St Andrews in focus • shopping • eating • events • town/gown • people and more
May/June 2013 Issue 58, £2.00
www.standrewsinfocus.com
the award winning magazine for St Andrews
St Andrews in focus • shopping • eating • events • town/gown • people and more
From the Editor Before anyone confuses my readers over the name of this magazine, harms my business, or infringes my rights in any way, I thought it prudent to state unequivocally, this publication is ‘St Andrews In Focus’ © Flora Selwyn, 2003 onwards. The ‘St Andrews in Focus’ title was first used in 2003 by Flora Selwyn, who established this magazine and devised the name. Ownership of the name and all associated rights are vested in Flora Selwyn (and her successors in title). Phew! But why, you may ask, have I troubled to state this so publicly? Because, along with others, I am perturbed by the recent news that the name of our town might be hijacked by a well-known entity here as a registered brand name. Although I’m not aware that a town’s name can be used in this way, nevertheless I’m taking no chances. The implications, if it did come to pass, would be widespread. Anyone know where to find Common Sense these days? Flora Selwyn
******** The views expressed elsewhere in this magazine are not necessarily those of the Editor.
Contents FEATURES •
The CC Recreation Committee
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Maytime
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Hamish, snoozing
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Uncle Hazelwood Räder
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A new take on an old town
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Scottish Women’s Hospitals
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SHOPS & SERVICES •
Budget 2013
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Quick Buck, or Grand Brand?
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The One Under, Gastro Pub
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Roving Reporter
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Wemyss Ware Hamish Cats
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ORGANISATIONS MAY / JUNE 2013 EDITOR Flora Selwyn Tel: 01334 472375 Email: editor@standrewsinfocus.com DESIGNER University of St Andrews Print & Design (printanddesign@st-andrews.ac.uk) PRINTER Winter & Simpson (ken@wintersimpson.co.uk) DISTRIBUTER Distribution Unlimited (www.distributionlimited.co.uk
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The Vivarium Trust
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Haydays
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EVENTS •
Crail Festival
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Martyrs’ Monument re-inauguration
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Selected Events
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TOWN & GOWN •
Remembering Prof R B Dingle
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Montessori Children’s House
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PUBLISHER (address for correspondence) Local Publishing (Fife) Ltd., PO Box 29210, St Andrews, Fife, KY16 9YZ. Tel: 01334 472375 Email: editor@standrewsinfocus.com
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Paul Erdös’ Centenary
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A Dramatic Life
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SUBSCRIPTIONS St Andrews in Focus is published 6 times a year. Subscriptions for 6 issues are:
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A Paranormal Presence?
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Nature Notes
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ToonSpot
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Street Names
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£14 in the UK (post & packing included). Please send cheques to: Local Publishing (Fife) Ltd., PO Box 29210, St Andrews, Fife, KY16 9YZ. £25 overseas (post and packing included). Please use PayPal account: editor@StAndrewsinFocus.com NOTE: please pay with a Personal Bank Account, as credit cards incur a 3.9% charge. REGISTERED IN SCOTLAND: 255564 THE PAPER USED IS 100% RECYCLED POST-CONSUMER WASTE
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OUT & ABOUT
NEXT ISSUE – Jul/Aug 2013 COPY DEADLINE: STRICTLY 28 MAY
All contributions welcome. The Editor reserves the right to publish copy according to available space. Cover: by kind permission of Peter Adamson, from A Portrait of Canongate Primary
FEATURES Marysia Denyer, Convenor,
The Recreation Committee – St Andrews Community Council In this issue of St Andrews In Focus, I hope to enlighten the public with a look at the work of another sub-committee of The Royal Burgh of St Andrews Community Council. Many readers may not be aware of our Recreation Committee, and the role it plays within our community. At present, we have seven Community Councillors, including our Chair, on this committee, who give their time to organise several events throughout the year. These include two annual Coffee Mornings. In the past couple of years, they have proved to be a useful tool in raising the Community Council’s profile. One is held during Spring; the second is during Autumn. This year’s dates are Saturday, 25 May, and Saturday, 5 October. They are held in the Town Hall (supper room). Posters to advertise these and our other events are displayed in key locations in the town.
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Summer events that add pleasure for the community and visitors alike, are our annual Bandstand Concerts held on the Bow Butts. They are organised by our Chairman, Kyffin Roberts. On Sundays during July, these have proved to be a great success, with brass bands from all over Fife, giving rousing, toe-tapping performances. We also hold a Civic Reception, following “Beating of the Retreat,” each year in November, if possible on St Andrews Day. Over the last two years this has been held in the Hunter Aisle of Holy Trinity Church. This has proved to be a very welcoming venue for our guests. Invitations are sent to representatives of the many organisations/groups in the town, along with head teachers, local Elected Members, and public-spirited individuals. This is the Community Council’s opportunity to thank everyone for their services to the town and its citizens. The Senior Citizens Christmas Treat is most probably, the highlight of the Recreation Committee’s remit. This year, it will take place on Friday, 13 December in the Town Hall. As an afternoon of entertainment, good food and cheer, it has grown in popularity with numerous local residents. We are extremely grateful for the assistance of senior school pupils, along with our co-opted Community Council student representatives and their friends at this event. The final event that I would like to draw to readers’ attention, is our Annual Garden
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Competition. Although posters are displayed in the town and information is submitted to the St Andrews Citizen the response in the past has unfortunately been poor. We would like to see more keen adults and budding YOUNG gardeners enter this competition. As there are no forms to fill in, all you need to do is simply contact our committee with your name, address, and entry category. It can be done by phone or email – contact details are provided at the foot of this submission. Suffice it to say that there are some lovely gardens in the town and I often wonder why the owners have not entered the competition. If you are reluctant to put your name forward, then this can be solved by nomination. There is nothing nicer than finding out that a friend or neighbour has entered your garden as a possible winner! We really need some new gardens to judge, which hopefully will generate enthusiasm in the care of our local environment. As an example, pictured here is our 2012 winner of the “Baskets and Containers” category – Mrs J Stewart, 14 Fraser Avenue. If you would like to find out more about any of these events and/or make any suggestions for other community events, please contact: Mrs Marysia Denyer (Recreation Committee Convenor) Tel No: 01334 476 623 Email: polonica132@googlemail.com (Photo courtesy the Community Council)
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FEATURES Ian Seeley
Maytime I love the month of May; It seems to carry hope In life’s renewal, and challenges the decay That eats away the ageing rope Of man’s existence. I love the new-ploughed furrow and that fresher green Which symbolise the new beginning, hence Fertility – that lusty earthiness Spring lovers seem, In rusty Autumn, to forget because it isn`t done To be that way at such a time. But memories are sweet and, while the sun still shone, The hay was made and that was fine. It never really comes like that again And Maytime is the youth o’ year – Green, open, blossoming, thriving in the soft warm rain – So different from the cruel lashes brought to bear By Winter’s blast, or Autumn’s need to sear. Ah, give me May when life is on the upward curve, I’ll savour now its joys, and later penance serve. (Photo by Flora Selwyn)
Invite you to visit a hidden treasure in the heart of St Andrews OPEN DAILY ALL YEAR ROUND BEDDING PLANT SALE STARTS Saturday 18th May from 10am PLANT SALES AREA AND GATEHOUSE Open now till end September SUMMER LECTURE & RECEPTION Tuesday 11th June at 7.30pm
“Hamish,” I said softly, “Hamish.” An ear twitched, an eye opened, a big yawn – then he went to sleep again. “A bit tiring you know – cuddles with tourists wanting to photograph me, a best-selling book about me I had to pose for, and now, guess what? – even a statue!” (Photo by Flora Selwyn)
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TO JOIN THE FRIENDS AND SUPPORT THE GARDEN CONTACT MEMBERSHIP SECRETARY Tel: 01334 476452 Charity No. SC006432
FEATURES Jurek Alexander Pütter fondly remembers his Uncle, Hazelwood Räder of St Andrews (1913-1968), Master Hairdresser, Wartime Airframe and Engine Mechanic, Long Distance Desert Driver.
