Glinka; Bedford; Perkins (arrgement of Three Hebridean Melodies); Poulenc; Britten. Season tickets, £49. Tickets at the door, £11 Concessions, £10 Students, £3 Children, £2. Contact: www.saint-andrews.co.uk/smc Wednesday, 7 December – 7.30pm Younger Hall, North Street.

Scottish Chamber Orchestra. Conductor, Enrique Mazzola.

Violin, Jennifer Pike. Music by Sibelius, Hallgrímsson (World Premiere concerto for violin), Grieg. Pre-concert talk for ticket holders at 6.30pm. Contact the Music Centre: 01334 462 226, music@st-andrews.ac.uk Thursday, 8 December – 8.00pm. School 1 St Salvators Quad, North Street. Knossos and Crete in the Roman Empire – a talk by Dr Rebecca Sweetman (St Andrews University) for the University Archaeological Society.

Friday, 9 December – 7.30pm. Hope Park Church, St Mary’s Place, St Andrews. Bruce Davies performs Songs for the Seasons. Tickets £7 (includes wine & nibbles) Tuesdays & Thursdays at the Church’s Roundabout Café, Tourist Office in Market St. or at the door. Contact: FionaandBill@aol.com Saturday, 10 December – 7.30pm Younger Hall, North Street.

Handel’s ‘Samson’, St Andrews Chorus & Heisenberg Ensemble. Contact: 01334 462 226, music@st-andrews.ac.uk Monday, 12 December – 7.30pm. The Supper Room, St Andrews Town Hall. Dumbarnie Links: a Microcosm of Life on Earth, an illustrated talk by Gordon Corbet for the Scottish Wildlife Trust. Followed by refreshments & mince pies. Contact: Jack Matthews, 01577 861 066.

Thursday, 15 December – 8.00pm. Younger Hall, North Street. St Andrews Chamber Orchestra, conductor, Michael Downes with Sophie Vroegop (viola). Music by Weill, Bruch, Beethoven. Contact the Music Centre: 01334 462 226, music@st-andrews.ac.uk

Wednesday, 23 November – 9.00pm.The Inn at Lathones, Largoward. Keith James – The songs of Leonard Cohen.

Tickets, £15. Contact: 01334 840 494, www.mundellmusic.com Thursday, 24 November – 9.00pm.The Inn at Lathones, Largoward. Motives featuring Matt Taylor. Tickets, £18.

Contact: 01334 840 494, www.mundellmusic.com Friday, 25 November – 6.00pm. The Guid Cheese Shop, Burghers Close, South Street. Alpine Cheeses. Ring in the delectable Vacherin Mont D’Or season and warm up with some of the most delicious offerings from the Alps. £20 per person.

Contact: 01334 477 355.

27

OUT & ABOUT Rosalind Garton & Richard Batchelor take you on a tour of the

Building Stones of St Andrews If you were to ask new visitors to St Andrews and effort of transporting it by horse and cart what their most vivid impression was of the it was obviously advantageous to use stone town, the answer would often be “the stone”. from as near as possible to the construction As you watch them wandering around the site. The main sources of St Andrews’ building town’s ancient streets, stone in those days you see their cameras were the local sea While its fortunes have trained on to the West cliffs and a number of fluctuated greatly over time, for Port, St Salvator’s sandstone quarries much of its history St Andrews Chapel, or the Cathedral around Strathkinness has enjoyed high status and the – all made of stone. And, (at Nydie) and for millions of people who Kemback. There is patronage of rich people have not even visited written evidence that St Andrews, if you showed them a picture of Nydie quarries were supplying stone to the the Hamilton Grand, (formerly Hamilton Hall) monks of Balmerino Abbey in the early 13th they would instantly tell you where it was. century.

They’ve seen it on television during the Open For the next 500 years St Andrews’ Golf Championship! What they have noticed is buildings were made of local sandstone of the unmistakable colour of the red sandstone Carboniferous age – about 330 million years of that iconic building.

