St Andrews in Focus Issue 80 Jan Feb 2017 by Mike Collins

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

January/February 2017 Issue 80, £2.00

the award winning magazine for St Andrews, Scotland www.standrewsinfocus.com

St Andrews in focus

• shopping • eating • events • town/gown • people and more

From the Editor

New years always seem to regurgitate those old clichés about time flying, and all that. 2016 has certainly flown. It’s a year that’s likely to stay in the collective memory forever, because of all the expectations of every kind turned upside down and inside out! What will future historians make of it, I wonder? If only I could come back every hundred years or so to see how things pan out! 2017 starts with a host of uncertainties, which no doubt will eventually be resolved, one way or another. Note my caution! I’m no futurologist (they tend to get most things wrong in any case). Whether you’re happy or unhappy with what’s been happening, there seems to me to be some sort of sea change in the air. Let’s be optimistic and trust it will turn out to be a good 2017 for all of us, both here and in the wider world as well. Flora Selwyn

******** The views expressed elsewhere in this magazine are not necessarily those of the Editor. © St Andrews in Focus (2003)

JANUARY / FEBRUARY 2017 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 (stephen@wintersimpson.co.uk) DISTRIBUTER Drop 2 Door (billy@drop2door.co.uk) PUBLISHER (address for correspondence) Local Publishing (Fife) Ltd., PO Box 29210, St Andrews, Fife, KY16 9YZ. Tel: 01334 472375 Email: editor@standrewsinfocus.com SUBSCRIPTIONS St Andrews in Focus is published 6 times a year. Subscriptions for 6 issues are: £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 send remittance by International MoneyGram. See website at: http://global.moneygram.com/in/en/money-transfers REGISTERED IN SCOTLAND: 255564 THE PAPER USED IS 100% RECYCLED POST-CONSUMER WASTE

Contents

FEATURES • From the Provost’s Chair • Remaining cheerful • St Andrews – the Toun • A working artist’s journey • Bible-inspired economics • Ask the Curator • Reviews: – Iona – David Rollo – Local Hero – Wycombe Abbey Revisited

3 3 4 5 6 7 8 8 9

EVENTS • StAnza 2017 • Report on STAFCO concert • The Coastal Rowing Club outing • Selected Events

10 11 12 13

TOWN & GOWN • The Green Film Festival

PULL-OUT FEATURE • Concert Diary

15-18

SHOPS & SERVICES • BID • From the Osteopath • Golf entrepreneur • The Succession (Scotland) Act 2016 • Grey Statement for the Auld Grey Toun • Roving Reporter

19 19 20 21 21 22-23

ORGANISATIONS • Vocational Ambassadors Foundation • SSAFA • Decorative & Fine Arts in Fife • The St Andrews Social Club • APPG Golf

25 25 26 27 28

OUT & ABOUT • Lathockar Water Tower restored • The Kinburn Labyrinth • ScotWays • Letterboxes

29 29 30 31

NEXT ISSUE – Mar/Apr 2017 COPY DEADLINE: STRICTLY 28 JANUARY

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

Cover: An original photo by Richard Cormack, “Snowy walk in the Lade Braes, St Andrews”

FEATURES Callum McLeod, Chairman, St Andrews Community Council

From the Provost’s Chair May I begin, of course, by wishing all readers of this magazine a “Guid New Year to one an’ a’!” It would also seem a good time to put on record our appreciation of the tireless work done by Flora Selwyn in producing St Andrews in Focus six times a year, thereby bringing news of our ancient, but forward-looking Burgh to an audience within and far beyond its boundaries. We honour Flora’s service to our community in doing so, though I know she seeks no glory for her efforts. Service to others was the theme of my remarks at the Annual Civic Reception which we hold to mark the start of the St Andrew’s Week Celebrations in November. I wondered what the fisherman Andrew would make of the great Cathedral erected in his name, where weary pilgrims would come to venerate relics of the Apostle? Or of the city which grew up round the Cathedral and eventually bore his name? Or the great seat of learning and the worldrenowned golf links with which he is now indirectly associated? I suspect he might be more than a little bewildered by it all.

But I also think he would recognise three things in modern St Andrews as well – first, that we too live by the sea, our lives shaped to varying degrees by the fresh, salty air, the bracing winds and the glorious views; secondly, that many, many residents young and old, long-term and transient, feel a calling to serve others in one way or another, freely sharing their talents and gifts; and, finally, he would recognise that we too live in a time of great uncertainty and upheaval. The exercising of democracy in 2016 only marked the beginning, not the end of a new era at home and abroad. My community challenge this month stems from a proposal made by our Treasurer, Community Councillor Iain Munn. Iain came up with the simple but effective idea of a “Welcome & Good Luck” letter being sent to any new business opening in the town. This was quickly agreed and to it has been added a framed certificate which businesses might even like to display on the wall. The past ten years or so have been a time of great economic change and challenge, with high streets transformed, partly due to the rise in internet shopping – who would ever have thought that Woolworths would disappear from

Market Street virtually overnight? Many Scottish town centres are lined with derelict and boarded-up shops; we can count ourselves lucky that we still have a vibrant town centre with a great range of shops, though it is notable and, many would say, regrettable, that many small, local family businesses have failed to survive. Friends visiting are sometimes astounded by the number of eating and drinking places and by the high-end shops which grace our town centre that would normally only be seen in large city centres. I personally like the number of charity shops we have, both for the good work they do and for the opportunity they give us to recycle and upcycle surplus goods and clothing. All too often, we hurry past new or unfamiliar shops, perhaps meaning to pop in to them at some point. My challenge, then, is this – in the course of next week, simply go into a shop or business or café which you have never visited before – and see what they have to offer… As always, I welcome hearing from you at callummac@aol.com or at 01334 478 584. Dum spiro spero