The Wisdom of the Long Distance Desert Driver
The red basin in the old ceramic Belfast sink was full of dishes. I added to base began. Each tractor unit hauled a long trailer, on top of which hot water, and as I squirted in some dish-washing liquid, in an unexpected was a wooden ‘Dolly’ or ‘Jig’ onto which the fuselage was lifted. Beneath flash the title came to me; The wisdom of the long-distance desert the trailer’s deck was a huge storage space for lifting equipment, tools, driver. By the time I’d washed up, stacked the crockery and cutlery, the tents, and secure containers for cannibalised parts. Downed enemy scattered mental images of aircraft were also examined the proposed illustration had for their specialised radio and coalesced, congealed into one navigational equipment, and single ‘finished’ composition. All unusual armaments. These too that remained was to bring it to were removed. fruition. They often drove in the dark In my later teenage years, to avoid dust columns which I’d been invited to accompany could adversely advertise their my uncle on his annual driving position to the enemy. My uncle holiday into the far recesses of became a Local RSU Legend, the North Western seaboard of with his capacity, his ability to Scotland. I became his navigator, drive much of the trip single historical pamphlet reader, tea handedly; endurance, tenacity, maker, erector of the tent, car concentration, seemed to come washer – in short an enthusiastic naturally to him; in the arid dogsbody. Like him, but for desert he blossomed. The RSU different reasons, I regarded the continued its work into Sicily flights of escape as welcome and Italy; there the Glory Days adventures into the unknown. of the vast open spaces of the Thus, into the unknown we Desert, under the great blue ventured. It was then, still in the vault of the heavens, became late ‘50s and early ‘60s, a remote but distant nostalgic memories. land of one-track roads with Italy, difficult mountainous passing places, few facilities, Italy, became the despairing fewer people, small four-vehicle nightmare for the RSU; gone car ferries, which plied mainly was the open range, replaced local traffic across the narrow by torturous terrain and ambush necks of deep sea lochs. by an enemy which rejoiced Yet changes, small at first, in its remarkable defensive but soon to amplify, were nudging capabilities. Life for the RSU their ways onto the landscape. had become exceptionally risky. The recent World War had driven Disassembling aircraft under a handful of better access roads enemy fire exposed the RSU to strategic coastal locations, a units to the same conditions boon to some, the passing of the as combat troops. Thus a new Old Order to others. My Uncle, range of never-to-be-forgotten my mother’s brother, yearned driving skills were added to his for the roads to nowhere – the repertoire. He had lived to tell crofters’ grassy tracks, rutted, the tale. boulder strewn, boggy, leading And so we drove each invariably to a deserted beach, day from dawn till dusk, barely where only seabirds lived, and meeting a soul; rarely being ample driftwood for a fire. As thwarted by an impossible track, he drove, and I navigated from ending each day amidst wiry maps purchased at jumble sales, dune grass and driftwood. He he started to talk. He started to relive his great driving adventures across drove with the graceful precision of an Alpine Goat, the small black Ford the North African deserts from Heliopolis outside Cairo to distant Tunis in Poplar always beautifully balanced on precipitous tracks or rutted plain. Tunisia in the years 1941-43. Neither moor nor mountain boulder field deterred our advance. Never a His were wartime adventures, served in the Royal Air force. His breakdown, never a steaming radiator or a flat tire. And, as in dangerous mechanical aptitudes, and he had many, led him into the fabled, Recovery Italy, he had the survivor’s wit to know when to withdraw, how to extricate and Salvage Unit, RSU for short. Based at Aboukir in Egypt, its primary himself and his vehicle from that occasional impossible situation. It was task was to locate precious fighter aircraft, mainly with unspoken regret, a regret bordering on Hurricanes and Tomahawks, which had crashdismay, when eventually we encountered a ‘real’ He was reliving the Glory landed deep in the deserts far from the coastal asphalt road; ‘civilisation’, no matter how modest Days of his motoring; mine roads. It was a dangerous no-man’s land, where or rough and ready, always seemed to herald both sides were engaged in the same task, with the ending of the great adventure. We were lay just around the corner in the same risks of armed confrontation. My Uncle, gone but for a week, yet it seemed a lifetime. the near future as a renowned pre-war civilian, then military In each other’s company we were easy and marksman, was a useful asset. A typical ‘RSU content. He was ever patient, ever calm, never Tour’ was from Benghazi to Heliopolis, a distance of 700 miles, excluding hurried. He was reliving the Glory Days of his motoring; mine lay just the convoy’s ‘off-roading’ southwards deep into the desert. Including the around the corner in the near future. His Wisdom of the Desert, so rich in Recovery and Salvage trips, there was never much change out of 1,200 consistent detail, so simply and easily imparted, became the bench mark, hot and dusty miles. Aircraft, once located, or discovered by chance, were the yardstick by which I measured and gauged my own long distance assessed for potential salvage. If deemed so, a small tented camp was motoring. established and the work of dismantling the aircraft for transportation back Illustration and text, © Jurek Pütter
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FEATURES John Jascoll, an English-born writer, lives amidst the pretty Amish countryside of Lancaster, Pennsylvania, USA. His mother’s family hails from Fife: he recalls spending summers in the ‘50s with his grandmother, Amy Hay-Neave, at her flat in Playfair Terrace, St Andrews. John and his wife, Dorie, visit St Andrews for a week each year. Their trip last August coincided with the Lammas Fair, bringing back a flood of memories, which prompted him to write this piece for his local paper in America. John says there’s a portrait of his ancestor, the 1774 R&A Club Captain John Balfour Hay of Leys, hanging in the Great Room of the Clubhouse.
St Andrews and the Lammas Fair – a new take on an old town (a personal memoir) Published in the Sunday News, Lancaster, Pennsylvania, 2012. Byline: John Jascoll, correspondent If my wife and I had to choose a favorite from all the places we’ve traveled to over the years, it would be the ancient Scottish city of St Andrews, the university town and home of golf. It’s the brightest link in a sparkling chain of fishing villages strung along the coast of Fife, 45 miles northeast of Edinburgh. I’ve known it since I was a child as my mother’s family hails from the area. There’s a serenity to visiting St Andrews that fills you with joy from the moment you cross the Forth Road Bridge and drive the winding approach roads through rolling fields of black-faced sheep and barley. Such pretty countryside with the quaintest little villages crying out to stop and take photos. Truly a paradise of picture-book perfection. Our visit this year coincided with the historic Lammas Fair, a three-day funfair and street market that transforms the town each August, something I hadn’t seen for half a century. It brought back forgotten memories from long ago. I was first entranced by the magic of St Andrews in the 1950s, vacationing each summer with my mother and brother, building sandcastles and learning how to swim in water that rarely got above 60 degrees F. My grandmother had a flat (apartment) not a stone’s throw from the Royal and Ancient Golf
Clubhouse with its iconic setting looking out on the 1st tee of the famed Old Course, the Mecca for golfers around the world. Right beside it is the West Sands beach, immortalized in the opening sequence of Olympic runners in the 1981 film “Chariots of Fire”, a scene reprised during the opening to this year’s Summer Olympics when Mr Bean (Rowan Atkinson) fantasized about running with them. Part of St Andrews’ charm is that the city fathers ensure its distinctive sandstone buildings stay the way they’ve looked for hundreds of years. The necessary new must fit in with the historic old as the Edinburgh Woollen Mill and Tesco’s food store vie for frontage with the 16th century Blackfriars’ Chapel and ancient West Port entrance. And it’s full of interesting things to do and see. Besides all the golf courses, there’s the castle, with its infamous “bottle dungeon”, a pit hewn out of the living rock, and the towering ruins of a 12th century cathedral next to it, both perched on a cliff overlooking the North Sea. While down the road a picturesque harbor of boats, lobster pots and squawking seagulls exudes a fishy tang of salt sea air to delight any follower of the deep. One of my happiest childhood memories of St Andrews was when the traveling
Lammas Fair took over the town center for three days, closing it to traffic. An annual event at the beginning of August, Lammas has been going on since medieval times, taking its name from a holy harvest day called “Loaf Mass”. I can recall the excitement of its rides and candy floss (cotton candy) stalls with sideshows from fire-eaters to fortune-tellers. My brother and I had the greatest fun along with half of Fife. Our favorite ride was the Ghost Train with its spooky pictures of skeletons and skulls. What boy could resist its appeal? I certainly couldn’t, and paid the equivalent of a nickel over and again for the thrill of being whisked through its dark labyrinth of ghostly howls with ghoulish hands sweeping across my face. Well, wouldn’t you know it? Our visit this year coincided with the fair. I was transported back some 50 years and became a 9-year-old once more enjoying its delights as the town temporarily took on a new dimension. Gigantic colorful displays with music and throbbing diesel generators were set against a sedate backdrop of ancient buildings, churches, and historic markers as they hosted a carousel, dodgems (bumper cars) and the whirling “Speedbuzz” that evoked cries of glee from its riders. The venerable Holy Trinity Church looked on as children bounced on bungee trampolines. Food and craft stalls adorned the cobble stone streets while a spinning wheel turned its riders upside down, 140 feet in the air, on a level with the Cathedral tower. And across from the Blackfriars’ Chapel, teenage girls learned about their future loves from the granddaughter of Gypsy Rose Lee with her crystal ball and tarot cards. As for the ghost train, it’s still got its ghoulish hands. I know because I took a ride. In a way it was quite bizarre to have a funfair in the middle of this ancient city until you realized these seemingly irreverent festivities are actually a ritual as old as the town itself, which is why it’s welcomed back each year. Then the morning after the fair, everything was gone and the town was back to business as usual – a haven for golfers, Scottish history buffs, and visitors seeking serenity such as ourselves. (Photos courtesy John Jascoll)
