St Andrews in Focus Issue 52 May Jun 2012

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

March / April 2012 Issue 51, £2.00

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

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

From the Editor Pity we can’t clone ourselves so we can be in many places at once! There’s going to be so much going on in St Andrews over the rest of the year it will be really difficult to have to choose where to go and what to see. The University’s plans for the 600th Anniversary are in hand. Then, there will be all the events with the Creative Place Award in mind. June will see the Olympic Torch raced throught the town (it will be early in the morning, so couch potatoes might miss it!). Add celebrations for the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee. The Lammas Fair will return, of course.

Exhibitions, theatrical shows, talks, festivals, music of many kinds: all tastes, all interests will be catered for in this, our Dynamic St Andrews! No-one could possibly claim they’ll be bored! Just wish all the organisers luck, and let’s enjoy ourselves. Here’s to Us! Flora Selwyn

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

MAY / JUNE 2012 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@trendellsimpson.co.uk) DISTRIBUTER Elspeth’s of Guardbridge PUBLISHER (address for correspondence) Local Publishing (Fife) Ltd., PO Box 29210, St Andrews, Fife, KY16 9YZ. Tel: 01334 472375 Email: editor@standrewsinfocus.com SUBSCRIPTIONS St Andrews in Focus is published 6 times a year.

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Contents FEATURES • The Community Council • The Spring Garden • Town News • Making a Violin • Margaret Ryan, Children’s author • The Face on the Fountain • North Street • The Olympic Flame’s Origins • Reviews: – Ever to Excel – Horse Tales & Saddle songs • Ask the Curator • Toonspot • Hamish – still around!

3 3 3 4 5 5 6 7 8 8 9 9 9

SHOPS & SERVICES • Celebrating!

• Abigail • Hannah Markham has the answer • Kingarroch at the Byre revisited • Rough Deal for St Andrews?

• Succession • Roving Reporter

10 11 13 13 14 16 18

ORGANISATIONS • Anyone for Tennis?

• Hill of Tarvit

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TOWN & GOWN • A Chocolate-Filled Evening • The Statue of Bishop Wardlaw • St Andrews Voices

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EVENTS • The Long Weekend • Opera at the Byre • Madras Fete • A Talent to Amuse • Creative Place Award • Chapterhouse Theatre Co. Offer • Selected Events

23 24 24 24 25 25 26

OUT AND ABOUT • The Letter P • Golf & Sustainability • Cambo Gardens • Gulls v Hawks • Naughty Words!

• Junior Hortus • Abuse Tae a Craw • Nature Notes

27 28 29 29 30 30 31 31

NEXT ISSUE – July/Aug 2012 COPY DEADLINE: STRICTLY 28 MAY

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

Cover: Original photo by Flora Selwyn

FEATURES Kyffin Roberts, Chairman

The Royal Burgh of St Andrews Community Council The citizens of St Andrews could be excused for thinking that the St Andrews Community Council is taking a wellearned rest in the early part of the year following the activities surrounding the St Andrews Day celebrations in November and the busy festive season.

That is not the case. The Royal Burgh of St Andrews Community Council continues working throughout the year. There are monthly meetings of the full council, while subcommittees meet more frequently.

The Planning committee continues to monitor new planning applications and keep up to date on the progress of the Local plan, the Structure plan, and the Tayplan. They also monitor long-running local planning items such as the site of the new Madras and the proposed Feddinch golf course. The Health, Education, and Welfare (HEW) committee makes sure the full council is made aware of any news or items of interest relating to HEW. The Recreation Committee is working hard organizing coffee mornings as well as annual events, including the summer bandstand concerts, the garden competition, and the Young Citizen of the Year award. It is not unusual for additional events to be added to the busy calendar: in 2011 it was The Royal Wedding Breakfast, and in 2012 The Community Council will also be involved with the Diamond Jubilee celebrations.

Dorothy Hill Bradshaw

The Spring Garden I love my garden in the Spring, There’s a contented joy in everything.

Cherry, hawthorn, and rowan tree Competing in splendour for all to see.

Blackbird, thrush, chaffinch, and robin Building their nests. The air is throbbing With joyous toil – never stopping Until their chick on the grass is hopping.

Daffodils, tulips, narcissi, and wallflower, Such radiant colour enhances my bower.

Unseen and silent while winter was here.

Now in such brilliance, their colours so clear.

After the day when the evening will fall I listen entranced to the blackbird call.

The song of the thrush so fine and true Such sweetness is there for me and you.

These little souls bring joy to life How bereft we would be in this world of strife Without the simple innocent thing, Which beauty and peace of mind, still bring.

(Photo by Flora Selwyn)

Another topic that will require the efforts of community councillors and others in 2012 and beyond, is the Community Council’s campaign to save Craigtoun Park.

The Community Council is in the early stages of setting up the Friends of Craigtoun Park Group. Following a public meeting on 29 February, a “core group of members” was set up to take responsibility for managing the Friends Group. The main task of the core group will be to set up a trust, and seek funding for the regeneration of the Park, but in the meantime events will be arranged at the Park to bring the membership together.

Membership of the Friends Group is growing quickly with folks recounting the good times had at Craigtoun in days gone by. Many people have emotional ties to Craigtoun, they refer to “this precious local resource”, and about “Craigtoun holding a special place in their hearts.” Like many others those people have tremendous enthusiasm for saving Craigtoun Park. The Royal Burgh of St Andrews Community Council remains convinced that with enthusiasm, hard work, and the co-operation of the local authority it will be possible to save Criagtoun Park to be enjoyed by future generations.

For more information about the Friends of Craigtoun Group please contact: kyffinroberts@hotmail.com

Town News Update – on the Structure Plan Challenge “fighting to protect St Andrews from developpers” Penny Uprichard’s recent application to the U.K. Supreme Court has been accepted, and will be heard in the Supreme Court in London on Tuesday, 5 and Wednesday, 6 March 2013. She has been given a Protective Costs Order of £6,000: which means that if she loses, payments to Scottish Ministers and Fife Council will be limited to £3,000 each. There will still inevitably be other costs, probably amounting to about £50,000, for administrative costs, photocopying, etc, and fees for her legal team.

She already has £5,500 towards this, and is hoping that the setting up of a website about her case – www.savingstandrews.org.uk – will help to raise funds.

She warmly thanks her legal team for achieving this Protective Costs Order, and for their generous efforts to keep costs at a minimum.

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FEATURES Alan McGeoch is always being asked

– about making a violin Q. What is the violin made of?

A. Nearly the whole violin is made of wood and most of this is sycamore (acer pseudoplatanus), generally known as maple if it comes from Europe. It comes in delightful variants with beautiful figuration, and I often source it from Scottish and English woodlands. The front (belly) wood is slow-growing high-altitude spruce, chosen for its straight grain, strength, and fast transmission of sound. Most fittings are now made from ebony from sustainable forests, often in Africa. All violins are assembled with hot hide glue which allows a reversible bond.

‘ground’, then oil varnish applied in extremely thin layers to build up the desired texture and colour. Madder root can give a stunning, authentic finish. Only when all the varnish is dry and hard can the instrument be polished to the desired sheen. After re-assembly there are further adjustments to the set-up ensuring the instrument plays easily and is responsive from new. All in all it takes upwards of 160 hours for each instrument. Violas take a little more, and cellos at least twice as long.

Q. Why handmade?

A. A handmade instrument is an individual artistic vehicle for your expression as a player. As I work with the wood, every piece of which

is unique, I find that it may suggest certain tonal possibilities and desirable qualities which I try to enhance for the player’s benefit.

A machine can’t do this. Visually, machine-made Q. How do you make a violin, and how long does it take? instruments can appear neat and precise, but handmade All my instruments are A. All my instruments are individually made with hand violins have a human quality flowing from the maker’s individually made with tools, physical effort, and patience. The pleasure in hands and toolcraft. Carving much more selectively than hand tools, physical this is incredible, and there is a challenge, too, as a machine, as a musician I can respond to the changing effort, and patience wood is an unpredictable, natural material. pitch and resonance of the parts – the more acute the First I decide on the model to suit my client’s maker’s musical ear, the better. The parts vibrate freely requirements, make appropriate templates, and an internal mould. giving a quicker response to the player’s bow. Machines tend to leave The process of selecting the wood to make a harmonious visual the wood fairly thick and chunky, whereas hand carving makes a match and tonal success is a great pleasure too; some clients like to lighter, more responsive instrument, while retaining the strength that share in this and follow their instrument to completion. Spruce blocks comes of traditional hand construction methods. are glued to inserts in the mould to provide reinforcement. Carefully Q. Who benefits from a handmade instrument? matched rib wood is planed to a thickness of 1mm – not much more A. This is not for the young beginner, as commitment and care of than a credit card. Briefly heated on a bending iron, it is fitted to the instruments must be established first. However, beyond a certain blocks then glued into place. level of skill, most players will find that they enjoy playing, and want With the completed rib unit set safely aside, the wood for the to practise more, because they prefer the tone, power and response. front and back plates is prepared. The selected, seasoned wedges So promising young players and aspiring students can have their are split or sawn then joined as in ‘book-matching’ with a traditional prospects considerably enhanced. Many professionals buy a new rub-joint. This is done by applying hot hide glue and rubbing the handmade violin as a second instrument, only to find surfaces together till they ‘grab’. Suction holds the they use it for more performances than their much handmade violins have joint together and, amazingly, no clamps are required. more costly, fragile, and sometimes temperamental, old After the perimeter is traced and cut, the plates a human quality flowing master. Amateurs can also enjoy the sheer pleasure of are hand-carved to the designed shape. Arching from the maker’s owning and playing such an instrument. Well-designed guides are used to ensure accuracy, which confers violins are versatile and equally good for classical and hands and toolcraf great strength and desired tonal attributes on the folk playing. instrument. After scraping I prepare and inlay a band of decorative purfling just inside the edges of both plates. Next the Q. Why do you make violins? plate interiors are carved out to a thickness of 3mm and less. Finely A. The pleasure of creating an instrument, and giving it a voice to sing, is tuned to meet the tonal criteria for the model, they ensure quick hard to quantify. response on all strings. The sound holes are drawn on the front and Q. Have you discovered the secrets of Stradivarius? cut out. These serve a function, mainly to ensure free vibration around A. Not yet, but you will be first to know if ever I do! the bridge and allow vibrating air to move in and out. A bass bar is fitted to support the bridge and strings.

Q. What is on your instrument label?

The scroll and neck are then carved and the instrument A. ‘Alan McGeoch, St Andrews’, the year and instrument number. assembled, soundpost positioned and the first magical notes played.

It may take 120 hours or more to reach this point. I always enjoy Alan McGeoch is a professional maker of violins, violas, and cellos, with ‘playing in’ the instrument, making adjustments to increase playability instruments available now and to order – recently he exhibited violins and and maximise tone. Visiting professionals test my instruments to the a viola in London. He is available for talks and demonstrations. limit and further adjustment is made on their recommendations.

Alan McGeoch lives and works in St Andrews and can be contacted Finally, the fingerboard is removed to allow smoothing of all on 07890 435 439 or at: amviolinmaker@hotmail.co.uk exterior parts, the surfaces coated with a protective and coloured (Photos courtesy Alan McGeoch)

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FEATURES Flora Selwyn was privileged to meet

Margaret Ryan, children’s author On an auspiciously sunny day, Margaret Ryan thought the fairy on the tree was suffering welcomed me into her beautiful home near discomfort from the needles poking her bottom!

St Andrews. Over a cup of coffee she told me of In Magic Mischief; Magic Muddle; Magic Mess; her life in books.

Magic Mix-up; Magic Mistakes; Magic Music – Born and brought up in Paisley, a shy child, orphan Airy Fairy is accident prone, everything Margaret said she was “terrible at drawing” at nevertheless working out for her in the end. In Camphill School and not very good at maths another series, Weird Street, the paper delivery either. Writing stories and poems, however, boy solves the strange mysteries he encounters came naturally to her. After winning a prize for on his rounds. Hilarious stories of family life one story, she knew she had found her path are told in the Canterbury Tales series. All the in life. Woman’s Own magazine rewarded her books are lavishly, and delightfully illustrated by with seventeen shillings and sixpence (17/6) professional artists. Margaret wishes she could for the first poem she submitted, suggesting to draw the pictures herself and admits to being Margaret that this must be a grand way to make surprised sometimes by what others produce, money! though she has never had any really crucial First though, came training as a primary objections. She is optimistic about the future of school teacher at Jordanhill College. She tells books in the digital age, because both children an amusing story of an exam with a question and adults have, “a physical connection with on Sparta. Knowing nothing of the the book in the hand...and having Margaret has a subject, but reluctant to hand in them on a shelf.” Children go back an empty sheet of paper, Margaret again and again to the stories they natural affinity wrote a story. There was a comment love, “a comfort thing.” with children on the paper when it was returned, It is noticeable that Margaret “You obviously know absolutely nothing about has a natural affinity with children. She enjoyed the Spartans, but I really enjoyed reading this!” teaching. Since she left, she has continued She met her husband, John, at a Glasgow her connection with the primary sector by University dance. After four years of teaching, visiting schools up and down the country to talk with two young children, Susie and Jonathan, about her books. A cousin has sewn costumes Margaret decided to concentrate full time on relevant to each story, and Margaret has writing. In the mid-1980s, at a conference of children dress up as the characters, enacting the Scottish Association of Writers in Pitlochry, their roles. Sometimes children may have been Margaret won first prize for her children’s given the stories to read before Margaret’s visit. story. She was advised to submit it to the Mostly, however, in the hour allotted, Margaret BBC’s Listen with Mother broadcasts, but it talks about “where the idea has come from.” was thought too old for the target audience.

Then she invites the children to help her tell Margaret sat down and wrote something the story, dressing them up while she “feeds more suitable; Henry the Hippo was born, in information, partly teaching, I suppose”. and subsequently Margaret became a regular After choosing the ‘good’ main character, she writer for both radio and television. Since The tells the children, “You can’t have a good story Little Cook appeared in 1988, Margaret has without a baddie,” such as the Roman boy published over 80 children’s books translated Copius Mucus (Lottasnot!), in the Roodica the into many languages, worldwide.

Rude books. He invariably is the most popular Very conscious that language must suit the character the children clamour for! Feedback age of the target readers, mainly in the 5-11 later from the children is always encouraging. year range, Margaret addresses serious themes Travel, overnight expenses and half the wrapped in humour. The Airy Fairy series was author’s fee are funded by The Scottish Book conceived one Christmas when Margaret Trust’s Live Literature scheme for authors to

promote the love of reading among children. Margaret has thus been able to visit all over the country including the Highlands & Islands. In Perth recently she was reunited with an old school friend who, to Margaret’s amazement, had kept her old poems from childhood! She persuaded Margaret to read aloud to her “these awful poems with some dodgy scansion!” A few years ago there was even an invitation to go to Cyprus.

Educational book publishers value Margaret’s understanding of the nature of language, and commission her to write specialist stories. The series about the Celtic princess, Roodica , is based on the Roman conquest of Britain. 5-8 year-olds, enthralled

by Roodica’s antics, imbibe history along the way. It is also available as a DVD read by the actress Harriet Carmichael. The Rotary Club of Kirkcaldy asked Margaret to write a book about albinism in Tanzania, where the condition is prevalent. Witchcraft and ignorance cause immense suffering to children with the affliction.