The visibility of stonework in St Andrews has a lot to do with its relative prosperity over the centuries. While its fortunes have fluctuated greatly over time, for much of its history St Andrews has enjoyed high status and the patronage of rich people. This is reflected in the excellence of its ancient buildings. Take St Rule’s Tower, for example.

Although probably in existence by the 1070s, its remarkably tall tower is built to a standard of stonemasonry not seen anywhere else in buildings of the time, and seldom seen elsewhere in Scotland in buildings of such great age. It is built in a style known as “ashlar”, with the stones laid in level courses throughout the building (Fig 1). Even the walls of the “new” cathedral, consecrated in 1318, have masonry which is greatly inferior to that of St Rule’s. Clearly the little church was a prestigious structure in its time.

While the source of St Rule’s stone remains unclear, more is known about that of the Cathedral (Fig 2). Records show that stone was brought from Strathkinness for at least part of the building, and piddock shell holes drilled in some of the stone (Fig 3) shows that the beaches were robbed to provide stone. At the west entrance of the Cathedral black volcanic rock was also used to create the foundations (Fig 4). This was Fig 2: East Gable, probably found in nearby fields. Given the cost St Andrews Cathedral

The Inn at Lathones Charming 400 year old coaching inn situated near the famous golfing town of St Andrews

• • • •

Fancy a night out that’s not going to cost a lot?

Fancy listening to some great live music?

Fancy not cooking tonight?

Fancy some home cooking?

Then give us a call, have a bar supper, and take in a gig 01334 840494 or www.innatlathones.com for full gig list

28

Fig 1: Well-cut “ashlar” sandstone blocks, St Rule’s Tower

Fig 3: Piddock shell holes, St Andrews Cathedral

Fig 4: Volcanic rock boulder, St Andrews Cathedral

OUT & ABOUT old. These sandstones were laid down in great river deltas when Fife would have looked very different from today, and was enjoying a tropical climate. The robustness of the sandstones has allowed the old buildings of the town to stand up to a cold and moist climate. With the development of the railway system in the mid-19th century, the use of local stone was no longer essential, and a variety of more exotic building stones began to appear. The most prominent of these are, firstly, the University’s Younger Hall in North Street, which is built of Carboniferous sandstone from Cullaloe in Fife and is topped by a portico of 180 million year-old Jurassic limestone from Portland in Dorset, (Fig 5); secondly, the former Grand Hotel (later Hamilton Hall and soon to become the Hamilton Grand) on The Scores. The use in the Grand of red desert sandstone of Permian age (c. 270 million years old) (Fig 6) from quarries at Locharbriggs, near Dumfries, certainly made an impact.

Interesting stone has also been used in the commercial centre of St Andrews.

On Market Street is the Whyte-Melville Fountain, sitting in the middle of the market square, built in memory of George John Whyte-Melville, who died in 1878 (Fig 7). Its base is built of red Permian sandstone from Dumfries. The central bowls are rimmed with polished Dalbeattie granite, which has also been used for the little pillars supporting the upper sections of the fountain. Its faint pink tinge is due to the presence of large pale-pink feldspar crystals. The granite also contains many dark patches. These are called xenoliths, which represent pieces of sedimentary rock plucked by the molten granite as it rose through the crust. Two of the four circular marble carvings depict Melville’s name and his portrait.

Diagonally across Market Street from the fountain is Rodgerson’s Footwear shop.

This building dates back to 1873 and has been faced with large slabs of greenish-grey Westmorland slate which cleaves into large flat sheets (Fig 8). The green colour results from the breakdown of volcanic ash, erupted in large volumes in the Lake District of England during the Ordovician Period (c. 460 million years ago). Just south of Rodgerson’s, in Church Street, is a shop called White Stuff.