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FEATURES Alan Cumming has researched a fascinating topic,
Scottish Women’s Hospitals in WWI I have uncovered five women all with strong It was during a visit to Belgrade, Serbia, that I was first made aware of the connections to St Andrews. Katherine MacPhail, Scottish Women’s Hospitals in the First World War. What saddened me a fiercely independent lady, joined the SWH in was that the women involved are known about and revered in Serbia, yet 1914, working as a doctor and surgeon in Corsica, their work and achievements are barely recognised in their own country. France, Salonica, Italy, and In Serbia there are statues, monuments, streets, Egypt. In Serbia she is remembered named after these women, while in their own country Between 1914-1918 it was as a doctor and a humanitarian. She they have been virtually completely overlooked. Britain estimated that some 1,000 was devoted to the Serbian people and spent thirty likes to make a show of celebrating and respecting women served in the SWH years with them. She set up the first-ever children’s heroes of war, in some cases even in fictional films hospital in Belgrade. The hospital moved to a village of war heroism, but has not acknowledged the work, outside Novi Sad and under Katherine’s dynamic leadership went from bravery, and altruism of these women in a time when women had no strength to strength. She was awarded an OBE in 1928. During WW2 involvement in direct conflict and were certainly not encouraged to have the Germans forced her to flee. She returned after the war, but was any. made to leave again by the communist government of 1947. Katherine Over the last few years I have researched this fascinating story. With is still remembered in Belgrade, where a statue and a street are named the Centenary of WW1 in 2014, I decided to make known what these in her honour. Late in 1947 women achieved, to Katherine retired to the “old commemorate their lives grey city by the sea”, moving and work. My objective is into her sister Annie’s home to collate information from at Kinburn Place. Annie various sources, put it on had also spent time in a website so that people Serbia, working as nurse can access it from one and teacher. She returned main resource, rather than home to tend her sick father have to search around. in St Andrews, where she Hopefully, it will be a lived till her death. Katherine facility for schools to aid passed away in Freeland students doing projects, House in Gateside. Her and for historians, and and her sister’s ashes were any person or group, scattered at the Western interested in this intriguing Cemetery in St Andrews, story. I hope the website where a memorial tablet is will evolve as people embedded in the wall. add their stories and Agnes Forbes historical knowledge. To Blackadder, is well known gather information I will in St Andrews, especially as research what I can via the first female to graduate the Internet, books, other in its University. Between written accounts, and 1893-1896 she studied also by talking to people, chemistry, Latin, botany, possibly also relatives and zoology. In 1901 she of the women. This married Dr Thomas Savill, but was widowed in 1910. Agnes joined the will need time, as well as the need to travel, both in this country and in SWH in May 1915, and worked at the Royaumont Hospital outside Paris Serbia, where there is a body of information on the women and the work till 1918. There she was in charge of both X-ray and electro-therapy they did. As well as the website I would like to contact people to make a departments. She spent long hours working at the hospital, and teaching, documentary. becoming ill as a result and sent home. After the war Agnes threw herself I feel we all owe a debt to these women. They should be celebrated into everything, from music to writing. She continued working right into old and respected for their doggedness in pursuit of their principles against age, passing away in London in 1964 the odds. This story is indeed a worthy lesson to all. These women are Margaret Davidson also worked at Royaumont. Graduating from powerful role models for future generations, therefore it is important for St Andrews in 1902 , she became a teacher of modern languages. Like them to be remembered. all these women she joined the SWH as a volunteer auxiliary nurse from 4 August 1914, saw Europe at war. In a small room in Edinburgh, 1915-1917. She would have known Elsie Inglis sat in the offices of the Scottish Federation of Women’s Agnes well during this time. After the war Suffrage Societies hatching a plan to supply a woman’s hospital to the Margaret went back to teaching, retiring battlefields. So began the SWH. Modestly enough with a goal of £1,000 to Dornoch where it is believed she to launch one hospital, by the end of WW1 nearly £500,000 had been introduced girl guiding to the Highlands. raised, with 14 fully-equipped field hospitals in Serbia, Belgium, France, Adeline Campbell, a St Andrews Russia, Romania, Corsica, Corfu, and Greece. It was a sad fact that Dr chemistry graduate, was born in Kirkcaldy Elsie Inglis was turned down by the British War Office, “My good lady, go and lived at the Manse in Townsend home and sit still”. Undeterred, Place, before joining SWH in 1914. Dr Inglis sent letters to the During WW1 she served as a doctor ambassadors of those countries in Kraguievatz, Serbia. Adeline was who accepted her idea, making decorated with the Serbian Order of St the breakthrough she hoped for Sava for her heroism. After the war she become a reality. worked in Edinburgh. Adeline was a dear Between 1914-1918 it was friend to Katherine MacPhail and visited estimated that some 1,000 Agnes Forbes Blackadder her at St Andrews in her retirement. women served in the SWH. They worked in terrible conditions, often to exhaustion, going There may be other women, other stories with St Andrews without food, sleep, or regard for connections. Any readers with more to add please contact me at: their own safety. Despite this, oshawauk@hotmail.com or through the website: the SWH went on to save the scottishwomenshospitals.co.uk lives and bring back to health some 300,000 men, women, and (Photos courtesy Alan Cumming) children.
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SHOPS & SERVICES Jonnie Adamson
Budget 2013 There was a lot to take from the recent Families will be able to claim 20% of budget, but the overall message was slightly childcare costs up to a maximum £1,200 per cloudy. The talk of austerity and lack of funds child from autumn 2015, although it will only was contrasted by a strong desire from the start with children under 5, later extended to Chancellor to give tax cuts in key areas. children up to the age of 11. There will also With growth forecasts miserable for the be a relaxation in the rules for investments foreseeable future it was interesting to see in child tax funds. The narrow range of which areas were targeted to investments currently help stimulate the economy. offered will be extended by There was a lot to A flagship policy offering people the choice offering guaranteed loans to transfer them to a Junior take from the recent to homebuyers was an eyeISA. budget, but the catching headline, but is Given the recent stimulating the housing market overall message was debacle of the ‘Pasty the answer? Large companies Tax’ it was unsurprising slightly cloudy were given a cut in corporation that there were not too tax, and there is no doubt that many changes to VAT.The the 20% rate will attract global companies to registration threshold for VAT did, however, do business in the UK. This is slightly at odds increase to £79,000. with the recent grumblings by the government Some slightly less publicised changes about moral problems created by shifting include a consultancy being announced on profits to low tax jurisdictions – is the UK now putting small company shares into ISAs, one of these offenders? possibly interesting for capital gains tax Businesses and charities will no doubt savings. The state pension continues to be welcome a £2,000 allowance against their tinkered with and for people approaching National Insurance bill, but this has been retirement it is frustrating when the number of tempered by an increase in a burden on them years’ contributions required to qualify for a for statutory sick pay, of which we still await full state pension increases by 5 years shortly the detail. before retirement. Some may have already
made the decision to stop working, having thought they had enough years, only to have to make alternative arrangements at this late stage. The deferral of the state pension is also not as attractive as before, doubling the time to increase the pension by 1% from 5 to 10 weeks. Overall, this was a budget of contrasts, demonstrated wonderfully with the duty cut on beer announced alongside the duty rise on cider and wine. Perhaps I’ll pop out for a pint to mull this all over and see if there is any clarity in the Chancellor’s message. For further information on this, or other matters, please consult: Henderson Black & Co. 149 Market St, St Andrews Tel: 01334 472 255
Mark Garland, The Best of Fife
A Quick Buck, or a Great Brand? In this madly commercial era companies seem to disregard the importance of creating long-term brand identity, relying too heavily on the instant sale. Small businesses have become so obsessed with sales that they are using inappropriate tools and measurements to achieve success. We can begin to see where they are going wrong by looking at the general concepts of Advertising, Marketing and Sales.