John Cameron

On Remaining Cheerful When I worked as a maths teacher my Before dusting my crystal ball for 2017 I turned for inspiration to a heart sank when a child would inform me, Daily Telegraph piece written by Alex Proud last year, in which he gave “My gran says oor family canna dae maths” – reasons to be cheerful in 2016. too often that turned out to be a self-fulfilling In it he assured us that Brexit, Trump, and Putin would sink without prophecy. We can also try to think outside the trace, Angela Merkel would rise again as the conscience of Europe, box, to work creatively, not letting ourselves be and being clean-shaven would be the new look. cowed by those who grumble that “it’s always The first three are in rude health, Mutti Angela is probably on the been done this way” and “who do you think way out, while Andy Murray still looks as if he spent the previous night you are?” sleeping on a bench in a public park. Albert Einstein was lucky to have initially been unsuccessful as However, there are people who sail on serenely through tough an academic, fetching up in the Swiss patent office, bombarded by times. There are a number of ways of thinking which can help us – way-out ideas with no-one to “keep him right”. Above all we mustn’t be starting with being grateful for what we have. Rather than focusing on afraid to fail because nothing paralyzes us like fear what is wrong, we should write down things that make of failure; in hard times things will go wrong. We will our lives special, so that when troubles loom we can need to learn from these failures and press on. And return to that list and focus on those things. At every there’s no point in endlessly beating ourselves up stage in our lives we need to set short- and long-term Let’s be positive and – we all make mistakes, we all pay a price, but we goals, starting with a daily to-do list, because a lack of share our certainties also need to be as supportive of ourselves as we direction inevitably leads to feelings of impotence and frustration. rather than our doubts are of our loved ones. We need to stay in the moment rather than We also need to take care of ourselves. Physical dwell on the past, or worry about the future, exercise – even just getting out of the house – will because focusing on the present and today’s tasks elevate our moods, keeping us feeling optimistic and will keep us positive and productive. The simple act of smiling can in control of our lives. actually change our mood. We should seek out the people we know It may be one of those things people expect a clergyman to who will make us laugh, opening us up to the possibility of being happy say, but the fact is that taking the focus off oneself while focusing on again. someone else does boost one’s mood and self-esteem. In this regard Finally we need to “take five” – to set aside some quiet time during we must watch what we say, because sending negative messages every day to recharge by turning off the ubiquitous mobile phone, the is corrosive and damages the young. Let’s be positive and share our laptop, and those voices in our heads. certainties rather than our doubts.

FEATURES Billy Anderson, “a poem…I wrote many years ago when the late David Niven, was the local provost.”

St Andrews – ‘The Toun’ I’ve lived here in St Andrews, aye the best pairt o’ my life, I used to stay outside the toun, in the country side o’ Fife. But I came here tae the college, havin’ passed the eleven plus, An’ traivelled tae Madras each day in a blue Alexander’s bus.

It wis pretty guid on petrol, I got four gallons for a pound, Which I bought fae Eck Gillespie at the West Port Garage ground. I kept it for a month or twa, then bought a Morris van, An’ soon I left the Savings Bank an’ became an Insurance man.

I can always mind my uniform, grey breeks an’ a dark blue blazer, An’ ma hair wis always cut richt short, by a man ca’d Hazel Radar. Ma shirt had tae be grey or white, ma shoes wir always black, An’ I carried a’ ma school books in a school bag on ma back.

I gaed roond the toun collectin’, the same as Willie Bell, Sometimes wi the manager, my the stories he could tell. I remember Johnston’s garage an’ the pub in Logie’s Lane, John Marshall wis in Market Street, he’s still a household name.

I can still mind o’ the rector, Dr Thomson wis his name, The pupils a’ respected him, as did oor folks at hame. He always took an interest in each talent that he saw, An’ used the strap if need be on those who broke the law!

Miss Reid was where the vet is noo, right next to Gordon Lyle T T Fordyce had twa shops within a quarter o’ a mile. Provost Niven was a butcher in Church Street weel I mind, Right opposite his namesake, where the Alliance noo ye’ll find.

It didnae dae nae hairm, in fact it did ye guid, An’ it taught ye a lesson, to remind you whaur ye stood. Well, I mind I went tae Lipton’s an’ I got a message job, Delivering a’ the groceries, for the sum o’ twenty-five bob!

Mr Johnstone he had fruit shops in each corner o’ the toun, The yin at the tap o’ Abbey Street had a funny wee step doon. I aye mind o’ the Crown Hotel right opposite the ‘Byre’ They knocked it doon for some reason, efter it went on fire!

I had a big green message bike, wi a basket on the front, An’ if I broke the wifie’s eggs, I had tae take the brunt. I used to gie ma wages tae ma mither every week, An’ a’ the daily tips I made, she used tae let me keep.

The fire station was in Bridge Street, gey awkward for a foreigner, When the engine it cam fleein’ richt oot at Smith Leslie’s corner. Nae one-way traffic system an’ hardly a yellow line, Nae shops that sell ye hooses an’ ithers fou o’ wine.

Noo, I sat the first O’levels in nineteen sixty-two, An’ passed in every subject except the ‘parley vous’ I got English, maths an’ music, an’ Madras I had tae thank, For the job I got in the Church Street branch o’ the Dundee Savings Bank.

But time has changed oor dear auld toun, an’ change should not bring fear, For the changes that I mention were spread ower mony a year. An’ a’ they years I entertained wi waltzes, reels an’ Lancers, The Star Hotel, the Royal Hotel, Victoria, and MacArthurs.

The staff were near a’ lassies, but I’d still tae mak the tea, There wis only twa men in the place, Stanley Robertson an’ me. I first worked on the ledger cairds wi Davie Duncan’s daughter, An’ eventually I progressed tae a job ahent the coonter.

Well I’ve traivelled ower the country, Scotland, England, Ireland, Wales, Aye, an’ across the wide Atlantic, where the American nivver fails Tae ask ye whaur ye came frae an’ I’m aye proud tae reply, “Eh, a wee place ca’d St Andrews, hiv ye heard o’t, my oh my”

The wage wisnae fantastic, but three hunder pound a year, Wis a lot tae me in they days, even though it wisna clear. I bocht a car, a Standard eight fae Andrew Culross, It cost me almost ninety pound, wi a guarantee of course!

Aye, the auld grey toun is famous in each corner o’ this earth, Through the Patron Saint o’ Scotland, the country o’ my birth. The fame of sport an’ history, the church an’ learned goun, Combine a hame relationship, between me an’ the toun.

West Sands (Photo by Flora Selwyn)

