St Andrews in Focus Issue 82 May Jun 2017

St Andrews in focus ISSN 2514-409X

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

May/June 2017 Issue 82, £2.00

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

St

Andrews in focus

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

From the Editor

“ The smiling Spring comes in rejoicing, And surly Winter grimly flies; ” Rabbie Burns.

Well, officially it’s supposed to be spring. But in late March as I write, “surly Winter” has dumped snow on half the country, and sent a biting wind to blow around St Andrews. By the time this magazine appears it should all have improved; at least I sincerely hope so! Swallows and martins should be arriving. Let’s wish they’ll come to warm sunshine, with the promise of summer.

Observant readers will have noticed a number on the right side of the cover’s masthead. The British Library’s ISSN UK Centre has assigned an ISSN number to the magazine; that is, an International Standard Serial Number. It is a privilege to be thus recognised, and should add to the prestige of the publication. It will also permit a barcode to be added in future, if required. No point in standing still!

Flora Selwyn

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The views expressed elsewhere in this magazine are not necessarily those of the Editor. © St Andrews in Focus (2003) MAY / JUNE 2017 EDITOR Flora Selwyn Tel: 01334 472375 Email: editor@standrewsinfocus.com DESIGNER University of St Andrews Print & Design (printanddesign@st-andrews.ac.uk) PRINTER Winter & Simpson (stephen@wintersimpson.co.uk) DISTRIBUTER Drop 2 Door (billy@drop2door.co.uk) PUBLISHER (address for correspondence) Local Publishing (Fife) Ltd., PO Box 29210, St Andrews, Fife, KY16 9YZ. Tel: 01334 472375 Email: editor@standrewsinfocus.com SUBSCRIPTIONS St Andrews in Focus is published 6 times a year.

Subscriptions for 6 issues are: £14 in the UK (post & packing included).

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Cover: Eden Estuary, an original painting by Ken Roberts

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Contents FEATURES • The Community Council • A man with drive • Victorian childhood • John Napier’s anniversary • Remembering Owen Silver • Economics, Part 3 • Memories • Heron • Reviews: – J & G Innes recommends – Fife Folk Tales – St Andrews Pubs – 1588: A Calendar of Crime

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ORGANISATIONS • Marie Curie helpers wanted • Plastic Pollution • Madras Community Dance School • Rotary • ‘Meet & Greet’ volunteers sought • Kinburn Park • Cycling lobby

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SPECIAL CENTRE-SPREAD FEATURE •

Byre in the Botanics 2017

16-17

SHOPS & SERVICES • • •

Whaur ur we noo?

The BID Roving Reporter

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TOWN & GOWN • John Cameron’s column • STEPS • Westminster Reception • Volunteering • The Arno’s deep secret

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EVENTS • • • • •

David Scheel is coming!

Concert at St Athernase Leuchars Base Open Day Hidden Gardens Selected Events

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OUT & ABOUT • • • •

The Longhorn Beetle Nature Notes The Art of Glenrothes Arlen Pardoe’s hidden gems

NEXT ISSUE – Jul/Aug 2017 COPY DEADLINE: STRICTLY 28 MAY

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

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FEATURES Callum McLeod, Chairman of the Community Council

From the Provost’s Chair As Spring turns to Summer and already that great St Andrews tradition the Kate Kennedy Procession, which last year celebrated 90 years since its modern reestablishment, is a distant memory, our thoughts once again turn to renewal and growth. I had the pleasure of being on the platform party for this year’s Procession, bringing back many happy memories. As a student, I was in the Procession three times – yes, once wearing a dress – and then decades later I twice filled in when a student did not quite make it. On those occasions my own children Jamie and Jonny were also taking part, so there were three of us from the same family taking part at the same time, possibly creating a little bit of Kate Kennedy history?

Until recently, perhaps still, the all-male nature of the Club was a matter of controversy; what is welcome, however, is that the Club, like other organisations such as the R&A, is evolving to meet the expectations of the 21st century, for without a positive response to changing attitudes, stagnation, decay and conflict will surely occur.

The Community Council continues to develop positively with a good number of citizens wanting to become involved and my target of filling every seat coming to fruition. I was also delighted by the response to my appeal for Co-opted Members of the St Andrews Community Trust – a goodly number of excellent candidates have come forward, to the point that we can put in place succession planning for the next decade or more.

We see other changes all around us. I know many have concerns about the plans to expand the western edge of the town with 1000 houses over the next twenty years. This is no more than an idea at the moment, but it is in the local plan and so those with concerns must be vigilant in keeping

abreast of developments, studying any planning applications which come forward in the months and years to come. A particular focus of the Community Council and its Planning Committee will be to ensure that the 30% requirement for affordable housing – that’s 300 houses alone – is vigorously implemented.

The University, with the advantage of having raised £75m from its 600th Anniversary Appeal, has many exciting plans for things like student accommodation, sports facilities, a Music Centre and so on. It is good that, in the current economic climate, such sums can still be raised. The University does not, of course, have carte blanche to do as it pleases – it must comply with planning requirements like everyone else and I welcome its assurances that it will be a good neighbour as it takes its plans forward.

I have always felt that there is sometimes a bit of a love/ hate relationship between Town & Gown so my community challenge for this month is simply to get to know your local university and its plans for the future better. Its delightful grounds are generally open to enjoy and many of its activities such as concerts, lectures, exhibitions, are open to the public.

And, finally, Fife Council is progressing its solution to providing a single-site replacement for Madras College. It is currently holding a consultation on the educational aspect of their plans, with, potentially, a formal planning application to come.

Just as the Kate Kennedy Procession looks back on the many centuries of our community’s history, so do we, the present custodians of our ancient Burgh, have a responsibility to ensure as best we can that future developments are as we would wish them to be.

Dum spiro spero

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FEATURES Stephen Carter OBE, General Manager of the Old Course Hotel chatted to Flora Selwyn

A Man with Drive

“I’m a Yorkshireman. I was born in Halifax, the youngest of 4. Once a else in my life. From about the age of 11, I think I first wanted to Yorkshireman always a Yorkshireman; you never deny your birthright become a chef. I gradually changed from wanting to be a chef – they if you’re a Yorkshireman.” These opening words define Stephen, both seem to work very hard – into being a hotel manager.” The attraction to himself and the world in general. However, he is also adamant is being involved with people. Stephen’s mother was “great at that “Scotland is a great place to live and work.” He is married to an entertaining, being hospitable to one and all.” You could say, therefore, Aberdonian. that he learned his trade at his mother’s knee!

Stephen came up north for the first time in 1971, returning off and Meeting people from all walks of life has been Stephen’s greatest on ever since. Working mostly with American companies in England joy. He believes schools should do more to steer their pupils towards and Europe, when Donald Panoz opened his prestigious St Andrews the hospitality industry. Teachers seem unaware that “the hotel industry Bay Hotel in 2001 Stephen made his debut in the East Neuk as is an industry of opportunities for people” in which they can hone a General Manager, doing what huge range of skills. Wages he loves best. When Panoz may be low for beginners, sold the hotel, 6 years later, the but they rise with experience. new owners making Fairmont Stephen himself holds a their Management Company, degree from the University Stephen moved to the De of Surrey, which 40 years Vere Group to establish their ago was one of only two resort division, eventually being places where one could appointed Managing Director study hospitality, the other of Cameron House on Loch one being Strathclyde. Today Lomond, where he oversaw a the industry is catered for in £50m complete refurbishment institutions of many kinds. project. Some eight years later, Stephen was chairman after the sale of the company, of the industry charity, the Stephen moved, temporarily, Hospitality Industry Trust back to his roots in Yorkshire to (HIT) for 13 years believing the Royal York Hotel to oversee strongly in its purpose. A another costly refurbishment.

Scottish-based charity, whose In May 2016 he was mission is to assist those delighted to return once again to training to enter the industry St Andrews as General Manager in Scotland, and those of the Old Course Hotel. And already within it, to realise yes, he is again overseeing a their full potential. This is complete refurbishment! achieved through bursaries, Since Christmas, this year scholarships, the Emerging the Hotel was hidden beneath Talent conference, and other scaffolding. 110 rooms have industry initiatives. been upgraded, all the windows Stephen has enjoyed renewed. Stephen says, “golf dining on Capitol Hill in balls get everywhere! You find Washington DC, at No 10, golf balls in very odd places in and also in the Kremlin. In our grounds” including on the Hotel’s roof, where they have broken 2007 he was awarded the OBE for services to the hospitality industry. innumerable tiles. To prevent any more damage up there, black tiles One of the highlights of his career was looking after Nelson Mandela made of recycled car tyres have been imported from Canada. Golf for a week in Edinburgh, where Stephen hosted the ceremony balls are expected to bounce off these; to the uninitiated, the tiles look conferring Mandela with the Freedom of the City. A peek at the Web just like conventional ones. The spa is being improved, and a new gym shows a list of the many awards Stephen has received. One quote installed. Outside, just to the right of the Hotel’s main entrance a new from Andrew Stembridge, MD Chewton Glen [extract from The 21m swimming pool is beginning to take shape, to be ready by the end Caterer ] is worth repeating: “Stephen is one of the most generous of this year. In addition to being a hotel hoteliers on the planet – he’s thoroughly and spa with a view, the Old Course will old fashioned in his approach to be a Resort with two swimming pools! The hospitality, but perfectly modern when Meeting people from all walks of life scaffolding came down in April, the Hotel it comes to nurturing his team. He has opening for business again. been quietly doing marvelous things in has been Stephen’s greatest joy This is not the only project Stephen Scotland throughout his career for this presently has responsibility for. An exciting industry.” development at Craigtoun involves a Apart from tourism, Stephen has farm called Winthank, which is to become hybrid football pitches with a deep love of classical music. He comes from a very musical family, changing rooms and conditioning suites, where international football although he doesn’t play an instrument himself. So it is perhaps no teams will be encouraged to train, and have winter camps, “it will be surprise either to learn that Stephen was on the board of the Royal an ideal place for them to come and practice.” Hybrid pitches still need Scottish National Orchestra for 8 years, and is still part of their mowing, but have SIS-artificial grass, with real grass sown through development board. He has also recently been appointed to the it. “Elite teams will come to stay and practice there. So it will be good board of the East Neuk Festival. Underlining his firm commitment fun,” says Stephen, mentioning also the National Football League to local matters he is currently Chairman of the Fife Coastal Path & (American football), as well as rugby. An ambitious project indeed! On Countryside Trust. top of all this, plans are now in hand for a long-overdue refurbishment St Andrews is truly fortunate in having Stephen back. It’s endearing of the old Craigtoun Hospital building. However, Stephen would not be to hear him say, “I enjoy it and have absolutely no regrets whatsoever!” drawn on what those plans entail!

“There is a lot to do.” This is surely an understatement! But the (Photo by Flora Selwyn) next sentence comes as no surprise, “I never wanted to do anything

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FEATURES Nicola Moss, The Preservation Trust Museum’s Curator explains

What life was like for children in St Andrews during Victorian times It was a very different life for children during the Victorian times compared with now. During that time there was a vast difference between children from different classes. Children of richer families had very formal relationships with their parents and were primarily raised by nannies. It was common practice at the time for children to address their parents as “Sir” and “Ma’am”. Victorian values dictated that children should be segregated from adults until they reached their teens. These children spent most of their time with their nannies and were only presented to their parents once a day for inspection – children were to be “seen and not heard”!

Children in St Andrews were often taken to the Bow Butts to listen to a band playing in the

wrought iron bandstand there, which opened in 1905. Outings always had an educational undertone, such as visits to zoos or museums.

Lower-class children were often sent to work at an early age; in Victorian times it was not unusual for children to work long hours alongside their fathers and mothers – being a child was no excuse not to work. In the fishing community of St Andrews most sons of fishermen helped their fathers to mend nets and bait lines from a young age, and the daughters helped their mothers to clean, gut and sell the fish around the town, as well as being given domestic responsibilities as soon as they could cope. Although the Factory Act of 1833 restricted the hours children could work, this was difficult to enforce.

In Victorian times, it was very obvious to which class children belonged. Upper class children dressed as miniature versions of their parents in made-to-measure suits and gowns, whereas children from the lower classes or fisher families of St Andrews dressed in second-hand or homemade clothes.

Mothers would often collect “auld breeks” or fabric scraps such as old flour bags from the householders to whom they sold fish, and have them turned into clothes for their family. In St Andrews, mothers would often take these scraps to Teenie Stewart who was skilled in creating garments out of scraps of fabric. Children of poorer families would often wear hand-me-down clothes from the girls of St Leonard’s School.