success in terms of sales? Advertising and promotion are brand-building exercises, not sales processes. There is also a cost issue; selling generally requires human interaction, and is therefore more costly than advertising. Once again, how can someone expect to pay for the cheap option (advertising) and get the expensive option (sales) in return? How do you gauge the effectiveness of an advertising or promotional activity if it is not in terms of increased sales? Simple: if you have chosen to use media or tools that you know your potential customers will be exposed to, you will raise your brand awareness, and as this was the goal it is a must that you have been effective. • Advertising is the process of informing potential customers Most advertising and promotion will, as a spin off, create a few sales. about a product or service using a specific range of media. However, the conversion rate is not a reflection of the Advertising is a function of marketing. effectiveness of the media – your previous marketing • ‘Marketing’ is a very general term. It Advertising and and branding actions will play a significant role, as encompasses all aspects of a product or promotion are brand- well as other external influences. service. Marketing can be simplified into four Effective promotion requires potential customers key elements, namely; product, price, place, building exercises, to be exposed to your product or service regularly and promotion. and through different media. It is the compound not sales processes Generally people think of marketing as effect of this branding that leads to the sales process. purely being about promotion. For the purpose Therefore, how can you try and identify which of this article we will be relating to the promotional element of specific action attracted the customer? In my opinion if you can tie the marketing mix. Promotion is a means of raising awareness your prospects to one particular message you are not doing enough about your business, product, or service to prospective promotion, get out there and do more. customers. Marketing promotion encompasses a wider range The other day a business came to me and said they had of tools and techniques than advertising, such as customer experienced a significant growth, but could not identify what action was reviews, websites, word of mouth, press releases etc: bringing it in. What is more, they felt embarrassed that they couldn’t • Selling is another function of marketing. It is the end stage of identify the source. I explained the compound effect and commended the marketing process; this is where the prospect becomes them on their efforts as they have successfully created a great brand the customer. Selling is the end of a long pipeline of events and it is now working for them. and generally requires human interaction to close. Let’s all re-establish great branding, get a name for ourselves and When we look at these three concepts independently it is clear that in stop thinking in the short term. The way to do this is to get on with both advertising and promotion the aim is to raise awareness and inform advertising and promotion and use long-term measures, not short-term people about your product or service. There is nothing in the definition sales figures, to check the effectiveness. of either advertising or promotion that refers to sales, so why is it that (Photo courtesy Mark Garland) businesses paying for either of these services expect to measure the
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SHOPS & SERVICES Flora Selwyn was happily pampered at
The One Under – Gastro Pub I enjoyed a scrumptious lunch at The One Under, downstairs in Rusacks Hotel, The Links. The only thing I would fault is my own greed! In issue 39, March/ April 2010 of this magazine, I quoted Susan Pieraccini as believing ”passionately about delivering quality in a comfortable pub atmosphere with home cooking and providing good value for money.” So has she, with her husband Adrian, achieved this? A resounding YES, in my opinion! I lunched there on a quiet Wednesday with just a few other guests, it being prior to Easter weekend, the students absent and holiday makers yet to arrive. James, the Manager, welcomed me warmly. I studied the menu carefully, noting that perhaps it caters very much to meateaters, as is undoubtedly to be expected. Nevertheless, this vegetarian (by preference) could see enough on offer to be charmed. So I started with a huge bowl of delicious mushroom soup, with freshly-made hot rolls and butter. The tiny rolls were nicely crisp on the outside, soft in the middle – rather different from French bread, but this is an Italian-based Gastro Pub! For my main course I could have opted for a small, ‘starter’ portion of Pumpkin tortellini, but being greedy, as I said, it was a whole portion. If I eat nothing else for a week, it was really worth it! The tortellini were well filled with pureed pumpkin, with Mediterranean-style vegetables of
all kinds, including some delicious crisped leaves on top and still-crunchy spinach underneath the pasta (how does the chef accomplish this?) There were also nuts, as well as melted blue cheese. At first glance I was afraid it might be a little on the rich side, but no, it was wonderfully balanced, and although very filling, it was wholly satisfying. I accompanied this with a small glass of Italian Pinot Grigio La Casada Blush, which was quite delightful, and what a gorgeous colour it had too! I told James that I had room after that only for an Espresso, which he duly brought. Then Adrian kindly joined me. He told me of his grandfather, who walked from Italy to Scotland after WWI, was interned on the Isle of Man throughout WWII (“they didn’t know which side the Italians were on”) went different ways with Charles Forte, a friend from internment days, then strove to make a successful life for himself and his family. Adrian persuaded me (it wasn’t difficult!) to have a scoop of housemade vanilla ice cream with a “surprise” – a wonderful panna cotta with jelly top and bottom, almost a trifle, and a madeleine. I really felt spoilt, lucky me! The menu prices are truly reasonable; the main courses – the most expensive – all well under £20. The wine list is comprehensive with wines, spirits from all the best places, Italy, France, Spain, New Zealand, South Africa, to name a few. There are bottled beers, draught beers, including cask ale from our local Eden Brewery. In short, everything a superior pub can offer, and more. The atmosphere is warmly cosy. You can just about see the Old Course out of the windows (if there are no large vehicles parked opposite in the road) There are TV screens dotted round, visible from most seats, and background music to suit the young–at-heart. I will certainly return. Just as I was leaving, a friend who also happened to be eating there, enthused about the menu, “The Best Burger, is the best there is!” he said emphatically! PS – Italian bread, baked daily, and also fresh pasta, can be found in the Rocca Deli in Bell Street, along with a whole cornucopia of mouthwatering Italian goodies!
(Photos by Flora Selwyn)
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SHOPS & SERVICES
From Roving Reporter 1. Whenever he has walked past 10 Pipeland Road, St Andrews, Reporter has thought that Headstart Hair Design (01334 473 849) looks rather attractive. So he was delighted when Proprietor Marilyn Dorward, got in touch. Starting as an employee in 1981, Marilyn took over the business on the owner’s retirement in July 1988, and has never looked back. So, says Reporter happily, warm congratulations are due to Marilyn for her upcoming 25th anniversary! Marilyn is quick to share her success with Patricia, who has been with her since 1980 (and who worked with her for 7 years before that), and Linda who joined in 1992, “we’re the three that’s kept us going”. As for Marilyn’s many loyal customers, she counts several nonagenarians who have been coming regularly for many years, and one who died in 2011 aged 101, who
had been coming for 40 years! A member of the National Hairdressing Federation, Marilyn updates her skills periodically on refresher courses, “you have to keep up. I never become complacent.” Her prices are competitive, ranging from a shampoo & set at £12.50, to £55 for Easi-Meche Starts colours. There are concessions on cuts for Seniors, and for children. Gentlemen are catered for by appointment, with cuts starting at £8. Always busy in her fresh, light, and spotless premises, Marilyn offers not only professional hair styling in consultation with her customers, but also a social club atmosphere with tea/coffee and chats. Here’s to Marilyn’s next 25 years, enthuses Reporter, for Marilyn has no plan to retire!
*****
2. Reporter dropped by to see Jenny Morrison, owner at Top Drawer, 77 South Street, (01334 479 758) to hear some very exciting news. Top Drawer has been selected as a Finalist by Progressive Gifts and Home in the Independent Gift Retailer of the Year – Scotland Category. So now it’s official,
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Top Drawer is one of the best gift retailers in the UK! Jenny said that she is delighted that Top Drawer has been selected and that it is a huge honour to be part of these prestigious annual awards. She is very much looking forward to the awards lunch which, this year, is taking place at the Savoy in London on the 9th May. Keep up-to-date with all the Top Drawer news at www.topdrawergifts.co.uk Facebook: www.facebook.com/topdrawergifts Twitter: www.twitter.com/topdrawergifts Well done Jenny, says Reporter!
ADIE HUNTER Solicitors and Notaries 15 Newton Terrace Glasgow Telephone: 0141 248 3828 Fax: 0141 221 2384 email: enquiries@adiehunter.co.uk
SHOPS & SERVICES From Griselda Hill
Wemyss Ware Hamish Cats Help Promote the Statue Fund A renowned local Pottery has joined the band of admirers of Hamish McHamish, the coolest cat of St Andrews. Wemyss Ware is Scotland’s most famous Pottery, and has been made and hand painted in Fife since 1882. It recently featured number 32 in The Herald and Citizen’s Top One Hundred Fife Businesses. Wemyss Ware cats are among the Pottery’s most popular designs. The first cats produced by the Pottery date back to the late nineteenth century. Griselda Hill resumed production of Wemyss Ware in Ceres, Fife, over 28 years ago. In recent years a number of ‘special’ limited edition cats have been made, including a pair of Millennium Cats, Patch the Folk Museum Cat, a ‘Peploe’ style cat for Kirkcaldy Museum and various sizes of Marie Curie Daffodil Cat. Griselda has been following St Andrews’ famous cat’s rise to stardom with admiration. For Christmas she was given the book ‘Hamish McHamish, Cool Cat About Town’ by Susan McMullan focusing on his life in St Andrews.
Since Wemyss Ware cats are so popular it occurred to Griselda that the Pottery could immortalize Hamish in The Wemyss Pottery style, so a unique 13” Wemyss Ware Cat was designed and painted by Elaine Syme, the Head Decorator at the Pottery. Griselda then read with great interest the Citizen’s March 1st article about the proposed statue of Hamish in Church Square. It then occurred to her that the Pottery could help with fundraising for the statue. She contacted Flora Selwyn, editor of this award-winning magazine, St Andrews In Focus, who has commissioned the statue by the well known Scottish sculptor David Annand, and is enthusiastic about her idea of making a limited edition run of 100 7” (small) Hamish cats. The Pottery will donate £10 per cat to the Hamish fund – a total of £1000 if all the cats sold. Flora commented, “I’m overwhelmed by Griselda’s supremely generous offer. If only Hamish could speak English! But never mind,
St Andrews will be proud to immortalise him whatever he might think. And all those who purchase a Wemyss Hamish Cat will remember Griselda for her own kind help with the project. Thank you so much Griselda.” The smaller cats have also been designed by Elaine. Each cat will be made and hand painted in Ceres, ten miles west of St Andrews. The cats will be numbered from one to 100 and have HAMISH written on the base. They will come with a signed certificate. Griselda said, “I hope that these cats will add to Hamish’s already distinguished profile, and also help promote St Andrews.” To find out more about the limited edition cats, please contact the Pottery at info@wemyssware.co.uk or phone Marion or Harry in the shop on 01334 828 273.