FEATURES Jonathan Dowling traces his

Journey as a Working Artist I have always considered St Andrews to be my ‘home town’. I grew up in booklets. At the time I hadn’t worked on the small village of Dairsie a few miles away and went to high school in any artwork for a couple of years and was Cupar, but knew the streets and layout of St Andrews from an early age. very much out of practice. But as I took For more years than I can remember as a child we would have cakes time to re-familiarise myself with drawing and coffee in Brambles café on College Street on Saturday mornings. while studying the intricate details of the I would spend my pocket money in Christie’s toyshop! I would walk the medieval chapel, I began to love the task, same streets as a university student, and more recently as a father. spending hours every evening drawing I was always keen to go to university in St Andrews. I had heard the the Chapel. I was quietly pleased with the history departments were very good, while I would be able to keep my finished drawing, which was well received part-time job at Safeway (now Morrisons) where I had worked since I at our wedding. Afterwards I was asked to draw a house for a family was 16. At that time fees had to be paid up front; I remember working all friend. I soon found myself working on commissions in the evenings, summer, then writing a large cheque at the start of my first semester! I creating new drawings for a family gift shop in Moray. My wife and I really enjoyed my time here, made many friends, loved quickly came to the conclusion that I should leave my learning about classical Greece and Rome, medieval job in the heritage sector when my contract ended In the coming year I history, archaeology, and geology. I took an active role and work full time on my artwork for a year or two. in the Archaeology Society, which led to my first paid hope to carry out more And that is what I did. part-time job in archaeology, recording, photographing, In my first year as a full-time artist I was fortunate commissions, and drawing the gravestones in the town’s Cathedral enough to be offered gallery space at Cambo House, graveyard with local archaeologist Edwina Proudfoot. I increase the drawings a few miles south of St Andrews. I also took part in greatly enjoyed this experience, even when I sat on a Open Studios North Fife for the first time. Since then I have of St Andrews fold-up stool trying to draw and record a gravestone in I have also achieved a strong working partnership horizontal rain, or during a cold, frosty morning. Noting with St Andrews Links Golf who sell my golf-related the number of child deaths on the many 19th and early 20th century work in their shops and clubhouses. I also work with The University family gravestones was a very sobering experience, something that has of St Andrews and St Andrews Botanic Garden who stock a range of stayed with me since. My ties with the University and Edwina Proudfoot my work in their shops. I also have an online shop and have recently also led me to working on two episodes of the popular Channel 4 series illustrated a children’s book. My portfolio of work includes many larger ‘Time Team’ when they came to Fife, also excavating a medieval castle drawings on wood, either freestanding blocks, or larger wall-mounted in St Monans (Newark Castle) and researching dovecots across Fife. pieces. My most recent work has included drawings of Edinburgh and Work and life eventually led me to move to Edinburgh, where I Stirling Castles and views in the Highlands of Scotland. In the coming took up a job with the Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical year I hope to carry out more commissions, and increase the drawings Monuments of Scotland (RCAHMS) as a landscape archaeologist. After I have of St Andrews. With such a picturesque, historical town, this five years I returned to Fife to begin working on a project recording shouldn’t be hard! historical places of worship in Scotland, which led me to work across the north-east of Scotland. (Photo & drawing by Jonathan Dowling) During my childhood and while working in history and archaeology, I had pursued art as a hobby. As a child I drew all the time, in particular the view from beyond my back garden, where the local farmer would trundle up and down in his tractor and combine harvester, sowing and harvesting his crops. During my later years at school I pursued art and design with vigour, also attending several local evening art classes. By the time it came to leaving school after 6th Year, I had the option of going to several universities and art schools. I found it difficult to decide between Duncan of Jordanstone Art College, Aberdeen University, Dundee University, St Andrews University. My love of St Andrews, its history and familiarity and its courses, led me to my choice. My change in career and lifestyle, from one of commuting and working in an office in front of a computer (with some weeks of fieldwork), to working at home, for myself, drawing, was an unexpected, but welcome one. I had known for some time that my current contract in the heritage sector would be ending, with little chance of renewal, due to the economic circumstances Scotland found itself in. Because jobs in archaeology and history were being cut left, right and centre, I knew I had some serious decisions to make. Coincidently, I was engaged to be married. My fiancée and family were keen that my artwork should play some role in the wedding. I reluctantly agreed on drawing St Salvator’s Chapel as a cover piece for the Order of Service

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FEATURES Colin McAllister – the first of 3 articles on

How Much Economics Can We Learn From The Bible? The Bible is not a textbook of economics, anymore than it is a geology or history textbook as such; nevertheless there is much of interest to an economist to be found in it. 1. Pharaoh’s dreams: Genesis 41,1-36 The National Debt (i.e. the Government’s debt accumulated over the In Pharaoh’s dreams there were 7 sleek and fat cows; 7 ugly and lean years). This is akin to Joseph’s 20% tax on agricultural output. In years cows. There were also 7 ears of corn, full and ripe; 7 ears of corn, of high unemployment the government does the opposite and runs a meagre and scorched by the east wind. Joseph interprets the dreams Budget deficit (spending more than it raises in taxes). This has the effect as meaning: 7 years of plenty to be followed by 7 years of famine. His of adding to the level of demand in the economy. recommendation to Pharaoh is that in the years of plenty Pharaoh Budget deficits have 2 components: (1) cyclical. As demand should impose a tax of 20% on the corn, and store it in barns against the falls and unemployment rises, government tax revenue falls while its forthcoming famine. expenditures on unemployment rise; (2) structural. This part of the deficit Pharaoh’s Egypt was an agricultural society, as are many developing is independent of the level of demand. It is that part of the deficit that countries in the world today. Such societies are highly susceptible to would remain if the economy were at full employment. Such deficits are what economists call shocks – external events such as droughts, floods, harmful and unsustainable, and can only be financed by selling off capital tsunamis, earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, which cannot be predicted in assets, a sure road to impoverishment. advance. The correct response to these stochastic or random variables There are other lessons to be learned. Countries that experience a is to hold stocks. The holding of stocks of course has a cost, but it natural resources bonanza through the discovery of gas, oil, or minerals can be regarded as an insurance policy against can suffer harmful booms, which, if not treated unpredictable events. The other response that is correctly, can lead to what is called “Dutch disease” required is to improve transport links, as it is no good – a rise in the value of the currency and a resultant during the Irish famine having stocks of food if they cannot be brought to de-industrialisation as manufacturing is made the areas of need. Indeed, during the Irish famine uncompetitive by the currency appreciation. This is of the 1840s food was of the 1840s food was being exported in the east to what happened to the Dutch in the 1960s after the being exported in the England, but could not be brought to those in need discovery of gas, also to the UK in the 1980s with in the west. oil. east to England, but Does this have any relevance for modem What is the correct response? It is best to treat could not be brought to industrial societies? Typically they have good such events as a windfall. The currency should transport networks, while agriculture and fishing prevented from appreciating by saving the those in need in the west be make up only a small part of economic activity. excess revenue and investing it in foreign currency Nevertheless there are important implications. assets, as Norway, Qatar, and other countries have Industrial societies are subject to the ups and downs done with their sovereign wealth funds. Only the of the trade cycle. Years of full employment (often accompanied by permanent income from the dividends etc paid should be spent, so that inflation or rising prices) can be followed by years of high unemployment the capital is not depleted and the income remains when the oil, gas, or (sometimes accompanied by periods of deflation, or falling prices). whatever runs out. Similar strategies should be adopted by high-earning Keynesian economics uses fiscal policy (changes in the levels of sportsmen, whose lifetime earnings are compressed into only, say, 20 government spending and taxation) to compensate. This is known as years. If the UK had adopted this approach we would still be benefiting countercyclical economic policy. In years of high or excess demand from the oil, and would not have suffered de-industrialisation to the (symptomised by inflation and balance of payments current account extent we have done. Norway has the biggest sovereign wealth fund in deficits) the government should run a Budget surplus (raising more in the world and superb infrastructure of bridges, tunnels etc. taxes than it spends). This is called forced saving and reduces the level of demand in the economy. The Budget surplus is then used to reduce (Part 2 will appear in the March/April issue)