This building was originally Henderson’s “University Bookshop”. The whole shop frontage is faced with red Peterhead granite, including two solid pillars of the stone. The same stone has been used to equally good effect in a large pillar at the entrance to

Fig 6: Detail of Permian sandstone, showing faint “dune bedding” features (low-angled lines from upper left to lower right, in the upper half of the photograph)

Fig 5: Younger Hall, with Cullaloe Sandstone facade and Portland Limestone portico

Fig 8: Westmoreland “slate” at Rodgerson’s Footwear shop, Church Street facade.

Fig 7: Whyte-Melville fountain

Bonkers gift shop (formerly Henderson’s sport shop) on the corner with Market Street. Close examination of the granite will reveal small xenoliths of darker material (Fig 9). Another exotic stone is that used in the facing of Ness clothes shop (formerly Luckenbooth), where a beautiful polished larvikite (an igneous rock from Norway) twinkles in the sunlight.

These examples are a small selection of the wide variety of rock types featured in the town, and the information was extracted from a draft version of a book about the subject due to be published by the authors in the next year.

(Photos courtesy the authors)

Fig 9: Detail of granite at White Stuff, showing dark xenolith in lower centre of photograph

29

OUT & ABOUT Caroline Langdale asks if you, “Need to gain confidence at pruning? I suggest an easy way to begin to acquire it”.

Practice Makes Pruning As a lecturer, I meet many people living in St Andrews and surrounding areas who would like to prune their garden shrubs, but don’t, simply because they lack the confidence and experience. So, what follows is a step-by-step approach to pruning a small group of plants (if you have them) which produce plenty of vigorous stems from the base every year.

Now, choose from secateurs, loppers, or pruning saw. As secateurs are designed only to cut through stems with a diameter of up to I cm, you will probably need to select loppers. Using secateurs for wood more than 1.5 cm damages them as it forces the blades slightly apart. A pruning saw is used for thicker stems between 3-8 cm in diameter.

Remove one of the oldest stems. In the text books it usually says, ‘to ground level’.

Does it mean this literally? No, it doesn’t. What it means is, cut down a stem to just above a bud which is fairly close to the ground. So depending on the type of shrub you are pruning, it can mean anything from between 2.5 cm and 15 cm. On the Physocarpus, it turned out to be 10 cm from ground level. Spiraea will be less, around the 2.5 cm mark.

up is as important as doing the job”. So true. Similarly, I say, “mulching a plant is as important as pruning it”. The two must go together. The ideal depth is 8 cm. Keep it away from the stems and use only fully-matured material, otherwise it will temporarily rob the soil of its nitrogen content and your shrub will not like it either as leaves turn light green to pale yellow.

Rosa hemsleyana This form of pruning not only gives you some ‘safe’ practice, but pays handsome dividends through healthier plant growth and maximum decorative effect. It should be carried out annually and only on the plants specified below. Incidentally, shrubs which have been left untouched for years, become congested and unsightly at the base and are ideal candidates Physocarpus for this treatment too.

You will need: Leather gloves, wheelbarrow, Remove the next oldest stem in the same way shovel, mulching material, large bucket, as you did the first. secateurs, long-handled secateurs (loppers).

Now (and this is crucial) stand back from This pruning method is suitable for: the shrub. Ask yourself, can the final oldest Cornus, Deutzia, Forsythia, Fuchsia (hardy), stem be removed without leaving the plant thin Hydrangea x macrophylla (mop-head and and bare? If not, leave lace-cap kinds, three or your pruning there and go more years old), Kerria, This form of pruning not on to another shrub. With Lavatera, Philadelphus, the Physocarpus, another Physocarpus, Salix, only gives you some stem could have been Spiraea, and Weigela. ‘safe’ practice, but pays removed, if desired.