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ORGANISATIONS Erika Topolewska, Steering Group,
The Vivarium Trust – Co-Housing in Fife The January/February edition of St Andrews in stages of development. The UK Co-Housing Focus carried an interesting article (‘Passivhaus Network acts as a central source of information Co-Housing Near Lancaster’) which described and advice on Co-Housing. The Network a new Co-Housing project in Lancaster. The employs a national development officer; while Vivarium Trust is aiming to set up a similar Cotheir website (www.cohousing.org.uk) is an Housing project in Fife. invaluable source of information, allowing local The article focused on the Passivhaus groups to exchange ideas and experiences. aspect of the Lancaster project where ecoVivarium was first set up in 1993. It housing delivers very low energy costs. acquired charity status in 2007 (SC038745) However even more with its role being to important than the buildings promote Co-Housing A key feature of themselves are the benefits to policymakers and Co-Housing is that the offered to the people who the general public, to reside in them. Co-Housing set up a pilot project residents choose to live is as much about people to demonstrate Coin an informal community Housing in action, and to as it is about physical structures. A key feature encourage other groups to to run the project of Co-Housing is that the consider developing Cothemselves residents choose to live Housing for themselves. in an informal community Vivarium has worked to run the project themselves. They make the hard at promoting Co-Housing to key decision decisions, they are involved in the planning, makers. Our activities were acknowledged in they are responsible for ongoing management, the Scottish Government’s 2011 older person’s and they deal with problems that arise. They housing strategy (‘Age Home and Community’) also work hard at remaining socially involved where Co-Housing was identified as an with one another. attractive option for the future. Vivarium and CoCo-Housing involves a number of individual Housing featured in a members’ debate in the homes all equipped for independent living – Scottish Parliament in October 2012, sponsored each home contains bedrooms, living rooms, by North East Fife MSP, Roderick Campbell. kitchen, bathroom, storage, personal garden, Vivarium organised a seminar in March 2012 etc. But in addition a Co-Housing development attended by 70 delegates from Housing offers communal facilities shared by all Associations, local authorities, and other residents for meetings, shared meals, and interested groups, who heard presentations general socialising. This often takes the form from speakers representing the Scottish of a Common House, which can also include Government, the UK Co-Housing Network, guest rooms, laundry facilities, workshops, Kingdom Housing Association, and Vivarium and storage. There are also common outdoor itself. In addition Vivarium has given talks to spaces – grounds and allotments. many groups, has spoken and led workshops Co-Housing was first developed in at conferences, has generally done its best to Denmark in the 1970s. It is now well achieve a media presence in local newspapers, established there and in many other countries on radio, and television. around the world, where it is seen not as Vivarium has followed a very specific something different, but as just another path to developing its own pilot Co-Housing mainstream housing option. It is estimated project. Firstly, our project is specifically that around 5% of retired people in Denmark directed towards the over 50s rather than live in Co-Housing, while in the Netherlands being multigenerational like many other Cothere are over 200 Co-Housing projects up Housing groups. We feel that the benefits of and running. Co-Housing is now starting to Co-Housing (avoiding isolation, remaining in make an appearance in the UK. There are control of one’s own circumstances, etc.) are around a dozen projects already completed of particular relevance to older people. And and in action (including the Lancaster project secondly, we have insisted that membership where the first residents moved in during is open to anyone who supports the principles 2012). In addition there are around fifty of Co-Housing whatever their financial projects which, like Vivarium, are at various circumstances. Most of the other Co-Housing
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groups in the UK are self-funded with members putting in capital or taking out loans to allow the construction etc. to proceed. Vivarium, on the other hand, wishes to be ‘affordable’, the main criterion for membership being an acceptance of the principles of Co-Housing, rather than just availability of capital. Vivarium is in the process of achieving its goal, thanks to a collaboration agreement with Kingdom Housing Association, the lead Housing Association in Fife. Kingdom are very supportive of the principles of Co-Housing, which they see offers an innovative way to make housing available in a new and very attractive format. Under the agreement, Kingdom will provide the finance and the construction expertise, and Kingdom and Vivarium will jointly plan and manage the development. Vivarium will promote the project, recruit members, and will also be responsible for financing and upkeep of the common house. It is likely that the development will offer a choice of tenures (social rental, midmarket rental, and also outright purchase) to suit individual financial circumstances. All members will share a belief in the key principles of CoHousing. It is written into the collaboration agreement that the project will be run on CoHousing principles. A site for the pilot development has been identified in North East Fife, and negotiations are under way with the landowner, who is also very supportive of the Co-Housing project. Kingdom have included the Co-Housing project as part of their current three-year development plan. It is hoped that construction (around 30 homes plus common facilities) could be completed in 2015. To summarise, it has been a long and complex process since the Vivarium group was formed, but we are hopeful that our goal is now in sight. We are looking forward to the development being completed so that we can move from planning to living! We are keen to hear from anyone who might be interested in becoming a member, or would simply like more information. Please contact vivarium1@gmail.com or see our website www.vivariumtrust.co.uk
ORGANISATIONS Janie Douglas, Chair of
Haydays (now) in Exile Haydays@the Byre is an organisation for the At the moment we have the following over 50s in the local community, in fact we classes: Salsa Jive, Singing with Ella (the would go so far as to say that it is the only picture below shows some of the singing organisation for the older generation that is group), Bridge, Ceramic Painting, Stained Glass envied by the younger generation! Making, Conversational French, Literature Established when the new Byre theatre Group, Jewellery Making, 2 for Painting and was opened, it runs a variety of classes on drawing, Circus skills. We also have a wella Tuesday, starting at 9.15am. running till attended Book Club that runs through the 4.00pm.The aim of each class sessions. In the past we have is to improve the recreation had very enjoyable lunchtime We have renamed and leisure time of Haydays from people within the ourselves Haydays talks members, and to promote and local community. encourage health, wellbeing, So you can see why in Exile! and lifelong learning. We also we are all very, very keen have a lot of fun. to keep Haydays afloat. Indeed we don’t just Our classes are varied. As well as having want to keep it afloat, we would like to grow the above remit, we also seek to promote even stronger and, hopefully, return to the Byre the arts. This results in many different and as a going concern, ensuring that the theatre interesting subjects being covered. remains at the heart of the community.
Our membership stands, at the moment, at over the 200 mark. When we called a public meeting at the Cosmos Centre,110 people turned up and pledged their support to Haydays. This is despite Haydays members having already paid their subscriptions and class fees to the Byre. With the wonderful support of the Cosmos Centre staff, with all members who pledged support, also putting their hands in their pockets, we now have all 10 classes up and running on Tuesdays in the Cosmos. We have an elected committee from our membership, a constitution, a bank account, together with a lot of enthusiasm, energy, and good will to continue. We have renamed ourselves Haydays in Exile! We shall not only survive, but also grow as a strong organisation representing the views and needs of the older generation within our community. For more information please contact: Janie Douglas (chair) janiedouglas53@msn.com Tel: 01334 476 435. (Photos courtesy Haydays)
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EVENTS Ronald J Sandford, pp Crail Festival Committee
Crail Festival 2013 – A Thought of Summer!! Dates for your diary: Crail Festival will be taking place 17-27 July in a variety of locations around Crail. Programme Something for everyone. Highlights include: Art Exhibition; Family Ceilidh; Christine Bovill (superb, young Scottish singer); Brave Kids Training Camp; Opera Bohemia; Temple Brothers (an Everly Brothers Tribute Group); Festival Street Market; Crail Festival Orchestra (an all-Mozart concert!); Ghost walks; King Luis and the Primas; Writers’ Evening of Murder, Sex and Pies; Tribute to Joyce Grenfell; Quiz Night; Putting and Golf Skills – and Top of the Bill on the Last Night, Saturday, 27 July, goes to the incomparable Aly Bain and Phil Cunningham. And there is much more…………!!
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Box Office Opens Saturday, 25 May. Town Hall 10.00-12.00. On line bookings: www.crailfestival.co.uk Putting Green Planned to be open 6 July – 4 August. Art Exhibition 17-27 July in the Town Hall. Preview: evening of 16 July. Festival Street Market Saturday, 20 July, lively, traditional music provided by Trybe. The venue has been changed for this year; and all the activities will take place in Nethergate South West of the Legion Hall to the edge of Rumford.