Please Help Me..., sensitively illustrated by Elspeth Baillie, was published on 13 December 2011 with a print run of 7000 shipped to Tanzania for distribution in schools. Hopefully it will have a huge beneficial impact, dispelling the superstitions surrounding albinism.

A baby grand piano in the living room prompted me to ask Margaret if she plays it. “Badly,” she replied, telling me the story of Hannibal the family Airedale, who used to lie under the piano and as soon as Margaret started to play would put his paws over his ears, “a dog with an ear for music!”

I came away from my visit exhilarated

by Margaret’s vitality, the warmth of her personality, and the intense enjoyment she has in her creativity, which, in her own words, “is so much fun!”

(Photo by Flora Selwyn)

Gavin White

The Face on the Fountain On the fountain in Market Street seventy-four dogs in his house at Inverarey. He also wrote the hymn, there is a carved face. It is that of “Unto the hills around...”, and when he inherited the title of Duke of Argyll George Whyte-Melville, in whose was sent to Canada as Governor-General, a position of much dignity, memory the fountain was erected, but no real power. Princess Louise did not like Ottawa, and suffered an and it is by a famous sculptor, Sir accident from a runaway sledge (Canada is mostly snow!), but was there Joseph Edgar Boehm. He was long enough to give her name to Lake Louise in the Rockies and another born of Hungarian parentage in of her names to what became the Province of Alberta.

Vienna, where his father directed On her return to England she lived for most of her life apart from the imperial mint, in 1834. He himself studied sculpture in Italy and Paris, her husband, campaigning for women’s rights, Irish Home Rule, and designed medals and coins, and in 1862 moved to England. He soon other advanced causes. On the Duke becoming ill, she went to his aid became a royal favourite, designing the statue and stayed with him till his death. The seventy of Queen Victoria at Windsor, the statue of the servants were reduced to seven, and the dogs But the idea of a romance between Duke of Wellington at Hyde Park Comer, and to four. And she was an enthusiast for physical a Hungarian sculptor and a Princess works at Balmoral and Dalmeny in Scotland. fitness, telling those who laughed at this that was so delightful that it has never died she would outlive them, which she did, dying The face of the Queen on her jubilee coinage was his work, but he was most noted for statues at the age of ninety-one in 1939. As for the of people on horseback. Some 360 of his works have survived. In 1889 press reports, they were almost certainly false. Boehm’s letters to her he was made a baronet, and in 1890 he died suddenly while entertaining have survived, all beginning, “Darling Loussy”, but only showing a close the Princess Louise. friendship between an older man and a younger woman who had been It was not long after his death that the press published stories of an his student. But the idea of a romance between a Hungarian sculptor and affair between Boehm and the Princess. She was a free spirit, a daughter a Princess was so delightful that it has never died. of Queen Victoria who had studied with commoners at art school, and who married the Marquis of Lorne, who had seventy servants and (Photo by Flora Selwyn)

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FEATURES

North Street . . .

Planer in action

Getting ready

Getting ready

Planer

body

Planer rear

r angle

Anothe etts

Result

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Another m

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Ancient s

Results

FEATURES Donald Macgregor traces

The Origins of the Olympic Flame and the Torch Relay As Scotland, and St Andrews in particular, prepares to welcome the The next Olympics were to be held Olympic torch on its way to London, and people all over the UK keenly in Tokyo, but the 1940 and 1944 Games await the release of the names of the torch bearers, it is interesting to were cancelled because of the war. In know a little more about the history of the tradition of the torch and the 1948 an ‘Austerity Games’ was held in flame.

London. The popular favourite to light the Greek legend said fire was stolen from the gods by Prometheus. flame was Sydney Wooderson, a former For that reason fire was present at many of the sanctuaries in ancient world mile record-holder from Blackheath Olympia, in the city-state of Elis in the Pelopponese. Athletes travelled Harriers; however, he was slightly built, and to Elis, later from all over the Greek-speaking world, walking all the way, bespectacled, so the organisers, no doubt then subject to a strict training regime. The ancient Greeks did not have mostly Oxbridge types, chose instead John Paavo Nurmi, any torch relay tradition at their Olympian Games, which were a mixture of Mark, a Cambridge University undergraduate Helsinki 1952 religion, celebration, and sport. It is believed that an ‘Olympic flame’ had who was blond-haired and elegant. burned permanently at the temple of the goddess Hestia with extra flames Over the Olympic celebrations since then there have been many at the temples dedicated to Zeus and Hera during the ancient Games. means of transport for the flame and the torches; by sea, either on the Torches were used in relay races, but not at any of the Games. surface or beneath the waves; In the 1930s a German, Carl Diem, came up with the idea of a relay by air or over land, the torch that would start in Greece and finish in the Berlin Olympic Stadium. Diem has made its way safely (apart was a man besotted with sport. He felt deeply the injustice, as he saw from a brief episode in 1948 it, of Germany’s exclusion from the Olympics of 1920 and 1924 after the when it went out over the First World War, and he was desperate to ensure that the 1936 version Channel, though of course would be a huge success. Berlin had been awarded the 1916 Games other such incidents may not by the International Olympic Committee, but these had been cancelled have reached the press) to because of the war. its destination. In 1996 and The German government, run from 1933 onwards by the Nazis, were 2000 a torch was even taken equally eager to see the Games come to Berlin, regarding a successful into space by astronauts. festival as the first great demonstration of how wonderful their regime The number of torchbearers Ancient Olympia was. Hitler and his colleagues believed that modern has varied from 862 (Tokyo Germany, ie the “Third Reich’, was a reincarnation of 1964) to 13,000 (Beijing 2008). There has been an classical Greece, especially Sparta, and that Spartans equally great variety in the choices of athletes to – who permitted no foreigners to intermarry with them, light the flame. Those chosen have included Olympic and exposed some of their weakest babies on hillsides medallists such as the Finns Paavo Nurmi and – were ‘Germans waiting to happen’, as one authority Hannes Kolehmainen (1952 Helsinki), decathlete puts it. Diem himself had been chef de mission at Los Rafer Johnson (1984 Los Angeles) Muhammad Ali Angeles in 1932, where he fell out with several of the (1996 Atlanta), and Cathy Freeman (2000 Sydney). athletes who refused to do what he wanted. He was Yoshinori Sakai (1964 Tokyo) was born on the day never a member of the Nazi party, but was a ‘fellowthe atomic bomb was detonated over Hiroshima, and traveller’, and was given resources to organise a relay. was chosen as a symbol of Japanese rebirth. The The film-maker Leni Riefenstahl went out to Greece first woman selected was Norma Enriqueta Basilio 1948 handover to film the event. Her edited (1968 Mexico City). In 1976 two young Canadians, footage was to form part of the one English-speaking and the other a Francophone, were chosen to film ‘Olympia’, which came out symbolise the country’s bilingualism. The pair, Sandra Henderson and two years after the Games, Stéphane Préfontaine, subsequently married. Only one Paralympian has intended as a propaganda ever lit the flame to date, Antonio Rebollo (1992 Barcelona) who shot an exercise to extol the myth of arrow over an open natural gas cauldron to light it.

‘Aryan’ superiority.

The Paralympics (short for Parallel Olympics) have had their own torch Apart from the historical relay since 1988 in Seoul, when 111 disabled people were among the 282 nonsense of a blood relationship torchbearers. The Winter Olympics also are preceded on each occasion between ancient Greece and by a torch relay, beginning in 1952 when Eigil Nansen, the grandson of modern Germany, the Greek the explorer Fridtjof Nansen, was selected. In 1988 (Calgary) a twelve– Vancouver youths recruited to carry the year old schoolgirl Robyn Perry, lit the flame. The Winter Games do not, torch were reluctant to run however, for most of the world exert the same magnetism as the summer naked, as Riefenstahl had wanted as a tribute to the nudity of ancient festivals, although of course there are still millions of fans who watch. The Olympic participants (who were of course all male). They modestly chose first Paralympian to light the winter torch was Eric Weihenmeyer, the first to wear either a pair of shorts (in the case of the first runner) or to clothe blind man to climb Everest, who carried the torch to the podium of the themselves in white leggings, flared skirts, long-sleeved dark tunics, stadium in Salt Lake City in 2002. and brocaded vests. Riefenstahl did not think the potential torch bearers Nowadays, for most people, the torch relay has shaken off its dubious looked suitable, but the only young man she did think ideal for the job was ancestry and caught the popular imagination. The Olympics, in particular Anatol, a Russian émigré, who worked for her later on the opening ceremony, are regarded as a marketing the Olympia film. opportunity for the host country. Great enthusiasm will Nowadays, for most On 20 July 1936, fifteen Greek maidens in serge greet the torch as it makes it way across Europe and people, the torch relay miniskirts were present at the torch lighting. A choir many parts of the British Isles. As ever, it will be lit in accompanied by ancient instruments chanted Pindar’s front of the ruins of the Temple of Hera at Olympia. has shaken off its dubious ‘Olympic hymn’, as the first runner carried the torch past There is considerable speculation as to the choice ancestry and caught the the sacred enclosure called the Altis. Pindar gave way to to light the flame in London’s Olympic Stadium in popular imagination the German national anthem, then quite inappropriately, 2012. Should it be a well-known former champion such the Nazi marching number the ‘Horst Wessel Lied’. as Sir Steve Redgrave or Sir Chris Hoy? (The latter Each runner had about a kilometre to run – as opposed to 300 metres spent a year at St Andrews University before leaving because of lack of in 2012 – supposedly covered in between five and fifteen minutes. The facilities for cycling.) Or should it be a young hopeful? Should there be slowest torchbearer may well have been the mayor of Athens, who more than one person involved? The Prime Minister has lavished so much insisted on being involved, taking well over his allotted time because money on the opening ceremony that he could be accused of supplying of frequent stops to catch his breath! Despite a few hitches the torch the population a diet of sport when what is needed are jobs – a latter day reached Berlin on time on 1 August, thus fitting in with Hitler’s opening of Roman emperor. But no doubt millions will watch the ceremony, even the Games. After lengthy ceremonial before an enormous crowd, a blond, though I personally think opening ceremonies irrelevant to the purpose of blue-eyed young German called Fritz Schilgen mounted the steps and lit the Games and look forward more to the real events. But I am no doubt in the flame with his torch. A former good class runner, Schilgen represented the minority. the ‘Aryan’ ideal.

(Photos courtesy Donald Macgregor)

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FEATURES: REVIEWS Michael Buchanan reviews

Ever to Excel

by Norman H Reid Published by Dundee University Press in association with the University of St Andrews, 2011.

Available at all good bookshops, price £25.

Norman Reid introduced the only surviving Papal Bull to HRH Prince William and Miss Kate Middleton in MUSA during their visit to the University of St Andrews last year. This event is shown in the most recent photograph included in Ever to Excel .

Ever to Excel, a broadbrush illustrated history only 205 pages long, was commissioned for the 600th Anniversary celebrations. It features many fine illustrations, indicative of the author’s specialism, the richness of the University archives and special book collections, where Norman Reid has worked since 1995.

There is the usual disclaimer that this is not a full-scale serious academic history of the first 600 years of the University of St Andrews, a book yet to be attempted. The text, in accessible language, motors through the centuries efficiently, most pages including

illustrative material – images from ancient books, museum objects, and photographs of today’s townscape, including aerial shots and views of fine buildings or ruins. These will be familiar to many, but are welcome nevertheless.

Regrettably, but almost understandably, the 100 years since the 500th celebrations of 1911, but especially the spectacular growth in size, shape, and world standing since the mid-1960s, are only briefly covered. It is these times that many readers will have been a part of as busy, stressed undergraduates, many just a few years ago.

There are a few unexpected omissions and errors of fact. The Buchanan Building dates from 1964, not 1974. Ever to Excel refers to the 1960s ‘West Burn Lane Controversy’, but not by name. As a schoolboy at that time, I was aware of such

things. In this instance, the author is perhaps prone to a little ‘spinning’, as he glosses over the details of what happened and why. These events soon led to the resignation of Principal Knox.

There is a general lack of hard statistical data, in an appendix or otherwise, and no modern annotated map of the whole town and the University estate (a St Andrews full history would run to 1200 pages!)

Treasures of St Andrews University Library, also by Norman Reid, came out in 2010 at £15. Ever to Excel gives special access to ancient texts, but comes out at the top of the market at £25.

Angela Wrapson reviews

Horse Tales & Saddle Songs An anthology compiled and edited by Judy Steel Published by Bordersprint, and available at all good bookshops, price £10

St Andrews is famous for poetry and golf, but one night in March poetry and horses took centre stage, as StAnza launched Judy Steel’s anthology, Horse Tales & Saddle Songs at J&G Innes Bookshop, with readings, song, and delicious Hendrick’s gin.

Produced in aid of Riding for the Disabled, with a foreword by the charity’s President, H.R.H. The Princess Royal, the anthology features almost 70 poems. Horses dominate, but a few donkeys and camels creep in. “I couldn’t leave out GK Chesterton’s poem The Donkey”, said Judy. “Or T.S. Eliot’s The Journey of the Magi.”

New poems, old poems, translations from the Gaelic of Sorley MacLean and Aonghas Macneacail – there is something for everyone here, as the anthology celebrates the horse as hero, worker, and friend.

The tone ranges from humorous to serious, from romantic ballads to poems recording the lives of the pit ponies, and the horses drafted into the First World War. Each poem is annotated, and thereby offers fascinating glimpses of Judy’s own life. Growing up in rural Perthshire, she recited Browning to her first pony, learning the whole of How They Brought the Good News from Ghent to Aix for his entertainment.

When she moved to the Borders in the mid-Sixties, as the wife of a newly-elected MP, Judy writes, “I thought I had gone to heaven.” A passionate Borderer, she exults in the Common Ridings, whereby local riders beat the bounds of their town, and a whole section of the anthology is dedicated to them, including three of her own poems. And she has immersed herself in the work of Borders poets – Walter Scott, James Hogg, and W H Ogilvie are all represented. Look out for the parody of Walter Scott’s Young Lochinvar beginning:

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‘Oh, fair Judy Steel is come down from the tow’r, Her steed stands all bridl’d awaiting the hour; Turned out in their finest, both rider and horse Set off with their comrades past Lauder Golf Course.’

Her daughter, Catriona’s, Pony Club days are commemorated by John Betjeman’s Hunter Trial, and the Steels’ restoration of Aikwood Tower by several poems inspired by the story of Michael Scott, the Wizard of the Borders, an earlier tenant. A whole section entitled Supernatural Steeds includes Francis Merrilees’ Michael Scott and the Horse Couper and James Hogg’s The Warlock of Aikwood, alongside Edwin Muir’s chilling evocation of life after nuclear devastation, Horses.

When in 2000, Rowan Tree Theatre Company – which she founded in 1987 – performed at the inaugural Borders Festival of the Horse, Judy began to reflect on the wealth of poetry about horses that exists. Hence this anthology.