Children also had very different diets in Victorian times. Poorer classes would have eaten a lot of stews and soups. Offal, or the by-products of butchery, such as trotters and heads, would have been common ingredients in meals in St Andrews. Many families would have one good meal, perhaps a “pie dinner” on a Saturday, and other days they ate “kale soup, rice and small flounders”. Staples like gruel, bread and potatoes were eaten widely. Luxuries such as eggs, fresh fruit and vegetables would not have been available to children of poorer families, and malnutrition was rife. Rich children on the other hand would have eaten extremely well, the Victorian upper classes were notorious for the tremendous amount they ate – and also for the amount they wasted. They would have eaten a lot of game and fish, herring being particularly popular in St Andrews.

Michael Buchanan reports on

The Scottish Anniversary of John ‘Logarithms’ Napier (1550-1617) John Napier died on 4 April 1617, 400 years ago, a year or so after In 2014, a readable, short book about John Napier was published William Shakespeare. On the death of his father, Sir Archibald, in 1608, (John Napier; Life, Logarithms, and Legacy by Julian Havil, Princeton John became 8th Laird of Merchiston.

University Press).

John Napier invented Logarithms. He is Great Britain’s first In 2016 in St Andrews there was the formal opening of the mathematician of distinction. On his aristocratic and creative shoulders Richardson Research Library at Martyrs Kirk, a sensitive conversion stand many of today’s quantitative of a redundant church. Within this sciences. Log Tables and slide-rules building, a Special Collections John Napier was a student at St Andrews didn’t give way to electronic devices Reading Room is named for John University around 1563, barely a teenager until the 1970s.

Napier. This day, 23 June 2016, was John Napier was a student at thus doubly special. Awesome!

St Andrews University around 1563, barely a teenager. He delved Napier’s death was remembered by The Times (4-4-2015). He deeply into the Book of Revelation, attempting to associate special featured also in their Daily Quiz (7-7-2015), and on Radio as a ‘Brain of numbers with ideas and events. Such numerology was perhaps more Britain’ question (19-3-2016). magic, built on sand, than rational process. Nevertheless, much later, Logarithms simplified complex calculations, an early boon for hardin 1593, ‘A plaine discovery of the Whole Revelation of St John’ was pressed astronomers and navigating sea captains. Through the House published. His Magnum Opus, his life’s work, was published in 1614 of Lennox, I claim distant kinship with John Napier. He deserves to be as ‘Mirifici Logarithmorum Canonis Descriptio’. Its 300th anniversary celebrated widely in 2017. was marked by an international conference in Edinburgh in July 1914, days before the outbreak of the Great War. The delegates worshipped in St Giles Cathedral.

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FEATURES Elizabeth Twinch, Owen Silver’s niece, kindly contributed this obituary marking the passing of a ‘weel kent’ member of our community

Owen Silver 1925 – 2017

Many people will have met Owen with his tall stature, and distinctive before following Priscilla first to Brighton, then to St Andrews. Here silver hair inherited from his Welsh ancestors – striding the paths of they made their home. He found his niche in the University, completed Fife and Kinross over the last 35 years with his doctorate and wandered the hills and sometimes a strimmer and always a pair of coastal paths recording them for his books. secateurs to hand. He delighted in discussing Their home overlooking the harbour and Owen was a man of many parts the East the geography, geology, flora and fauna on Sands was their much loved base which he had encyclopaedic knowledge. He from where they travelled extensively to Asia, also knew where the first snowdrops and the South America, America, Australasia and early primroses were to be found and where Europe to look at birds, plants, the geology to walk to avoid the east wind or driving rain. and geography, bringing back wonderful His book on the Roads of Fife, which came photos which were the basis of the slide from his doctoral studies and his booklets on shows that he liked to give. Owen loved the walks in Kinross and Fife are definitive to be outdoors, getting his leather-bound, texts that will be a valuable legacy to future cross-country skis out whenever snow fell generations. in Fife. He took annual skiing holidays well Owen was a man of many parts, born in into his 80s and was rarely ill until old age.

Harrow and then brought up in the Shropshire Nonetheless, his enthusiasm to inspect Hills. Musical, he played the oboe and his fine a swans’ nest when over 80, left him with tenor voice meant he was in demand by choirs. a broken leg in need of rescue by the He joined the Fleet Air Arm on leaving school in coastguard.

1943 and trained as a pilot on aircraft carriers.

He found life difficult after the death of He was spared active service and a likely early his beloved wife in 2012, but was comforted demise in the Far East, by the ending of the by the support of Friends and his kind war. His experiences made him thereafter a neighbours. Losing his independence was pacifist and supporter of the peaceful resolution trying for him, but he bore it generally with of conflict, which drew him to the Religious fortitude and unfailing courtesy.

Society of Friends (Quakers).

Owen was to his family a very kind Owen on his 90th birthday It was through Quakers he met his uncle always ready to see the positive side wife Priscilla. Her interests and understanding of Natural Sciences of events, rarely judgemental, invariably interesting, occasionally complemented his. He had read Geology at Pembrook College stubborn, always kind and just a little eccentric. He will be so missed.

Cambridge, but then trained as a surveyor to join his father’s business.

This was not his natural space and he wisely moved on to teaching, (Photo courtesy Elizabeth Twinch)

Colin McAllister, part 3

How much Economics can we Learn from The Bible?

The Parable of the vineyard labourers; Matthew 20,1-16.

In this parable we have the story of the owner of a vineyard who goes out at about daybreak to hire workers for his vineyard. He hires those whom he meets, and they agree on a payment of one denarius a day. Later he goes out again and sees workers standing idle in the marketplace, and hires them also, promising them a fair wage. Later still, and later still again, he goes out and finds more workers standing idle and hires them too. At the end of the day he pays the late arrivals first, one denarius each and so on. The first arrivals receive their denarius, but grumble that they should have been paid more.

Two things strike an economist: (1) These workers are victims of casual unemployment. If they had formed a trade union, it could have negotiated wages and conditions for them collectively. However, in a dispersed labour force as in agriculture or the hotel or restaurant service industry, it is difficult to form a trade union. Hence the need for government to intervene and set up a Wages Council to set a minimum wage

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for an industry (NB not the same as a National Minimum Wage) to prevent exploitation of labour.

if one does not know one is poor, there is a greater acceptance of it, a passivity, which prevents the escape from poverty. Once one knows one is poor, then there is a desire to (2) This is a wage dispute not about absolute emulate the rich. Economists call this the pay (the early workers agreed a rate), but “demonstration effect” – a powerful motive about relativities and differentials. What for economic development. With modern grieves people is not what they earn, but mass media of communication this effect is what others earn. almost instant, but can lead to frustration as economic progress cannot be telescoped so This leads on to a discussion of what poverty easily. is. Poverty is both absolute and relative. Not Finally, Adam Smith, the father of having enough to eat, not having a house to economics wrote in 1776, An Enquiry into live in, not having access to clean water, not the Nature and Causes of having enough to buy clothes the Wealth of Nations. He are signs of absolute poverty. was Professor of Moral Most poverty is relative, that is, What grieves people Philosophy at Glasgow having less than others. In this University. His intention was is not what they earn, sense “the poor are always with to find out what made some but what others earn you”. Charles Booth’s, London nations rich in order to help Life and Labour (1888) shocked make other nations rich as the rich of West London, as well. The importance of this they had no idea of the poverty enquiry can be seen by regimes such as of the East End, only a few miles away.

Zimbabwe, Venezuela, and others, which Readers who are interested might explore have impoverished their peoples by following W G Runciman’s, Relative Deprivation and wrong-headed economic policies.

Social Justice (1965) which looks at the three All economic and political questions are dimensions of inequality, economic inequality, fundamentally moral ones. social inequality and power inequality. Also,

FEATURES Mary Saunder’s article in issue 81 inspired Jim Black to send the magazine his 1920’s photo, and reminisce about

St Andrews Past

Born and brought up in the town, Jim left for many years to work all over fisherfolk, including Jim’s great-granny, were quick the country. After school in the Fisher School, the Burgh School, then to gather it up for their own use!

Madras College, Jim’s first job was with the New Golf Club as a steward; As a lad Jim went down to the Castle sands “I quite enjoyed that.” All his life Jim has been a keen and accomplished to practice skimming stones, which was a way golfer. In his young days he caddied for famous names, including of improving his golf swing! Talking of the Castle Douglas Bader. sands reminded him of the time when the Once he got his driving licence, Jim joined the meat-product one-penny (1d) entrance fee to the Step Rock (Photo by company McKellar Watt in Montrose, where he had gravitated and Swimming Pool near the West Sands was too Flora Selwyn) acquired management training from Aberdeen College. For about 10 expensive, so he and his friends entered the water years, Jim drove a refrigerated van with McKellar Watt products all over at the Castle and swam round to the Pool! the North East of Scotland. “I had a great time. I say I had a great time; I Aged 7 Jim worked for Elsie Haggart at her paper shop in Market used to start at half-past-three in the morning!”

Street, now Cromars Fish & Chip shop and café. The following year, From a distribution centre in Inverness, Jim moved to Manchester, aged 8, he worked for Keracher’s the fish shop. He was knocked down then Birmingham. At this point McKellar Watt introduced frozen by a lorry, fracturing his skull. Keracher’s was fined ten shillings for sausages. Jim was adamant that “it would not work!” Proved correct, he employing him underage. The following year, aged 9, Jim was back left to join Tesco. working for Keracher again!

This involved a move to Leytonstone in East London. A manager, Jim Jim’s grandmother Aggie was known for her cooking, “she cooked moved around the country working for the company for about 12 years, for the church and everything.” She had a “big range, and a kettle, the “finishing up in Edinburgh.” He then went to Dundee fire was on and she was always baking.” Poles and to work for David Low, a sports company. From there “We had a great life as Americans stationed in Market Street would go he moved to St Andrews where he is “still working, for fishing to enhance their diet at a time when there was kiddies, here, it was Auchterlonies’ golf equipment, 12-18 hours a week, still food rationing after the war, then Aggie would and I’ll be 79 in April – I was born on Easter Sunday!” cook what they caught. really, really good” Living today in Lamond Drive, Jim can remember Memories are still fresh in Jim’s mind. “We had all the people he knew as a child and young man, many of whom still live a great life as kiddies, here, it was really, really good.” He remembers here today (and came to the party last year that this magazine organised Professor D’Arcy Thompson with the parrot on his shoulder; apparently – see issue 77). He tells of the time he was chased by children because the bike ‘Santa Claus’ gave Jim when he was 5 years old was actually he had red hair, inherited from his mother’s side of the family. a gift from the Professor. Harry and his donkeys on the West Sands In the days when the gas works above the harbour still existed, coke provided other stories; Jim confesses he could talk about those was brought by lorry along North Street. Where the road turned in front memories of his forever. Have his 4 children, grandchildren, and 7 greatof the Cathedral the lorry would tilt so that coke fell off the back. The grandchildren inherited his gift too, along with his red hair?

Back row: Mrs Langlands, Mr Langlands, Aggie Black (Jim’s granny), Mrs Scott, Mrs Duncan, Mrs Melville, Teenie Bell. Middle row: Mrs Gourlay, Mrs Campbell, Nance Anderson, Melvin Brown (with Jimmy Black on his knee). Front row: Peter Waters, Pearl Grey, (three young girls).

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FEATURES Gordon Jarvie

Heron

Children’s Book Recommendations J & G Innes Ltd. now provides a regularly-updated list of highly recommended books for children. This list considers both the latest titles, and books that we feel have been undeservedly forgotten. A short review will accompany each recommendation. We hope that this will prove helpful to those who seek to explore the wealth of children’s literature available today.

Blackbird, Blackbird, What Do You Do?

By Kate McLelland Published: 9-2-17. Age 3-6.

A charming and visually appealing story with a memorable moral at its heart: Keep exploring until you discover your talents.

Your child will also learn the names and characteristics of sixteen common birds.

There Is A Tribe Of Kids

By Lane Smith Published: 23-3-17. Age 4-6.

7 a.m.

I open sleepy shutters and spy a sleek black cat sauntering up the pavement opposite.

Pausing this sunny summer morning it watches a starling then a sparrow on the high garden wall beside the apple tree.

‘Hardly worth the effort,’ cat seems to say, then continues along its way engrossed in whatever it is.

My lucky day?

7 p.m.

Home again. Another day at the office.

It’s the place where tails wag dogs, procedures dictate outcomes, form blights substance, and communication loses out to the jabber of jargon – the whole sclerotic danse macabre.

Such nonsense.

Whatever happened to good luck?

So much for my black cat.

Evening on the shore: 10 p.m. . . . After supper I stroll the summer strand, sit silent on a fossil rock, and ponder the Pleistocene and the night stars.

A heron stands sentry on the shoreline focussing the sharp stiletto of its beak – a shadowy silhouette is steadying itself for a stab at an evening snack.

(Photo by John Anderson (Crail Birder: www.pbase.com/crail_birder))

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This beautifully illustrated book will stir the imagination and broaden a child’s vocabulary with its exploration of collective nouns.