STOP PRESS!! Extra Event! Salsa Celtica – Scotland’s own vibrant 11-piece world music fusion band, are now coming to Crail on Friday, 17 May at 8.00pm in the Community Hall. Tickets £20. Box Office: 01333 450 108 or online www.crailfestival.co.uk
EVENTS From Patrick Laughlin
Public Re-Inauguration Ceremony will mark Completion of Martyrs’ Monument Works The £145,000 project to conserve and restore Martyrs’ Monument in St Andrews is almost at an end – and the completion of the works is to be marked by a public re-Inauguration ceremony on Wednesday, 22 May. The scaffolding shrouding the historic landmark since last autumn was removed during the first week of March, followed by ground works to upgrade and reinstate the area immediately around the Monument’s base. Two interpretation panels have been installed nearby, replacing information boards from the 1990s, which had become worn and outdated. Ray Pead, Chair of the Martyrs’ Monument Working Group, St Andrews Partnership, said: “Since the outset of this project, we have been contemplating how best to mark its completion, and we are now pleased to announce that a public occasion – open to everyone – will be held at 4.30pm on 22nd May, on and around the bandstand on Bow Butts, overlooked by the Monument itself. We aim to stage a re-inauguration ceremony which will be part celebration and part commemoration. We want to celebrate the spirit of partnership in St Andrews, which has made this ambitious restoration project possible, whilst simultaneously
commemorating a much less happy period in the town’s history – now almost 500 years ago – when religious schisms caused much bloodshed and disharmony. Our theme will be one of reconciliation – with the ceremony involving churches of different denominations as well as civic leaders. We are very pleased that Dr Richard Holloway, the renowned Scottish broadcaster, historian and commentator on modern spiritual life, has agreed to take part. Further music and colour will be added to the occasion by the City of St Andrews Pipe Band.” Mr Pead concluded, “It is not often that St Andrews has the chance to come together for a civic event like this, and we hope that as many local people as possible, as well as visitors to the town, will be able to come along to enjoy the spectacle.” Background Notes: Martyr’s Monument was built in 1842-3 to commemorate four leading Protestant figures who were martyred in St Andrews between 1520 and 1560; it highlights the important role that the town played in the Reformation. Despite its historic importance and high profile, the condition of the landmark deteriorated rapidly in recent years. The remedial works
Detail of restoration (Photo by Flora Selwyn) now undertaken will help prevent further damage, whilst also restoring some of its most attractive and interesting features, including ornamental stone carvings. A fundraising campaign led by St Andrews Partnership raised £145,000 to pay for the works. Further background and updates are at: http://martyrsmonument.standrews.co.uk St Andrews Partnership is a charity registered in Scotland, No SC041684, and is also a limited company with charitable purposes, registered in Scotland, company no. 381737. Registered office; c/o School of Management, University of St Andrews, The Gateway Building, North Haugh, St Andrews, Fife, Scotland KY16 9SS.
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EVENTS
Selected Events Friday, 3 May to Monday 13 May – at Cambo Estate, Kingsbarns Tulip Festival. Contact: cambo@camboestate.com – 6.30pm. St Andrews Church Hall, Queen’s Gardens. Burgundy: Cheese and Wine Heaven. Contact: info@guidcheeseshop.co.uk Tel: 01334 477 355. Saturday, 4 May – 9.00am-1.00pm. Argyle Street car park. Farmers’ Market. – 1.00pm-3.00pm. Gateway Building, North Haugh. Arty Saturdays. Family workshop activities, with a different theme each week, from model making to stained glass making. Free, drop in. Sunday, 5 May – 10.00am-5.00pm. Town Hall, Queen’s Gardens. Antiques & Collectors Fair. Contact: Rob Walker, rob1walker@btinternet.com Wednesday, 8 May – 4.00pm-9.00pm. Town Hall, Queen’s Gardens. Pre-application planning consultation, Madras/ Pipeland site. Contact: emelda@emacplanning.co.uk Thursday, 9 May – 7.00pm-9.00pm. Botanic Garden, Canongate. Successful Vegetable Growing. University Open Association. Contact: open.association@st-andrews.ac.uk Friday, 10 May to Sunday, 9 June – Scottish Fisheries Museum, Anstruther. Hard Lives – Hard Feet. Multi-media installation by Jock Ferguson inspired by and incorporating Victorian footware etc dredged up at West Wemyss harbour, Fife. Contact: www.scotfishmuseum.org Friday, 10 May – 7.30pm-9.30pm. St Andrews Golf Hotel, The Scores. Masterclass, Eastern Mediterranean wines. Contact: masterclass@rosemurraybrown.com Thursday, 23 May – 4.00pm-9.00pm. Town Hall, Queen’s Gardens. Pre-application planning consultation, Madras/ Pipeland site. Contact: emelda@emacplanning.co.uk
Panache at Elspeth’s of St Andrews
Friday, 24 May – 6.30pm. The Guid Cheese Shop, Burghers Close, 141 South Street. Happy Marriages: how to pair cheese and beer. Contact: info@guidcheeseshop.co.uk 01334 477 355. Monday, 27 May – 7.30pm. Buchanan Lecture Theatre, Union Street, St Andrews. The Legacy of Menia. A fundraising event and trailer preview of a documentary film about Tibetan medicine. Meet and support the film makers. Contact: Alex Co, amc88@st-andrews.ac.uk
*****
Saturday, 1 June to Sunday, 15 September – 10.00am-5.00pm daily at the St Andrews Museum, Doubledykes Road. Animal Magic. An interactive exhibition of fascinating creatures from the natural history collection, including the chance to dress up! Free. Contact: StAndrews.Museum@fife.gov.uk Saturday, 1 June – 9.00am-1.00pm. Argyle Street, car park. Farmers’ Market. – 11.00am-4.00pm. Victory Memorial Hall, St Mary’s Place. Carnaby Market Fair. Vintage everything, from music to fashion, to recycled products. Contact: thischarmingvintage@talktalk.net Thursday, 20 June to Sunday, 25 August – Scottish Fisheries Museum, Anstruther. Home from the Sea. Fisherfolk housing; location, materials, and influence on the design of their distinctive houses. Contact: www.scotfishmuseum.org Saturday, 22 June – 11.00am-4.00pm. Victory Memorial Hall, St Mary’s Place. Carnaby Market Fair. Vintage everything, from music to fashion, to recycled products. Contact: thischarmingvintage@talktalk.net Sunday, 30 June – 11.00am-5.00pm throughout central St Andrews. Hidden Gardens, the annual garden open day organized by the Preservation Trust. Tickets at various locations: Trust Office, 4 Queen’s Gardens; Museum at 12 North Street; VisitScotland, Market Street. Contact: 01334 477 152 e-mail: trust@standrewspreservationtrust.org
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9 Church Street, St Andrews Tel: 01334 472494
THE St Andrews pet shop! Stocking the widest range of pet foods, accessories. Anything not stocked we can order. 78 South Street, St Andrews, KY16 9JT Tel: 01334 470 873
TOWN & GOWN Judith and Susie Dingle remember their father
Professor Robert Balson Dingle (Bob) Our father, a Sassenach, arrived in St Andrews in 1960 to take up a post as Professor of Theoretical Physics in the University; at 34, the youngest academic to be given a Chair. He brought with him his wife, a beautiful young Australian whom he had met on his arrival at his previous post in the University of Western Australia. Like many academics, our father did not confine his thirst for knowledge and research to his own subject, even though he was one of the foremost physicists of his time. He also played the piano, was a keen musicologist, collected classical music and filled his new house with books, starting with “A” on the shelves in the attic and ending with “Zola” in the last room downstairs. He inevitably became immersed in the history of St Andrews, and began collections of books, newspaper cuttings, pamphlets, notes about the buildings and associated events. As Head of the Department of Theoretical Physics, he entertained many British and foreign visitors. For many years he ran an annual summer school, with our mother also involved as a hostess and guide to the wives. Guided historical excursions became part of these visits and summer schools, the map becoming not only a repository of some of his local research, but an artefact to give out to his students and visitors to guide them around the town. Our father was known not only as an inspirational teacher, but as an eccentric with a wicked sense of humour. The original map was signed, not in his illegible academic scrawl, but in Ogham. Our mother asked for a translation to be added after his death in 2010, and shortly before her own in 2012. PS – Before she died on 15 October 2012, Professor Dingle’s widow, Helen, discussed publication of her husband’s 3 maps of central St Andrews with Dr Edith Cormack. Conceived originally as welcomes to St Andrews and essentially for private circulation, the maps were also later given with permission to friends. It is, therefore, thanks to Dr Cormack that this story is told here together with a facsimile reproduction of part of one map. The complete maps are reproduced at www.standrewsinfocus.com Limited paper copies in a presentation folder are for sale at the Gatehouse, St Andrews Botanic Garden.