It is a very personal collection. Judy gives us the poems she has loved in life, and the poem she will have sung after death, Ettrick, by Alicia Spottiswoode.

The launch of Horse Tales & Saddle Songs was a highlight of this year’s StAnza International Poetry Festival. Perched on the stair landing of J&G Innes, Elspeth Smellie – who has set two of the poems in the anthology to music – welcomed guests with harp music, and later, song. Readings by Judy Steel were interrupted by a truly mesmerising performance of an extract from Robert Burns’ Tam O’Shanter by Matthew Burgess. Up to that point we thought he was the barman!

Horse Tales & Saddle Songs is illustrated by Cath Rutherford, published by Bordersprint and available at a cost of £10. All profits go to Riding for the Disabled. The first poem in the volume, I Saw a Child, by John Anthony Davies, expresses the joy that riding can bring to children who cannot walk.

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FEATURES Jennifer Reid, Curator of the Preservation Trust Museum

Ask the Curator Q. We have a John Brown’s Bible in our family. Who was John Brown, and what can you tell me about this bible?

A. John Brown was “Minister of the gospel at Haddington”. He is famous for his “Self Interpreting” Bible, in which the text was accompanied by explanatory notes and observations. He meant his bible to be used by ordinary people to aid them to understand and be inspired by the text.

John Brown was born at Carpow in the parish of Abernethy, in Perthshire, Scotland, son of a weaver and fisherman.

While working as a shepherd boy, Brown saved his earnings, walking from Abernethy to St Andrews to buy his first Greek Testament from Alexander McCulloch’s bookshop in South Street.

At the bookshop, Brown was challenged by a professor to read a passage in Greek, and when he correctly read from the bible, the professor bought it for the young boy. Returning to Abernethy he taught himself Latin and Hebrew in addition to Greek, all without formal teaching. In a time when there was still a strong belief in witchcraft in Scotland, people in the town of Abernethy became suspicious of his knowledge, so he left the town never to return. He travelled the country for some time, eventually becoming schoolmaster at Gairney Bridge, near Kinross, in 1747. Around this time he realized his calling and set his sights on the ministry of the Succession Church. In 1751 Brown was called to be the Burgher minister of Haddington.

Brown planned his self-interpreting bible for many years, and spent a long time working on it. It was first published in 1778. Brown struggled to find a publisher, being forced to advance the money himself at a cost of 22/-. It sold

surprisingly well despite being considered expensive. Subsequently it was reprinted in at least 26 editions, with the last in 1909.

John Brown published a number of other books, including A History of the Churches in Scotland and England from the Earliest Period and The Dictionary of The Bible, though it is worth noting that none of his publications made him any money. John Brown married twice, and had four sons, three of whom also became ministers. He died in June 1787.

Q. Is it true that the University once received money from a man who escaped from cannibals?

A. The story you are thinking of was published in St Andrews Town and Gown, Royal and Ancient by Douglas Young, and goes something like this: A former student of the University, Mr Alexander Berry, was shipwrecked while immigrating to Australia. All his shipmates were supposedly eaten by cannibals, but he was thought to be too skinny to warrant eating. The cannibals set about fattening him up, but Berry was rescued before he was deemed appetising enough. He eventually made it to Australia where he became a man of great wealth, leaving £100,000 to the University in 1889.

Unfortunately, this story is not true.

Alexander Berry was born just outside Cupar on St Andrews Day 1781. He studied medicine at the University of St Andrews, subsequently becoming a ship’s surgeon with the East India Company. Once in Australia, Berry set up a colony. With a grant of 10,000 acres of land and 100 convicts he started a dairy farm on the Coolangata Estate, now known as the town of Berry. The

Coolangata prospered enough for Berry to become a colonial learned gentleman.

The tale that probably inspired the cannibalism story was Berry’s involvement in rescuing the survivors of the Boyd Massacre. In 1809, Maori residents of Whangaroa Harbour in New Zealand killed and ate around 70 crew members and passengers from the sailing ship Boyd in revenge for whipping their young chief. Five people escaped death; Ann Morley and her baby who hid in a cabin; Apprentice Thomas Davis (or Davison) who hid in the hold; the second mate; and two-year-old Betsy Broughton, taken by a local chief who put a feather in her hair and kept her for three weeks before being rescued. The second mate was later killed and eaten when his usefulness in making fish-hooks was exhausted. Upon hearing of this massacre, Alexander Berry undertook a rescue mission to release the four survivors. Berry captured two Māori chiefs responsible for the massacre, initially holding them for ransom to ensure the safe return of the survivors.

Subsequently, after the survivors were returned, Berry threatened to take Maoris to Europe to answer for their crimes, unless they released the Boyd’s papers.

Upon the return of these papers he released the chiefs. They expressed gratitude for his mercy and Berry’s gesture avoided further bloodshed, an inevitable outcome had the chiefs been executed.

Alexander Berry died in 1873, and the legacy to the University, in fact, came from Berry’s brother, David, who had inherited his estate. The money was used to establish the Berry Chair of Literature in English.

I’m still around you see – having a little rest in Pagan & Osborne, while awaiting a little something-or-other.

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SHOPS & SERVICES Suzanne Ng chatted to Flora Selwyn in the Dining Room in Crail’s Lane, St Andrews (01334 467 822),

Celebrating

“3rd March 2008, I remember it was snowing when we got the keys”, recalls Suzanne. The Dining Room on Crails Lane, is now celebrating 4 years of success, entirely down to the exceptional hard work that Suzanne and her husband Ken have put into their venture. “Ken is our best chef and our best waiter too, and he’s even helped with the deliveries on occasions.” Suzanne adds.

The Dining Room is St Andrews’ largest Chinese & Cantonese restaurant, seating around 50 people between 3 rooms. Locals enjoy the relaxed ambiance, with its old-world charm of stone walls, ceiling beams, and real fireplaces. There are national and international customers who come back year after year, with one American golfer declaring, “This is the best Chinese food I’ve had between two continents!”

The traditional ‘British Style’ Cantonese menu has gradually expanded over the years to include St Andrews Bay fresh lobsters and crabs, Halal meat, and more dishes with flavours and styles of cooking from various Chinese provinces. Chinese overseas students say that some of the dishes remind them of home, “comfort food” even, that they can’t get anywhere else.

The vegetarian section has also grown, with some dishes to suit vegans too. In addition, Suzanne told me that the restaurant caters for special requirements, such as gluten-free or strict allergy-free diets; customers have only to discuss their needs. There is also “Hotpot” dining available in the chilly months – the customers “cook” their own food at the table in a tasty traditional soup before adding dips and sauces for extra taste. I enjoyed one last year and thoroughly recommend the fun of it!

The restaurant is open 7 days a week from 12 noon to 11.00pm, with a takeaway and delivery service. Booking is highly recommended for weekends, large parties, or special dates on the calendar, such as graduations, Valentine’s Day etc Over lunch, Suzanne told me more about herself and Ken. I sipped a beautifully served blossoming flower tea – a ball of Chinese tea leaves opening to reveal a red osmanthus fragrans flower once boiling water had been poured over it. Suzanne had an amaranth blossoming flower tea. She recommended Korean-style noodles with seafood, mixed peppers, carrots, and onions. To accompany, we had some bean curd with mixed vegetables shaolin style, “which means a style of cooking with flavours and ingredients traditional to Chinese monks” Suzanne enthused. It consisted of deep-fried bean curd, curly mushrooms, baby corn, and carrots in a fresh garlic sauce. All of it was delicious.

Suzanne was born in Glasgow, grew up around Nottingham, before returning to Glasgow. She has qualifications in art and design and advanced hairdressing, with an interest in all things art deco. Ken was born and raised in Hong Kong. As soon as he left school, he trained

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Ken and Suzanne Ng as a chef in a 5-star hotel restaurant, specialising in Chinese and Western cooking. He is passionate about all good food. Before moving to Glasgow, where he met Suzanne, he worked in Germany for 3 years.

Ken and Suzanne married and opened their first business in 2000.

When they opened The Dining Room in 2008, they commuted daily between Glasgow and St Andrews. Now they have decided to move to St Andrews, enrolling their sons, Reece and Kamen in St Leonards School. At first, Suzanne was a full-time mum, gradually drawn into helping out at the restaurant, where now she works more or less fulltime.

But that’s not the whole story; in 2002, when Ken and Suzanne first came to St Andrews, they opened NG’s takeaway on Tom Stewart Lane. Ken ran NG’s for 7 years, working almost every day. “Our customers kept asking us to open a restaurant here, so we did – it just took us 4 years to find a suitable space!” Suzanne explains, “and now former St Andrews students come to The Dining Room and tell us that they used to buy from NG’s!”

Finishing our lunch with melt-in-the-mouth strawberry crepes and cream, I couldn’t help wondering how many people could cope with Ken and Suzanne’s workload. They make it sound remarkably matter of fact, and are always friendly and cheerful. It’s little wonder that The Dining room is such a success with so many contented customers.

And long may it be so!

Osmanthus flowering tea (Photos courtesy the Dining Room)

Cake

Deep fried tofu & noodles with seafood

Strawberry crepes

Blueberry icing

Hot pot

Mango dessert

SHOPS & SERVICES Flora Selwyn spoke with a remarkable lady –

Abigail Tettey-Addo Way back in 2006 this magazine ‘discovered’ Abigail Tettey-Addo. Born in Accra, Ghana, where she went to school, Abigail trained first as a secretary, then as a midwife in Kumasi at Okumfo Anokye Teaching Hospital in Ghana. Having moved to St Andrews 25 years ago with her family, Abigail hoped she could take up again her role as midwife, work she loved. However, she was unable to find the necessary refresher course, or any post she sought in Fife. So she undertook a combined business management and catering course at what is now the Adam Smith College in Kirkcaldy, “and that’s how I became a chef!”

Asked about her artistic abilities – for Abigail makes the most amazing celebratory cakes – she said she attended Adam Smith outreach art classes at the Cosmos Centre, St Andrews. “I just wanted to know how to mix colours, and then I decided to teach myself and I bought books.” Over three years she also attended a six-week summer school course in sugar craft at Nadene Hurst Sugarcraft Summer Class in

England. Work placement at the Old Course Hotel in St Andrews led, in a very roundabout way, to a job as pastry chef at Rusacks Hotel for seven years. A chance remark there about her wonderful abilities finally set Abigail on the road to freelancing, and running her own business, making cakes for all occasions.

Abigail loves exercise, at one time going to the gym and swimming pool at the Leisure Centre in St Andrews. However, “I decided to do it on my own, so I’ve got loads of videos, and DVDs, and I exercise every day”, concentrating especially on Tae Bo aerobics, Mr Motivator body workout, and Tai Chi, “I do all kinds of exercise, because you want your body to be active!”

Apart from that she also has dress-making, knitting, crochet, and tapestry skills. “When my family were little I didn’t buy clothes for them, even their school uniforms I used to sew.”

A multi-talented lady, Abigail enhances that wonderful cosmopolitan mix that sets St Andrews apart, and makes us all glad that we live here.

(Photo courtesy Abigail Tettey-Addo, taken on a trip to Dublin)

CHRIS TULLOCH

PAINTER & DECORATOR 01334 479756 07841435477 FREE ESTIMATES

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SHOPS & SERVICES

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

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117 North Street, St Andrews Tel: 013334 474902

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SHOPS & SERVICES Hannah Markham, Principal Osteopath of St Andrews Osteopaths – Providers of effective treatment since 1998,

Has the answer

Q. I have osteoarthritis in my knee. What can I do to help it?

A. There are many different sorts of arthritis. The most common sort is osteoarthritis. When a joint is affected by osteoarthritis it means that there is degeneration and excessive wear to the cartilage that covers the ends of the bones (the articular cartilage). The job of the articular cartilage is to protect the ends of the bones by reducing friction and increasing shock absorption.

Osteoarthritis occurs when the articular cartilage softens and gradually wears away leaving part of the bone unprotected. The bone will then harden and eventually form bony projections called osteophytes. All of this can result in pain, stiffness and difficulty moving If you have a question that you would like to ask the Osteopath, please e-mail: osteo@standrewsosteopaths.co.uk or call 01334 477 000.

Hannah Markham has been in practice for 14 years and has vast experience in treating a broad spectrum of injuries in patients of all ages.

the joint. As well as other joints, osteoarthritis commonly occurs in the knees.

Despite feeling pain and stiffness, regular movement and exercise is important in the treatment of osteoarthritis of the knee. Not only will it help to keep you mobile, it also will help to keep the muscles around the knee strong and healthy which helps to strengthen your knee.

It is important to get an exercise plan that is tailored to suit your individual needs and fitness.

Your Physiotherapist or Osteopath are best suited to put such a plan together for you. They will usually focus on improving the mobility of the joints and strengthening the surrounding muscles. It will often include exercises to do at home or may include activities like walking, swimming, or an exercise bike.

St Andrews Osteopaths, 136 South Street, St Andrews, KY16 9EQ. www.standrewsosteopaths.co.uk

Flora Selwyn and friends enjoyed a treat at the

Kingarroch at the Byre As predicted in Issue 47 (July/Aug last year) Grant Hughes and his brother Paul, together with partner Greg Tennant, have made a huge success of the Kingarroch at the Byre. In such a short time they have got the restaurant thriving, not only with excellent food, but also with entertainment.

Feeling hungry after the launch upstairs of the StAnza Poetry Festival, my friends the Macdonalds and I drifted downstairs for a meal. Not having previously booked, we were ushered by welcoming staff to a table and handed menus with a smile. We had the choice of the PreTheatre menu, two courses for £11.95, or the A La Carte.

The choices were so difficult to decide on, we asked Grant for his recommendation, and had no regrets – thank you Grant! From the Pre-Theatre menu Catherine and I had Mozzarella & Marinated Kingarroch at the Byre Butternut Squash with Red Wine Reduction, beautifully presented. Bill had Duck Liver & Redcurrant Pâté with Apple Puree & Oatcakes.

We all agreed that both presentation and taste were excellent, in fact Bill was completely won over, having at first not wanted a starter!

Again, both Catherine and I followed with the Seared Fillet of Sea Bream with Mussel Seared fillet and Pepper Broth, while Bill plumped for the Penne Pasta with Roasted Mediterranean Vegetables & Creamy Pesto Sauce. The fish was just right, neither dry nor underdone, but with a good texture and taste. The mixed vegetables were deliciously soft, but firm, and not overwhelmed in any way by either the mussels or the sauce. Catherine said she, ‘’enjoyed the piping hot food and the magical atmosphere of the Restaurant.’’ Bill was positively crooning with pleasure over his pasta, ‘’it

was delicious, with a rich and subtle sauce, perfectly cooked and piping hot.’’ We desisted from wine (weren’t we good? But Bill was driving in any case) and were too comfortably satisfied to have either dessert or coffee.

The Pre-Theatre menu is very reasonably priced. The two fish dishes were £13.95 on the A La Carte menu, or with a supplement of £1.95 on the Pre-Theatre menu. Bill’s pasta was on the Pre-Theatre menu, or £9.95 on the A La Carte menu. Altogether there was a choice of five starters on the Pre-Theatre menu, followed by five main courses. The A La Carte menu had the same number of choices, the most expensive item being the main course Confit of Duck Leg with Red Onion Jus and Stir-fried Vegetables at £14.95.