The Sheep Who Hatched An Egg

By Gemma Merino Published: 23-3-17. Age 3-6.

A heart-warming, amusing tale with a message: Friendship is more important than appearance!

Gracie Grabbit And The Tiger

By Helen Stephens Published: 1-10-15. Age 3-6.

An endearing and finely illustrated tale in which a tiger comes to the rescue! Those fans of Judith Kerr’s book, The Tiger who came to tea, will be sure to appreciate the illustrations and healthy message…

Porridge The Tartan Cat Series

By Alan Dapré Published: 16-2-17. Age 6+.

A Scottish chapter book for the modern child! Quirky, fun and full of word-play. Short chapters, clear print and witty illustrations make this easily accessible and gripping for an independent young reader.

FEATURES: REVIEWS Paula Martin reviews

Fife Folk Tales

by Sheila Kinninmonth 190pp, 33 line drawings by Jonathan Dowling, The History Press 2017, ISBN 978-0750967532.

Available at J & G Innes and all good bookshops, price £9.99.

Sheila Kinninmonth is a storyteller. After a Foreword by fellow storyteller Senga Munro MBE, this book contains 70 stories within 176 pages. They are arranged within nine categories: Giants, Fairies and Broonies; Ghosts and Visions; Nurses’ Tales; Royal Legends; Saints, Sinners and Rogues; Simple Folk and Fools; Tales in the Landscape; Tales of the Coast; Witches and Wizards. These are followed by a glossary, and a bibliography.

I was expecting to say that reading these stories is nowhere near as beguiling an experience as listening to Sheila telling them herself, but it came closer than I expected.

These are charming tales, simply told, set all across the Kingdom of Fife, from a broonie helping on a farm near Strathmiglo to a ghost playing a penny-whistle at Balcomie Castle, at Fife Ness. They will delight children, but are

also an easy and varied read for adults. Of course they bear similarities to folk and fairy stories all over the world, but these particular examples are deeply embedded within the history and landscape of Fife, telling of farming, fishing, religion, royalty, supernatural characters and occurrences, and ordinary folk who are brave, greedy, kind, or stupid. Some are based on historically-attested events and characters; but the rest are probably based on events and characters in the past which were never recorded by documentary historians.

How much is fact and how much is imagination is up to each listener or reader to decide.

These tales are remarkably varied. One does wonder why anyone agreed to learn the pipes or, having done so, was ever persuaded to enter a cave or hidden passage, given the number of pipers who never returned!

Today the silly things we all occasionally do may be repeated within the family, but seldom more widely, unless they are deliberately recorded and distributed via the internet. In

the past, storytelling and singing were the equivalent of radio and television; folk tales such as these would have been repeated widely beyond the family. Would people have been proud to have their name, or that of their farm or village, immortalised in this way, or embarrassed? Or did they recognise a good story, and repeat it, but change the names and setting?

However the stories originated, they must have brightened up people’s lives. Some of them have survived several centuries of retelling, which is testament to their universal appeal. I recommend this book, but I also strongly recommend that you take any opportunity to listen to a traditional storyteller such as Sheila Kinninmonth. It is a very enjoyable experience which makes you think about past lives, and how different they were and yet how similar, and human nature, which does not change.

Laura Ramsden reviews

St Andrews Pubs

by Gregor Stewart Amberley Publishing 2017, ps.96. Available at J & G Innes and all good bookshops, price £14.99.

The latest publication from Gregor Stewart provides both a historical and a contemporary overview of the premises in St Andrews where alcohol may be bought and consumed. It not only deals with traditional pubs, but also hotel and restaurant bars, even those situated in the local theatre and Student Union. Stewart gives an overview of how these premises have been used over time, with a snapshot of what one experiences in them today. Anecdotes and photographic evidence illustrate how (now) famous residents and visitors to St Andrews have shaped, or (on occasion) been immortalised by these institutions.

The map and key to the pubs should prove useful to any visitor to the town. However, the organisation of the book into three chapters means individual pubs cannot be easily located. Photographs are not always in focus and do not always appear on the same page as their

corresponding text. The content itself can appear remarkably vague at times, as in the first paragraph of chapter 1, where Stewart writes that the town of St Andrews, ‘can trace its history back for more than a century’!

That said, no student or visitor to St Andrews should leave without a rudimentary knowledge of the characters and institutions that have shaped the town and its pubs.

Sandy Mackenzie, Tom Morris (the older and the younger), Regulus, the company Forgans, are just a few of those mentioned. If you have also ever wondered why ‘The Whey Pat’ or ‘Drouthy Neebors’ are so named, this pint-sized book will assist.

Paige Turner reviews

1588: A Calendar of Crime

by Shirley McKay Published by Polygon 2017 ( www.polygonbooks.co.uk ) at £14.99, hardback.

Shirley McKay’s Hew Cullan series tells tales of intrigue and murder in sixteenth-century St Andrews and beyond. Her highly enjoyable novels bring the goings-on of the town and the university to life with vivid historical details and a twinkling sense of humour. Like many a good literary detective,

Hew is a restless soul, but he is surrounded by a cast of friends and family who are thoroughly well grounded also appealing. McKay’s latest book allows these characters together with the town’s life to flourish within its pages. It is a departure from the standard form of a historical mystery, yet it is an absolute treat.

Set in the year of the Armada, 1588: A Calendar of Crime is made up of five stories, each set on a feast-day of the traditional Christian calendar. From the gruesome murder

of a candle maker at Candlemas in February, to vanishing corpses on Whitsunday Eve, and the appearance of Spanish ghosts at Hallowmas, all five tales are gripping, spooky mysteries that bring together religious belief, human superstition, and the early days of scientific enquiry. McKay’s research into almanacs and records shows that 1588 was a year of portents with impending doom – it’s fascinating, intelligent storytelling in a beautiful big hardback.

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ORGANISATIONS Teresa Naylor, Helper Service Manager Fife

Marie Curie Helper Volunteers needed Marie Curie is calling on St Andrews and East Adrienne is a Helper volunteer offering Neuk of Fife residents to donate a few hours a invaluable companionship and emotional week to support people with a terminal illness, support during weekly visits to Jenny. “She’s and their families, living locally, talkative and sociable. We have a good time Known as Marie Curie Helper Volunteers, together and the time just flies.” the free service provides vital support to an In 2012, Jenny had been suffering from individual and their family, who are looking severe breathing problems and was admitted for companionship, emotional support, or to hospital where doctors diagnosed her practical information. Every volunteer is with advanced breast cancer. The cancer extensively trained, before being matched had spread into her lungs, chest, bone, and with someone in the local spine. Doctors told her area. The volunteers also they wouldn’t be able Every volunteer is receive ongoing support. to cure her, but would extensively trained, before provide palliative care Typically a volunteer would being matched with spend up to three hours to treat or manage her a week visiting someone pain and other physical someone in the local area at home to have a chat symptoms. over a cup of tea, help someone get to an Jenny spent a few weeks in hospital appointment, or just listen with a friendly ear. and later moved to her local hospice. Jenny Teresa Naylor explains, “When you’re hasn’t been well enough to be cared for in living with a terminal illness it can be very her own home and, most recently, she has isolating, especially for anyone who doesn’t been living in a care home. see family or friends regularly. Our Helper Jenny describes the care home as volunteers can make a real difference by being ‘lovely’. She has made a few friends, simply giving time to listen and talk, perhaps but the fact that she is by far the youngest helping with small tasks about the house, or resident where many of the other patients joining in on a shopping trip. We’re looking for have dementia, makes it hard to have proper anyone over 18 who can offer their time for conversations. up to three hours a week. No qualifications, One of her sisters had heard about the or previous experience are needed. We Marie Curie Helper service and got in touch. provide everything you need to know and She requested for Jenny to be paired with a offer support every step of the way. We know volunteer of a similar age, in the hope that it our volunteers find it hugely rewarding, can would prevent her from feeling lonely. see for themselves the difference it makes Marie Curie matched Jenny with to the families that they help support. I’d Adrienne who has helped Jenny to take back urge anyone interested in finding out more to control and inject a sense of normality into contact me directly on 0800 304 7406 or email: her life. fifehelper@mariecurie.org.uk .”

Adrienne says that the benefits of her volunteering are plain to see. “A lot of the A family story others [patients] at Jenny’s home are older The Marie Curie Helper service offers than her. I think she wants to just escape practical help and companionship to people sometimes. She’s not very mobile so I think like Jenny Lathan, who is supported by she’s probably quite bored. She wants to Helper volunteer Adrienne Titley. go to the park, to the shops. I took her to “She’s so nice and open,” says Adrienne, some charity shops. We were there for hours talking about Jenny, who has breast cancer. looking for a bargain.”

“The first few months after my diagnosis I did an awful lot of sleeping,” said Jenny.

“My mind shut down. Now I want to get on with things and try to do what I can.”

Since being matched together, the pair have enjoyed shopping days, trips to the bingo, also plans to go to their local park, or even down to the pub. Jenny says she would also like to visit a few museums if she’s having a good day. “I enjoy that my days are now more varied,” Jenny says. “Being with Adrienne is helping to avoid getting stuck in a rut by just spending all my time at the care home.”

For further information visit: www.mariecurie.org.uk/helper Information and Support Marie Curie helps everyone affected by a terminal illness to get the information and support needed.

• The Marie Curie Support Line is a confidential phone helpline for anyone who has questions, needs support, or just wants to talk: 0800 090 2309. Calls from landlines and mobiles are free.

• Our website has a wide range of information on practical and emotional matters.

• The Marie Curie Community is an online forum for people to share experiences, find and give support. www.mariecurie.org.uk/help (Photo courtesy Teresa Naylor)

The St Andrews Preservation Trust

20th HIDDEN GARDENS OF St Andrews

SUNDAY 25th JUNE 2017 11am – 5pm Filled Rolls and Refreshments • Range of Stalls • Musical Entertainment All Gardens are centrally located Tickets and Maps will be available from: Trust Office, 4 Queen’s Gardens • Museum, 12 North Street • J and G Innes Information Centre, Market Street • Westwoods Newsagents, South Street Gardens Mowers and Tools, Largo Road • The St Andrews Botanic Garden ADMISSION £7.00 includes all open gardens Primary age children FREE, Assistance dogs only We are most grateful to Thorntons Law LLP, for their sponsorship of this event.

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Registered as a Charity in Scotland No SC011782

ORGANISATIONS Jenni Hume, Campaign Manager, APRS

Plastic Pollution The Have You Got The Bottle? campaign was launched in September 2015, with the aim of urging Ministers to introduce a deposit return system for all drinks containers in Scotland. The campaign is led by The Association for the Protection of Rural Scotland, who founded it together with the Marine Conservation Society, Community Resources Network Scotland, World Wildlife Fund, Surfers Against Sewage, Spokes, and Friends of the Earth Scotland.

We are supported and promoted by a growing, varied coalition of partners including recreation groups, cafés, restaurants, small retailers, farm shops, brewers, universities. We currently have more than forty partners; most importantly, we’re the voice of the 79% of people in Scotland who support the idea of introducing a deposit return system.

We expect to find out more about the status of deposit return in the summer.

In the meantime, there’s lots of activity going on at the Have You Got The Bottle? campaign office. We held an event at the Scottish parliament in December, where Roseanna Cunningham, Cabinet Secretary for the Environment and Rural Affairs, acknowledged that deposit return systems can be an important part of circular economies, and that the SNP are looking into it seriously, whilst considering both sides of the argument. The SNP is rightly proud of the success of the carrier bag charge, and we’re keen to highlight how a bottle deposit return system could be an equally shining legacy for this parliamentary session.

How do deposit return systems work?

The Marine Conservation Society brought Deposit return systems help to reduce litter, some children from Cramond Primary School to and increase recycling, by offering a financial the event. They had created a jellyfish from plastic incentive to people for returning their empty drinks bottles, which they had found on their local beach. containers. When people buy a drink, they pay a They talked with MSPs about why reducing marine little bit extra (10p or so), and they get this money litter is so important to them, and the Cabinet back when they return their empty container to Secretary even took a photo of herself with them, a shop, or reverse vending machine. There are which she later posted on Twitter. already deposit return systems in thirty-seven We continue to work with our existing partners, countries, or regions, around the world including in addition to adding more organisations to our Norway, Germany, Estonia, some states in the USA, growing list of supporters. We have a number and Australia. This February marked the one-year of other exciting plans for the coming months, anniversary of Lithuania introducing a deposit return including further engagement with MSPs, possible system. Data show that bottle and can recycling stakeholder trips to countries with existing deposit rates have already increased from below 55% up to return systems, and opportunities for our partners an average of 85 – 90%! to borrow a reverse vending machine to show their members how it works.

Roseanna Cunningham at our What’s the story in Scotland?