For safety’s sake, wear Finally, apply a a pair of leather gloves. handsome dividends mulch around the base You may consider wearing of the plant. A mulch is some protective glasses, a material which is laid on the surface of the for it’s the weak straggly shoots that catch you soil. Choose something like well-rotted garden out. Suitable footwear is essential too. (No compost, spent (once used) grow bag soil or slippers!) a bought-in soil improver if you prefer. One of Stand back and take a look at the plant. my old lecturers used to have a saying, “tidying Identify the three oldest stems.

30

Mulch A Word About Pruning Cuts Cut always to an outward pointing bud. Make the cut 5-7 mm above the bud horizontally or slightly sloping inwards at a 45 degree angle.

When Should You Do This Work?

Good gardening days are rare in November, so take advantage of the few suitable days at the beginning of the month to deal with any Fuchsia, Lavatera, Physocarpus, and Rosa hemsleyana. Never prune in frosty weather though, and if the weather is too bad (as it was last year) delay the work. It’s better to prune Cornus, Hydrangea, and Salix in early spring (sometime between March and April). Deal with Kerria, Philadelphus, Spiraea, and Weigela immediately after they have flowered. However, it won’t do any harm to have a look at any of the above plants in November to gauge the age of the wood and your approach. Remember with all pruning you are taking care to balance the shape of the plant.

(Photos courtesy Caroline Langdale)

OUT & ABOUT Gordon Jarvie

Tammie-Norrie

Tae Pam an Colin Mitchell, minding a braw day on the Isle o May fedders, feathers neb, nose, beak

The ‘puffin’ is its Sabbath nem.

Some chiels cry it ‘sea-parrot’.

A wheen o glaikit folk wull claim its nem is ‘bottleneb’. Scunner on thaim!

nem, name

‘Norrie’ is the craitur’s Shetland nem wi ‘Tammie’ added on oot o affection.

He weirs his dooble-barrel athoot shame – methinks it suits the wee burd tae perfection!

craitur, creature

Swairms o Norries lik bumbees bizz alang the cliff-heuchs – hark at thir fizz.

But Tammie-Norrie o the Bass daurna kiss a bonnie lass.

Fae nor-Atlantic seas they fly tae find thir wee bit grund that’s dry.

Then Tammie-Norrie o Inchkeith wull howk his burrae underneath sea-grass an soorocks, lichen an scree: here’s whaur he maks a nest, ye see.

The feck o Norries mate fer life tae raise thir puffling, him an the wife.

An file Norrie o the May catches sand-eels ivvrie day, Norrie o the Bass feeds his puffling neath sea-grass.

file, while swairms, swarms heuchs, heights, precipices daurna, dare not

howk, dig soorocks, sorrel feck, majority puffling, baby puffin

Puffin on the Isle of May (by kind permission of John Anderson (www.pbase.com/crail_birder)) One chook a year is mair nor eneuch tae feed wi sand-eels an sic-like stuff, tae scug fae seagulls an muckle seas: thon’s a challenge, gin ye please.

But thae wee burds aye keep the heid, they nivver cheep aboot thir loasses.

Richt at life’s edge they tak thir breid nor beck tae ony fantoosh bosses.

An here’s the thing.

Life’s clowns have aye a serious face an Tammie’s nae exception.

Lik awbody wha’d entertain the human race, he ettles whiles tae practise introspection.

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

chook, chick scug, protect, hide, screen loasses, losses beck, bow, curtsey fantoosh, fancy, flashy

ettles, tries, aims

* * * * * *

Mist ower the May i the heat o June an the fermers’ win the hairst richt sune, file Tammie-Norrie o the May dooks in the sea the lee-lang day.

athoot, without

* * * * * *

A Tammie-Norrie’s uniform is fedders bleck an white.

Its neb is monie-coloured, its dumpy orange legs are bright.