As we didn’t have wine we didn’t consult the wine list, but coffee/tea (with tablet) would have cost £2 Penne pasta extra, while the appealing desserts, chalked up on a board, had individual prices. Menus are changed every three to four weeks.

The Restaurant is open six days a week, from 10.00am for coffee; lunch 12noon – 3.00pm; pre-theatre from 5.00 – 6.30pm; and dinner from 6.30pm until last orders at 9.00pm. The Bar remains open till midnight. For parties, Mozzarella and butternut squash booking is advisable, the Restaurant can seat up to fifty. Gift vouchers are also available. As Greg claims, the Kingarroch is now, ‘’quite a buzzy place with something always going on, and for all ages.’’ With its efficient, friendly service it’s definitely worth a detour, as the Michelin Guide might put it!

(Photos courtesy the Kingarroch at the Byre)

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SHOPS & SERVICES Jonnie Adamson

Rough deal for St Andrews?

Along with the reduction of the 50% income tax rate, the removal of the additional tax allowance for over 65s, the so called Granny Tax, have received their fair share of column inches. As St Andrews and its surrounds is a popular area for people to retire to it could be argued that the budget adversely affects St Andrews more than other areas.

Indeed, reading into the detail of the Treasury announcements it becomes more apparent that there are a number of changes that will hit those who enjoy St Andrews that little bit more.

With the standard VAT rate at its highest ever level of 20% any changes in how certain items are taxed can lead to quite a difference in the cost to the consumer. Local holiday parks and tourists will be cursing the rule change which saw static caravans being taken out of the favourable 0% VAT rate and put along with touring caravans in the 20% rate. This change adds a significant cost to the purchase of holiday homes and may detract from the

popularity of this type of holiday. Prospective buyers will have until 30 September to buy if they want to avoid this rise.

There may have been hope for those who enjoy fish and chips on the beach whilst visiting their caravan, following a recent court case in Germany. There had been speculation that the cost of a fish supper, which currently includes VAT at 20% may benefit from being allowed a 0% rate, indulging us with a saving of over £1 on the nation’s favourite takeaway. However, it seems that the chancellor has knocked this one on the head before it has properly taken root, so we will still have to stump up VAT on all hot food other than freshly baked bread.

The other main change to VAT that will affect homeowners in the more historic parts of St Andrews is the withdrawing of the 0% VAT rate on alterations to listed buildings. This change has almost immediate effect and allows only one year for projects currently underway to be finished, in order to retain the 0% rate.

Again, this will add some 20% to the cost of such alterations, and will no doubt make people think twice about taking on such work.

This change may, of course, appeal to those

concerned with the preservation rather than the alteration to listed buildings, as the change brings the VAT treatment into line with that of repairs, removing the advantage of someone choosing to alter rather than repair an existing building.

One could argue that there is more to life than the 20% VAT rate and it may be that some things are still worth paying for whether there is VAT charged on them or not. I will not begrudge continuing to pay VAT on my (occasional) fish supper as long as it can still be enjoyed in the beautiful surroundings we are lucky enough to call home. Others, with slightly more at stake, may not be so sure.

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

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

15 East Shore Anstruther KY10 3AB

52 Bonnygate Cupar KY15 4LD

Podiatry/Chiropody: 01334 479003 Biomechanics/Orthotics: 01334 470111

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St Andrews & District Community Safety Panel For more information about your local panel please contact PC Paul Buttercase, Community Safety Officer Tel. 01334 418745 EMail paul.buttercase@fife.pnn.police.uk

SHOPS & SERVICES

KK ele c t r i c s Here at KK Electrics we are taking on new projects and are now selling energy-efficient products. From loft insulation to a shower head, you might be surprised at what we have to offer you – in addition to our great value

electrical appliances! For example, the Ecocamel – a shower head that uses air to push the water up more quickly – gives you an even better power shower and saves you electricity, energy and money.

Then there’s the new Ecoflap letter box which blocks out drafts and noise and can stand up to 100mph winds, stopping your heating flying out the door. From the little things like those, to helping you future-proof

your home with insulation or solar panels, we really can help you save money and energy.

In these rapidly changing times, we understand it is easy to get confused along the way, so feel more than welcome to drop by the showroom and have a look at our new venture and ask any questions you may have. We are happy to help!

158 South Street Tel: 01334 475204 www.kkelectrics.co.uk

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

Succession

The Law of Succession was last amended in any detail in 1964 and there is not. Nonetheless, the Commission therefore, on one view, it can be seen to be due for some type of are not looking to follow the same future reform. Surprisingly, it is probably the only major area of Law which has provisions to be set out for a spouse (25% not been changed in some way since I did my degree. share) and instead they believe that the At the moment, The Successions (S) Act 1964 entitles a surviving legal rights for children should be abolished spouse to prior rights in the dwelling house, furniture and plenishings, and replaced with a single capital sum. The and a prior monetary right. Moreover, in addition to such prior rights, the Commission suggest that, instead, children spouse and children also benefit further from legal rights. under the age of 25 should be given a Space does not allow me to go into extensive detail, but I refer you monetary sum calculated on the basis of to my earlier Article regarding Intestacy. In the Article I what is required in order to maintain the child until they mentioned that The Law Commission favour the idea are no longer dependent. that a spouse should gain the entire estate upon the More controversially, new guidelines have been There are also death of the other if there are no children. However, if introduced in relation to co-habiting couples. There are proposed changes limited rights given to co-habitees under the Family there are children, then it is proposed that the spouse should have a right to any estate up to a threshold sum, Law (S) Act, only allowing them to apply to the Court to legal rights the amount of which is to be amended from time to for payment out of an intestate estate within a six time. If the estate is valued under such threshold this month period after the death. Arguably, this time limit is would result in the spouse receiving the entire estate. In very restricting. calculating the sum the Commission duly noted that there would not The Law Commission has now taken a step forward and is be the same differentiation between moveable and heritable property proposing five new factors to be taken into account in replacing the as in the past, which should simplify the process. Furthermore, it is current Law – thought that the threshold sum would instead be calculated solely by giving consideration to the average house prices, allowing a level of 1. Whether or not the parties are members of the same household. security for the spouse by ensuring their residence at the family home 2. The stability of the relationship. may continue. The Commission further predicted the sum to be set 3. Whether or not there was a sexual relationship at £300,000, but this is a political issue to be deliberated as, in 2007, 4. Whether or not there are children. statistics revealed that only 2% of confirmed estates were valued at 5. Whether they appeared to third parties as if they were married. over this amount.

There are also proposed changes to legal rights. As it stands This would certainly improve the current vague provisions of Section 29 now, legal rights can be claimed even if there is a written Will which of The Family Law (S) Act. The Law Commission also wish to extend disinherits a spouse or child. Currently, the surviving spouse has the the time limit for lodging claims in Court. right to one third of the net moveable estate if there are children and I would emphasise these proposals are not yet Law, and legislation one half if there are not. The Commission suggest that a spouse’s legal of which results (if any) may well change the picture substantially. It rights should be replaced with a legal share of 25% in the whole of the is, however, something to keep an eye on and there may be further deceased’s net estate. comment on it in these pages.

Similar provisions apply to children, in that they have a legal right to As always, I would recommend seeing a Solicitor and making a one third of the net moveable estate if there is a spouse and one half if proper Will.

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

We can consult locally

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

SHOPS & SERVICES

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SHOPS & SERVICES

Roving Reporter 1.

and enticing. Jenny and her shop are both bright and cheery, bringing a ready smile to all who enter. Jenny can also be reached through her website: www.topdrawergifts.co.uk and email: jenny@topdrawergifts.co.uk Well worth a visit, says Reporter cheerfully!

*****

Manager Tracy Ryden of La Boutique & Darling, Bell Street told Reporter that she felt change was necessary to allow a degree of separation across the fashion and lifestyle aspect of the business.

She said, “We wanted to build on La Boutique and give it space to grow and develop. In making the change we gave the respective stores more clarity and streamlined the products on offer. So, Darling is now home to Cath Kidston (we are the only accredited account in Fife) as well as an array of cutesy baby and christening gifts, alongside luxury scented candles, fantastic home wares, stylish scarves, bags, jewellery, and a whole host of other goodies. The feedback we have received to date has been 100 % positive and we hope both businesses continue to flourish“. Reporter concurred wholeheartedly.

2.

*****

Reporter discovered a welcome newcomer to the retail business. On 1st December last year Jenny Morrison came down from Aberdeen to take over Top Drawer, 77 South Street, 01334 479 758. Full of bubbly enthusiasm, Jenny told Reporter of her plans. With an BA (Hons) in Textile Design from the Scottish College of Textiles, Galashiels, (now part of Heriot-Watt University), Jenny worked in Aberdeen as an interior designer for a few years after graduating, before becoming a recruitment consultant, and ending up working in the oil industry. Looking for a change, Jenny saw that Top Drawer was for sale and took the plunge. At first she commuted back and forth from Perth, but has now found accommodation in Ceres, close enough to allow her to open her shop for longer hours. The shop was already fully stocked, but Jenny is looking to broaden her range with original gifts across a broad range of prices, and with a particular emphasis on Scottish artists! From jewellery to glass ware, to greetings cards, to clocks, to ceramics of all kinds, there is a wonderful choice of quality goods, all attractively displayed

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3. Gary Foster, General Manager of the Ardgowan Hotel in North Street, St Andrews, told Reporter about the refurbishment of the Hotel’s Playfair’s Restaurant. At a cost of £250,000 the complete makeover is stunning. There are 40 covers indoors, with another 40 on the attractive terrace fronting the Hotel.

The Head Chef, Duncan McLachlan, comes from two years at Gleneagles.

He says he will create something “a bit special, not only in food, but in value for money.” The menu is further influenced

by Consultant Chef Jeremy Wares who works closely with Duncan. Jeremy trained in a 2-star Michelin restaurant in Paris, and after an international career, returned to Scotland as Head Chef for Nick Nairn. He opened the award-winning 63 Tay Street restaurant in Perth and also the celebrated Anglers Inn. Reporter is most impressed with the wealth of experience this new team brings. Open 7 days a week, lunch is served from 12 noon-6.00pm offering more casual “food creations”, such as “Duncan’s Bookmaker’s sandwiches”. Dinner is à la carte from 6.00-9.00pm, with a tempting range of dishes, including 21-day aged steaks served with chunky hand-cut chips, local mussels in a spiced tomato sauce, and wild-caught fish, also exciting specials that celebrate the wonderful seasonal food available in Scotland. Reservations are advised, because already business has been brisk! Tel: (01334) 472 970 email: info@playfairsrestaurant.co.uk Gary “looks forward very much to welcoming you!”

(Photo courtesy Playfair’s Restaurant)

*****

4. Reporter is always amazed by the speed of shop makeovers. In no time Phase 8 has appeared at 105 Market Street. Bright with summery clothes in the window, Reporter was immediately attracted. Manager, Jo Shepherd welcomed him in with a friendly smile and gave him a tour of the superbly refurbished premises. It is, Jo told him, the 100th stand-alone store in the country, (as opposed to departments in other retailers such as Jenners in Edinburgh). The clothes are all designed in-house. They are washable and wearable, everything

made to be flattering, “fashionable, without being a victim of fashion” – a nice idea, thought Reporter. Phase 8 has aspirations to appeal to all women. Prices are midrange; an evening gown being in the £80-£90 bracket, occasionally as much as £150. Top-class quality, along with personal service, is what matters most.

Weddings are catered for completely.

Customers can sit with a member of staff upstairs in private, where they can discuss all aspects. Plans are afoot for invitations to girlie evenings with champagne and offers of discounts, “social events as much as business,” Jo explained. Phase 8 sees itself, while national, as first and foremost a community-centred business, a local boutique. “Come and visit.” invites Jo; “do,” echoes Reporter!

Jo (second from the left) and staff

*****

5. The Adamson Brasserie and Cocktail Bar, 127 South Street, (01334 479 191) has arrived, after an eight month refurbishment transforming the former Post Office to a modern contemporary restaurant. The launch party, to which our Reporter was invited, was held on Friday, 30 March, when 160 guests had the opportunity to enjoy a wide selection of canapés and cocktails. A jazz band made the evening go with a swing and everyone had a great time. The restaurant is the first venture of the Dalton family. Ken Dalton welcomed guests, outlining some of the history of the building, originally the home of Dr John Adamson, physician and pioneer of photography; he was proud to link the restaurant to such an important name in the town’s history. Julie Lewis, who runs the restaurant, explained that lunch and dinner is served daily, while early brunch will be available at the weekends, although likely to be offered each day throughout the summer. With a comprehensive range of menus à la carte, prix fixe, brunch and mini for families, backed by an extensive wine and cocktail selection, the Adamson is a great addition to the St Andrews eating scene, impressing Reporter greatly! More can be found at: www.theadamson.com

Julie Lewis and family Dalton on stage

ORGANISATIONS Karen Hutchence asks, “is there . . .

Anyone For Tennis?”

St Andrews Lawn Tennis Club is one of the learn and the clubhouse even has rackets and best, and most welcoming clubs I have had the balls you can borrow. Membership is available pleasure of attending. for anyone, giving all sorts of extra benefits, like Well established, the history of the Club exclusive access to the Club’s three artificial stems back to the purchase of Kinburn grounds grass courts, where you can invite three guests and Mansion in 1920 by the then Town Council. along to play (as long as they ‘pay and display’).

They opened it up to the public as a park Along with that is access to the four full, and with an 18-hole putting green, tennis pavilion three mini courts, used by everyone. It also with nine blaes (hard surface) tennis courts, entitles use of the facilities at the clubhouse. and later a bowling green. Hosting many fun First-time adults applying for membership get a events over the years, it has 50% reduction of the annual been well used by locals, fee – which is excellent value St Andrews Lawn Tennis the University, and Madras for money.

Club is one of the best, College. Now the Council As a non-member you and most welcoming leases the tennis facilities at can purchase a ticket to play clubs I have had the Kinburn to the Tennis Club. either from the clubhouse, our Club volunteers are an fantastic Tourist Information pleasure of attending. energetic group of people Centre in town, or the looking forward to welcoming new members. scrumptious café in Kinburn Castle beside the Even if you’ve never played tennis before, you courts. Then all you do is write your name on can come along and have some fun. It’s easy to one of the court booking sheets, hung up on the outside clubhouse wall. Once the court is free, you simply fill out your ticket, and slot it into the number of the court you have booked, which is displayed on the clubhouse wall next to the booking sheets.

Club members include three great coaches who teach privately, using the courts for both members and non-members. For a small fee you can have lessons from beginners to advanced – depending on the coaching required.

The Club plays in the Scottish Cup, the National Club league (for teams throughout Scotland), and in the Tennis Tayside Senior and

Junior leagues. There are presently 25 events in the Club Championships, which are open to all members, not just the top players. It’s a great facility to bring young children to have some fun and learn how to play, as there are excellent mini courts – free for members, or only 50p per 30 minutes of play for non-members. Full courts are £1.50 per 30 minutes of play.