Bob Dingle was the first Professor of Theoretical Physics at St Andrews. An authority in his specialty, asymptotic expansions, he was far from being an authoritarian and, in consequence, his department was one in which colleagues worked well together. Bob and his wife Helen were noted for their hospitality until the onset of Bob’s debilitating illness, which left him in almost constant pain, put an end to such activity as well as to his academic career. In early retirement Bob obtained some solace from his vast collection of classical music. His other main interest, local history, is evidenced by the map which this note accompanies. Once, when preparing for a stay in America, Bob sent off a parcel addressed to “Robert Dingle, Gentleman”. A jest, yet a true description. (Text by Ian E Farquhar, photo courtesy of the family)
Facsimile of part of one map
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TOWN & GOWN
Montessori Children’s House Montessori Children’s House for ages 3-6 is in Holy Trinity Church Hall, Queen’s Terrace, Mondays to Fridays, 9.00am to 12.30pm. For information email: contactchildrenshouse.standrews@yahoo.co.uk Or call: Natasha Ventsel: 01334 476 754; Judith Gibson: 01334 850 013
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TOWN & GOWN
George Phillips
The Mathematician Paul Erdös This is the centenary year of Paul Erdös, who was born in Budapest on 26 March 1913, and died on 20 September 1996 in Warsaw. No-one has published more papers on mathematics. He was the author, or co-author, of more than 1500 research articles in learned journals. Most of his work was done in collaboration with approximately 500 co-authors. (A mathematician who has published even 100 papers and has 20 or 30 co-authors would be regarded as being very successful.) Casper Goffman wrote a paper in 1969, published in the American Mathematical Monthly, entitled, ‘And what is your Erdös number?’ This number is defined as follows: those who have published a paper with Erdös are said to have Erdös number 1. Those who do not have Erdös number 1, but have published a paper with someone who does have it, are said to have Erdös number 2, and so on. Also, Erdös himself is said to have Erdös number 0, and anyone who is not connected with him by a chain of co-authors is said to have an infinite Erdös number. Goffman’s is 2. There are thus about 500 who have Erdös number 1. Since, alas, Paul Erdös is dead, the number of those with number 1 cannot increase. But, as long as one author with Erdös number ‘n’ is still alive, the number of authors with Erdös number n + 1 can increase. In 2010 over 9000 were said to have number 2, and tens of thousands of people (including me) have number 3. The majority of the more than 650,000 authors of mathematics papers listed in the American Mathematical Society’s MathSciNet have finite Erdös numbers. In the Erdös Number Project of Oakland University, there is a statement, last updated on 24 May 2012, that almost every mathematician with a finite number has a number of less than 8, and only about 2% have a higher number. Before Erdös was 20, he obtained a new proof of a famous theorem, Chebyshev’s theorem, which says that for each number
greater than one, there is always at least one prime number between it and its double. A prime number is one that has no divisors other than itself and 1. Someone expressed this theorem in rhyme: Chebyshev said it, and I say it again There’s always a prime between ‘n’ and ‘2n’. His proof of another important result about prime numbers added to his fame. This result (the prime number theorem) is concerned with how many prime numbers are not greater than a given number ‘n’. The first proofs of this theorem, which appeared in 1896, used complex numbers. In 1949 Paul Erdös and Atle Selberg (1917–2007) independently derived socalled elementary proofs of the prime number theorem that involved only real numbers. One would have expected Erdös to have been a professor at a distinguished university. However, for most of his life he had no formal position. Many universities were delighted to welcome him to attend conferences, or to stay for longer periods to pursue his research collaborations. On a typical visit he would receive expenses to cover his travel and subsistence. He often received very generous support, so he tended to have plenty of income. For the latter part of his life he was befriended by Professor Ron Graham, who acted like a secretary and looked after his finances. Graham also set aside a room in his house which Erdös might use at any time. Erdös invented a number of expressions. He would refer to a child as an ‘epsilon’. This is the Greek letter e, used in mathematics to indicate a small quantity. He would say, ‘X has died’, meaning X has stopped doing mathematics, and, ‘before I leave’, meaning, ‘before I die’. During a mathematics talk, he would sometimes say, ‘Before I leave I would like to see a proof of this conjecture’; he would
then offer a sum of money, say ten dollars or a hundred dollars, depending on how difficult George Phillips the problem was. It was said that a recipient of an Erdös cheque would typically frame it rather than cash it. Erdös stated that a mathematician was ‘a device for turning coffee into theorems.’ His friends worried that he also used Benzedrine to keep him going. To please them he stopped taking this drug, but resumed when he found he wasn’t proving as many theorems! Some readers will remember Professor Edward Copson (1901–1980) and his wife Beatrice (1907–2004). One winter evening they entertained Paul Erdös in their home in St Andrews. At one stage Mrs Copson noticed that he was warming himself in front of the fire. As a concerned hostess she asked her guest if he was feeling cold. Erdös replied, “I travel constantly and do not wear socks or underpants.” (Both Professor Copson and his father-in-law, Sir Edmund Whittaker (1873– 1956) have Erdös number 4.) I met Erdös only once, I think at a conference at the University of Calgary in 1975. It was breakfast time, and he and I were almost the only ones in the room. I didn’t do very well. Guessing that he didn’t have any small talk, I said something like, “It’s a pleasure to see you, Professor. Are you doing much travelling these days?” He looked up at the fool opposite him and said, “I travel all the time.” There was my big opportunity, and I blew it. Still, I have my Erdös number 3 to console me. Reference: Paul Hoffman, The Man Who Loved Only Numbers: The Story of Paul Erdös and the Search for Mathematical Truth. Fourth Estate, London, 1998.
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TOWN & GOWN Flora Selwyn talked with Professor Dina Iordanova, FRSA, Chair in Film Studies and Director of the Centre for Film Studies at the University of St Andrews.
A Dramatic Life
and it also entailed leaving behind her family. However, it was also “I am a city child,” born on Labour Day, 1st May 1960, in Sofia, capital generally understood by Bulgarians that economically communism was of Bulgaria. Dina Iordanova explains that in the ‘60s and ‘70s under about to collapse, and that it would be advantageous to move to the West. Communist rule, there was substantial migration from the countryside to Dina contends that life was not as bad under communism as it is painted the cities, the villages becoming holiday retreats to a large extent. Thus in the West, nevertheless, she now agrees that migrating was the right she relates that nature has “never been an element of my life before.” decision. Dina was “a shy and studious child” preferring to read books to In 1993 Dina moved to Austin, Texas to her first academic post in the playing with others. Yet in the garden where she lived there were trees West, teaching East European Studies, including film. In Bulgaria she had she enjoyed climbing to sit in; indeed she considered them her friends, been teaching Western Culture, and was therefore considered to have especially one large plane tree with accessible horizontal branches. Dina transferable skills. In Texas she gradually overcame a lack of confidence relates that her mother always fretted she had been unable “to pursue stemming from a conception that Bulgarian education was somehow her career as a concert pianist…and in her mind she should have been inferior to its Western counterpart. She moved to Chicago, then back to travelling the world giving concerts, and so on”, though she ought to have Canada. In 1998, with her young son, she came to Britain, to Leicester felt fulfilled as a successful editor of classical music for the country’s main University, for the next six years. “I was finally able radio station, “always very busy and overworked.” to start producing books in English.” By 2004 Dina Baby-sitting was not part of Bulgarian culture in Dina’s wish is that was in a position to seek a chair, which brought those days, so Dina and her two-years-younger St Andrews will host cultural her to St Andrews, “to be the first Professor in Film brother were often left to fend for themselves. “My Studies.” father was more around because he’s a writer, a cinema, in addition to the Film Studies has since expanded, allowing poet, and a journalist. He had to go to work, but diet of Hollywood films Dina sabbaticals, when, “I’m not required to his work was only in the afternoon for two or three teach, which allows me to travel.” All-important hours in a publishing house.” Once Dina became a networking, as well as research, can take place anywhere in the world. teenager, her father began to take more notice of her, and they indulged “In February I was in Thailand… If I don’t do teaching, I don’t need to be in their common interest in cinema, sometimes seeing two films in one here, though of course I live here…I go two or three times to Asia every day. Since school was in the morning only, Dina would be home by year.” 1.00pm. Bulgaria at that time had many cinemas showing films all the In 2008 Dina received a Leverhulme grant to study the phenomenon time. The Kultura Cinema in Sofia showed films non-stop, which people of film festivals, of which currently there are some 10,000 around the could attend at any time of the day. But, “most of these cinemas are now world. China, Africa, Latin America, are all places whose film productions closed.” interest Dina above and beyond Hollywood. Not widely seen here Eventually Dina went to St Kliment Ohridski, Sofia University. She because of distribution problems, Dina hopes that the festivals will explained its name: Bulgaria is part of the Greek Orthodox tradition, redress the balance, especially as they also bring communities together. therefore its saints differ from those of other Christian denominations. Books on the subject written by Dina and her colleagues are now being Kliment (aka Clement of Ohrid) is commemorated as an important translated into Chinese. In St Andrews the unexpected closure of the Byre Enlightenment figure in Bulgaria; Ohridski refers to the lakeside town, in caused many difficulties, for “they were hoping to become a more diverse what is now Macedonia, where he lived. Dina’s father was disappointed cinematic scene, including the showcasing of cinematic material related to that his