Holyrood event in December, with The primary legislation required to introduce How can I get involved? children from Cramond Primary School. a deposit return system is already in place in The Marine Conservation Society has created Scotland, under the Climate Change (Scotland) Act, 2009. a fun social media campaign to highlight the prevalence of discarded Last year, three of the five parties sitting in the Scottish Parliament drinks containers in Scotland. To take part, all you have to do is take a included pledges for consideration of deposit return in their manifestos photo of any ‘wild’ bottles you see littering the places you visit, post it on for the May 2016 election. This included the Scottish Greens, The social media with the hashtag #wildbottlesighting, the name of the place Scottish Liberal Democrats, and the Scottish National Party. you saw it and the @mcsuk handle. MCS are hoping to make a map of Deposit return systems have received a lot of attention in the media all reported wild bottle sightings across Scotland, to show to MSPs and recently. Sky News launched their Ocean Rescue campaign in January, highlight the need for a deposit return system. which investigates the issue of marine plastic on a global scale, and There is also a petition on change.org that you can sign to show looks at deposit return as part of the solution. Additionally, the Scottish your support for deposit return in Scotland. This petition can be found by Daily Mail has launched their Banish the Bottle campaign in support of visiting: www.change.org and searching for Have You Got The Bottle?. the work of Have You Got The Bottle? All of this coverage is helping to Additionally, you can write a letter urging your local MSP to support keep deposit return on the political agenda in Scotland. A motion was the introduction of a deposit return system in Scotland. For information lodged in February urging ministers to make a swift decision on receiving and ideas, visit: www.haveyougotthebottle.org.uk the report from the deposit return sub group in May. So far the motion has more than fifty signatures, including MSPs from every political party.

(Images courtesy Jenni Hume)

APPOINTMENT TO THE WOODCOCK BEQUEST PART TIME, VOLUNTARY

The Appointment We are looking for high quality individuals with an interest in public service to fill, on a part time voluntary basis, the role of trustee on the Board of The Woodcock Bequest.

The principal purpose of The Woodcock Bequest is to provide relief to women who are in need by reason of age, health, disability, financial hardship or other disadvantage through the provision of suitable homes or with funds to supplement their available income where this income is insufficient. The Woodcock Bequest operates from Rose Park located in the centre of St Andrews with various other properties having also been acquired to provide further accommodation.

The Woodcock Bequest

The Requirements The successful candidate will be able to demonstrate ability and a proven track record in their chosen profession or other activities, such as community work. Commitment and experience can be as valuable as qualifications, although in some areas specialist experience is needed. Knowledge and experience of property investment, running a trust and a familiarity with local issues in the area relating to housing and poverty, are highly desirable.

For an application pack please contact: Mrs Sally Kinnear, The Woodcock Bequest, Thorntons Law LLP Kinburn Castle, St Andrews, Fife, KY16 9DR Tel: 01334 477107; Email: skinnear@thorntons-law.co.uk

Charity No: SC014963

A charity registered in Scotland

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ORGANISATIONS Joanna Cunningham introduces the

Madras Community Dance School (MCDS) We currently have over 100 pupils attending our dance classes at Jazz teaching exam, Madras Community Dance School (MCDS). Our School is run by four as I am currently local teachers, who all attended from a young age. Founded by Carlyn assisting the teachers Kirkcaldy in 1995, the School started out with only a few jazz classes. in Jazz, Ballet, and We now offer over twenty, in a wide range of styles, for all age groups.

Hip-hop. Helping in Classes take place Monday to Friday evenings and Saturday mornings at classes has given Madras College, Kilrymont Road, St Andrews. me many new skills.

The classes we offer are available from age 3, with pupils up to the It has helped my age of 26. Your child can enjoy styles such as Jazz, Ballet, Highland, confidence grow.

Hip-Hop, Cheerleading. We aim to keep classes affordable; Fifestyle Also the nursery Ballet class is very cute and keeps me on my toes,” Bonus Discount Cards are available for purchase. All the teachers are Anna McInnes, 16 years old, St Andrews. members of The United Kingdom Alliance When we are not perfecting our Teaching Board. We give our pupils the pirouettes or practising our pas de bourée As teachers we love teaching classes as opportunity to sit annual dance exams. We you will find us dusting off our glitter ball much as the pupils enjoy attending them hold a presentation day, when the children’s for our yearly show. We’ve been putting achievements are recognised. on shows for over 20 years and they are “Being part of MCDS has given me many new opportunities. I have a definite highlight for everyone involved. Our upcoming show, “A Sky been sitting exams yearly from age 3, and have recently completed my full of Stars”, will showcase the talents of our youngsters with all the Grade Exams in Ballet and Jazz at Distinction level. I am hoping to sit my hard work and time they have dedicated. We will be toe touching to Tina, doing pas de basques to Parton and joining Whitney to “Dance with Somebody”. So why don’t you come along to watch us moonwalk like Jackson at our legends-packed show on 16 &17 June at 7.00pm.

Tickets cost £6.50 for adults, £5.50 concessions and will be available to purchase from May at Madras Community Use. As teachers we love teaching classes as much as the pupils enjoy attending them. Having grown up as part of Madras Community Dance School, we know first hand how special it is to be part of what it has to offer. Not only will you have great fun, try something new while learning to be part of a team, but you will also create great friendships and become part of our MCDS family.

“I joined dancing when I was 3 years of age. The classes that I currently attend are Jazz, Cheerleading, Ballet, and Highland. I love MCDS so much because I have made so many friends there and the teachers are amazing. We have a great laugh, as well as preparing our dances for our annual show and exams. I always look forward to going to dancing, and never want the class to end. It’s great to be part of such a welcoming team,” Lily Simpson, 11 years old, St Andrews.

So if you want to strut your stuff like Beyoncé, shake your pompoms at Cheer, feel like a Disney Princess at ballet, or try your hand at a traditional highland fling, make sure you sign up today by contacting Madras Community: 01334 659 354. We’d love to see you there.

(Photos courtesy MCDS)

Would you like to advertise in this space?

Please see: www.standrewsinfocus.com for more information (sizes, costs, distribution/readership, contact details, etc)

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ORGANISATIONS From Rotarian Walter Hill

Rotary’s Vocational Committee The January/February edition of this magazine carried an introduction to St Andrews is famous for the high standard of debating in its schools Rotary. The functions and importance of the committee structure were with both Madras College and St Leonards performing well at local discussed. Today, we should like to focus on one of the fundamental and national level. The Rotary Club of St Andrews has a highly valued parts of Rotary, the Vocational Committee. association with these schools, judging interRotarians represent a wide variety of house and inter-school debates.

We are fortunate to live in a town professions and skilled occupations. It is Developing team-building and where so many people are keen to a founding principle of Rotary to provide leadership skills is an important element help improve the lives of others opportunities for young people to develop their of the Committee’s work. Pupils from local skills and talents. Through their understanding schools are chosen to attend the annual of the role in society of their own professions Rotary Young Leader Adventure course, and those of others, members of the where these skills are learned in an outdoor Vocational Committee are able to build skills environment. Unusually, all the young people and awareness in younger members of our chosen for last year’s course were girls from community.

St Leonards. A comment common to all four This service begins in primary schools, participants was that this was “an experience then follows through secondary schools into the I’ll never forget!” world of higher education and the workplace.

However, there are children who, The Rotary Club of St Andrews with its because of family circumstances, have daughter club, Kilrymont, work closely together responsibilities that prevent them from on such projects. This ensures that the widest enjoying normal teenage pursuits. The Rotary range of knowledge and experience can be Club of St Andrews works with Fife Council brought into play. Each year, primary schools to select six young carers, every year, to take part in such activities as Young Writer of have a day out of their choice. These vary the Year, and an Inter-school Quiz. In the most from watching a favourite football team, to a recent competition, both Greyfriars R C Primary beauty treatment, a trip to the hairdresser, and Strathkinness Primary schools won a place or just a day at the shops. Money raised in the Area Final in Dundee. from packing bags at Marks and Spencer Another joint venture is Young Chef of the is used to pay for this work. This year sees Year. Last year’s winner, Hannah Rose from the advent of an initiative to support children Madras College, has since fulfilled her ambition living with Cystic Fibrosis. We are fortunate to Kyffin Roberts receives his award to pursue a career in the hospitality industry. live in a town where so many people are keen (Photo courtesy St Andrews Rotary) Hannah, now a chef at the Adamson restaurant to help improve the lives of others. in St Andrews, expressed her appreciation Local businesses and organisations also of the opportunity, “I’m gaining so much amazing experience,” she told contribute greatly. Rotary recognises this excellent work by individuals her Rotary mentor, Eric Brown. His high-level industry experience was, through its Non-Rotarian Citizen of the Year Award, the most recent says Hannah, so important to her success. The local hospitality industry winner of which was Kyffin Roberts, in recognition of his outstanding supports this event, with Rusacks Hotel donating ingredients. Craig work in the revival of Craigtoun Park.

Sneddon, head chef at the R&A employed his professional skills judging the local heat and mentoring the successful candidates.

Young Photographer of the Year saw George Rees of St Leonards The Vocational Committee works with the wider community to win the North of Scotland District final for his age group. George went on help develop those citizens who will carry on the best traditions to finish third in the Great Britain and Northern Ireland final. “A big thanks of St Andrews and the wider world. If you would like to learn to the Rotary Clubs of St Andrews and Kilrymont for organising the photo more about this, or anything else about Rotary, please visit: competition entries,” wrote George, adding, “and I’m looking forward to www.standrewsrotary.net this year’s event!”

GARAGE St Andrews 01334 472882 MOT TESTING SERVICE & REPAIRS ACCIDENT REPAIR VALETING

Chinese & Cantonese Restaurant Sit in or takeaway Opening Times: Monday and Wednesday – Saturday 12.00pm – 2.30pm & 4.30pm – 11.00pm

CAR SALES

Sunday 4.30pm – late

24 HR RECOVERY

Tuesday – Closed

Used cars and 4x4’s sourced to your requirements.

Finance available on request.

11-13 Crails Lane St Andrews, Fife Tel: 01334 467822

www.brownhillsgarage.co.uk

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ORGANISATIONS Linda-Anne is looking for volunteers to

Meet & greet town visitors An appeal has gone out from a St Andrews tourist organisation for volunteers for a new summer initiative.

The new body, Tourism St Andrews, is hoping that coach visitors to the town can be met when they arrive, and are greeted by St Andreans.

The group estimates that around 40 tour buses, with visitors from across the world, arrive in the town each day during the summer, some coming from visiting cruise ships – and that those tourists need some direction.

“We tried this out at the Open in 2015, when it went down well,” Linda-Anne Beaulier of Tourism St Andrews explained. “Now we want to be able to offer a service to visitors so they can make the most of their

often-short visit to the town. We want to make sure they have a great experience from the moment they get off the coach and are pointed in the right direction for their interests, whether golf; heritage; shopping; or food.”

Volunteers can give as little as two hours a week to the project. They will receive training. “We are looking for people who have an interest in St Andrews and the wider Scotland.” Linda-Anne added.

For further information please contact: castlemount3@gmail.com

William Sutherland

Kinburn Park, a Hidden Jewel By the time you read this, the Park will be Floodlit Courts and 3 Mini Courts. Balls and up and ready for a new season. Here is rackets can be supplied and coaching is an update on how it is available. The Bowling progressing.

Club is user friendly In some ways this and open to the public. is a hidden jewel in the By the time you read this, Equipment can be town. There are four provided and coaching the Park will be up and components: St Andrews is available. It will be Tennis Club; Kinburn making a big effort to ready for a new season Bowling Club and Putting attract youngsters by Green; St Andrews making itself known Museum and within it, the through visits to the Café in the Park. All four have been working local Primary Schools. The Putting Green is together to publicise the Park and make it popular, although not up to the standard of more welcoming. the Himalayas by the West Sands!

The Tennis Club is very popular with There is free admission to the Museum, young and old alike. It has its own plans which has a lively series of exhibitions, also for improvement, with its 7 Championship a regular programme of talks, concerts, and

Bowling Club

14

children’s workshops. The Café is excellent, serving home baking and light meals. It has free Wifi.

The big news is that a Children’s Play Area and Sensory Garden is to be located behind the Museum. Work is due to start in June this year. It should be available for young families by late August, a great addition to the town’s facilities, being in such a central location. It is financed through grants from local Trusts etc.

So all looks good for the future of Kinburn Park. Do visit and make up your own mind about it!

(Photos courtesy William Sutherland)

Kinburn Museum

ORGANISATIONS Tony Waterston

The most cycle-friendly town in Scotland?

For those who are regular cyclists, the feeling of wind in the hair, the friendliness of the greetings as we pass our friends and the speed of reaching our destination (with zero carbon emissions) all make our mode of transport the obvious way to get around, as well as a delightful holiday occupation.