This year the Club’s social events should be great for everyone, so keep your ‘heads up’ for news of up-and-coming dances, dinners, fundraising events like Pimms and strawberry days, and barbecues over the summer.

Everyone is welcome to come along and join in.

Remember this facility belongs to all the people of the town to enjoy, so come along and see what it can offer you. Come and play, or join as a member at St Andrews LTC, Doubledykes Rd, Kinburn Park, KY16 9DR; by Tel: 01334 479 897 or visit the website www.standrewsltc.org and download a membership application form.

(Photos courtesy the Club and Preservation Trust Museum)

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

Quote this number, RCD15, for 5% discount.

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ORGANISATIONS Alan Dunlop, Seasonal Guide at

Hill of Tarvit When Prince Charles and his coterie of like-minded friends rescued painted in white, highlights the fine Georgian and Regency furniture. The Dumfries House from an uncertain future with the inevitable and ceiling, again by Beattie, is more Hollywood than Holyrood. Outside, the irretrievable alienation of its contents, he was doing more than merely a craftsmanship of blacksmith Thomas Hadden is seen in the ornamental charitable act. He was reminding us (and I don’t just mean the National iron-work of the well-head and the handsome garden gates.

Trust for Scotland) that the price of our cultural inheritance is eternal Hill of Tarvit was primarily intended as a family home. It is not vigilance. particularly large – only four public rooms – but it lies In many ways Hill of Tarvit Mansion House near at the heart of a delightful estate, embracing gardens, Lorimer’s brief was Cupar is as important to 20th century Scottish domestic park, and woodland. One of the reasons Sharp came to design a modern architecture as Dumfries House is to the 18th. In 1696 to Fife was to be close to St Andrews. He was a keen comfortable house around the already long-established Wemyss family built a golfer, an active member of the R&A, and he built his the Sharp collection handsome country house on the site of an earlier own 9-hole golf course on the estate. Although the property: Wemyss Hall, as it was called, was to be course was ploughed up as part of the war effort, the their home for another two hundred years. At the turn of the 20th century bare bones remained. Recently it has been re-instated as a ‘Home for the house came up for sale and was bought by a Dundee financier Hickory’ – old fashioned clubs and balls – open to the paying public and and entrepreneur, Frederick Sharp. Sharp, who had already acquired a enormous fun. significant collection of antique furniture and Old Master paintings, as well Hill of Tarvit was essentially one man’s dream, but that dream was to as Chinese and Japanese porcelain and bronzes, wanted somewhere to be cruelly shattered. In 1932 Frederick died aged just 70, but worse was show them off. Unfortunately Wemyss Hall was just not large enough to to come. In 1937 five years after taking over the estate, his son Hugh, accommodate the collection, so Sharp engaged the distinguished Scottish only recently engaged, was killed in a major train disaster at Castlecary architect Robert Lorimer to remodel the house for him. Thus Hill of Tarvit near Falkirk. His mother Beatrice and sister Elizabeth lived on in the was born. house throughout the war in fairly austere conditions. Then in 1946 Mrs Lorimer’s brief was to design a modern comfortable house around Sharp died, followed two years later by Elizabeth from cancer. Elizabeth the Sharp collection. This he achieved in just two years between 1904 and her mother had long decided that they did not want the collection and 1906 – an amazing feat. Each room is presented in a different style to be broken up, so in 1948, partly we think, through the good offices of according to its contents, so within one house you have an amazingly rich Jo Grimond, a family friend and a founding father of the National Trust diversity. for Scotland, the house, its entire contents, and the surrounding estate The Hall is in Scottish baronial style, with English and Scottish passed into the hands of the Trust. However, the NTS was faced with a oak furniture of the 17th century, as well as two Flemish tapestries of dilemma. What to do with a 42 year-old house, relatively isolated, at a the late 1500s. Lorimer was a keen supporter of the Arts and Craft time of post-war stringencies and petrol rationing? They decided to rent movement, and the quality of craftsmanship throughout the house is out the house and after several false starts they found a suitable tenant superb. The oak panelling of the Hall and the staircase were effected in the form of the Marie Curie Foundation. So for over 25 years the house

by Scott Morton of Edinburgh. The white painted Drawing Room, by was used as a nursing home for cancer patients. Finally in 1977 ‘Marie contrast, is in French style with important furniture of the Louis XV and Curie’ moved out to purpose-built accommodation in Dundee. Hill of Tarvit Louis XVI period. The finely crafted plaster ceiling is by Thomas Beattie was at last opened to the public with a resident manager and seasonal of Edinburgh. The Library with its deep green walls is the perfect setting staff – which is much as it is today. for Sharp’s collection of 18th century portraits – mostly by Allan Ramsay The grounds are beautifully maintained: snowdrop and bluebell times and Sir Henry Raeburn. The Dining Room, beautifully panelled and are a feast for the eyes. The gardens and grounds are open all year round. The house itself re-opens on 1st April (a free day to non-members and members alike). It remains open Thursday-Monday until the end of October.

Easter weekend is a good time to visit. As usual this year there was a Cadbury’s Easter Egg hunt on Sunday 8th and Monday 9th April.

The Edwardian Tea Room and Eatery, run by Hatters and Co, was also available. There are always events throughout the season highlighted in the press. Do look out for them.

The National Trust for Scotland relies on the support of its members to keep its properties open and well maintained. It is easy to join – just sign up at the door of any NTS property, and a wealth of historic houses, castles, islands, waterfalls, coastline, and countryside can be yours!

(Photo courtesy NTS)

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TOWN & GOWN Daisy Zeijlon, President of the University’s Fine Food & Dining Society enjoyed

A Chocolate-Filled Evening A cocoa pod me (and I think the whole room) that good can save the chocolate is worth something extra. She began planet. White with some choco-history: it existed only in chocolate is not, drink form from 500 BCE to approximately in fact, chocolate.

1850. Chocolate went through a series of Chocolate wasn’t transformations in the 20th and 21st centuries, produced in from solid bars to filled chocolates to gourmet solid bar form until the 1890s. Poor quality chocolates. The chocolate world chocolate tastes aggressive. These are just a has evolved extensively in the few of the things I learned on 12 March at A last ten years, expanding to Chocolate Filled Evening, an event hosted by include new concepts such as the University of St Andrews’ Fine Food and chocolate cafés and museums, Dining Society with the Pittenweem Chocolate which did not exist before Company at St Andrews Golf Hotel.

2005. Chloe’s response to The evening consisted of two presentations, this “excess and chaos for an opportunity to buy Pittenweem’s products, consumers” is to revisit the and a lot of sampling. The first presentation, basics. She praised the led by local artisanal chocolatier Charlotte micro batch trend in the US, Flower, illuminated the world of cocoa farming, which promotes a “bean to which I certainly never consider when snacking bar” philosophy: one or two on a Yorkie Bar. Fresh off the plane from a people buy cocoa beans trip to Indonesia, she told a fascinating story. (as opposed to importing Indonesia is the third largest cocoa producer chocolate) and go through in the world after Côte d’Ivoire and Ghana; all the whole process of the biggest chocolate bar companies are based making chocolate bars there, including Nestlé and Mars. Nevertheless, themselves. They produce eighty per cent of the cocoa in Indonesia is microbatches of an grown by smallholders. Sadly, as in much of extremely high-quality and the world’s agriculture these days, in recent profoundly delicious product. These years these cocoa farmers have had to sacrifice companies pride themselves on research, the quality of their product in order to make attention to detail, and interaction with the money. Fermentation, the process by which the customer, an unprecedented innovation in the mucilage surrounding cocoa beans is rotted chocolate-making world. Chloe jokingly told off to improve the final taste, the crowd that such openness is often sacrificed because it about the process is completely Cocoa farming pays no extra dividend. Cocoa opposite to the French farming is an incredibly intensive chocolate-making tradition, is an incredibly process, requiring one person is a notoriously “secretive intensive process which per hectare (even more for that process”. Microbatch makers coveted organic certification). represent Chloe’s belief that the These factors add up to an uncertain future for “journey into chocolate is a personal journey”, chocolate. Thanks to the delicious tasters from which should be unclouded by poor quality Charlotte’s shop, though, this heartbreaking (“a boring and aggressive experience”) or proposition didn’t dampen the mood. Her distracting decoration. concern with sustainability was evident in Chloe followed with an enlightening these delicious nibbles (all made from singleingredients lesson. Cocoa beans, which origin chocolate, of course), particularly in the surprising Meadowsweet and Scots Pine flavours. She also experiments with elderflower, beech nuts and garlic – all sourced locally.

I am a huge proponent of local produce.

I haul myself out of bed every month to visit the Fife Farmers’ Market, and I buy everything I can from local shops, religiously avoiding supermarket chains. Even after Charlotte’s informative presentation, however, I was not quite convinced to spend £4.50 of my student budget on sixty-five grams of “artisanal” chocolate. But then I listened to Chloe DoutreRoussel, the second presenter of the evening.

A thoroughly charming French author and tasting expert, she managed to convince

are responsible for chocolate-y flavour, are separate from cocoa butter, which is essentially flavourless and used for a creamy texture.

Indeed, instead of eating the sample of cocoa butter, the people at my table all used it as lip balm! White chocolate is made from just cocoa butter, sugar, milk powder and vanilla, “therefore of course it is not chocolate”, according to Chloe.

Another valuable lesson learned: chocolate without sugar added to the beans is acidic, dense, and generally unpleasant.

Various combinations of sugar, milk powder, and lecithin, an emulsifier, are added to cocoa to make your chocolate bar. If any ingredients other than these appear on the bar’s wrapper, I learned, gently put it back on the shelf. Her knowledge of chocolate history, though, was what struck me most about her chat.

This night was full of beautiful chocolate philosophy. When I woke up the next morning out of my chocolate haze, I wondered if it was all true. I like chocolate, but I am not a chocoholic, a die-hard fan, an addict. I attended the event mainly to learn about chocolate’s production, but walked away with fistfuls of samples and a taste for the fruity, light, caramel-y experience that is artisanal chocolate. In one tasting comparison led by Chloe, though, we were asked to try two different bars. One was what I would expect from a high-quality supermarket bar. The other (one of Chloe’s) was…fruity, light, caramel-y, glorious, and didn’t leave what I can now identify as an acidic aftertaste, as the other bar had. So I would have to say yes – I am happy to spend more on smaller amounts of higher quality chocolate if it’s good for the planet and for me. I think this is the lesson the roomful of curious students and local foodies took away.

For more information on the Chloe, Charlotte, the Pittenweem Chocolate Company, or the Fine Food and Dining Society, please visit their websites: www.Chloe-Chocolat.com www.CharlotteFlowerChocolates.co.uk www.pittenweemchocolate.co.uk www.finefoodstandrews.co.uk (Photos courtesy the Fine Food & Dining Society)

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TOWN & GOWN Barbara Crawford OBE, Hon. Reader in History at the University of St Andrews

The First Statue Of Bishop Henry Wardlaw, Founder Of The University Of St Andrews On Friday, 30 March a small statue of head which impressed the majority of those consulted, which won the Bishop Henry Wardlaw was unveiled by vote. However, the model (or maquette) by Alan Herriot was such an Professor Ian Carradice in the University impressive recreation of a medieval bishop that it was felt it should be museum on The Scores (MUSA). It was retained in the University; therefore the University Museum (MUSA) sculpted by Alan Herriot in a competition agreed to purchase it to form a central feature in their exhibition of for the erection of a full-scale version, for University treasures. which funds are at present being raised Herriot’s model of Bishop Henry is the first sculptural recreation of the (see below). It represents the Bishop in University’s founder, helping to bring vividly before us the medieval and his full canonical vestments, with mitre ecclesiastical circumstances of the creation of St Andrews University. The on his head, episcopal staff (crozier) in 600th anniversary will serve to make Bishop Henry better known as the one hand and the papal Bull ratifying founding father, for there are not many memorials commemorating him the charter of foundation of his new in the University (Wardlaw Hall being the only building, and the honorary University in the other. This is how Bishop Henry might have appeared title of Wardlaw Professor being bestowed on the most distinguished arts on the day in 1414 when the Bull arrived in St Andrews, brought from and science professors). The founder of St Salvator’s College, and the Peniscola in southern Spain, where Pope Benedict XIII resided at the time builder of the University chapel, Bishop James Kennedy, is better known (he was the Schismatic pope, whose allegiance Scotland had followed as a medieval benefactor. Most people assume that the statue of Bishop in contradistinction to England, which supported the Roman pope). It Wardlaw should be located in St Salvator’s quadrangle, but that is not the was a great day ‘when the Bulls of privileges were presented to the right place for him. It is hoped that David Annand’s full-scale statue will be Lord Bishop as Chancellor of this gracious University’, recorded by the located on the lawns of St Mary’s College, on South Street, for it was near chronicler Walter Bower, who also makes reference to there, and where Parliament Hall now is, that the first the ‘boundless merry-making’ which followed, bonfires buildings of the University were located.

All contributors will be burning in the streets and open spaces of the city, and Unveiling Herriot’s model of Bishop Henry was kept fully informed of the everyone drinking wine in celebration! therefore an important ‘curtain-raiser’ for the current progress of the appeal It was indeed a cause to celebrate. This was project of re-creating the figure of the University’s and plans for the statue’s the foundation of the first Scottish University, which founder as a visible memorial. The actual life-size (or completion and erection had taken a few years to come to fruition. A group of rather more than life-size) statue which David Annand masters had initiated a school of higher studies in May will create will cost about £60,000 including VAT and the 1410, a charter of incorporation and privileges being granted by Bishop associated costs of plinth and plaques. This necessitates a big fund-raising Henry Wardlaw in February 1412, the terms of which are known from campaign, for which The Strathmartine Trust I‘m leading is now committing the papal Bull. That explains the celebrations of the 600th anniversary, a lot of effort, as we do not have any financial support from the University. initiated in February 2012.The Bishop was appointed Lord Chancellor of Details of the Wardlaw statue project and how to donate can be accessed his fledgling foundation; it was entirely his achievement establishing the on the Strathmartine Trust web-site: www.strathmartinetrust.org centre for learning, and gaining the papal Bull ratifying the foundation.

If you wish to contribute towards this statue your donation would So Bishop Henry deserves to be especially remembered in the events be warmly welcomed; as the project is part of The Strathmartine Trust’s commemorating the establishment of the University. This is why a project charitable activities it will be possible to reclaim Gift Aid on donations. If to commission a statue in his memory, to raise the funds for the sculpting any further information is required please contact Dr Barbara Crawford at and casting of that statue was launched by The Strathmartine Trust, led the Strathmartine Centre, 2, Kinburn Place, St. Andrews, KY16 9DT, Tel: by myself, Honorary Director of the Strathmartine Centre since retiring 01334 478 644, or email: bec@strathmartine.demon.co.uk All contributors from the University in 2001. will be kept fully informed of the progress of the appeal and plans for the In the process of commissioning a sculptor, the Wardlaw Statue statue’s completion and erection.