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FEATURES Nicola Moss, The Preservation Trust Museum’s Curator replies to

Ask the Curator

Q. Am I right in thinking that the artist Annabel Kidston assisted in the founding of the St Andrews Preservation Trust? A. Yes, you are. Agnes Annabel Kidston moved to St Andrews in 1936 at the age of 40, to join her sister Margaret, who was a member of the anatomy department at the University. She was instantly attracted to the architectural appeal of the town, quickly realising the need for some regulations to be established and enforced in order to preserve the character and appearance of the town. Within a year of moving here she had, with help from other concerned St Andreans, co-founded the St Andrews Preservation Trust. Annabel’s commitment to the preservation of old houses in St Andrews was much more than simple “lip service”. She lived in a number of the town’s properties. In 1965 she purchased and renovated 21-23 Market Street in the heart of the fisher quarter. This project was partly prompted by her desire to counter the idea that this district of St Andrews was expendable. After the Second World War, Annabel continued to work on many different projects. One of her other passions was planting and preserving the town’s trees; for many years she was the convenor of the Trust’s Tree Committee. In the 1940s, Annabel was part of the so-called ‘St Andrews School’, which included Jozef Sekalski, Roberta Hodges, James Scott, and the McKenzie Sisters, all famous St Andrews artists. Together, they formed a group called the ‘St Andrews Arts Committee’ under the auspices of the Scottish Arts Council. Annabel was to become the first chairman of the Committee and was chosen as its President in 1972. In 1959, the Arts Committee had decided to create a separate Art Society, now known as St Andrews Art Club, of which Annabel became one of the first members. Between 1941 and 1946, Annabel was an instructor of drawing and engraving for the Committee for Education for the Forces. Together with her friends and her fellow artists Alison and Winifred McKenzie, she held classes three evenings a week in Upper College Hall for the Polish soldiers stationed in St Andrews while the Polish government was in exile. These classes were very popular, not only spreading knowledge of

art, but also helping to bring together the troops with the local community. During her later years, Annabel withdrew from more active participation in town life and the work of the Preservation Trust. Instead she focused on the Trust’s art and photographic collection, upon which she placed great importance. She died in 1981 in Berwickshire. A court bearing her name in Market Street, next to her home, still commemorates her in St Andrews.

Annabel Kidston, c.1970s (Image courtesy the Preservation Trust)

FEATURES: REVIEWS Ian Bradley reviews

The Book of Iona: An Anthology Edited by Robert Crawford Published by Polygon. Price, £14.99 Iona and St Andrews sit on virtually the authors like Wordsworth, Keats, Scott, same latitude at opposite sides of Scotland. Boswell, Johnson, the bulk of the anthology In many respects, they seem very far apart is made up of specially commissioned, – not just physically and geographically, newly-written short stories and poems. but climatically and culturally. Yet they Several are by well-known St Andrewsalso have much in common as early and based authors and academics. Sara Lodge important centres of Christianity in Scotland, contributes an engaging short story about with modern magnets annually attracting a student researching the life of a recently thousands of pilgrims and visitors drawn to deceased artist, Darius Dacre, in his studio their distinctive atmosphere and history. In on Iona. Victoria MacKenzie focuses on a the not too distant future, God willing, they visit to the island by a couple whose marriage will be linked by a long-distance pilgrim route, is falling apart, while Jennie Erdal writes which will cross Scotland, joining Gaeldom of the developing relationship between a with Pictland. young widower living there as a crofter and This book is the result of a project, a lodger who comes to count and study the somewhat bizarrely entitled Loch Computer, corncrakes. which brought what the editor describes Significantly, perhaps, Iona’s birdlife, as a ‘rum crew of fiction writers, poets, especially its corncrakes, feature much computer scientists, digital more prominently in humanities specialists, the book’s eight short This is an unusual and visual artists together stories than does in St Andrews and anthology and, as I have Columba, or the island’s Edinburgh between 2014 religious legacy. This is said, not quite what one not true of the poems and 2016 to ‘ponder the meaning of remoteness where the Saint figures might expect from the and connectedness in prominently, not least title and the cover the digital era’. After in Robert Crawford’s discussions between numerous modern computer scientists and creative practitioners, versified versions of extracts from Adomnan’s the writers were asked to produce an classic Vita Columbae. Crawford also has imaginative piece centred on Iona, involving a characteristically terse and pithy poem both remoteness and connectedness. about George MacLeod, founder of the Iona It is as well to understand and take Community. There are further poems about on board this somewhat unusual, specific Columba by Louise Imogen Guiney, Mick process of genesis before dipping into this Imlah and Lionel Johnson. collection as it is not quite what one might While most of the book is distinctly literary expect from the title. While there are some in character, its origin in a project focused classic accounts of Iona from well-known partly on computing and digital imaging

is reflected in a single contribution on this theme by Alan Dearle, Dean of the Faculty of Science at the University of St Andrews, in which he describes his invention of ‘The Iona Machine’, a solar-powered Qraqrbox designed to produce a puddle of internet access in remote locations like Iona so that visitors can access information and interpretation on sites of interest via their mobile phones. This is an unusual anthology and, as I have said, not quite what one might expect from the title and the cover. In some of the contributions to it, Iona receives a somewhat tangential reference, the focus being really elsewhere. However, both of those who know Columba’s island well, and those who have never been there, will find something to ponder and enjoy. It is far from being a travelogue full of purple passages with detailed descriptions of scenery and antiquity. Rather it disturbs, unsettles and calms, just like the theology and spirituality of the Saint himself, who was at once Colmcille, the gentle dove of the church and Crimthann, the cunning and wily fox. [Ian Bradley is Principal of St Mary’s College and author of Argyll:The Making of a Spiritual Landscape (St Andrew Press, 2015)]

Joan Roger reviews

David Rollo – Local Hero by Andrew Arbuckle David Rollo – Local Hero is available from J & G Innes and Waterstones, or direct from Andrew Arbuckle: Andrew@andrewarbuckle.org tel: 01337 870 209. Price £10. The life of a modern-day rugby player is a world away from that of Dave Rollo, who played for Scotland a then-record equalling forty times in the 1960s. As recalled in this newly-published book on his life, he would turn out for his country on a Saturday at Murrayfield in front of a crowd of 60,000 people, yet he was back on his farm in Fife feeding his cattle the next morning. Again, in contrast with today’s players who spend a great deal of time in the gym, his training was based on physical farm work lifting sacks of potatoes and grain. His stamina for playing was based on running between telephone poles on the quiet country road alongside the farm. This homemade training schedule must have worked, because Dave quickly moved from playing for his local club, Howe of Fife, to being selected for Scotland. Once there, his name was one of the first on the team sheet.