Yet people on bikes can also create animosity, particularly for elderly pedestrians owing to their silent and rapid progression, occasional lack of lights, and sometimes lack of care when crossing a pavement.

Members of the new cycling group recently set up in St Andrews, calling itself St Andrews Space for Cycling, would like to break down this animosity, which has come about partly because in general, older people don’t cycle – the roads are just too dangerous.

Growing up in this town back in the ‘50s, I cycled everywhere without supervision – to school, to the shops, to my friends. This is how it should be for children, yet now most parents won’t let their children cycle to school. We have become car dependent, which brings its own problems – because the motor car is wonderfully convenient for those rich enough to own one (and that excludes nearly half of the population of St Andrews), but has many damaging effects on the community that are listed here:

Remove through traffic

Potential harm of driving • • • • •

Lack of activity leading to obesity Air pollution causing respiratory illness Accidental injuries following a collision Carbon emissions increasing risk of climate change Reduces personal interactions

We all know this, but the great convenience of the car (and the problems of any alternative) rules out a modal shift to walking, cycling, or taking the bus.

And yet … most journeys undertaken in St Andrews are 3 miles or under, which is the perfect distance for cycling, even for the unfit. And the benefits of cycling are clear, both on health and environmental grounds.

Safe cycling to school (Photos courtesy the Cycling Embassy of Great Britain)

Benefits of cycling

What are we asking for? SASC is a campaigning group seeking changes in the street layout of St Andrews to make it easier for people on foot and on bikes to get around safely. This would imply some restriction on car use, though not for essential users or the disabled. It could mean most journeys undertaken in that some car journeys would take longer, but for the majority of people travel would be easier and St Andrews are 3 miles or under, What stops people from cycling? What can we more pleasant. which is the perfect distance for do to help them to take it up again? The answer We are aware that road changes are is very brief: traffic stops people from cycling. cycling, even for the unfit costly and that Fife Council is cash strapped.

Children would love to cycle to school; their However, the Scottish government has a number parents are worried about the risk (not surprisingly) of funds, that can be approached for projects so drive them instead, increasing pollution around that are beneficial to public health. There are also local employers and schools. Also there’s the risk of accidents for those who walk, scoot, or businesses, from the University to the R&A, which recognise the benefits cycle. Some continue to cycle despite the traffic, are then expected to of cycling to the local economy, while tourism is also likely to receive wear special gear to protect them, making them more visible –this is also a boost if St Andrews is recognised as a city where it is easy to cycle offputting particularly for fashion-conscious girls. Lack of practice puts around. people off cycling, as well as fear of bad weather and where to put the • • • • •

Regular exercise, adding years to life Zero carbon emissions No air pollution Saves time on short distances Easy to stop for a chat on the way

shopping.

We mustn’t forget that not everyone has a car – in most towns at least 40% don’t, and in many families with a single car it is used to go to work so that the remaining partner has to walk or cycle.

What will encourage people to take it up again? Again the answer is simple, based on lots and lots of experience, both from countries like the Netherlands that have never given up cycling, and from those many European countries that have restored, reformed their cities and towns to make them cycle friendly.

What we need is – • • • • • •

Separation of motorists and cyclists (and cyclists and pedestrians) Special provision for cyclists at roundabouts and junctions Safe cycling routes to schools, so that an 8-year-old can cycle on their own Safe cycling routes between residential areas and shops Traffic-free and traffic-calmed areas in shopping streets and residential areas so that they are pleasant for walkers Play streets where children can play outdoors as they used to.

So in order of priority our aims are as follows: • • • • •

Spread the message about cycling and walking to get people behind us Build links with those, such as Transition University, who have similar interests Look for small gains that can be made easily, such as improving signing and adding more parking Build support for bigger projects, such as improving existing cycle lanes on Hepburn Gardens and renewing Petheram Bridge for use by walkers and cyclists Develop a cycle plan for the future, which will make it easier to walk and cycle around the city centre – ideas on how to do this are welcomed!

We’ll be holding our AGM during June, probably on the 23 June – come and join us! Tony.waterston@ncl.ac.uk

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byre in the

botanics

29 June - 29 July 2017 St Andrews A season of outdoor concerts, performances and film screenings in the beautiful Botanic Gardens in the heart of St Andrews.

“The stunning setting of the Botanic Gardens”

****

The Scotsman

Thursday 29 June Aly Bain & Phil Cunningham 7.00 pm, £18.50 Friday 30 June BITB Big Screen – The Gruffalo 2.00 pm, £10 Plus Gruffalo Trail around the gardens before the film BITB Big Screen – The Secret Garden 7.00 pm, £15 Plus plant potting workshop before the film.

Saturday 1 July

Byre In The Botanics 2017 Join us at the beautiful Botanic Gardens in the heart of historic St Andrews for a season of spectacular outdoor concerts, performances and film screenings.

All events take place in a fully covered, fully seated marquee so a lovely night is guaranteed, whatever the weather! Fully stocked bar and delicious hot and cold food available, including luxury hampers for pre-order.

The Ruggeds: Adrenaline 7.00 pm, £18.50 Thursday 6 July Grand St Andrews Ceilidh with Billy Anderson 7.00 pm, £15 / £5 Child (Aged 16 and under)

Tickets: 01334 475000 www.bitb17.com / #BITB17

Friday 7 July

Thursday 20 July

BITB Big Screen – Frozen 2.00 pm, £10 Come dressed as your favourite character – prize for best costume!

New Orleans Swamp Donkeys 7.00 pm, £23.50

Mánran 7.00 pm, £21.50 “A brilliant atmosphere!”

Audience member 2016 Saturday 8 July The Glenn Miller Orchestra UK 7.00 pm, £24 Thursday 13 & Friday 14 July OperaUpClose La Bohème 7.00 pm, £25 All ticket holders are welcome to join us for a free Waltz Class at 5.00 pm. Call to reserve your space.

Friday 14 July BITB Big Screen – Brave 2.00 pm, £10 Plus fun activities before the film!

Saturday 15 July Elkie Brooks 7.00 pm, £33 “Beautiful setting for an outdoor concert.

Inspired!”

Audience member 2016

Friday 21 July BITB Big Screen – The Secret Life of Pets 2.00 pm, £10 Plus fun activities before the film!

BITB Big Screen – Whisky Galore!

7.00 pm, £16 Saturday 22 July Midge Ure – Something From Everything Tour 7.00 pm, £32

Access and Parking Please note, there is no parking available at the Botanic Gardens.

Parking is available in St Andrews town centre, a short walk from the venue. Parking spaces for blue badge holders are available and must be booked in advance – please see www.bitb17.com Byre In The Botanics is a fully wheelchair accessible event. Access to the performance space is by a wide tarmac slope; BITB staff are on hand to safely escort wheelchair users down the slope where required.

For full access and travel information, please visit www.bitb17.com

“Excellent experience – looking forward to next year” Audience member 2016 Thursday 27 July The Chris Barber Big Band 7.00 pm, £22.50 Friday 28 July BITB Big Screen – Up 2.00 pm, £10 Grand St Andrews Ceilidh with Billy Anderson 7.00 pm £15 / £5 Child (Aged 16 and under) Saturday 29 July Gallagher & Lyle 7,00 pm, £39.50

Food & Drink at BITB17 Relax in the summer sunshine and pre-order a delicious deli hamper packed with cheese, charcuterie, olives, slow roast tomatoes, fresh bread, crisps, local strawberries and cream and homemade scones – just £25 for a hamper for two. Make it a real night to remember and add a bottle of chilled prosecco (£25) or Taittinger Champagne (£40).

On site, Screaming Peacock will be serving up local wild venison burgers whilst the fully-stocked bar boasts a range of ales made in St Andrews – alongside wines and cocktails.

Please note, no dogs are allowed into Byre In The Botanics except assistance dogs. Children aged under 16 must be accompanied by an adult.

The University of St Andrews is a charity registered in Scotland, No: SC013532.

SHOPS & SERVICES Jonnie Adamson

Whaur ur we noo?

The recent pace of constitutional change has been fierce. With Brexit on the table and the question of Scottish independence featuring once again it is worth stopping to take stock of where we actually are. This has led me to ask, “Where are we with Scotland’s devolved taxes”?

Firstly, the taxes devolved (after the Scotland Act 2016) are: Fully devolved – Land and Buildings Transaction Tax – Scottish Landfill Tax – Air departure tax – The aggregates levy Partly devolved – Scottish Rate of Income Tax, then – Full rates and bands for Scottish Income Tax Assigned – VAT (10% of the Standard rate, 2.5% of the reduced rate) When do they start?

1 April 2015 – Land and Buildings Transaction Tax – Scottish Landfill Tax

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6 April 2016 – Scottish Rate of Income Tax (was not varied by Holyrood) 6 April 2017 – Scottish Income tax rates and bands April 2018 – Air departure tax 2019-2020 – Assignment of VAT The tax take from the fully-devolved taxes is not going to be significant in amount. More is expected from direct taxes. Anyone who is a Scottish taxpayer (broadly defined as having your main residence in Scotland) is liable to income tax at the Scottish rates. A prefix of ‘S’ on your tax code will identify you as being treated as a Scottish taxpayer.

The partly-devolved income tax becomes interesting this year with first divergence from the main UK figures. A freeze on the higher-rate threshold to £43,000 compared to £45,000 for the rest of the UK is expected to raise an extra £108m. Interestingly, the administration of this tax does not pass to Scotland. Instead HMRC are collecting the tax for the Scottish Government, as well as for the UK as a whole, and as you would

expect, this does not come free. Holyrood paid HMRC £8.4m in implementation costs for the Scottish rate of income tax in 2015/16.

Although the tax involved will be significant for the assignation of a proportion of VAT, the mechanics of deciding what are Scottish VAT receipts is not yet known.

In principal, however, 50% of the current Scottish receipts will be assigned with an adjustment to the block grant It is certainly true that devolution was not going to simplify taxes. It is also possible that new taxes may be levied by the Scottish Government (as made possible by the Scotland Act 2016). One thing is for sure, nothing’s for standing still!

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

SHOPS & SERVICES Rhonda McCrimmon, BID Manager

The BID Report Spring is in the air! To celebrate, the St Andrews Photography Festival has launched a new photography competition. The winner will receive a cash prize and have an exhibition of their own work. For more information, and to enter, please go to: www.standrewsphotographyfestival.com Other continuing projects for BID include the Big Belly Bin trial, a smarter, more efficient, cost-effective, connected waste management system. Our clean and green project saw one of the bins installed in Market Street for 4 weeks; the trial was well received. As a resul, BID

St Andrews will invest in a bin for the town with a view to expanding the project in the months ahead. The team is also exploring the possibility of installing vermin-proof flaps on existing bins around town.

The BID has also launched a new consumer site for St Andrews: www.StAndrewsLive.com . The objective is to provide: a hub for news and events; a visitor section, including interactive maps; a community section for town news and events. If you would like to list your business information, community events etc. please visit the website to find out more.

Tourism St Andrews is proud to announce the coming to St Andrews this summer of the Icons of Modern Scottish design – The Kelpie Maquettes!

From 24 July, The Kelpie Maquettes will be located on the Bruce Embankment, adjacent to the British Golf Museum, behind the famous Royal and Ancient Golf Clubhouse, within sight of the stunning West Sands Beach. Supported by BID St Andrews this initiative will be a great footfall driver for the local businesses in the town, raising the profile of St Andrews as a diverse destination.

For more information on BID activities, please contact Rhonda: manager@bidstandrews.co.uk or 07931 649 397.

(Photo courtesy Rhonda McCrimmon)

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

www.nphcinema.co.uk

117 North Street, St Andrews Tel: 013334 474902

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SHOPS & SERVICES

RICHMONDSPORT has moved to 35 North Street, St Andrews, Fife, KY16 9AQ

Tel: 01334 470 367

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www.richmondsport.co.uk

SHOPS & SERVICES

Roving Reporter 1. 3 years ago, owning his own business was just a gleam in the eye of David Rundle. Today his Blue Star Cleaning & Home Help Services, 56A Largo Road (07565 849 015 / bluestarstandrews@outlook.com ) has 15 employees, has developed eco-friendly cleaning products, and is celebrating! David says, “I am extremely grateful to every customer that Blue Star has delivered services to, and every person that we have come in contact with, whether for business, or personal reasons.

Your word of mouth has allowed Blue Star to grow and thrive in an ever-changing industry.” Reporter wishes to add his congratulations; it is so good to see that enterprise (Photo courtesy and hard work still David Rundle) count!

2.

*****

(Photo courtesy Chris Sproson)

As he’s said so many times, Reporter likes nothing better than to celebrate success. He’s delighted to learn this from Chris Sproson, of A & M Sproson Picture Framers, The Kirkhill Workshop, Gregory Place, (01334 474 249) picture_framers@hotmail.com : “We are a bespoke picture framing business established in 1982, now celebrating 35 years in business. We’re a Family-run business. Over the last 5 years we have invested heavily in new framing equipment and technology. Last year we bought a AIOX HYBRID computerised mount-cutter;

the first framing business in Scotland to get one. Also a new pneumatic underpinner.