Print & Design

We welcome commercial enquiries – the services we offer include: Colour Digital Printing • Graphics & Pre-Press • External Display Banners St Katharine’s West, 16 The Scores, St Andrews, Fife KY16 9AX. T: (01334) 463020, E: printanddesign@st-andrews.ac.uk www.st-andrews.ac.uk/printanddesign The University of St Andrews is a charity registered in Scotland, No: SC013532

31

OUT & ABOUT Sharp-eyed Roy Cammack spotted these on his early morning walks round the harbour

Crippled Wildlife

“Please,” asks Roy, “can anyone throw light on the deformity in these immature gulls?” One has both wings deformed, the other has only one wing deformed and was still being fed by its parent when seen near Kirkhill cliffs on 14 September this year. Roy continued, “I last saw the

Crippled gulls

bird with both deformed wings at the inner harbour on 1 September.

Neither of these birds could fly so I think they will be short-lived. I would be interested to hear from anyone else who has seen them. As for the Whimbrel whimbrel, I saw it on 14 September down on the rocks. It seemed very tired and slept a lot, though the curlews chased it because they saw it as a threat to their food. Whimbrels breed in north Scotland and winter in Africa, so this one seems to have been blown off course.”

Roy likes to be out and about early, so perhaps it’s not surprising that he sees things we later risers miss! He saw dolphins leaping in the bay on 4 and 15 July, and 15 September, and a sea otter in the harbour on 26 May, all this year. He can be contacted by telephone: 01334 479 660.

(Photos by Roy Cammack)

Alistair Lawson contributes another offering in this occasional series of Fife’s Far Frontiers

Showing the way in Culross As regular readers of St Andrews in Focus will have noted a long time ago, one of ScotWays’ principal activities is the provision of signs to help the recreational community find its way about the Scottish countryside. It used to be

Scotways working with the Community Council (Photo courtesy Diane Mackenzie)

Phase 1 of this project was recently that this activity was confined to rights of way, completed by a mixed squad of ScotWays which were for long Scotways’ only “stock in members and Community Council members trade”. That is no longer so, and current signworking together putting up the signs. I may posting work usually embraces a mix of rights say that one of the joys of working in Culross of way, agreed or negotiated paths, the new is being part of an enthusiastic squad of local “Core Paths” and paths of no particular status volunteers who turn out willingly and make at all – in other words, whatever constitutes a the work a pleasant natural local network. social occasion – other This summer has one of ScotWays’ principal communities take note! been particularly busy activities is the provision of Given that many in West Fife (the former signs to help the recreational of the routes around Dunfermline District), where community find its way about Culross have a significant ScotWays has worked on historical background, projects with Kelty Heritage the Scottish countryside the Community Council Trails Group, and Culross is now considering tapping in to ScotWays’ Community Council, and has just entered on “Heritage Paths” project and adding discussions with Saline Environmental Group interpretive signs telling that history to visitors. with a view to re-instating the signed network Where else in Fife are visitors directed to a (now somewhat degraded) first put in place by “Plague Grave”? the District Council back in the 1980s.

Before readers ask the inevitable question In the case of the work at Culross, the about where the money comes from, let me Community Council’s intention is to provide a tell you that Culross Community Council have signed, cross-country link between the Coastal obtained a grant from the Climate Change Path and the Dunfermline to Alloa Cycleway Fund. The one thing this does not cover is the (soon to be known as the “West Fife Way”). coffee and cake which miraculously appeared This will enable walkers, cyclists, or horsefrom the boot of the chairperson’s car at the riders seeking a circular outing to connect these end of the work! two main East-West routes by means of a North-South link through Devilla Forest.

