Explore St Andrews Newsletter 2014

1

Good luck to us

all in the 2009

Tourist Season.

In the year of

The

Homecoming

Explore Scotland News

Would you believe that we have been producing

the Explore St Andrews and East Fife Guides

since 2000, fourteen years! In these fourteen

years we have seen a lot of change in how we

access the tourist market, how the visitors are

looking and finding information for their holidays.

The big change in this time has been how the

tourism industry has had to embrace the inter-

net. Back in 2000 many holiday makers arrived

in their destination and headed for the Tourist

Office to collect information. Today visitors do

much of their planning on line.

Our focus as Explore Scotland has been to pro-

vide information on specific areas of Scotland,

much of which does not have a web site or

championed by some business or enterprise. I

call these the gold nuggets, the special pieces of

information, that when you are on holiday make

your holiday a bit different.

Our new Explore web sites (new in 2012), have

made use of the latest technology. They are ac-

cessible through all types of devices from mobile

phones, tablets, net books to desk top comput-

ers. They use Google language translator (for all

those whose first language is not English),

Google Maps to show locations and a direction

planner through out the web site. There is also a

Trip Planner on each Explore web site, where

visitors can go round the web site collecting all

the things that catch their eye from Events to

attractions and those ‘gold nuggets’ that they do

not find on other sites. They can print this off and

bring it with them on holiday, to remind them

what caught their eye when they were doing their

holiday research.

We have also learnt that Events can make a big

difference to people’s holidays. Events are gener-

ally scattered across a whole host of web sites,

that most holiday makers will never have the

time nor the energy to trawl through. So we have

Explore St Andrews and East Fife Start of the Season News –

local tourism businesses tell you their news!

April 2014

Explore Scotland Ltd

01796 473335

The newsletter

Gives you the latest

St Andrews and East Fife

tourist business news

Written by the businesses

themselves

St Andrews

Newsletter 2014

Once upon a time, a few years past,

tourism businesses collected

information for their customers at Start of the Season

Leaflet Days.

These events by and large do not

happen any more!

This publication brings you news direct from other

tourism businesses in the area.

2

Page 2 St Andrews Tourism Newsletter 2014

Fishers Studio & Gallery High Street Pittenweem Pittenweem is an historic fishing

village 9 miles south of St

Andrews with a working harbour.

The Pittenweem Festival, which

was started in 1982 by local

artists, has an established repu-

tation for fostering the arts.

The Fisher Gallery, opened in

2000 by artists John & Jan Fish-

er, is dedicated to showing origi-

nal work by artists and craft-

workers, mostly based in Scot-

land.

On April 4th the Fisher Gallery welcomes

visitors to the start of the season of

exhibitions with paintings by Jan

Fisher, James Fraser, Susan

Reid, John Wetten Brown, Penel-

ope Anstice and Carola Gordon.

The exhibition will continue with

a change-around of new work by

our core of artists until the end

of July.

All exhibitions feature studio

pottery, studio glass, wood-work

and enamel-work and limited

edition prints of Fife landscapes

by Anna & Jan Fisher.

Pittenweem Arts Festival

August 2nd- 10th

The Fisher Gallery Festival

Exhibition opens with a pre-

view at 7pm on Friday, August

2 and will include new work

by David Smith, James Fra-

ser, John Kingsley, George

Birrell, George Gilbert, Made-

leine Hand, Roland Fraser

and Jan Fisher.

The exhibition will continue

after the Festival throughout

August.

For more information and winter opening,

p l e a se r e f e r t o ou r w e bs i t e

www.fishergallery.co.uk or call 01333

312255.

From April 4 the Gallery is open 10-5

(closed Tuesdays).

A full framing service is offered by Mark

Feely who is available in the Gallery Thurs-

day, Friday and Saturday.

“On April 4th

the Fisher

Gallery

welcomes

visitors to the

start of the

season ”.

specialised in pulling the events together in

place and made them highly usable (see the

article on page 3).

The big hitters on the Internet.

The big money generators on the internet

are the accommodation booking

engines, (see article on page 11),

which charge commission to the

owners and the purchaser, making

millions in the process.

None of us like to travel to a desti-

nation not knowing where we are

going to stay. It would be a real

lottery and highly stressful. So we

search, taking time to work out

where we can stay and our broad

travel itinerary, while we are still at

home. The hour by day plans are

often left for when we are on holi-

day, such as where we are going to

eat, and do.