All of our work is carried out to the highest standard. As well as framing artwork and photographs we also frame a lot of tapestries, needlework, sports wear, other memorabilia, and valued items (e.g. Golf flags, balls, medals, jewellery, 3D maps).

Our really unique project this year was framing a 50” wall-mounted TV, framed in situ! We’re a highly-skilled team of 5 with over 60 years of experience among us.

We’re open 6 days a week: Monday-Friday 10.00am-5.00pm. Saturday 10.00am12.30pm. We can do deliveries. We have an extensive range of frames and mounts, and do hand-finished frames as well. We have customers worldwide. Also we stock a wide range of prints of views of St Andrews by local artist Frank Sproson, my Grandfather. All of our work is carried out to conservation standards, competitively priced.”

*****

3. Reporter heard from Lawson & Thompson, the student lettings agency, that they have moved to a new town-centre office. They are now in The Old Malt Barn, 205b South Street, after several months of refurbishment. The Company has also announced plans to expand into property sales. Contact: 01334 845 145 / www.lawsonthompson.co.uk . Reporter wishes them well. He thinks the photo speaks for itself!

(Photo courtesy Lawson & Thompson)

*****

4. A letter came from a concerned reader praising Reporter’s welcome pieces for new businesses, but at the same time wondering what happens to the ones thus replaced. “For every new enterprise, there must be a previous one that has folded, leaving empty premises for the

newcomers to move into.” That set Reporter thinking. He made a preliminary list of businesses that have traded in the town for generations, also those in business for over 20 years. He came up with a surprisingly long list! There is, of course, Fisher & Donaldson; then there’s Renton Rugs, and Reith’s, Innes the newsagent/bookseller. Jannetta’s comes to mind as well as Luvian’s.

Keracher the fishmonger, Sproson’s (above) and Henderson the Jeweller, the VineLeaf Restaurant, Ferguson the shoe repairer, The Bouquiniste bookseller – these are long-established family businesses. There’s Moshulu, the shoe shop that came back after a break. Not to forget, there are firms like Bradburne & Co proudly proclaiming they were ‘Established in 1994’, also house agents/law firms like Murray Donald.

There are hairdressers, Dynamic Hair, Sophie Butler. Pubs, like the Keys are family-owned, also hotels like the Russell, the Ardgowan, the Albany. Lots of familyrun B&Bs. Somewhat more recent, but nevertheless successful businesses are here, like the wonderful Topping bookseller, Ladybird florist, Alpaca Links, coffee shops Gorgeous, and Zest, Mellis Cheeses/Delicatessen, the Gift Gallery & Jewel, Artery, Rummage, Top Drawer, the Scottish Shop, the Fraser Gallery, the Adamson with its new Bar, Spokes the bicycle shop. Even more recent, but obviously thriving shops, like Minick the Butcher, now Heart Space Wholefoods.

There are probably many more that escape Reporter’s memory – apologies to those left out.

All in all, the retail/business scene in St Andrews is much healthier than appears at first sight. Reporter’s correspondent is, perhaps, a little too gloomy in outlook. But then he doesn’t live in St Andrews. Reporter wonders what impressions others outwith the town might take away with them? Is this a pointer for the recently-established BID to do a bit of research? The reader rightly details the “fertile ground [of] townsfolk, university, and visitors”, but ends by wondering, “There must be a hidden factor in play.

Will someone tell us what it is?” Reporter suggests, rents, rates, and that maybe when a business does fail it’s because the owner hasn’t done quite enough homework.

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TOWN & GOWN John Cameron’s thoughts on

Free Speech Brought up in a mining village and educated in a nearby industrial town, I kept my opinions to myself in my teen years for fear of hearing that chilling put-down, “Who do you think you are?” But Erasmus rightly said, “in a free state, tongues should be free.” So coming up in 1960 to the University where John Stuart Mill had been rector was a liberating experience. His Rectorial address, On Liberty, simply cannot be quoted too often: “The peculiar evil of silencing the expression of an opinion is that it is robbing the human race; posterity as well as the existing generation; those who dissent from the opinion, still more than those who hold it. If the opinion is right, they are deprived of the opportunity of exchanging error for truth: if wrong, they lose, what is almost as great a benefit, the clearer perception and livelier impression of truth, produced by its collision with error.”

A recent survey of free speech at UK universities notes that nearly two thirds of

student unions have banned, or actively With my friend Tom Pollard I even drove to Cal censored, ideas on campus. It is beyond Berkeley in 1964 to join free-speech protests parody that Oxford banned the student demanding the university lift a ban on political magazine No Offence for promoting free activities on campus. speech, or that just three universities are Sadly, recent violent student riots in “green badged” for allowing liberty of opinion.

Berkeley prevented the gay, pro-Trump Even St Andrews, which as late as 2015, conservative, Milo Yiannopoulos, from encouraged diverse speaking at all. And a opinions, now has the year ago Pollard, now the Of course, as Harry Potter’s amber warning, which is distinguished director of Phineas said, students like to given to institutions where research at Yale, saw a be “tragically misunderstood”, free speech is “chilled howling mob of students through intervention.” But surround a fellow but they do seem keener today those of us who heard professor whose wife on outlawing, rather than the superb lecture on had mocked a ban on disputing, opinions they dislike John Stuart Mill (Friday, Halloween costumes.

3 February in School III, Of course, as St Andrews) delivered by Professor Helen Harry Potter’s Phineas said, students like to Small of Oxford University may hope our green be “tragically misunderstood”, but they do badge will soon be restored. seem keener today on outlawing, rather than The habit of curbing free speech was disputing, opinions they dislike. I suspect imported from America, where universities are the Internet encourages them to see only increasingly intolerant of anything that departs pejorative caricatures of the holder of an from a narrow orthodoxy. That wasn’t always alternative view. the case; in my Californian hidden Ivy, Pomona But I am reminded that in the late 1960s College, I heard formidable black girls express many St Andrews students tired of the endless opinions they wouldn’t have dared utter at protests and became committed Tory converts! home in the Southern states in the early 1960s.

Chris Given-Wilson, Chair of STEPS

STEPS

Six years ago, the then Principal of the University of St Andrews, to take up the offer, and by then it was too late to offer the scholarships Professor Louise Richardson, drew up a memorandum of understanding to alternative candidates. In 2016, STEPS again awarded scholarships with the founders of St Andrews Education for Palestinian Students to two students, one of whom, despite having his papers in order, was (STEPS) that if they could raise sufficient unable to leave Gaza due to the sudden funds to pay the accommodation, travel, and closure of the border crossings – something maintenance expenses of two students from which happens quite frequently, often without the West Bank and Gaza to study for masters’ warning. Despite a campaign by STEPS degrees each year, the University would waive trustees to try to persuade the authorities to let their tuition fees. This agreement remains him leave (which received generous support in place. Since 2013, when the first STEPS from a number of politicians including our own scholar graduated, a succession of Palestinian MP Stephen Gethins, high-profile journalists students has come to study at the University such as Jon Snow, and one very helpful for a year at a time contributing to the already member of the Egyptian embassy staff), he rich cultural diversity of this unique town. was still unable to leave Gaza in time to begin No-one, of course, would deny the his course at St Andrews, although he hopes importance of education in national and to come here to study for the same course next international development. What lay behind this year. Meanwhile, it is good to report that our initiative was a desire to improve educational other 2016-17 student, Manar from Ramallah opportunities in a notoriously difficult region of in the West Bank, arrived in September and the world. Gaining an education can be difficult is greatly enjoying her year in St Andrews. in the West Bank or Gaza, where resources STEPS has also been able to support a are limited and obstacles are numerous. It is Palestinian postgraduate student in Chemistry, not uncommon to take ten years of dedicated Rana, whose source of funding was cut off study, often combined with part- or even fullwhen members of her family were arrested in time work, with heavy family responsibilities, Damascus during the Syrian civil war.

Manar Kawasmi in order to achieve an undergraduate degree.

STEPS is a non-political, officially (Photo courtesy Christopher Given-Wilson) There are very few postgraduate opportunities registered charity (OSCR SCO42518) focused in Gaza or the West Bank. By providing two on providing educational opportunities. It talented young Palestinian students annually is funded mainly by monthly donations, STEPS is a non-political, officially with a year of higher education, STEPS supplemented by occasional one-off grants registered charity (OSCR SCO42518) and run on a voluntary basis by a board of and the University hope to make a small, but significant, contribution to the future trustees, all of whom live locally. Twice a year focused on providing educational development of Palestinian society and the it organises events such as talks, film shows, opportunities local economy. discussions, or poetry readings, always Not surprisingly, there have been many accompanied by splendid Palestinian food difficulties along the way. Circumstances are unpredictable in the region. provided by Jordan Valley Wholefoods of Edinburgh. Anyone interested In May 2014, STEPS scholarships were awarded to two students, both in learning more about STEPS, attending events, or even making a of whom were delighted to accept them, but three months later, following donation, should look at our website ( stepspalestine.org.uk ), where the outbreak of conflict in Gaza and the West Bank, neither was able further details of our aims, achievements and events can be found.

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TOWN & GOWN From Lindsey Alexander, Senior Parliamentary Assistant

Westminster Reception The enormous contribution that the University of St Andrews makes to North East Fife, Scotland, and the world, was celebrated in the Houses of Parliament recently (Tuesday, 21 March).

North East Fife MP Stephen Gethins hosted a reception in Parliament to recognise the work the University is involved in and the investment it is making in the future, including the multi-million green energy centre at Guardbridge, a new community access music centre, as well as the creation of the world-leading Scottish Oceans Institute.

Speaking at the event, Principal Sally Mapstone also talked about the efforts being made to build a new Madras College at Langlands with her hopes that greater educational links could be forged between the school and University.

Professor Mapstone also spoke about her involvement in the Universities Scotland review into widening access for students from a range of backgrounds.

Commenting afterwards, Stephen Gethins MP said, “This was a great opportunity to showcase to other MPs, Lords, and interested parties the great work that the University is doing now and its plans for the future.”

(Photo courtesy the University)

Megan Nicol and Heather Whyte Madras College 6th formers, are

Volunteering through Project Trust Both myself (Megan Nicol, 18) and Heather Whyte (17) are students at Madras College, we were given a presentation by a returned volunteer about Project Trust, an educational charity. After seeing what they offered we jumped at the opportunity to apply, but for completely different reasons/projects. Thankfully, we have been selected to participate in a structured, voluntary placement overseas.

We have been assigned to different projects depending on what we were most keen on, these being in a country each, Hong Kong and Ghana. In order to get this placement we participated in a 4-day selection process on the Isle of Coll, just off the west coast of Scotland. Although it sounds daunting, it is one of the most enjoyable parts of the process.

Megan Nicol (mln654528@gmail.com) Heather Whyte (heather1@sky.com) I have been selected to be a volunteer Taking a year out between high school Outwards Bound instructor as part of and further education wasn’t in my plans the Hong Kong project. This involves to begin with. However, I knew that working with disadvantaged youths, somewhere down the line I wanted to at-risk youths, and the disabled, the teach abroad. When I heard about Project main aim being to improve confidence Trust, I saw the opportunity to put my and encourage independence, both plan into motion, and I took it. Teaching crucial for further on in life. Activities was definitely in my plans. From a young such as rock climbing, kayaking, hiking, age I always wanted to be a teacher, orienteering, are great at bringing out the and I planned to study at university. So best teamwork and individuality in people, which is why they are part listening to the presentation about Project Trust, I jumped at the chance of the programmes. I always wanted to go abroad and volunteer. I’ve to volunteer abroad, doing what I loved. Something that caught my eye had the travelling bug my whole life with my dad being in the military during the presentation was being able to step out of my comfort zone. and always moving about, but this time I wanted to make a difference, Although speaking to a group of people doesn’t usually faze me, I knew and make the most of my year away, so I applied to Project Trust. I that being in a completely different environment, in front of a new group believe that they will give me the most rewarding experience being of faces was going to be a challenge. Gaining experience also intrigued able to give back to another community, and it will allow me to make a me. I have the chance to learn about the way a classroom works, with difference, no matter how small; it means something to someone. I was ways of teaching different groups of children, which will help me to also very keen to explore a different culture, to be fully immersed into a get a place at university and a job in the future. The biggest thing that new community, which Project Trust offered me. As I am spending 12 confirmed that I wanted to do this was hearing about the differences that months in a foreign country I am being allowed to former volunteers had made with their projects. I explore myself, find out what I am capable of, but realised that we take so much for granted, even the we jumped at the I’m also given the opportunity to see the country smallest things, like being taught to read and write. opportunity to apply, but Children rely on others to learn these skills, and in and the people throughout a prolonged period, (instead of a 3-week voluntary placement where some parts of the world, there are not enough people for completely different I would barely get to know the people I am living to teach the large number of children who need their reasons/projects with). I was intrigued by Project Trust’s Outward help. I want to help pupils learn these small skills, to Bound project, as it wasn’t about your typical be able to see them progress throughout the year voluntary teaching, it allows comfort zones to be challenged, also in that I am there. After speaking to my parents and friends about this oncea way more personal connections to be made. I wanted to do this in-a-lifetime opportunity, I filled out an application form online, that invited type of volunteering as I am quite sporty and enthusiastic, wanting to me to go on a 4-day selection course on the Isle of Coll. The course was help people be involved in sport and to love it just as much as I do; full of team work, problem solving and, most importantly, fun. I found it’s a great release and focus. In order for volunteers to get to their out a few weeks after selection that I’d been chosen to teach in Ghana. host countries, we are set the task of raising £6200 to kick start our I started to work out what fundraisers I was going to have to raise my confidence and independence. Fundraising is the main source of required £6200. Working with my mum and dad, we collectively decided my money, with events ranging from bake sales, non-uniform days, to run a number of fundraising events. One of the most successful quizzes, and more. I am currently setting dates for Lobster evenings to ones so far has been a Quiz Night in Broughty Ferry, which was very be held at The Harbour Café, St Andrews, and I planned a quiz for 7 enjoyable. Other events like bake sales with Megan, and a Guess April in Tayport, meaning I have my work cut out for me with my school the Teddy Bear’s Birthday have helped me raise money that all helps bake sales and more events organised monthly. towards reaching my target!