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32

OUT & ABOUT Anne Stirling on

Sailing with the Ancient Mariner! to help. He suggested reversing, then pulling out past the gleaming white For the first time in almost three years, I recently returned to the boat my hulk ahead. Simple! husband shares with two friends. We had both spent the last two years At last, with me still at the helm, we motored uneventfully down the in Africa, where the only boats we sailed in were traditional fishing boats, loch while ropes and bumpers were stowed in stony silence. My husband and the only dangers we faced were charging hippos and twin-engined, knew better than to suggest the sails, at this point. The only hazards now killer mosquitoes, which were strangely attracted to my rear end – mere were the odd rock and the floats from lobster pots. bagatelles compared with the hazards of sailing off the west coast of The weather closed in and the rain started as we made our stately Scotland! I had tried to warn my husband that I was feeling nervous; there progress. After I had stood freezing at the helm, Captain Birdseye, usually had been lots of changes to the boat during our absence, including a new a peanuts and crisps man, proposed coffee and cake, engine, and I needed time to bond with her again. In presumably to sweeten my mood. After preparing my usual pre-sailing clairvoyant mode, I had told him I can hardly wait for my it, he insisted that I leave the helm and sit down to that I didn’t want to be cold and I didn’t want to be next adventure aboard enjoy it. Gratefully I sank down while he took the scared at any time during our trip. helm himself. “He’s not all bad”, I thought. “He doesn’t As we approached the boat that evening, I found really deserve a hard time”, until he immediately switched on the new, my old routine kicking in. I automatically looked at her assessing how we improved auto helm and sat down to enjoy his own coffee and cake out of would leave the pontoon next morning. With some relief, I noted that there the rain. Grrr! was a large space of open water behind her, followed by a shabby yard The morning wore on until a lunch stop was proposed at an island boat, but a very small space in front. Beyond that small space was the with only one possible anchorage and two large rocks right in the middle huge, gleaming toy of someone much wealthier than us. Now the sensible of it. Great! The good news is, though, that the army has blown up one of thing to do would be to reverse, then pull out past the floating palace with these rocks. How sensible, but why didn’t they blow them both up while plenty of room to spare and no sweat, but then experience told me that they were at it? In fact, why can’t they just do a tour of the west coast of my other half and I think differently about take-off and landing…..

Scotland blowing up rocks? Think of it. Charts would have to be redrawn As I climbed aboard, ripping my trousers in the process, I realised two providing jobs for lots of people for ages, but that’s my African hat things: slipping on again, looking for sustainable jobs. The remaining rock safely 1. that I am not as nimble as I was three years ago negotiated, lunch and a trip ashore improved my mood. Then came the 2. how little I had missed sailing pep talk before raising the anchor for departure. When leaving I was to line up a cross and a cairn BEHIND ME. In spite of what I told my children Well OK, I suppose I realised a third thing: that I had put on weight! about all mothers having eyes in the back of their heads, how was I After a peaceful night tied up alongside, the day dawned dull and supposed to use them AND miss the rock the army had carelessly left WINDY. I pulled on my sailing suit, left behind for others to use during behind? Sharp words ensued before safely reaching open water to head our absence. As I collapsed under the now unaccustomed weight, I for an anchorage for the night. wondered which long-legged beauty had worn it. Mild hysteria ensued As we puttered on towards our berth for the night in torrential rain, I when I discovered that my safety harness was missing and that the little had flashbacks to a few of our more interesting anchoring experiences, toggle to inflate my life jacket was nowhere to be seen. I like both to to rainy nights spent leaping about on deck in a life jacket and nightie, be reassuringly obvious and accessible at all times. We proceeded on fending off as our anchor dragged us ever closer to disaster; to hours deck for take-off. I stood to attention at the helm while I was briefed on spent freezing sitting up at the pointed bit in the dark, looking out for those procedure. I wasn’t listening. I have been there so many times before pesky floats as we sought shelter for the night; to the highlight of our RNLI that I could recite it myself. As I stood there at the helm, I realised that rescue after discovering the existence of catabatic winds. Oh, how I love the gear stick was a different shape. More importantly, the wind was the RNLI – they even give you a hug! And oh, the joys of sailing! creating G forces against my right cheek, pushing us firmly on to the I’m not the only rational, semi-intelligent woman who becomes a pontoon. Surely the routine must change – but I knew it wouldn’t. As my gibbering wreck on a boat. The previous owner’s wife used to tremble husband released all but one of the cat’s cradle of ropes in his below deck, chain smoking and drinking whisky. On dry land she is a nonusual quiet, slow manner of studied casualness (you must not smoking occasional gin drinker. So why do I do it? I sail to get to the parts at all costs attract attention!) the bow was pushed out, only to of Scotland that no other form of transport can reach, to have the sight of swing back; twice more. Each time the Captain urged, “Go!” deer paddling at the edge of a loch, the thrill of seeing dolphins playing but I didn’t. By the third time, a certain urgency had crept round the bow, whales surfacing alongside us, or of having a basking into his voice as he whispered hoarsely again, “Go!”. To my shark swim so close to us that we could almost have touched him, astonishment and his horror, I yelled, “No! I can’t! I won’t!” his back like a huge comb with teeth missing. I sail for those moonlit and there it was. I had mutinied for the first time in over 40 moments of isolation, to enjoy the majesty that is Scotland but, years of sailing together. At that moment the boatyard owner most of all, I sail so that whatever mischief my husband gets up to arrived, stopping to chat. The tension left my husband’s on board, I will be in it right up to my neck along with him! I can body. I interjected that it was my first sail in three years, hardly wait for my next adventure aboard. that I was feeling nervous. They both ignored me.