Advisory Group, consisting of current and former members of the Please do visit MUSA on The Scores to see the model of the Bishop University, asked two sculptors to produce models of how they envisaged holding the papal Bull in his hand, to get a taster of how impressive the the Bishop’s memorial statue, for a choice to be made between them. statue of the University founder will be, and a fine commemoration of Both men, Alan Herriot and David Annand, are successful craftsmen who Bishop Henry Wardlaw’s remarkable achievement. MUSA’s summer have been commissioned to produce some well-known pieces of public opening hours are Mon. to Sat. 10.00am-5.00pm; Sunday 12-4.00 p.m. sculpture in Scotland, and beyond. The decision was a very difficult one to take, but in the end it was David Annand’s bust of the Bishop’s (Photo by Flora Selwyn)

Dr Ros Powell, Festival Administrator

St Andrews Voices Think of St Andrews and most likely golf, the University, and beaches will spring to mind, but now it’s time to add culture to that attractive mix. With exciting events such as StAnza, the East Neuk Festival, and sell-out concerts by the Scottish Chamber Orchestra – not to mention a plethora of local musicmaking activities – the town is already a vibrant place for music and culture. However, there is clearly an appetite for much more.

This is where St Andrews Voices, a new Festival that will celebrate vocal music in all its guises, comes in.

Taking place during the final weekend of the school autumn break (18-21October), St Andrews Voices will consist of 4 days of concerts and musical events ranging from opera to a cappella, choral music to cabaret, folk to baroque, and more. The programme for this year’s Festival is shaping up to be very exciting indeed, and will include performers

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of international calibre alongside Scotland’s leading talent and rising young stars.

We are delighted that renowned tenor, Ian Bostridge, has agreed to be one of our patrons; he will perform a Lieder recital in the Younger Hall on the festival’s opening night. Our late night series, hosted by the Byre Theatre, will offer yet more interesting concerts exploring folk, cabaret, as well as soul/jazz/beatbox genres.

The Festival is not just a celebration of established singers: our Rising Voices scheme will provide training and support for up-andcoming young musicians. St Andrews alumnus, Ben McAteer, has been chosen as this year’s performer. Ben is currently studying on the Opera Programme under David Pollard at the Guildhall School of Music & Drama, and has won several important prizes. We are working on several other exciting projects that will enable community groups to become involved in our celebration of all things vocal.

Of course, festivals do not just happen on their own. Our first Festival coincides with the St Andrews Year of Celebration as a Scotland’s Creative Place for 2012. In addition, we are extremely grateful for the support that we have already received from Fife Council, Stay in St Andrews, the Byre Theatre, and a number of private donors.

Our full programme will be released later in the spring. In the meantime, if you would like to receive email updates on the Festival please send your contact details to: standrewsvoices@gmail.com or sign up via our website: www.standrewsvoices.com

EVENTS From John Drysdale

The Long Weekend

– A St Andrews United FC, and Byre Theatre Tigerfish Co-Production During the first weekend of June, there will Entertainment Line-Up be Something for Everyone at Recreation It all gets under way on Friday, 1June, starting Park, in the heart of St Andrews. You will be at 7.30pm. A trio of nationally-acclaimed tribute sure to find a tune that takes your fancy in acts will provide a great party atmosphere for the extensive music line-up at the first annual the young and young-at-heart.

St Andrews Long Weekend. And if music First up will be Cher lookalike and isn’t your thing, then head down to Monday’s soundalike, Shona McVey, proving reviewers free Community Fair. You’ll be sure to find in are right to call her ‘simply the best’ in Scotland. the range of stalls something to pique your Shona pays fantastic tributes to Cher, amongst interest in the cross-section of St Andrews life other iconic female singers, and has most that will be represented. recently added an amazing tribute to Lady This is all taking place on the long GaGa to her repertoire. weekend of the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee Next on stage will be Madnish, the celebrations, Friday, 1 to Monday, 4 renowned west of Scotland-based group with June 2012, at Recreation Park, home of their full repertoire of Madness: songs from St Andrews United FC that great band’s hugely successful reign.

Thanks to an imaginative “Highly accomplished, highly partnership between the effective” was the comment Football Club and the Byre from Keith Bruce – The This is all taking place on Theatre’s Tigerfish Production Herald’s critic. This is a the long weekend of the Services, staging, seating, full 6-piece line-up with a and stalls will be erected, with superb live sound provided Queen’s Diamond Jubilee the Football Club hosting a by outstanding musicians celebrations, Friday, 1 to series of open air concerts, to This first evening will Monday, 4 June 2012, at suit all tastes, on the Friday be topped off by coming Recreation Park, home of evening, Saturday evening right slap-bang up-to-date and Sunday afternoon. with a tribute to Lady GaGa St Andrews United FC Monday, 4 June, sees the performing a storming set. climax of the Long Weekend On Saturday 2 June, – the Community Fair, where again starting at 7.30pm. any and all local clubs, community groups, Join us for sing-along (and dance-along) and small businesses are invited to take part. extravaganza! it will start with Musicality The stage will host a showcase of talented winner and local songstress Donna Hazelton, local artists. Local radio Roadshow and DJs who will present her formidable set of show will be in full swing filling the day with music, tunes and diva ballads. Headlining the fun, and community spirit!

Saturday evening is the original West End show ABBAMania, which whatsonstage.com called “Brilliant”, saying, “Anyone who can sit through this without participating needs an undertaker!” ABBAMANIA is widely regarded as one of the ‘World’s’ Premier ABBA Tribute

Bands. Their sensational live concerts have taken them all over Europe re-creating the magic of ABBA at the height of their popularity.

The afternoon of Sunday, 3 June presents another change of pace, with the stage set for the performance of the St Andrews Chorus, offering an introduction to classical music from their considerable repertoire. Excited about a change of scene from their usual sellout performances in St Andrews’s Younger Hall, leader Michael Downes is relishing the opportunity to welcome a new audience to join the regulars at the unique open air venue. Adding to the special occasion is a performance from guest mezzo-soprano soloist, Tania Holland Williams.

The Community Fair Doors open for the Community Fair at 12 noon on Monday, 4 June, running all the way through to 6.00pm. This is an opportunity for everyone in the area for the Long Weekend, townspeople and students, visitors from near and far, to find out about the huge range of activities, services, and products that St Andrews has to offer. The town hosts much more than a top-tier University and a world renowned Golf Course (or seven!). An array of local clubs, community groups, and small businesses will be promoting their offerings to attract new members, advertise their meetings and future programs, showing their contribution to the town. In this way, the day will provide a snapshot of life in St Andrews in 2012. And the music will continue with a showcase of local talent, hosted by the radio station’s own personalities, bringing their Roadshow to St Andrews.

And so visitors will enjoy the sights and sounds of St Andrews.

Entry Arrangements, Ticketing & Catering Entry to the Community Fair is FREE – and everyone is welcome!.

For the music concerts, the same ticket pricing applies for each event: Adults £15, Concessions (Disabled, OAPs, Students) £12 Family (2 adults + 2 children, or 1 adult + 3 children) £45 Weekend Ticket for all 3 concerts (adult) £40 Weekend Ticket for all 3 concerts (concession) £30.

Tickets are available from the Byre Theatre Box Office and online at: www.byretheatre.com Please note, at the time of going to press, all timings quoted are subject to confirmation.

Please check posters and advertising material nearer the dates, or at the Box Office when purchasing tickets. For any other questions or expressions of interest, please contact: St Andrews United FC Commercial Manager, John Drysdale either by phone: 07962 023 683 or by email: johndrysdaleconsulting@gmail.com

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EVENTS From Michael Downes, Director of Music

Opera at the Byre

Eugene Onegin (Courtesy the Music Centre)

Following its highly-acclaimed production of Britten’s The Rape of Lucretia in 2010, St Andrews Opera returns to the Byre Theatre this summer with Tchaikovsky’s romantic masterpiece, Eugene Onegin. Like Lucretia, the new production will be directed by Kally Lloyd-Jones of Scottish Opera, conducted by Michael Downes, the University’s Director of Music, and lit by Daniel Murfin, now a lighting designer for the National Theatre in London. In a new departure for the company, it will be working in collaboration with Bloomsbury Opera, a London-based group drawing on the talents of postgraduate singing students at the London conservatoires.

The cast, formed jointly from the two companies, will give three performances at the Byre (Thursday 14, Friday 15, and Saturday 16 June), followed by three performances later in the month at Goodenough College, Mecklenburgh Square, London. The Byre performances will be accompanied by a specially assembled chamber orchestra led by Feargus Hetherington and the Edinburgh-based Roxburgh String Quartet. This promises to be a very exciting production of a wonderful opera, as those who saw the preview performances of scenes in the Younger Hall will agree: tickets are on sale already at the Byre Theatre box office (tel: 01334 475 000; www.byretheatre.com) so book now to ensure the best seats.

From Colin Mackay, Madras College Parent Council Fundraising Group

Madras College Grand Fete Saturday, 16 June 2012, 11.00am to 4.00pm – South Street, St Andrews The school, in conjunction with the Parent Council, will be holding a Grand Fete on the grounds of the South Street Campus on Saturday, 16 June. All proceeds will go to promoting the school’s wide-ranging extracurricular programme.

The Fete will be opened by Mr Ian Jones, Rector, and the Madras College Pipe Band at 11.00am, after which we have a programme of events to suit all tastes: morning coffees and afternoon teas will be served in the assembly hall; the quadrangle will house an attractive variety of food and produce stalls; the front lawn will be transformed into an entertainments

area for all the family, with barbecues, games, competitions, general fun activities, and centre stage, literally, will be filled with musical items from pupils past and present. Look out for some big names here!

Paul Samson, former pupil and star of ‘River City’ will compere our musical events. In addition to centre stage, there will be musical ensembles in the hall and folk groups in the quad. The musical events are unique, in that all performers will have attended Madras as a pupil at some time in their lives!

We also have exciting raffle prizes: holiday breaks, golfing fourballs, an accommodation

and spa package, dinners in local hotels and restaurants, plus many more valuable prizes.

Tickets are on sale just now and will be on sale on Fete day, but if you would like to buy some in advance please contact Debbie, fundraising committee, on 01334 850 396.

This event gives us all a super opportunity to come together to enjoy ourselves, to celebrate success and pave the way for future dynamic experiences in the school’s extracurricular activities.

We shall be delighted to see you all there on 16 June!

Alan Tricker

A Talent to Amuse

– Red Wine Productions on tour Red Wine Productions, the St Andrews-based touring theatre company, will be bringing their latest show to the Byre Theatre on Wednesday, 30 May to raise funds for the Friends of the Byre. The revue is entitled A Talent to Amuse – the plays and songs of Noel Coward, using excerpts from some of Noel Coward’s plays and several songs such as Don’t put your daughter on the stage; I’ve been to a marvellous party; Mad dogs and Englishmen; London Pride; Sail Away. Add in a few of his cheeky poems and reminders of his waspish wit and you have a delightful portrait of one of Britain’s greatest writers and performers.

This show will be the seventh tour organised by Red Wine Productions since it was formed by Alan Tricker and Brenda Hunter in 2005. Over that period they have staged 60 performances around the towns and villages of North East Fife and have raised over £22,000 for locally-based charities.

As well as the tours, the company has developed close links with Cambo House, performing at Christmas Fairs and staging supper theatre performances. They have also worked with the Byre Writers to produce Cambo: Stories from a Country House for Crail Festival in 2010. This year they are collaborating with Byre Writers again to develop a new show – A Deadly Dilemma – for the 2012 Crail Festival. The show is a story about railway building, duplicitous bankers, and the local gentry – with a romance thrown in for good measure – all the ingredients of a classic Victorian novel! This play will be performed in promenade – where the audience follows the action through the magnificent rooms of Cambo House.

Whether you are a village hall committee, a charity fundraising group, or an individual, you can be the host of a Red Wine Productions show. Just look at the website: www.redwineproductions.org.uk

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Pig poetry (Photos courtesy Alan Tricker)

EVENTS Compiled on behalf of the Byre Theatre by Rebecca Quin

St Andrews: Creative Place Award Winner St Andrews is currently celebrating an award for sizes, St Andrews was in the category for being one of the country’s most creative places. places with fewer than 100,000 residents, The town has been given a cash prize of alongside Irvine and Perth. The application for £150,000 as a winner of a government scheme, the Award was led by St Andrews Partnership the Creative Place Awards. and the Byre Theatre, now working together This is the first year of the Awards, which to create a vibrant, jam-packed cultural run until 2014, part of the national Year of calendar for this year. With the Award’s funding Creative Scotland 2012 that began on 1st St Andrews is able to host its own Year of January, aiming to Celebration 2012, hoping showcase, celebrate, to showcase the fantastic One of the principle objectives and promote Scotland’s variety of events in and is to demonstrate how culture cultural and creative around the town. and creativity can provide longstrengths on a world The Year of stage. Through a dynamic Celebration will show standing social and economic and exciting year-long why St Andrews was a benefits for the community programme celebrating deserving winner of the Scotland’s world-class Creative Place Awards, events, festivals, culture, and heritage, the year with a wide range of cultural events to suit puts Scotland’s culture and creativity in the all tastes. From poetry to outdoor performing international spotlight with a focus on cultural arts, opera to wine-tasting, St Andrews hopes tourism, developing both the events industry to become the artistic hub for Fife, drawing and creative sector in Scotland. together the diverse events and organisations The Awards were created in recognition of under the united banner of Year of Celebration. the social and economic contribution that local One of the principle objectives is to cultural organisations can bring to the town. demonstrate how culture and creativity can Divided into categories based on population provide long-standing social and economic benefits for the community.

With this in mind, the Byre Theatre has proposed the building of a central festival hub in an annexe building of the theatre, where festival and events organisers, participants, and local businesses can work and share resources. This shared office space will allow those previously confined to their living rooms, or one of the town’s many cafés, to have a centralised space from which to organise events.

Working collaboratively with the community is an essential element of the

St Andrews Year of Celebration.

The centrepiece of the Year will be a community production of Macpherson’s Rant, a new musical theatre production written by John Ward, based on the Scottish historical tale of the execution of James Macpherson. Macpherson’s Rant will bring together professional actors, musicians, and performers alongside a large-scale community cast and chorus from Fife and beyond, to perform in a rich theatre spectacle attracting audiences from all over the country.

The St Andrews Year of Celebration was launched at the Byre Theatre on Wednesday, 7 March with a series of presentations from members of Visit Scotland, Creative Scotland, and Event Scotland, as well as festival organisers, who outlined their programmes for this year. The Year of Celebration kicked off with the 15th annual StAnza poetry festival, 14-18 March, featuring a number of high-profile poets from as far away as New Zealand, as well as actors David Hayman and Karen Dunbar. The festival was a sell-out hit with events welcoming poetry-lovers from far and wide. Preparations are already underway for upcoming festivals in St Andrews, which include: East Neuk Festival, Inside Out Festival, St Andrews Voices, and St Andrews Festival.

Two other significant events will also take place during the year. The University of St Andrews’ 600th anniversary – to be marked by a whole series of events during 2012, including the World Saxophone Congress in July – begun with the attendance of Prince William and his fiancée, Katherine Middleton at the launch of the celebrations last year.