daughter wasn’t going to follow in his literary footsteps. She Scotland’s very own cinematic heritage.” At the last minute other venues herself hoped at one point to become a fashion designer, but decided were found to show footage of early St Andrews, as well as well-known she “was becoming too intellectual”. So rebelling slightly, she studied films, featuring, for example, Buster Keaton. Philosophy. Although finding it a mite too esoteric, Dina “stuck with it”, Dina’s wish is that St Andrews will host cultural cinema, in addition to and after eight years gained her doctorate. She made many good friends the diet of Hollywood films. “The St Andrews community is unique in my at University, who enriched her life immeasurably, yet “unlike them, I was opinion, because it has such a high proportion of highly educated people. not born to be a philosopher… I can understand theory, I can talk about So, as far as I’m concerned the audience exists, and is not different from theory, but I cannot come to love theory, no way!” Her second specialty any university towns like Cambridge or Oxford, which do have culture was German, ”at school I studied Russian. At University I studied Italian, I cinemas.” PhD students here curating five or six films a year, Dina says, studied French, but never English.” would add hugely to St Andrews’ cultural scene, “I’m still dreaming of In fact, Dina was 30 before she learned English, when she went to this.” Hopefully soon a refurbished Byre, which was her favourite space, Canada in 1990 with her palaeontologist husband. Dina was morally torn will allow Dina’s dream to come true, to the benefit of St Andrews. by this emigration. Under communism it was considered to be defection,
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OUT & ABOUT Alistair Lawson of ScotWays queries
A Paranormal Presence at the Priory? Hiking around the Fife countryside brings many experiences and rewards – scenery, exercise, health, relaxation, history, geography, bird-watching, photo opportunities, and much else besides. If the above be described as the normal, what about experiences of the paranormal – if such exist? In Fife, there are reputed to be ghosts, spectres, shades, apparitions, revenants – call them what you will – at Balcomie Castle, Balgonie Castle, Kellie Castle, Wemyss Castle, at some of the Victorian houses in Crail and at Crawford Priory (which, perversely, is not and never was a priory). Readers may be open to persuasion on such matters, or they may know, with absolute conviction, their own mind, one way or the other. 25 years or so ago, when Edinburgh University created a lecturing post in The Paranormal, there was great debate as to whether this was a huge waste of money or whether it was entirely justifiable in the context of far-ranging and rigorous academic enquiry. To put that debate in context, another Scottish
university, in celebrating its 200th anniversary, came up with the slogan, “200 years of useful learning” – but that was a university which specialised in engineering and allied subjects. By way of hard history, it can be related that Crawford Priory was originally built as Crawford Lodge by the 21st Earl of Crawford in 1758, and was substantially enlarged and extended in the early nineteenth century by a sister of the 22nd Earl, Lady Mary Lindsay Crawford, who had the building redesigned in the gothic style, adding buttresses, turrets and pinnacles, effecting the look of a priory, although it had had no religious history. Since the 1960s, the house has gradually fallen into disrepair and ruin, until only the shell now remains. On a dark day, it has to be said that its grim exterior readily gives rise to gloomy thoughts, particularly as the empty windows stare out like empty eye sockets from a skull. If there is a ghost there, it is that of Lady Mary. She was a kindly person, albeit eccentric, and with a great interest in animals and birds, of which she kept a wide range, preferring their company to that of people. The alleged
The west front of Crawford Priory as it is today. apparition is said to wander the grounds, beckoning her beloved animals to come to her. There are public paths entering the area from the village of Springfield, from the small cluster of houses at Cults Mill, from the former tollhouse at Clushford crossroads on the A914 Glenrothes to Cupar road and further along that road towards Pitlessie. Readers may like to go there and enjoy the “normal” countryside pursuits or – who knows – experience the “paranormal”. If it happens for you, be sure to write to our editor with a full account – and photographs. It might even give rise to the longawaited flurry of letters to the editor, which has not yet materialised in all the nine-year history of the magazine ... why ever not? (Photo from Alistair Lawson)
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OUT & ABOUT Tony Hardie’s
Nature Notes I am writing these notes on 27th March, 2013. We have endured a hard spell, not only frost at night, but a nearly continuous gale from the east bringing intensely cold weather, from Siberia it seems. The North Sea has been whipped into a frenzy of white horses out in the bay and high breaking waves as the shoreline is reached. And so, not wishing to write further of the weather, I looked up some notes taken this day last year in 2012: “A tortoiseshell butterfly sunned herself on the warm stone of our garden path, an indication of how warm it is – in the region of 20°C these last two days. The first petal fell from the magnolia today and the light green
(Photo by kind permission of John Anderson (www.pbase.com/crail_birder))
leaves are just emerging. Some later flowers also adorn the tree, just waiting to open. The flowers are white with a veinous pattern and a rib to each petal, but with a purple strand from the base, that is purple and white. The dog’s-tooth violet, the flower so like a delicate cyclamen, is past its best. A downward-looking flower, it never looks up. The leaves are a lovely olive green of a spear shape with bold brown stripes. It seems to be happy where the primrose would grow. In the evening I took a walk down to the bum that runs to the sea between Boarhills and Pitmilly. There was much to see. As I went a lovely white owl, the Bam owl, flew out of an old wooden shed. She did not go far before perching on an old fencing post to watch me. I suspect she is nesting in that shed, but I did not investigate as she needs all the peace that she can get. The Bam owl is occasionally the feature of the evening walk. It is at this time that she chooses to hunt keeping close to the hedgerow. More productive than elsewhere, except the farmyards, where the brown rat features as prey. As I got close to her she flew quickly away. Eric Hosking, the great pioneer bird photographer illustrates their flight as they take their prey, which is carried in the beak to the young. They are the most beautiful of birds, the upper feathers of a flecked yellow, a white dished face with a close-set bill, no Roman nose here, and white on the lower body. The
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(Photo by Tony Hardie) feathering is soft, which results in their lovely silent flight. As I walked on down the hedgerow six yellow hammers were watching me from the bare branches of an ash tree – it was as if they had been “fell-in” by some regimental sergeant major! Soon they will take up their nesting sites in some clipped hedgerow. Their eggs are quite beautiful, marked with dark black scribbling upon a pale background. It is as if someone has written upon them. We all know their somewhat boring song so I shall not describe it! At the bum it was as if the dipper was waiting for me. And judging by the fresh water shrimps sunning themselves in the water the dipper must have been well fed. Close to the nest upstream, on a rocky cleft, his mate was to be seen – the thatch of the nest usually kept green by the dripping water, was the colour of straw. There were probably chicks within, warm and dry.”
OUT & ABOUT Arlen Pardoe exposes more
Hidden Gems in St Andrews Focussing on features that are in plain sight, but often overlooked.
Street Names There are many stone properties in St Andrews. It was natural in the past that the names of streets were incised into the stone. The more modern street names on metal plaques do not seem to have the same permanence and character of the earlier versions. Street names in the town have changed over the years; some are redundant in that they are no longer in general use, being superseded by the name and house numbering of a main street. Another feature of the permanent nature of incised signs is the lettering used over different periods of time. Modern street signs have a dullness in their standard colouring and lettering that gives uniformity, but little in the way of interest.There is a feeling of history and heritage in the old signs.
The name Bell Street actually appears on the house at the corner of Greyfriars Garden and North Street. It refers to Andrew Bell, founder of Madras College. The street was originally North Bell Street, changing its name in 1896.
Originally Butler’s Wynd, named after nearby landowners, it was then known as West Burn Wynd before being renamed as West Burn Lane in 1843.
There had been an East Burn Wynd (even earlier having the more correct name of Priors Wynd) further east, but this was renamed as Abbey Street in 1843.
Originally called Foul Waste, probably after the rubbish dump nearby in a quarry hole, it was given this more favourable name, Union Streer, in 1907. It probably refers to the Union of Great Britain and Ireland in 1801.
Alexander Herd had made some money in Australia from gold digging and gave this name, Melbourne Place, to his property. It was wrongly called Millburn Place by some people for some time after it was built.
The earlier name for Pilmour Place, including Pilmour Links, was Rogergait, after Bishop Roger, and a landmark to the northwest of St Andrews, Cross Roger. Pilmour or its alternative Pilmuir probably refers to St Andrews Castle, the ‘Fort on the Hill’.
Named after the Bow Butts, where archery was practiced, this name has survived attempts to rename it as Butts Lane and Scores Lane.
Originally Golf Place was the east side of the street and Kirk’s Place the west, but in 1907 both sides were called Golf Place.
Named after John Ritchie, a stonemason, the name Ritchie Place became redundant and the house became part of Ellis Place.
College Street had a number of names in the past – Merkat Wynd, Buckler Wynd, and then College Wynd after 1500
Crail’s Lane refers to the Collegiate Church of Crail, which had received rentals from properties here. Originally New Close, it became Crail’s Wynd, then renamed Crail’s Lane in the changes of 1843.
Some streets bear the name of local families or landowners who developed properties in the area. Edward Ellis was a local MP, John Fleming was a stoneware and china merchant and father of local historian David Hay Fleming. James Gibson was a wood merchant and James Farquharson was a local plumber who named houses he had built after his mother, whose maiden name was Guthrie.
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