Eventually the chat turned to take off, our friend offering (Photo courtesy Anne Stirling)

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OUT & ABOUT

Apple Day in the Botanic Garden enjoyed in glorious sunshine by over 1000 visitors on Sunday, 25 September

Tony Hardie’s

Nature Notes – September 2011 Stonechat

Reed Bunting

Skylark

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“Hail to thee Blithe Spirit.” Surely, the most brilliant address by any poet. It is Shelley’s Welcome to the Skylark. Those who walk or play on the Links will not argue with him. We hear them in early spring and we are fortunate that they see the Links as home. Disturb them not if you find your ball close to their nest. Retreat! I have seen their numbers fall greatly in recent years. Because of insecticides, arable land is no longer home to these songsters, as it was in my childhood days, so our golf courses can be special places for them. Shelley’s poem suggests that he watched the bird closely and that he was moved deeply by the song as they ascended and descended. Their song is repetitive, but joyous and they sing best on sunny days.

If you hear from nearby the sound of two pebbles being knocked together, the stonechat has taken up residence. Probably he will be seen atop the tallest whin. He bobs up and down to his tuneless, but arresting song. He has a black cap and bib, and is white around the neck and he has a ‘robin-red’ breast. Smart, I would call him.

Another tuneless bird to be seen on the wetter parts of the Links (and along the marran grass) is the reed bunting. It would be hard to imagine a more boring call. A single note, similar to that made by a comb and tissue paper, oft repeated, might be an approximation. But he is also a smart fellow, again with a black head and bib and a prominent white moustache and collar. The stonechat and reed bunting, seem to be proud of their appearance. They are neither shy nor retiring, taking up their perch in a prominent position, gorse or willow, as befits them. I should not end on the small birds of the Links without a mention of the linnet. I hope to find space to write of this resident in a later issue.

The grey geese are back. High in the sky they may be seen flying over the Eden Estuary, bound for grassland in the East Neuk. The smaller ones, this year’s young have to “wing it” faster to keep up with their parents. We know that it was ever thus! It’s a long, tough journey from the tundra of Iceland, but these geese are led by wise old birds. That journey has been described so well by that countryman, author, and illustrator, Watkins Pitchford, in a story called Sky Gypsy. It was so good, when I used to be in the hills in October, to see these geese clearing the high tops of the mountains; that deer forest was on the direct route from Iceland to the Eden Estuary! They are on their way to the wintering grounds and they will be with us now for the next six months.

(Photos by kind permission of John Anderson (www.pbase.com/crail_birder))