He did not get off to the best of starts as, in his first international against England he was knocked out after twenty minutes, but after being revived and his broken nose stuffed with cotton wool, he returned to the fray, playing so well that his efforts were singled out by the commentators. His bustling style of play which would often see him emerge from a loose maul with the ball in hand, was also noticed by the British Lions selectors, and he was invited to tour South Africa in 1962. Throughout three decades playing rugby – a sport often associated with rough tough play – he was only spoken to once by the referee, and he was never sent off. But he was no soft touch, being more than able to hold his own in the dark shadows of the scrum. The book, Local Hero, also relates many of the high jinks Dave and his playing companions got up to in that amateur era. These included the ‘driverless bus’, which perplexed the police until Dave admitted his involvement!

FEATURES: REVIEWS Jane Claydon reviews

Wycombe Abbey Revisited by Dr Margaret Beckett Published by Third Millennium Publishing, 2016, price £40. Available from Wycombe Abbey School, contact: 01494 520 381.

I regard my migration to Wycombe Abbey, not as a desertion of St Leonards, but as a natural development of my work here. The goal of the past is the starting point for the future. Miss Dove, St Leonards Speech Day, 29 July,1896.

Many readers will know Dr Margaret Beckett, the author of Wycombe there was the same emphasis within Abbey Revisited, as she is a familiar member of the St Andrews the school on service. community. She is a graduate of the University of St Andrews twice Dr Beckett manages sensitively over, as she obtained her first degree here, then completed a PhD once to provide an insight into challenges she retired. facing Miss Dove and her successors over many decades. Dr Becket writes an engaging account of the development of the For example, the financial worries, replicated in most other girls’ schools school where she spent most of her career. Of interest to local residents across the UK, were overcome at Wycombe Abbey in an unexpected is that the founder of Wycombe Abbey was Miss Jane Frances Dove, manner, when some school land became subject to compulsory appointed in 1882 to succeed Miss Lumsden as Headmistress of the purchase. ‘St Andrews School for Girls’. Miss Dove oversaw the transfer of the In May 1942 twenty-nine girls from Wycombe Abbey were school from the houses at the bottom of Queen’s Street, now known as absorbed into St Leonards. Their own school had been requisitioned Queen’s Gardens, to the much more spacious buildings and grounds of by the government with just sixteen days’ notice, the other girls being St Leonards. scattered around the country to a variety of different schools. (For Miss Dove (later Dame Frances Dove) had a clear vision to create security reasons the parents could not be informed of the reasons for a school for girls along the same lines as the schools attended by the closure of the school, which must have increased their concerns.) their brothers. This involved establishing a strong house system while Fourteen more girls arrived in September and Abbey Park North, encouraging the participation of the girls in team games. Miss Dove closed as a boarding house in 1941 because of World War II, was successfully achieved this aim at St Leonards, reopened under the supervision of a Wycombe creating new boarding houses, extending the Abbey Housemistress. Very little was recorded St Leonards refers to grounds, and encouraging inter-house competition. about this influx of new pupils, but it was felt Wycombe Abbey as She set up the Woodburn Laundry and Supply that the girls from the south brought a breath of Company to deal with the school laundry and to fresh air to St Leonards and a certain amount a daughter school, provide uniforms for the girls. It was also seen as of sophistication. They made a very positive Wycombe Abbey is more an opportunity to provide work for people in town. contribution to the life of the school. The only The news, in 1895, that Miss Dove intended to evidence left behind at St Leonards, to suggest comfortable with the idea leave the school she had developed with such that Wycombe Abbey girls had spent time there, that they are sister schools was the discovery of an engraved silver teapot care, in order to create a similar school in High Wycombe, in England, was greeted with dismay. and jug, in an unexplored corner of the Abbey St Leonards refers to Wycombe Abbey as a daughter school, Wycombe Park North pantry. (These items were returned to Wycombe Abbey forty Abbey is more comfortable with the idea that they are sister schools. years after the end of World War II.) Miss Dove left St Leonards in 1896, taking with her two experienced Dr Margaret Becket describes the individual and changing members of her staff and four girls in order to help her start the school. struggles, also the success stories that Miss Dove and her successors The four girls were to be the first heads of houses at Wycombe Abbey. faced as Heads while attempting to achieve their vision. They were well One of them was Helen Moir, the eldest daughter of Dr John Moir, a rewarded by their creation and the development of a great school. much-loved physician linked for decades with the Cottage Hospital and In 1895 Miss Dove wrote to the St Leonards Council, “I take this St Leonards School in St Andrews. step because I am possessed with the idea that the benefits which I Dr Beckett describes the problems Miss Dove faced as she started believe to be conferred by this school should be more widely diffused, her new venture in England. For those familiar with St Leonards, the and that this may be done by founding one, or possibly, two or more early photographs taken at Wycombe Abbey show girls wearing almost sister schools…” It seems likely that Miss Dove would have much identical uniforms with exactly the same tammies the St Leonards girls approved of the establishment this autumn, of the Wycombe Abbey wore for games. At her new school Miss Dove organised her girls in International School in Changzhou, China. houses. They played the same games as the St Leonards girls, and