(Photos courtesy Megan & Heather)

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TOWN & GOWN Konstantin Wertelecki is an American PhD student at the University of St Andrews currently spending 6 months in Italy for his research. This is his second contribution.

The Arno’s Deep Secret On any given sunny day in Florence, when the sky is fresh with a lively blue, and an inviting warmth radiates among the streets, people gather along the Arno to seize a piece of the good weather. On the Ponte Vecchio, tourist groups, helmeted with cotton sun hats, shuffle together in tight packs, anxious not to miss any of the treasures glistening in the large shop windows. Couples, strolling hand in hand, glide between the crowds, then seek refuge upon the embankment.

Pulling out selfie sticks to ‘capture the moment’, or engaging in conversation with cones of gelato, the couples strike dare-devil poses, stretching out on the embankment walls, or dangling their feet over the water, dangerously close to the edge. Down below, rowers, in their clockwork fashion, rhythmically drive their oars into the river, paying little attention to the spectators around them. After a hearty session, they heave their boats back to their clubhouse, as onlookers, peering out from Uffizi’s upper windows, point with eager interest. Whilst for many days I have witnessed these vignettes of life on the Arno, it is only very recently that I discovered that there was once an equally interesting range of activity underneath the Arno.

It was on a late afternoon in early March that I found myself talking to one of the European University Institute drivers, who shuttles students between the various university buildings. A local Florentine, highly knowledgeable of his city, he exposed to me a piece of Florentine history that I had never heard before. In fact, when he first told me, I thought he was joking.

“You know there’s a tunnel running beneath

the Arno,” he said, as we wound through a cypress-lined road.

“A what?” I reacted with surprise, thinking that I had misunderstood his Italian. “A tunnel,” he repeated. “After the war, they found a dead body in it.” The sun crossed his face, as he made a turn, and he adjusted his sunglasses. “Who did they find?” I asked hesitantly, thinking that I might be misunderstanding what was supposed to be a joke. “It was a German solider,” he replied.

“I can’t remember who found him.” The car smoothly made its way up a well-shaded hill.

We arrived at the small car park behind the main university building, stopped, and the emergency brake was put on.

“What was the German soldier doing there?”, I asked, unbuckling my seatbelt, “And, when was the tunnel built?” “I’m afraid we haven’t got any more time!” he said and pointed to the queue of passengers outside, waiting for the next shuttle. He did, however, scribble a name on a little scrap of paper, zecca vecchia. “Try searching for this if you’re interested,” he said warmly. With that, I alighted from the car, to have my seat quickly replaced by an economics student busily talking to his course mate about foreign currency exchange.

For the next few days, I began my investigation into Florence’s tunnel. But, in my inquiries among other Florentines, they didn’t seem to know anything of it. A taxi driver I once asked just said, “I’ve never heard of it. I don’t know.” I then went to some of the smart bookshops to see if I could find any histories of this tunnel, but I found none.

The bookshop managers were very keen to help me, but they too had never heard of

Sunset over the Arno (Original photo by Konstantin Wertelecki)

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the tunnel. “Perhaps, you mean the Vasari Corridor,” one of them suggested to me, thinking that I had become confused.

After several days of light research, however, I finally found some answers in some old copies of Florentine editions of Italian newspapers. The tunnel is located on the eastern side of central Florence, running from Piazza Poggi, on the south bank near Terzo Giardino, to Torre della Zecca Vecchia. There not only exists a tunnel, but also a network of passages and galleries. I was not able to find an exact date for their construction, but supposedly, in the fifteenth century, it was used for defensive purposes. From the sixteenth through the eighteenth century, these galleries held water-powered machines that minted the famed Florin currency. In the 1870s, the public had access to the tunnel as an alternative route across the Arno, for a fee.

During the Second World War, the tunnel was used as an air raid shelter. After the war, the body of a German soldier was indeed found in the 1960s, but I could not find out how he got there. Since then, the tunnel has been rather forgotten, being in disrepair and closed to the public, despite its unique history and quirks. For example, among some of the unusual features found in the tunnel and passageways was a pizzeria counter, suggesting that, at one time, there might have been a social club there. Former Italian prime minister Matteo Renzi, visited the site in 2010, as the then mayor of Florence, and promised to restore the site as a museum.

But, seven years later, that vision does not seem to have become a reality.

Some people might be spooked to find out that a tunnel lies under the Arno. But the tunnel’s history, both dark and bright, with its various roles in defence, refuge, industry, and perhaps secrecy, further colours the Arno’s significance to Florence. If Florence wishes to preserve the Arno’s significance, its contemporary one being primarily a place of leisure, I hope that in the future, the tunnel museum will become a reality. If we do not put a history to the places and objects that surround us, we take advantage of their presence, and too easily allow for their disposability. Now knowing more about the Arno and its history, the next time I decide to pick a spot in the sun on the embankment to watch Florence go by, I’ll know that I’m not just a witness of the history of the Arno, but a contributor.

EVENTS David Scheel is coming, in

Don’t shoot me, I’m only the Piano Player!

Born in Adelaide, Australia, David has become “one of the finest solo musical comedy performers in the world.” From his first success in London West End’s News Revue, David has travelled the world to great acclaim. Starring also on TV he has had guest appearances with such luminaries as Eartha Kitt, Cleo Laine & John Dankworth, among others. David has been compared to Peter Ustinov because of his huge range of voices and accents, musical spoofs on the piano, etc. He does also play serious classical music! The San Francisco Chronicle described him as “The only show in town that can satisfy lovers of classical music and stand-up comedy alike.”

David Scheel will be at the Byre at 7.30pm on Thursday, 4 and Friday, 5 May 2017.

Tickets, £15/£13 from the Box Office (Mon–Sat, 10.00am-4.30pm) 01334 475 000.

(Photo courtesy David Scheel)

Alison Jeffrey, Chair, Regeneration Fundraising Group

Fundraising Concert – St Athernase Church, Leuchars Saturday 27 May, 7.30pm ‘Chamber music for a Summer’s Evening’ In the historic Norman church of Leuchars St Athernase, a group of top musicians will take to the stage in a concert of varied and familiar chamber works. The concert will be to raise funds for the regeneration of the Church. It will be given by local musicians, the St Andrews String Trio, with Viola and Piano Duo, Jess Wyatt and Douglas Holligan.

The St Andrews Trio, Melanie O’Brien (violin), Jess Wyatt (viola), Graham Leicester (cello), was founded in 2012. They have performed at the Younger Hall, St Andrews Botanic Gardens, and for Dundee Chamber Music Society. Its members enjoy busy musical (and non-musical!) careers and are well-known local performers and teachers. In the first half of the concert, the Trio will pair familiar pieces with some lesser-known works; J S Bach’s famous Wachet Auf (Sleepers Awake) and part of his Art of the Fugue arranged for string trio, as well as some Scottish pieces, such as My Love is Like a Red, Red Rose. A more upbeat feel will be provided by Brahms’ Hungarian Dance and a lively Piazzolla Tango.

In the second half of the concert Viola and Piano Duo Jess Wyatt and Douglas Holligan, perform a programme of Bach, balanced by Russian composers. The Duo, who are both alumni of St Andrews University, play regularly together. They have appeared at the Byre Theatre, at the Edinburgh Society of Musicians, most recently last October in a performance of Shostakovich’s Viola Sonata Op.147.

Jess Wyatt studied with Jane Atkins (principal viola of the SCO) at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland, graduating with distinction before pursuing a freelance career as a performer, as well as being in demand as a teacher. Douglas Holligan studies with Philip Fowke. He has taken part in masterclasses with Artur Pizarro, Susan Tomes, and Martin Roscoe; he has also performed on Radio 3. The Duo will perform Bach’s Viola da Gamba Sonata in D, BWV 1028, and Jesu Joy of Man’s Desiring, paired with Rachmaninov’s soaring Vocalise, and Glazunov’s melancholic Elegie.

Entry on the evening is £10 for adults, £5 for schoolchildren, refreshments included.

If you require any further information please contact Alison Jeffrey: 01334 870 674.

(Photo courtesy Alison Jeffrey)

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EVENTS Susan Budd, BA Hons, Community Support Officer, Station Support Unit

Summer Plans Leuchars Station, home base for 9 regular and reserve Units (including the Royal Scots Dragoon Guards, 2 Close Support Battalion, Royal Electrical & Mechanical Engineers, 71 Engineer Regiment, and the RAF Diversionary

Airfield) is hosting an Open Day event on display featuring 8 Saturday, 3 June 2017 from 11.00am to supercars; a Craft 4.00pm.

Traders hanger; The event will take place on the base itself and much more. in Waterloo Lines. The aim of the day is to Entry is £5 per welcome members of the public to the person, children under 14 are FREE. Station to experience ‘life at Leuchars’ Tickets can be purchased online at since transition from the RAF to Army www.leucharsopenday.co.uk ; in various local ownership. It also provides an ideal outlets; or alternatively, cash payment will be opportunity to celebrate and support the accepted at the entrance gates on the day.

Armed Forces in Fife.

There will be FREE onsite vehicle parking.

There are a Event organiser, Miss number of events and Susan Budd, Leuchars “the Station is thrilled to activities happening Station Community Support be able to put this event on the day, including; Officer says, “the Station is on for our families at a stage & arena thrilled to be able to put this Leuchars, and the public” where there will be event on for our families at music, marching Leuchars, and the public. It bands, military displays, highland is an ideal opportunity for the residents of Fife dancing and other entertainment and further afield to come to the Station itself throughout the day; a ‘Military Village’ to experience and learn more about what we where the public will be able to view do here, as well as enjoying all of the other and interact with a vast number of entertainment provided.” military capability displays provided

by Units from Leuchars Station and elsewhere; there will be photo You will find information regarding opportunities with the SCOTS the event on our Facebook page Guards, serving soldiers, military (Leuchars Station Charity Open and vintage vehicles, and ‘Dress as Day). All general enquiries: a soldier’; there will be a number of leucharsstationopenday@gmail.com food and beverage outlets providing Craft Traders wishing to book a pitch hot and cold food and refreshments can contact Mrs Jane Dawkins on 01334 throughout the day; funfair rides for 857 129 jane.dawkins349@mod.uk all the family; a 100ft assault course; E-tickets can be purchased at: children’s bouncy castles (weather www.leucharsopenday.co.uk permitting); a supercar static

Peter Haselhurst, Hidden Gardens Coordinator.

Hidden Gardens, Sunday 25 June This year sees the twentieth consecutive Hidden Gardens event, the first one having taken place in 1998. This year is also the eightieth anniversary of the founding of the St Andrews Preservation Trust, so there is quite a lot to celebrate! The number of gardens open will be similar to recent years. Since they are nearly all centrally located, it should be easy to visit them all at leisure.

Hidden Gardens is the Preservation Trust’s major fundraising event.

Its success depends on the many volunteers who help before and on the day. We are also dependent on the support of those people who kindly open their gardens for us all to visit. Of the gardens open on the first occasion in 1998, no fewer than six of them will be open again this year, which I am sure you will agree shows great commitment! Above all, of

(Photo courtesy of Robin Waterstone)

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course, we depend on the support of the large number of visitors who support the event.