Secondly, the Olympic Torch Relay: the passing of the torch through St Andrews will be commemorated with a re-enactment of the iconic opening scene from the Oscar-winning “Chariots of Fire” (filmed in St Andrews).

(Photo courtesy the Byre)

From Chapterhouse Theatre Company,

A chance to Win

two tickets to an open-air performance of Romeo and Juliet, or A Midsummer Night’s Dream at St Andrews Castle this June!

Chapterhouse Theatre Company is bringing two wonderful productions to St Andrews Castle this June, A Midsummer Night’s Dream on Thursday, 7 June, and Romeo and Juliet on Saturday, 9 June. You have the chance to win a pair of tickets to one of these performances, which will be held in the grounds of the Castle, on the Scores, at 7.30pm.

For your chance to win, please email: press@chapterhouse.org with your name, contact details and the answer to this question: Who wrote A Midsummer Night’s Dream: .................................................

Grounds open from 6.30pm for picnics, and there are hot and cold drinks available. Please bring rugs or low-backed seating.

A Midsummer Night’s Dream 2011 (Photo David Keane, courtesy Chapterhouse)

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EVENTS

Selected Events Friday, 4 May – 8.00pm. Younger Hall, North Street. St Andrews Chamber Orchestra. Conductor, Michael Downes. Clare Shearer, mezzo-spprano. Music by Cherubini, Berlioz, Poulenc. Contact: The Music Centre, 01334 462 226 www.st-andrews.ac.uk/music

Friday, 1 to Monday, 4 June – 7.30pm. Recreation Park, Langlands Road, St Andrews. The Long Weekend – in celebration of the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee. See page 23 for details. Contact: John Drysdale, 07962 023 683 or johndrysdaleconsulting@gmail.com

Saturday, 5 May – 9.00am-1.00pm. Argyle Street car park.

Farmers’ Market.

Saturday, 2 June – 9.00am-1.00pm. Argyle Street car park.

Farmers’ Market.

Thursday, 10 May – 8.00pm. School 1, University Quad, North Street. Roman temporary camps in Scotland. A talk by Dr Rebecca GilmoreJones, for the Archaeological Society jointly with the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland. Contact: janemwatkinson@hotmail.com – 8.00pm. St Salvator’s Chapel, North Street. St Andrews Baroque Orchestra. Contact: The Music Centre, 01334 462 226 www.st-andrews.ac.uk/music

Thursday, 7 & Friday, 8 June – 7.30pm. St Andrews Castle, the Scores.

A Midsummer Night’s Dream performed by the Chapterhouse Theatre Company, on tour. Contact: Chelsey Cottrill, Press Officer: 01522 569 777, email: press@chapterhouse.org

Friday, 11 May – 6.00pm. The Guid Cheese Shop, Burghers Close, 141 South Street. Lighter than Air: Goat’s Milk Cheeses (5 cheeses + 3 wines). Early booking advised – cost £15.

Contact: info@guidcheeseshop.co.uk Saturday, 12 May & Sunday, 13 May – All day at Cambo Estate, Kingsbarns. Huts, hideaways, & sheds. Jon Warnes runs a course for complete beginners on how to make these wooden structures.

Price: £95. Contact: 01333 450 054 cambo@camboestate.com www.camboestate.com Friday, 18 – Sunday, 20 May – 11.00am-5.00pm. Across Fife. The Fife Diamond Garden Festival.

Tickets are £20 each and only available in advance, from Scotland’s Gardens, www.scotlandsgardens.org by credit card, or from Sally Lorimore, Willowhill, Forgan, Newport on Tay, Fife DD6 8RA (cheques made payable to Scotland’s Gardens).

– 4.00-6.00pm. Bell Pettigrew Museum, Bute Building, Queen’s Terrace. Mayhem in May. For families as part of the Festival of Museums. Admission Free. Contact: 01334 463 608 mjm5@st-andrews.ac.uk Saturday, 26 May – 2.30pm. Glasite Hall, St Andrews Church Hall Complex, King Street, DUNDEE, “I had seen the Promised Land” A talk by Tom McCluskey for the Tayside Branch of the Western Front Association. Entrance free (donations welcome). Contact: Bob Paterson, 01382 775 000.

Friday, 8 June – 6.00pm. The Guid Cheese Shop, Burghers Close, 141 South Street. Iberian Treats: Cheeses of Spain and Portugal (5 cheeses + 3 wines). Early booking advised – cost £15. Contact: info@guidcheeseshop.co.uk Friday, 9 June – 7.30pm. St Andrews Castle, the Scores. Romeo and Juliet performed by the Chapterhouse Theatre Company, on tour.

Contact: Chelsey Cottrill, Press Officer: 01522 569 777, email: press@chapterhouse.org Tuesday, 12 June – 7.30pm. Chemistry Lecture Theatre, North Haugh. Gardens in Science and Art – a talk by Professor David Ingram for the Friends of the Botanic Garden, Annual Lecture.

Contact: 01334 476 452 www.st-andrews-botanic.org Saturday, 16 June – 11.00am to 4.00pm. Madras College, South Street, St Andrews.

Grand Fete. To be opened by the Rector, Mr Ian Jones, and the Pipe Band. Something for everyone. All proceeds will go to promote the School’s extra-curricular programme. See page 24.

– 2.15pm. Holy Trinity Church Hall, Queen’s Terrace, St Andrews.

Guild Summer Fair. Welcome to a pleasant social afternoon with summer stalls for clothes, jewellery, home baking, bric-a-brac.

Admission £2. Contact 01334 475 716 or www.holyt.co.uk Friday, 22 June to Saturday, 7 July – Cambo Estate, Kingsbarns. Rose Festival. contact: 01333 450 054 cambo@camboestate.com www.camboestate.com Saturday, 24 June – 11.00am-4.00pm. The Scores Hotel, The Scores.

Carnaby Market Fair. Vintage and ‘pre-loved’ fashion. Entry, £1.

Contact: 0790 4 10 2216 thischarmingvintage@talktalk.net

Saturday, 26 May to Sunday, 2 September – St Andrews Museum, Kinburn Park. S J Peploe; the French connection. Key works by the painter, whose inspiration was France and French culture.

Admission Free. Contact: 01334 659 380.

Saturday, 30 June – 2.00-4.00pm, St Andrew’s Episcopal Church, Queens Terrace. Summer Fete with many attractive stalls.

Entry £1.50 (children 50p) includes tea. Contact: admin@stastachurch.plus.com

Sunday, 27 May – Cambo Estate, Kingsbarns. Willow workshop with Jon Warnes. For information contact: 01333 450 054 cambo@camboestate.com www.camboestate.com

Advance Notice:

Wednesday, 30 May – 7.30pm. At the Byre Theatre, St Andrews.

A Talent to Amuse – the plays and songs of Noel Coward. By Red Wine Productions. Tickets: £9 (£8 for Friends of the Byre) from Byre Box Office 01334 475 000 or www.byretheatre.com

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Friday, 20 to 26 July – 10.00am-4.00pm daily. At Elie Post Office, Links Place, ELIE. Art Exhibition by 2 members of St Andrews Art Club, Anne Dunlop and Linda Paton (this year’s winner of the annual competition), following on from last year’s success.

Contact Anne Dunlop: anne@dunlopa.fsnet.co.uk

OUT & ABOUT Arlen Pardoe kindly contributes this first of a series of articles about our town.

Hidden Gems in St Andrews (in plain view)

St Andrews has a wealth of features that we probably pass every day without a second glance. Some may be of historic interest, others of architectural significance, and many are simply irrelevant to our daily lives. Nevertheless, they help make St Andrews the town it is, they give it a character and a charisma unrivalled in most towns which have much less to offer. There is a combination of old and not-so-old features very pleasing to the eye, yet often overlooked. This series aims to draw attention to some of these and give an alternative view of the town – something in St Andrews on which you can Focus!

The Letter P Have you ever noticed an incised letter P on any of the buildings in St Andrews? If so, have you wondered what it means? Why is it there?

When did this stop happening?

How many are there? Would it surprise you to know that well over 60 have been identified?

The feature is described as a ‘fire plug’ and dates back to the early part of the 19th Gregory’s Lane century. In 1838 St Andrews adopted a system of local government known as Police Commissioners, operating in parallel with the Town Council.

In this sense Police meant the municipality, rather than the usual meaning we would apply today. The appointment of Commissioners was enabled under an Act of Parliament from 1833 and in St Andrews the town rate payers (for properties rated at £10 and above) voted Argyle Street for the Commissioners to look after Lighting and Water. It was a close thing, with the casting vote of the Provost carrying the votes for water. The Commissioners operated for 11 years until 1849 when the duties were passed to the Town Council and there was no longer a separate system of Police Commissioners. At the same time the Town Council took responsibility for the other areas that the 1833 Act allowed them to manage – Watching (i.e. what we would now regard as policing), Paving, and Cleansing.

St Andrews was very short of water for much of the 19th century. In 1781 the Town Council had voted £100 to supply the town with water. The main piped supply came from a piece of marshy ground in the Grange Mire about a mile south of the town, collected via a series of drainage pipes and carried to the town through a pipe, originally only 1½ inches in diameter, but later much improved in diameter to give a greater flow. In

1819 a cistern was constructed to store the water in a building, where the toilets are now located next to the town library. It frequently ran dry, holding only a quarter of the daily water requirements of St Andrews. There was also a problem with the strength of the building, which limited the amount of water that could be stored. Most people still got their water from the many wells in various locations about the town, but those who could afford it had a piped water supply to their home. It was not free – they were paying 5/- (five shillings) per year for this privilege, and if they had a water closet it cost 7/6 (seven and six pence). This was subsequently reduced to 1/6 and 2/6 in 1839, but it was still a substantial charge for many – for example, in 1836 the St Andrews Town Officers were paid between £10 and £15 a year and the Vagrancy Police Officer £25. Farm Labourers were paid from £10 to £12 a North Street year with some extra benefits such as oatmeal and milk.

So what of the letter P? Probably it indicated properties that had a piped water supply and the reference to ‘Fire Plugs’ suggests that it shows where a piped water supply was available in case of fire; instead of carrying buckets of water from the nearest well to put out a fire there would be a ready supply. It could also be a means whereby the town officials Playfair Terrace could determine properties that had to pay the annual fee for piped water. You will most likely find the incised letter P beside the main doors, or on the front walls of older buildings in the centre of town.

Seemingly this was done until the late 1850s. Buildings after about 1860 do not appear to have these marks, thus it would suggest that more properties had piped water from that time and it was no longer necessary to distinguish them. So, as you walk along Argyle Street, the lanes off South Street, Golf Place, Playfair Terrace, Pilmour Place, the eastern end of Market Street, and Castle Streets North and South, to name some of the locations, see how many properties you can find that display the letter P. Some examples are no longer visible, either through demolition of buildings, being covered by render, or additional building work.

(Photos courtesy Arlen Pardoe)

Swimwear at

Elspeth’s of St Andrews

9 Church Street, St Andrews Tel: 01334 472494

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OUT & ABOUT Gordon Moir, Director of Greenkeeping, explains

The inextricable links between golf and sustainable environmental management Golf is often seen as a sport using masses of greens, and green surrounds, take up only pesticides and fertilisers alongside extensive around 20 hectares. One of the first things irrigation to maintain luscious greens and to understand is that the Trust’s approach fairways. In actual fact, the reality is often involves minimal input of any pesticides or very different. fertilisers. The fairways and roughs are not At St Andrews Links the objective has fertilised, phosphates are almost never used always been for sustainable management, not other than in occasional small amounts to only of the golf courses, but of the important help any new seed or turf establish. That wildlife habitats and the natural landscapes leaves 280Ha, with approximately 140Ha which sustain them. The combination of fine cut for golf, the remainder managed for the grasses, sandy dunes, heather and gorse environment, a mixture of open grasslands, making up the Links, lends itself to minimalist gorse, scrub, and heather. maintenance, but undoubtedly requires Over-intensive management of the sympathetic and continuous management in grasses at the Links is harmful, weakening its order to flourish. performance for golf. The indigenous grasses St Andrews Links Trust manages and on the Links are wiry, slow growing, have very maintains the seven public golf courses at the good drought tolerance, are disease resistant, Links, operating a number of management and when cut make an ideal surface for golf, plans covering the wonderful mosaic of flora firm and fast running. Excessive applications and fauna inhabiting them. The beauty of of water and fertiliser can very quickly kill off this approach is that maintaining top class these grasses, introduce species with very golf links golf courses goes different characteristics and hand in hand with maintaining At St Andrews Links the create a vicious circle where the integrity of the natural the surfaces become soft objective has always landscape. and lush, requiring fertiliser, been for sustainable Golf has been played on water and fungicides to management the Links for more than 600 combat the turf diseases years, yet it is still home to a which will inevitably follow. wonderful array of different species. It was Our rule of thumb is to use just enough water Tom Morris who led the way in advocating a to keep the grasses alive. minimalist management approach, with his The range and diversity of grassland famous dictum of “saund, saund and mair which predominate is essential to the saund”; this remains every bit as valid today ecology of the Links. The Trust operates a as it did in the 19th Century. management programme nourishing and The whole area of the Links takes up protecting the indigenous grasses, which almost 300 hectares. Of that, areas requiring range from amenity grasslands through the “intensive” management, such as tees, playing areas, to the wider unmanaged fixed dune grasslands where marram is still an important component. All areas have value for different bird species. Pied wagtail, starling, rook, meadow pipit, and skylark all use the playing surfaces for feeding while many species nest in the open grassland areas.

The dunes and associated grasslands where golf is played on the one hand provide important recreation for the people of St Andrews and the many visitors who come to the Home of Golf but, crucially, are also a very rich environment for birds and small mammals, including brown hares, and the many different plant species that can be found. The closely-cut grasses on the fairways are a great food source for swallows you can often see swooping across the greens and fairways in search of insects through the summer months.

The key to the importance of the Links in terms of conservation is the diversity of habitats it provides, this in turn adding to its allure as a place to play golf. The greater the diversity of habitats the greater will be the wildlife interest. In turn, this indirectly and, almost imperceptibly, benefits the enjoyment of those using the courses.

As the geology and topography of the Links goes hand in hand with the wildlife habitats, effective management is vital in preserving the delicate balance between them. Without management there would be a gradual loss of the important dune grassland and associated areas of heather, as species such as gorse take over. If gorse becomes too dominant it alters the dune topography Owl on flagpost (Courtesy Abi Warner) and its ecological value, with the next natural

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Heather (Courtesy Gordon Moir) succession of the landscape being the introduction of trees on the Links. These changes can, in turn, lead to the exclusion of some species such as skylark, meadow pipit, and brown hares, while increasing others such as chaffinch, yellowhammer and linnet.

Maintaining the balance through management means retaining a diversity of habitats for the benefit of many different species of wildlife rather than just a few. Just recently in fact, it has been quite common to see some shorteared owls hovering over the Links through the day, quite possibly the result of voles or mice being more visible where gorse has been cleared.

The Trust has implemented a gorse management programme over the last several years designed to keep this invasive species under control, to ensure it flourishes where appropriate and to restore the dune topography which it had altered. Without intervention gorse can become leggy and degenerate, reducing its value to wildlife as it loses its capacity to regenerate. Coppicing the gorse on a periodic basis ensures that it retains its juvenility in perpetuity. Selective removal brings a number of benefits.