EVENTS Louise Robertson, Press & Media Manager for StAnza

StAnza 2017

In just a few weeks StAnza, Scotland’s International Poetry Festival will work is informed by experiences of township life and inspired by the get underway in St Andrews with some of the most exciting names from ways in which language can be used to prompt social transformation. the poetry world about to descend. This is the place to hear favourite As well as being a prolific international performer, he’s the founder of poets, discover new voices and enjoy the beautiful Fife town which is Slam For Your Life, a South African national slam, and Black House the lively festival hub and home to StAnza. The Festival takes place Literature, which aims to make literature accessible in the townships. from 1 to 5 March. Traditionally it opens with a show-stopping first night Also featured in the programme are the Loud Poets, currently performance. StAnza 2017’s opening night will invite the audience taking the country by storm, generating an audience and a demand to join poet John Agard on a quirky re-visioning of the notorious New for spoken-word poetry, which continues to grow. They’ve wowed World Enterprise of Christopher Columbus. audiences and reviewers at festivals in Edinburgh, Brighton, and Agard, one of Britain’s foremost cross-cultural voices, known for Prague, where they won the 2016 New Territories Award. They’ve his mischievous satirical wit and winner of the Queen’s Gold Medal for brought new poets and performers into the spotlight, producing more Poetry, takes on the voices of Columbus, The Atlantic Ocean, a native slam champions than we can count. StAnza is delighted to welcome the shaman, and The Mighty Mosquito. An uproarious voyage in verse – Loud Poets, who’ve curated an hour of performance poetry from some with songs – that mixes the subversive tides of cabaret and calypso. of Scotland’s best up-and-coming spoken-word artists. Directed by Mark C Hewitt, with music by Thomas Arnold, of Stomp’s StAnza will present a screening, and pre-screening talk, by Scottish Lost and Found Orchestra, creating a one-man show like no other. polymath, Timothy Neat. Timothy Neat’s 1984 film offers a valuable The opening night show launches the fiveinsight into the life and work of the man who day Festival, lining up internationally-acclaimed was Scotland’s most famous Gaelic poet, poets from all over the world. Among StAnza’s Sorley MacLean. MacLean talks to fellow 2017 headliners are, British poet Alice Oswald, poets Seamus Heaney and Iain Crichton Smith The opening night (a previous winner of the T S Eliot prize), and about his writing, his life, and the landscape, show launches the fiveScotland’s new Makar, Jackie Kay. Other big which shaped him. The film won the Pascoe names are poet, critic, biographer, and professor MacFarlane Award for best documentary day Festival, lining up at the University of St Andrews, Robert Crawford; by a new director and the Silver Award for internationally-acclaimed Jim Carruth, appointed poet laureate for Glasgow Cinematography in Philadelphia. in 2014; Vahni Capildeo, recent winner of this A very special part of the programme is a poets from all over the world year’s Forward Prize; Scottish poets James tribute to Alexander (Sandy) Hutchison, one of McGonigal and A B Jackson; as well as Sarah Scotland’s leading poets whose untimely death Howe, winner of the T S Eliot prize for her first in late 2014 shocked his many friends and collection Loop of Jade; hard-hitting British poet Patience Agbabi; readers. A Glasgow-based poet who wrote in English and Scots, he was Zambian poet, Kayo Chingonyi; Jacques Darras from France. well travelled, having lived for almost 20 years in North America. He StAnza focuses on two themes, which interweave with each other was widely translated, loved and admired by friends and readers around to give each festival its own unique flavour. This year’s first theme, On the world. His first published collection was Deep-Tap Tree (University the Road, showcases poetry inspired by and reflecting on travel and of Massachusetts Press) in 1978. Bones & Breath (Salt, 2013), his migration. The second theme, The Heights of Poetry, looks at how last collection, won the inaugural Saltire Award for Best Poetry Book poetry engages with Scotland’s high places, the poetic connections in 2015, a welcome recognition of his importance to Scottish poetry. between Scotland’s hills and mountains, and those elsewhere. Sandy was a very familiar face at StAnza, whether in the audience, Last year we had a focus on German poetry and culture. Such was taking part in events, or as a lively presence around the Festival, well its success, that this year’s Festival will have a dedicated language known to many. This year’s Festival is honoured to host an event focus on French, under the title, La Nouvelle Alliance, which will see featuring readings of some of Sandy’s poems, together with tributes various French-speaking poets taking part along with other events with from some of the people who had the privilege of calling him a friend. a French connection. Through La Nouvelle Alliance and the theme The With over 60 poets taking part in over 80 events at StAnza in Heights of Poetry, StAnza will engage with Scotland’s Year of History, St Andrews, it’s impossible to mention them all. So come along and join Heritage, and Archaeology. the many poets, musicians, visual artists, and film- makers who’ll be Other highlights for 2017 include a Poetry Café, bringing the town alive with poetry, music, and art with lunch and spoken word for social justice from for five days from 1 to 5 March. the South African poet Sibusiso Conelius Simelane. Originally from a Johannesburg township, Simelane’s (Photos courtesy StAnza)

Jackie Kay (Photo by Mary McCartney)

John Agard (Photo by François M Norris)

Loud Poets rry Jonsson) (Photo by Pe

EVENTS Walter Hill

Report on STAFCO Concert – 23 November 2016 The StAFCO concert, which took place in the Younger Hall in St Andrews in November, was well attended; the audience was treated to an evening of excellent music. StAFCO – the St Andrews and Fife Community Orchestra – is an orchestra for players of all standards. It is run by the Music Centre of the University of St Andrews, conducted by Jill Craig. It is organised in close collaboration with the Scottish Chamber Orchestra (SCO) the University’s Orchestra in Residence. Joined by the StAFCO Children’s Orchestra and by a choir, many of whom are members of the St Andrews Chorus, the lineup was completed by the ByreRhythm Taiko Drummers and The Accidentals. First to appear was the Children’s Orchestra with three delightful pieces. The programme continued with Beethoven’s Egmont Overture, beautifully played by StAFCO. The choir contributed pieces by Mozart, Schubert, and Fauré before StAFCO ended the first half of the programme with a rousing hornpipe. The second half got off to a resounding start with the Taiko Drummers. After contributions by the orchestra and the choir, it was time for a well-received performance by the Accidentals. This is an unaccompanied singing group; its cover of The Beach Boys, John Farra, and Sam Smith songs left the audience thrilled.

STAFCO Orchestra (Photo courtesy STAFCO) StAFCO’s rendition of the Liberty Bell March by Sousa provided the triumphant finale to a most enjoyable evening. Jill Craig conducted the orchestras and choirs throughout the evening. Continuity was provided by compère, Jimmy Spankie. Johanna Burns, on behalf of the SCO, explained its involvement in supporting StAFCO.

There was no entry fee for this concert. However, audience and sponsors generously donated more than £1500 to charities supported by the Rotary Club of St Andrews, who provided front-of-house services for the event.