As in previous years, refreshments and entertainment will be available at certain places, as indicated on the programme. From the last week in May, programmes will be available from the venues listed on the accompanying advertisement. I hope many of you will be able to support the event; let’s hope for good weather on the day! Thorntons Law LLP are again sponsoring the event, and we thank them for their generosity in so doing.

Let’s hope for a successful twentieth Hidden Gardens event, and many thanks to everybody involved.

(Photo courtesy of Anna Routledge)

EVENTS

Selected Events Wednesday, 3 May – 5.15pm. Medical Sciences Building, North Haugh. Inaugural Lecture by Professor David Evans.

Saturday, 6 May – 9.00am to 1.00pm. Argyle Street car park. Farmers’ Market.

– 1.00 to 4.00pm. All Saints Church Hall, North Castle Street. Playing with pastels taster workshop. Eden Art. Contact: 07890 716 543, eden.art@hotmail.com Monday, 8 May – 5.15pm. Physics & Astronomy Building, North Haugh. Reflections on Christian-Muslim Relations, a talk by Mona Siddiqui, Professor of Islamic and Interreligious Studies, Edinburgh. The James Gregory Lecture Series. Contact: eric.r.priest@gmail.com Saturday, 13 May – 1.30pm. St Andrews Museum, Kinburn Park.

Faith in your pocket, talk by Dr Aimee Joyce (Social Anthropology) on everyday religious objects and their significance along the Polish Belarusian frontier; Ethics & Aesthetics Exhibition.

Saturday, 20 May – 11.00am to 4.00pm. Preservation Trust Museum, North Street. Festival of Museums: our Victorian childhood!

Explore what your childhood could have been like in Victorian times – join us for a fun day of activities and crafts. Contact: trust@standrewspreservationtrust.org.uk Saturday, 27 May – 7.30pm. St Athernase Church, LEUCHARS. Chamber music for a Summer’s Evening. Concert in aid of funds for regeneration – see page 25. Tickets (include refreshments) £10 adults, £5 schoolchildren. Contact: Alison Jeffrey: 01334 870 674.

Saturday, 27 May to Sunday 1 October – Preservation Trust Museum, North Street. The Polish Connection. Explore through objects & paintings the lives of the many Polish citizens of St Andrews. Contact: trust@standrewspreservationtrust.org.uk

St Andrews Photographers will be holding their exhibition in Holy Trinity Church from June – September. www.standrewsphotographers.com Saturday, 3 June – 9.00am-1.00pm. Argyle Street car park. Farmers’ Market.

– 11.00am-4.00pm.Leuchars Army Base. Open Day. See page 26.

– 1.00-4.00pm. All Saints Church Hall, North Castle Street.

Acrylic Paint taster workshop, Eden Art. Contact: 07890 716 543, eden.art@hotmail.com Tuesday, 6 June – 7.30pm. Lecture theatre B, Chemistry Department, North Haugh. Recent developments & new plantings at RBGE. A talk by David Knott, Curator of the Royal Botanic Garden, Edinburgh & President of the Royal Caledonian Horticultural Society, for the Friends of the St Andrews Botanic Garden. Entry Free. Contact: friendsmembership@standrewsbotanic.org Friday, 9 June – 7.30pm. The Scores Hotel, the Scores. Spain v.

Portugal Wine Tasting with Charcuterie. Rose Murray Brown is your guide. Contact: reception@scoreshotel.co.uk Friday, 16 & Saturday, 17 June – 7.00pm. Madras College, Kilrymont Road. A Sky Full of Stars. Madras Community Dance School show. Tickets, £6.50, concessions £5.50, available from Madras Community Use. Contact: joannacunningham1993@hotmail.co.uk Sunday, 25 June – 11.00am to 5.00pm. Hidden Gardens.

Privileged viewing of rarely-seen gardens in St Andrews.

Contact: St Andrews Preservation Trust 01334 477 152, trust@standrewspreservationtrust.org.uk

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hannahmilner893@hotmail.co.uk

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OUT & ABOUT Lindsay Bamforth, Fife Nature Records Centre, and Gabrielle Flinn, Buglife Scotland

More than just “Long Horns”!

With their characteristically event to raise awareness long antennae, it is not of these beetles in Fife, hard to see how longhorn giving an opportunity for beetles got their name! people to find out how and They are more than where to find them and just their eye-catching also practice identification appearance however; they skills. We hope longhorn also have environmental recording in the Kingdom significance. Despite this, will increase as a result! information about where Why not get involved different longhorn species too, to help give a more can be found in Scotland complete picture for is incomplete; something Fife by recording what Buglife Scotland has been you see? In particular, trying to change. keep an eye out for the Longhorn beetles, Asian longhorn beetle, known scientifically an immensely invasive as Cerembycidae, are and damaging species. It particularly important to the has yet to be spotted in woodland habitat in which Scotland, but it is important they reside. As larvae, they that it is reported, if seen, eat decaying wood, which to prevent any potential returns the nutrients to the damage it could cause living ecosystem, enabling to our trees and native them to be used again. longhorn beetles.

Alongside this recycling role, Fife Nature Records they also pollinate flowers Centre would love to hear (as adults they feed on about any wildlife you’ve nectar) and are themselves seen in Fife (contact details They are more than just their eye-catching appearance below). Please submit your an important food source for other animals, such as birds. longhorn beetle records however; they also have environmental significance There are around on the Buglife website. For 20,000 species of longhorn more information and to beetle across the world, download a free longhorn many can be recognised with the naked eye, 60+ species in the UK, but just 28 known in beetle identification guide, visit: the public can certainly help increase what Scotland . The male beetles have particularly www.buglife.org.uk/activities-for-you/ is known about longhorn distribution. A free long antennae, which they use to find mates, wildlife-surveys/longhorn-beetle-survey guide is available on the Buglife website, although the males tend to be smaller overall Fife Nature Records Centre and Buglife which provides information to help users find than the females. The antennae are also Scotland gratefully acknowledge funding from and identify species, such as the preferred used to seek out suitable nesting sites, such Scottish Natural Heritage (SNH), which made nesting habitat of each species and the time as decaying logs, stems of a particular group the Longhorn Beetle Survey project possible of year each is likely to emerge. of plants commonly known as umbellifers and, alongside support from Fife Council, helps Summer is the peak time to find (for example Cow Parsley); some even in the ongoing running of Fife Nature. longhorns, so now is a great time to go prefer living wood to lay their eggs in. Many looking for these engaging creatures – longhorns are large, distinctive, and often (Photo courtesy Fife Nature Records) search on broad flower heads, trees, dead have striking colouration and patterning on 1 wood (particularly on freshly cut or fallen their hard wing cases (known as elytra ).

Buglife Longhorn Beetle Survey: wood). Earlier in the year, Fife Nature As there are a relatively small number of

www.buglife.org.uk/activities-for-you/wildlife-surveys/ Records Centre and Buglife Scotland held an species likely to be seen in Scotland, and longhorn-beetle-survey

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OUT & ABOUT Tim Hardie’s

Nature Notes Our lovely brown hares broke cover in mid February and suddenly every country walk would be rewarded by a sighting. They appear to spend the winter months holed up in the many woods that cover a large area of this part of the world. Their reappearance is presumably sparked by the longer days, the grass starting to grow again and the need to make new friends, or rekindle old friendships.

It is probably time I introduced you to what is widely regarded in the Hardie household as the ‘brat pack, rat pack’, Maggie, Myrtle, and Weasel. These three are very demanding, expecting at least a two-to-three-mile walk every evening. On returning from work, a few domestic chores are completed, then time for the off, the brat pack’s excitement is palpable as the tweed cap goes on and the walking stick is lifted.

I, too, love this through the winter months, when it is pitch black and you stride along known field margins and country roads. The feeling of being the only human about is a good one, a feeling that money can’t buy. Come this time of year it’s not so easy; the hedgerows and roadsides are the home of wildlife, the last thing they need is a trio of spaniels sticking their wet noses in their nests.

My female kestrel was still roosting in a shed on the farm last week, you can see why they are known as solitary creatures. I have watched her spending her days out about on

the farm and she is always on her own. That said, I have seen a male near Rait and imagine by hook or by crook there will be a coupling this spring.

The pinkfoot geese again have largely done a vanishing act on Tayside this spring. I am sure they used to stay on the Tay estuary for longer in previous years, but last year and this, they have moved on to pastures new. The grass parks in the Carse of Gowrie have been empty of their age-old visitors. Bizarrely they seem to leave when the shooting season ends!

I have seen one or two red squirrels recently, not many greys. Is it possible that our newly-arrived pine marten is dispatching our less agile American friends, therefore helping one of our most appealing native creatures, hopefully?

My last Nature notes would almost imply that to catch migratory fish you need to take an otter with you to, possibly, have any success.

This truly was the case when you were fishing Scotland’s famous salmon rivers many years ago in the early spring, prior to the catastrophic collapse in salmon runs. The early spring was a time of plenty and fresh-run salmon from the North Atlantic were sure to be found lying in the Dee’s famous salmon pools.

I was lucky enough to be taken fishing on the river Dee by the late Robert Strang Steele.

Robert was the most dashing of fellows; I was open mouthed as he explained to me that the

Brown hare fact that his yellow-belly artificial Minnow was hanked to a rock on the bottom of the river, was not a problem, as he had a otter. As I recall, he attached a gadget to his line, which then dived down to the bottom of the river and freed his yellow belly, and therefore he could continue fishing. The naming of this gadget seems self-explanatory!!

(Photo courtesy John Anderson (Crail Birder: www.pbase.com/crail_birder ))

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OUT & ABOUT Craig Gilbert

The Art of Glenrothes One could simply drive through Glenrothes and not be enthused about the experience.

For many, it is a roundabout haven, a network of roads that end up in industrial estates and council offices. However, there’s much, much more to Glenrothes than meets the eye. As a ScotWays official, I’m always seeking out rights of way, and surveying them for the benefit of our catalogue of them, to safeguard our routes for years to come.

Take Boblingen Way (named after the town of Boblingen in Germany, which Glenrothes is twinned with), as an example – a right of way that can take you from Leslie all the way to Markinch, slicing through Glenrothes, a fantastic route split for the pedestrian and the cyclist. How amazing it is to totally walk through the town, without ever having to walk alongside a main road! The route travels over viaducts, alongside parks, through woodland by the side of housing (including alongside the interestingly named Macedonia – although there’s nothing biblical about it; the name derives, so I’m led to believe, from an old farm, ‘Muckersey’, that used to be in the area).

As well as west-east, you can also walk north-south, or anywhere in Glenrothes, by the use of pedestrian paths. It is a unique design, with walkers very much in mind, and I applaud it for this. Nestled along these paths are hidden gems, pieces of artwork, also

Formonthills Woodland, Glenrothes some lovely parks, including Riverside Park, at the northern tip of Glenrothes, in the where one can traverse beside the waterway.

Formonthills community woodland. These I’ve even spotted a woods have been Kingfisher on one upgraded by the of my excursions, Woodland Trust there’s much, much more to speeding its way to have a myriad along the river in a of paths within, Glenrothes than meets the eye flash of blue. with new artwork Glenrothes also sculptures and sits just south of the stone circles, Lomond Hills Regional Park. Startling views adding to the curiosity. Stunning views can can be seen of the Lomonds when you’re be seen looking back, especially at Rhind Hill, where Glenrothes is laid at your feet, and beyond to the Forth and Edinburgh.

I was enjoying a brief rest on this walk, marvelling at the view, only to then spot two deer watching me through the trees; suddenly I was transported away into nature, relishing the thought that I could see the urban sprawl before me, but also could see the wildness and majesty of the landscape.

So, next time you venture into Glenrothes, perhaps you’ll look at it from a different perspective, and acknowledge the wealth of the land it lies within, trying to find as many pieces of the art scattered throughout the town as you can. If you’re also keen to survey rights of way, ScotWays would love to hear from you, and can be contacted at info@scotways.com (Photos courtesy Craig Gilbert)

Totem, Formonthills Woodland

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The Defenceless One, Riverside Park, Glenrothes

OUT & ABOUT Arlen Pardoe

Hidden Gems in St Andrews Focussing on features that are in plain sight, though often overlooked Hoppers Rainwater hoppers are used to increase the flow of water in a drainpipe in heavy rainfall. Pipes usually run only one-third full, but the use of a hopper allows it to run at full capacity due to syphonic action (the water is literally sucked down the pipe). The hopper acts as a reservoir of water above the downpipe and will also allow more than

one pipe to fill the hopper, such as pipes leading from bathrooms and gutters. Hoppers were very popular in Victorian houses. They can be very ornate architectural features embossed with patterns, shapes, animals, or dates. Unsurprisingly, many of the buildings in central St Andrews have rainwater hoppers in a wide variety of styles.

(Photos courtesy Arlen Pardoe)

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