Removing it from the Jubilee Course restored the dunes to their former aspect with a beautiful skyline shaped by the marram and sea lyme grasses. It also led to a marked increase in bare sand providing areas for birds to dust themselves, for reptiles such as the common lizard to bask, mining bees and wasps to burrow, and for more sensitive plant species to colonise.

Last year St Andrews Links became the first Open Championship venue to achieve Golf Environment Organisation (GEO) certification, a new industry benchmark, in recognition of its management programmes across both the courses, the clubhouses and associated facilities. The Trust works closely with the Scottish Golf Environment Group (SGEG), the Sports Turf Research Institute (STRI), and golfing bodies such as the R&A, the British & International Golf Greenkeepers Association (BIGGA), the Home Unions, and the European Tour on its sustainable management programmes.

Managing the Links sustainably, in a way that enhances and preserves the delicate ecological balance is something we take extremely seriously. The Links is an invaluable natural as well as golfing landscape and the success of each aspect is inextricably linked from our point of view.

OUT & ABOUT From Fay Smith

Cambo Gardens, Past, Present & Future Peter and Catherine Erskine of Cambo Estate set up diminished, but Peter’s grandmother, Magdalene their charity, Cambo Institute, to provide opportunities Anstruther from Balcaskie, who came to Cambo for learning and volunteering in heritage, arts, the in 1916, was a keen hands-on gardener and environment, culture, and horticulture at Cambo Estate plantswoman who introduced all sorts of plants and Gardens, in 1998. to Cambo, keeping it alive. Unlike many similar With an upsurge of interest in recent years from gardens during the Second World War, the garden garden students wishing to study and come to the at Cambo ticked over with whatever staff were gardens for work experience, from volunteers in general, available and it was maintained, the lawns being also a demand for educational workshops and general cultivated to provide extra vegetables! events, it became obvious that the existing facilities were When Peter and Catherine arrived in 1976 the main deterrent to expansion of these services, so most of the walled garden was cultivated, thoughts were turned to the Stable Block but the top half had been and Coach House, buildings which lie at put down to long grass.

A Royal Horticultural the heart of the designed landscape of Also a keen gardener Society Partner Garden, Cambo Estate. and knowledgeable In June 2011 Cambo Institute plantswoman, Catherine the gardens are now an was awarded a Stage 1 pass from was anxious to revive the inspiration to visitor and the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF) for garden. In 1986 she started student alike £84,000, part of a £2.2 million funding selling snowdrops by mail package to undertake the restoration of order to provide an income these buildings, including the Glasshouses in the Walled to buy new plants; an honesty box was put up and Garden, much needed for practical training and learning the gardens were opened to the public. She by student gardeners. The Stage 1 pass from HLF tried to move the ‘traditional’ head gardener allowed project development work to progress towards away from straight lines and traditional plantings a Stage 2 submission in the next few months. However, towards clumps and drifts, but it wasn’t until he should this be approved, Cambo Institute will still have retired in 1998 that the garden moved into a new to raise £1.15m to match HLF funding. This project will era with Sinclair Williamson, who started the see the future of Cambo Gardens secure for the future, changes that made the garden more interesting funded by the income generated from plant sales, tea throughout the year. Current Head Gardener, room, shop, and events.

Elliott Forsyth, arrived in 2001 bringing with him Created in the early 1800s the prime function of the a very good eye for design, as well as a love Walled Garden, laid out in traditional style of straight of herbaceous perennials. A more fluid design paths and geometric shapes surrounded by box hedges, developed, taking the emphasis away from paths was to provide the ‘big house’ with produce and flowers to plants, a feeling of massed vegetation. A Royal throughout the year, maintained by up to 13 gardeners.

Horticultural Society Partner Garden, the gardens By the end of the First World War these numbers were are now an inspiration to visitor and student alike.

ns in decline!

Cambo Garde

Cambo Garde

ns 1970

Cambo today (Photos courtesy Cambo Estate)

Karen Hutchence, on

Gulls v Hawks Whether you live in the centre of St Andrews or not, you would have become acquainted with our most talked about, complained about, and vocal birds in town; celebrities in their own right, but for negative reasons, not positive. These cute, awkward, glorious sea symbols are becoming noisy and troublesome beyond belief. They have unfortunately turned into the local louts of our bird world, when they choose to nest in town, rather than their natural habitat. They get into people’s rubbish and council bins. They make a mess of roofs by nesting on top of the chimneys, and they make one heck of a racket with their squawking and screeching, especially during nesting and breeding. Yes folks, I’m talking about the seagulls.

You may have experienced, that (like many) even simple acts, such as enjoying your lunch outside, can turn into an ordeal, with the gulls dive-bombing you to take your food – literally from your mouth! So the danger of these birds is also a very real problem, not to mention the inconvenience of their droppings raining down. I have even witnessed the seals at the aquarium having their food pinched from them, when they are being fed. The gulls do the same to them too! Awfully naughty!

Solution?

Some house owners, and a local residents’ association have decided to engage a vermin control company using Harris Hawks to deter the gulls from nesting in the centre of town, with luck driving the gulls back to nest on the cliffs and seafront. This will be an exciting, hopefully

successful pilot project. It is thought that up to three hawks could be used.

The Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 makes it illegal to kill gulls or destroy their nests. So other means of dispersion are required. The ingenious idea of using the Harris Hawk to, in a sense, police our skies, will be welcomed by many, and should be spectacular to watch, should you be lucky enough to see the hawks at work.

The Harris Hawk breeds from the southwestern United States, down to parts of South America. Britain is also known to have many breeding in the wild, probably escapes from captivity. They have become one of the most popular raptors for use in falconry – especially in the West, because they are extremely sociable and easy to train.

They are beautiful birds of medium to large size, with dark brown plumage, chestnut-coloured wings, thighs, white on the base and tip of its tail.

If property owners would put cone-shaped wire barriers on chimney heads or other methods, this would stop the gulls nesting on them. Perhaps the council will one day make this a requirement for homeowners near the town centre and help them with the task.

One of the obvious reasons St Andrews is an attraction for gulls setting up residence, is the food source. Plastic rubbish bags left out for collection, and overflowing rubbish bins are a ‘feast for Kings’ as far as the birds are concerned. Deny them this and they would have to go elsewhere.

Until then, we shall be delighted to know the Harris Hawks are at work, doing their best to make life more comfortable for us all, simply by their visibility to the gulls, to make them want to move elsewhere and rely on the sea for food, not our leftovers.

(Photo courtesy Karen Hutchence)

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OUT & ABOUT Alistair Lawson, Field Officer, ScotWays,

Naughty Words The accompanying photograph of a spot near Alva, in Clackmannanshire, regarded being in a certain shows a good example of what is known, in the world of countryside and place, following a certain line recreation management, as “a non-compliant sign”, by which is meant of march or being in a certain non-compliance with the terms of the Scottish Land Reform Act of 2003. spot as, in itself, wrong-doing; The Act gives the public wide and generous rights of access to the trespass only occurs if one’s countryside, including fields, whether used for grazing or for crops, the presence there interferes with one obligation on the public being not to interfere with whatever legitimate what the owner is legitimately agricultural activity is going on there. In the case of farm stock, this means doing.The example I often use passing through the field in the way which will least disturb the animals or, to make this point is that one at this time of year (lambing time), perhaps making a conscious decision could stand in the middle of an expensive grouse moor in the middle of a not to go into that field at all, but to go another way; in the case of crops, February blizzard and, try though one might, cause no offence; one could it means going round the edges of the field. If a field is fallow or a grazing come back to the same spot six months later, when one’s very presence field is unoccupied, then of course one can pass straight across the certainly could cause offence. It is not the location which makes the middle of it. offence, but the circumstances of what is going on.

Looking at the sign in the photograph, the first thing to note is the Turning to the third element of the sign, no-one is going to be deliberately off-putting words, “Private Property”. If one analyses that, prosecuted for going into the field seen behind the gate. An owner’s it means nothing at all, because just about everything ones sees in the immediate remedy, on finding someone whom he thinks is interfering with countryside is private – houses, working buildings, fields, trees, moorland, legitimate farm activity, is not to phone his lawyer and initiate proceedings, hills – and it would be ludicrous if the owners of these but simply to explain the interference and ask the visitor things were to have “private property” notices on all of It is not the location which to leave. A good landowner will go further and suggest them! The words mean nothing, but they nonetheless an alternative way past. makes the offence, but convey a message – a negative message and one which If all that seems too cerebral and involved, the the circumstances of directly contravenes the Act by giving out a hostile, Scottish Outdoor Access Code (SOAC) states the what is going on obstructive, and unwelcoming message. required behaviour for both parties quite clearly: in Moving on to the next part of the message, the use visiting someone else’s land, behave responsibly; of the word “Trespassers” is just about as meaningless as the first part. and conversely, in hosting someone else’s visit to your land, behave As I go around the country speaking to audiences about countryside responsibly. It sounds very easy, but, human nature being what it is, we matters and the work of ScotWays, the most frequently-asked question sometimes make it more difficult than it need be. is, “Is there a law of trespass in Scotland?” Questioners usually have Finally, what of that sign? The Council Access Officer is aware of its their own minds made up before asking the question, but ask it simply presence and, by the time you read this, will have contacted the owner, to air the topic. Contrary to what they have decided in advance, there is explained the ways in which it is non-compliant and will have required its a law of trespass, but it means something different to the more widelyremoval. understood connotation in the other three parts of the UK. Taking the (Photo courtesy of Martin Dean, Biblical meaning of “trespass” as “wrong-doing”, Scots Law has never Clackmannanshire Access Officer)

Nikki Macdonald, Botanic Garden’s Education Officer reports on

St Andrews Junior Hortus Bulb and Art Show

Junior Hortus Prize giving in the Alpine House – attended by Junior Hortus members (40), parents, volunteers, student volunteers, Honorary Curator Bob Mitchell and his wife Felicity, Vice Chair of the Friends, Anne Lightwood, Chair of the Education Trust, Jean Stewart and Friends of the Botanic Garden.

Sian Ritchie w ith her prizewinning tulips and othe r bulbs

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On Saturday, 10 March, parents and children bearing bowls of bulbs and pictures descended on St Andrews Botanic Garden for the annual bulb show of Junior Hortus, the local gardening club for children. The Alpine house was a colourful setting for the entries, and whilst the judges, Bob Mitchell, Honorary Curator at the Garden, and Anne Lightwood, vice-chairman of the Friends, got to work, the children went off to pot up pea plants and plant tomato seeds.

Junior Hortus was founded 37 years ago and currently has 40 members meeting monthly to undertake a range of activities in the Garden. At the presentation of the trophies Bob told the children how he had won his first prize at a gardening show when he was 13: he still has the prize ticket. He was delighted to see so many children enjoying the Club, entering bulbs and pictures for the competition.

The main prizewinners were: Zachary Gray – Mitchell Quaich for Best Pot of Bulbs in age group 5 to 6, and Daisy Simmons – Macdonald Quaich for Best Pot of Bulbs in age group 7 to 9.

The week was a busy one for the Garden. Sunday was the first day of Science Week and with a team of willing helpers, I laid on a series of activities and demonstrations on the theme of Busy Bees, Bristly Beetles, and other Pollinators. Fife Beekeeping Association brought their mobile demonstration: the first bumblebees of the year were flying. Over a hundred people enjoyed strolling round the Garden in the spring sunshine.

Schools visited during the week and the displays were open to families the following Sunday (18 March) when again the Fife Beekeepers were present. On the previous day, Saturday, 17 March, the Friends of the Botanic Garden held one of their Plant Sales, always a good opportunity to stock up on new plants. As usual, never a dull moment at the Garden!

(Photos courtesy the Botanic Garden)

ith the prize winner w Zachary Gray bulbs in of t po h for best Felicity Mitchell Quaic d p with Bob an ouse.

5 to 6 age grou H ne pi Al e th es, in Mitchell, judg

Fin McGhie w ith his prizewinning daffodils

OUT & ABOUT Ian Seeley

Abuse Tae A Craw Dicht yer neb, ye big black craw; Flap yer wings an’ flee awa’ .

A’m seek o’ tryin’ tae feed wee spugs An’ a’ that cawin’ dings ma lugs.

Yer een ir bigger than yer belly, Ye jet-black messenger o’ hell, ye.

Little spurgies hae nae chance Tae grab a morsel while ye dance An’ fecht owre a’ thae crusts o’ breid A’d spared for sic like birds. The reed Breest robin’s yet anither ane Wha’ll sterve afore yer hunger’s gane.

Ye’ll swipe maist ivery little crumb Tae gulch yef fill on yon high lum Abune the riggin’. Caw wi’ pleesure, caw awa; Deil tak ye for his ain, ye big black craw!

dicht: wipe neb: beak seek: sick spugs/spurgies: sparrows dings: beats een: eyes sterve: starve gulch: gobble abune: above riggin’: roof ridge (Photo by Flora Selwyn)

Tony Hardie’s

Nature Notes – February 2012

Male eider

Female eider

Throughout the winter one finds shelducks on the Eden estuary. At low tide they are on the mudflats, but as the tide rises they take to the water, their lovely bright colours reflected on a calm day; a brilliant white with chestnut over the breast and shoulders, a blood red bill, dark green head and neck, with dark above the wings. These are dramatic colours; unlike other ducks the female has the same colouring as the drake. I suspect that this is because the female nests usually in an old rabbit burrow, thus protected from overhead predation. All our other ducks nest in the open where it is an advantage to be inconspicuous – thus the relatively dull colour of the female, except for beautiful flashes of blue, green, or yellow on the lower feathers of the wing, sometimes on their hindquarters.

Ornithologists have found that shelducks defend special feeding areas out on the mudflats, so at low water they are well spread out. It appears as if they own the whole estuary.

However, the coastline from the Tay to the Forth is the preserve of another big and beautiful duck; namely, the eider. Thousands choose to winter here, especially in the Tay estuary and one can come across immense rafts of these apparently most friendly ducks close to the shore. They do not take to the wing easily, flapping laboriously into the wind as they take-off. They are groundnesting birds, so the duck is a dull brownish colour, while the drake is a most lovely combination of white, black, and pastel blue/green over the head and on the neck. The white breast is tinged pink. They have the most enchanting call when on the water, a gentle almost conversational chatter amongst themselves, appearing happy even when quite a sea is running from the east. They ride the waves so effortlessly. When the young hatch, as any golfer who plays Crail will know, they ‘crèche up’ for protection. It is possible that some families have hatched from nests that are shared.

In Fife we are fortunate to have two such splendid species that choose to winter and to breed about our coast. I have written above of only two species of duck, but between the East Neuk and Tentsmuir one might expect to see, in winter, no less than thirteen different species. I don’t like lists, nor does, I suspect, my reader, but to illustrate the wealth that we have here: mallard; teal; wigeon; pintail; shoveller; goosander; merganzer; long-tailed duck; scoter; golden eye; tufted duck; shelduck; eider; and I have not even mentioned the unusual!

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

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