EVENTS John Ardley

The Caledonian Canal with ‘Blue Bay’ and the St Andrews Coastal Rowing Club Two-and-a-half years after the St Andrews little different, it transpired, interesting! Coastal Rowing Club (StACRC) took to The first section was along a very scenic the water, the Club embarked on its first part of the canal, although short at 5 expedition; a row along the length of the miles, most enjoyable. The row finished Caledonian Canal. at the top of the 5 locks at Fort Augustus. The seeds for the trip were sown in late To get through the locks, ‘Blue Bay’, 2015 with the planning starting in earnest in minus crew, secured to the side of the April 2016. First stop was the Scottish Canals support boat was pulled into and out of website, followed by a reconnaissance trip each lock, ie warped. As this took time, to establish launch site, crew change points, it was an ideal opportunity to asses the overnight moorings, recovery location. The next row, that into the dark and mystical Scottish Canals Staff at Corpach and the waters of Loch Ness. Crew 2 set off from lock keepers along the canal gave invaluable the sheltered westerly end of the Loch. It advice; they were very supportive so the trip was not long before rougher water was was possible. encountered. The southwesterly wind had Detailed planning could now start. After increased throughout the day creating a a few amendments a ‘Passage Plan’ was strong following swell, with many crests agreed. This, along with other breaking and forming necessary documents, was white caps. This was Where to for 2017, that is submitted to Scottish Canals not a problem for a the big question? Thinking crew used to rowing in headquarters in Inverness, caps are on – we will be where again the staff were open sea conditions, most helpful. With all the in fact it meant that going somewhere… paperwork completed, our the crew could make Club secretary, Andrew Rendle, was able to good speed. The problem came at obtain the required licence. The importance of crew change! As there had been no the licence cannot be overstated, for along with suitable areas on the shore, crew 3 it came the key to the canal-side toilets! were on the support boat, so that crew Again Andrew came to the Club’s aid change needed to be done in open by hiring a pleasure craft as support boat. It water – a first. The conditions were would be used as safety boat, mobile canteen, too rough at the pre-designated point, camera platform. but a few miles further on, conditions eased. With some skillful handling of The expedition was to be over 4 days: the support boat, a safe and successful crew Day 1. Drive to Banavie, (near Fort William), transfer was accomplished. Andrew, our launch the ‘Blue Bay’ then moor it support boat skipper, was a Master overnight Mariner; having captained ocean-going Day 2. Banavie to Laggen swing bridge, vessels, he made it look easy. Crew Aberchalder, 23 miles 3 continued in the choppy waters of Day 3. Aberchalder to Urquhart Bay, 22 miles. the Loch, before gliding into the calm, Day 4. Urquhart Bay to Inverness, 14 miles. sheltered waters of Urquhart Bay. Having Skiff on the road home. secured the support boat and ‘Blue bay’ to a pontoon in the marina, the crews set On Thursday 15 September, 16 members off to Fort Augustus to join the rest of the of the StACRC with 4 supporters, having gang for the final night’s get together. launched the skiff, got together at Fort The last day, like those previously, Augustus, the social hub for the duration of the dawned fair and with the following wind trip. holding, conditions could not have been Day two started early, with the 45-minute better for the last stage of the expedition. drive from Fort Augustus to the top of Only 2 crews were required for the Neptune’s Staircase and the start of the row. shorter final leg, but the first crew had to The 4 rowers and cox of the first crew, rowed manage the rough waters of Loch Ness, the 6 miles along the canal to Gairlochy, for before entering the final section of the the first crew change. The 2nd crew had the canal and handing over to the 2nd crew pleasure of rowing the 10.5 miles of Loch at Dochgarroch Lock. Approaching Lochy to Laggan Locks. The final crew of Inverness along a gentle canal section the day had 6.5 miles to row along a canal was wonderful. There were many folk section, followed by the open water of Loch taking a stroll along the tow path, all Oich, arriving at Aberchalder swing bridge. The giving a cheery wave and words of planned mooring for the night was just beyond support. The Club Captain, Clayton the bridge, but unfortunately, it could not be Hardisty, who had rowed previous opened due to a technical problem. Luckily the sections, had cycled out to greet the bridge was fixed within a couple of hours, and incoming crew and direct them to the slip ‘Blue Bay’ with support boat passed through to where the skiff would be recovered. With the night’s mooring. The weather throughout all hands, ‘Blue Bay’ was pulled from the day had been ideal, not too hot, no rain, the water, placed on her trailer, washed and a gentle following wind. Fingers were down, and prepared for the tow home. crossed, hoping that the following legs would So ended the Club’s first extended go as smoothly. expedition, an event enjoyed by all who Day three was a more leisurely start, took part. being just a few miles from Fort Augustus. The Where to for 2017, that is the big question? day’s row would again involve 3 crews, with Thinking caps are on – we will be going the change between crews 2 and 3 being a somewhere…

Loch Lochy

Loch Lochy cr

Laggan Aven

Leaving Laggan Lock

(Photos courtesy Den Rayner)

EVENTS

Selected Events Wednesday, 4 January – 7.30pm. Younger Hall, North Street, St Andrews. New Year in Vienna. The Scottish Chamber Orchestra celebrates the New Year. Contact: 01334 462 226. Email: music@st-andrews.ac.uk Tuesday, 10 January – 7.30pm. Lecture Theatre B, Chemistry Department, North Haugh. Read All About It; Gardening books, Catalogues and Journals to 1900. A talk by Angela Montford for the Friends of the St Andrews Botanic Garden. Entry Free. Contact: friendsmembership@standrewsbotanic.org Wednesday, 11 January – 7.30pm. St Andrews Town Hall. Migration: the Big Picture a talk by Will Cresswell for the Scottish Ornithologists’ Club. Contact: Caroline Gordon, tel: 01592 750230. Wednesday, 18 January – 7.00-9.00pm. All Saints Church Hall, North Castle Street. Beginners Watercolour. Learn the basic techniques. Contact: eden.art@hotmail.com 07890 716 543. Tuesday, 24 January – 5.15pm. Swallowgate 11, School of Classics, Butts Wynd, St Andrews: Public lecture by Prof Roderick Beaton (KCL) on Why did the Greek Revolution break out in 1821? – organised by the Scottish-Hellenic Society of St Andrews and co-sponsored by the Society for the Promotion of Hellenic Studies. Please arrive by 5.10pm. Contact: nm66@st-andrews.ac.uk Friday, 27 January – 12noon-2.00pm. Supper room, Town Hall, St Andrews. RNLI St Andrews Fundraising Branch Annual Soup Lunch. Contact: ali.e.malcolm@btinternet.com Sunday, 29 January – 7.00pm. Younger Hall, North Street, St Andrews. Opening concert in the ‘Music and the Environment’ series. The Heisenberg Ensemble, conductor Jill Craig. Music by Vivaldi, Grieg, Beethoven. Tickets £12 / £10 concessions / £5 students / accompanied school children FREE. Byre Theatre box office: 01334 475 000 or at the door.

*****

Thursday, 2 February – 7.00-9.30pm. Hotel du Vin, The Scores, St Andrews. Whisky Tasting. The St Andrews Whisky (Quaich) Society. Proceeds go to Water Aid. Non-members, £10. Contact: Quaichmail@st-andrews.ac.uk

Saturday, 4 February – 9.00am-1.00pm. Argyle street, St Andrews. Farmers’ Market. Tuesday, 7 February – 5.15pm. Swallowgate 11, School of Classics, Butts Wynd, St Andrews: Public lecture by Dr Elizabeth Fowden (Cambridge) on King Solomon, Perikles and the Parthenon Mosque – organised by the Scottish-Hellenic Society of St Andrews and co-sponsored by the School of Classics. Please arrive by 5.10pm. Contact: nm66@st-andrews.ac.uk – 7.30pm. Lecture Theatre B, Chemistry Department, North Haugh. Joint lecture with the Scottish Wildlife Trust, Fife & Kinross. The plight of the bumble bee. A talk by Helen Dickinson, Bumble Bee Conservation Trust for the Friends of the St Andrews Botanic Garden. Entry Free. Contact: friendsmembership@standrewsbotanic.org Wednesday, 8 February – 7.30pm. St Andrews Town Hall. Choughs of Islay a talk by Amanda Trask for the Scottish Ornithologists’ Club. Contact: Caroline Gordon, tel: 01592 750230. Saturday, 11 February – 10.00am-11.30am. Supper Room, St Andrews Town Hall. Friends of Rymonth Coffee Morning. All welcome. Contact: ali.e.malcolm@btinternet.com Thursday, 16 February – 7.00-9.30pm. Hotel du Vin, The Scores, St Andrews. Whisky Tasting. The St Andrews Whisky (Quaich) Society. Proceeds go to Water Aid. Non-members, £10. Contact: Quaichmail@st-andrews.ac.uk Tuesday, 21 February – 5.15pm. Swallowgate 11, School of Classics, Butts Wynd, St Andrews: Public lecture by Dr Alex Long (St Andrews) on Immortality in early Greek poetry and philosophy – organised by the Scottish-Hellenic Society of St Andrews. Please arrive by 5.10pm. Contact: nm66@st-andrews.ac.uk Thursday, 23 February – 7.30pm. St Salvators Chapel, North St. The Piatti Quartet playing music by Haydn, Britten, Brahms. The St Andrews Music Club. Contact: paul.spicker@googlemail.com Monday, 27 February – 5.15pm. Simon Conway-Morris, FRS (Professor of Palaeobiology, Cambridge) The Emergence of Life for the James Gregory lecture series on Science, Religion & Human Flourishing. Contact: eric.r.priest@gmail.com

Print & Design We welcome commercial enquiries The services we offer include: • Colour Digital Printing • Graphics & Pre-Press • External Display Banners • High Quality Fine Art Printing 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

TOWN & GOWN Connor Turner

The Green Film Festival Returning for its fourth consecutive year, the St Andrews Green Film Festival is back – hosting five films over five nights at the Byre Theatre between Thursday, 9 and Monday, 13 February. As the only environmental film festival of its kind in Scotland, the event is a rarity in its ability to bring together members of the St Andrews community, to be educated, entertained, and inspired, by some unique takes on our most pressing environmental issues. This year the Festival will again extend itself beyond just a series of film screenings. There will be notable speakers arranged following the viewing each evening to help explain and put into wider context the messages from the films. In addition, on Monday,13 February, a panel discussion will be held, entitled ‘The Environmental Implications of Brexit’. St Andrews, although small, is not detached from Environmental issues, and the Green Film Festival has clearly considered this by aiming to address the most intimate,

local scales as well as the global in its set list for this year. On the local scale, ‘Can You Dig This’ follows four unlikely gardeners in gangheartland South Central Los Angeles. They are part of an urban gardening movement empowering disenfranchised black Americans to put down guns, pick up shovels, to change their neighbourhoods and to change their lives in the process. Set 5000 miles to the south, in the Bolivian Andes, the documentary ‘Pachamama’ aims to explore the human narratives behind climate change. In a classic case of those who commit least harm being impacted most, an indigenous population whose world revolves around ‘Pachamama’, or Mother Earth, has no doubt of the reality of climate change and its increasing toll on their lives. Meanwhile, ‘My Stuff’ is an entertaining exploration of consumer culture, following a Finnish man who (amidst an existential crisis) decided to put everything (literally everything)

he owns in storage, taking back one item per day for a year. A special double bill night will feature two shorter films. Creating awareness doesn’t stop pollution, grow food, or heal the sick; these things take doing! ‘Billions in Change’ follows an unconventional billionaire pushing technology that could change the world, while ‘Rock the Boat’ chronicles an unassuming canoeist’s attempts to turn the concrete LA River into a real river again. A key ethos stressed by the Festival, and by its organisers Transition UStA, is community engagement. For those keen to get involved, they are holding a short film competition this year, aptly named the ‘Leafies’. On one of the nights of the Festival, finalists’ entries will be shown and a winner announced. For more information about the Leafies and to follow updates on film times and speaker announcements, visit the website: stagreenfilm6.wixsite.com/greenfilmfestval or ‘like’ the Facebook page ‘St Andrews Green Film Festival’ ( facebook.com/StAGreenFilm )

The New Picture House Winner of the RAAM Independent Cinema of the Year Award for Excellence Enjoy a pre-show drink in our lounge or book an exclusive function or children’s party with a private screening

www.nphcinema.co.uk

117 North Street, St Andrews Tel: 013334 474902

STÂ ANDREWS CONCERT DIARY JANUARY - JUNE 2017

www.st-andrews.ac.uk /music

PULL-OUT FEATURE The University of St Andrews Music Centre presents a broad programme of concerts, talks, workshops and masterclasses throughout the academic year. These feature both outstanding visiting performers and the enormous breadth of talent from within St Andrews, both Town and Gown. All these events are open to the public. Highlights of the forthcoming semester include visits by the outstanding Piatti and Fitzwilliam String Quartets, Byre Opera’s production of Janáček’s The Cunning Little Vixen and a complete performance of Bach’s ‘Great Eighteen’ Leipzig Chorales for organ divided over three Tuesday lunchtime concerts. SEMESTER DATE

TIME VENUE

EVENT

Every Sunday during Semester

11:00

St Salvator’s Chapel

University Service sung by St Salvator’s Chapel Choir

Every Sunday during Semester

16:00

St Salvator’s Chapel

Choral Evensong sung by St Salvator’s Chapel Choir and

other groups

Every Wednesday during Semester

Choral Evensong sung by St Salvator’s Chapel Choir and

17:30

St Salvator’s Chapel

other groups

Every Thursday during Semester

22:00

St Leonard’s Chapel

Compline sung by St Leonard’s Chapel Choir

WEEK 1

13:10

Byre Theatre

Lunchtime concert by Scott Gardiner and Jonathan Kemp

Wednesday 25 January

(Scottish Traditional Music)

Sunday 29 January

19:30

Younger Hall

Heisenberg Ensemble directed by Gillian Craig

WEEK 2

Tuesday 31 January

13:10

St Salvator’s Chapel

Organ concert by Andrew Macintosh (Deputy University Organist)

Wednesday 1 February

13:10

St Salvator’s Chapel

Lunchtime concert by Jemma Brown (soprano) and

Wednesday 1 February

14:30

Maryam Sherhan (piano)

Younger Hall

Music Talks with Julia Prest:

Rehearsal Room

Black or Post-Black Performance?: Ronald Samm Plays Otello

WEEK 3

Tuesday 7 February

13:10

St Salvator’s Chapel

Organ concert by Christopher Cromar (Cheshire)

Wednesday 8 February

13:10

Younger Hall

Lunchtime concert by Seamus Heath and

William Fielding (piano duet)

SCO: Big Ears, Little Ears

Friday 10 February

10:30 &

MUSA

11:45

Saturday 11 February