Despite all this technology people

still like to have something they

can read in their hand, preferably

with maps to help them make these deci-

sions. This is where our Explore Guides fit,

the Explore guides do not sell accommoda-

tion, which we believe is for the internet, but

it does set out to promote the area in a easy

to use informative style (no graffiti adverts,

where businesses buy a space and splash

what ever they want on it, trying to out com-

pete the other spaces sold in the publica-

tion). We control the information format and

style. Many visitors tell us they collect the

guides for the different areas and take them

home as their holiday souvenir.

Accommodation providers are part of the

Explore Scotland team. The Explore guides

were developed back in 2000 with lots of

excellent feedback and constructive criti-

cisms from accommodation providers that

have shaped today’s Explore Guides. Our

objective has always been to give accom-

modation providers a reasonable quality

publication, that promotes their area to

their guests. Maps supported by good

information helps them learn the choices

they have and hopefully encourages

some of them to stay longer and others to

come back again, as there was so much

to do.

Last year we decided to try a new style of

map for St Andrews. We are very pleased

to say a couple of B&B owners asked to

meet us and made the case that the map

was not good enough, asking us to return

to the painted map. As one of the B&B

owners said to us, “My heart sank every

time I opened the guide to show them

where to go in to St Andrews!”

We would like to thank the B&B owners

for taking the time to tell us what they

thought and we are very grateful they cared

enough to get us to give them the map they

wanted.

Explore Scotland Social Media and What’s On.

http://www.fishergallery.co.uk/

3

It’s been a whirlwind start to 2014! Already,

the Pittenweem Chocolate Company has

been featured in Scottish Field and we’ve

been recommended by the prestigious

Conde Naste Traveller - see their special

feature on Fife, in the April 2014 issue!

The Pittenweem Chocolate

Company has also attended

some special events - in-

cluding Scotland’s Speciality

Food Show and the celebrat-

ed Salon Du Chocolat in

Paris - where we meet some

of the world’s leading choco-

late makers. As we develop

friendships and discover

new flavours, we’re able to

bring an expanding range of

artisan chocolates to our

little shop in the East Neuk of Fife.

In turn, we showcase our own exciting, hand

-made range including our Luxury Hot Choc-

olates Flakes, flavoured Chocolate

Bars and popular Malt Whisky Li-

queurs - an exclusive collaboration

between the Pittenweem Chocolate

Company and our Belgian

chocolate-makers.

Looking ahead, we’re excited about

the monthly Fife Farmers Market,

in Cupar and St Andrews. In spring,

we’ll be at Bo’ness Victorian Mar-

ket and Ceilidh Culture Street Fair

in Edinburgh and in summer, we’ll

welcome back Pittenweem Arts

Festival. Soon, winter will return with our

festive celebrations and Santa’s Grotto!

Throughout the seasons, our atmospheric,

vintage-style café, continues to serve deli-

cious savouries, sweets and chocolate spe-

cialities. Also, in our chocolate boutique,

experience chocolates from around the

globe, including our own selection - Hand-

made in Pittenweem.

Visit soon! Meanwhile, stay in touch via

Facebook, Pinterest or Twitter and read our

delicious news at our blog, Sophie’s Journal.

Find out more at

www.pittenweemchocolate.co.uk.

“Pittenweem

Chocolate

Company has

been featured

in Scottish

Field !”

The Pittenweem Chocolate Company

Page 3 April 2014

Explore Scotland - Social Media and What’s On I would like to introduce myself as part

of the Explore Scotland Team. My

name is Fionna and I co-ordinate the

social media sites Facebook, Twitter &

Google+ for Explore Scotland and look

out for events to add to the events

(What’s On) section of the Explore Scot-

land web sites.

Events – What’s On.

We coordinate the events in the area

on the What’s On section of the web

site, by highlighting the events in the

area. If you are on holiday, how much

time do you spend trying to find out

where all the events are? Surely better

to have them all in one place!

What makes the Explore What’s On so spe-

cial?

Well you and your guests can:-

Sort events by category; family, mu-

sic, outdoors, markets, talks etc.

Sort events by date of arrival and

departure for your guests.

Print the sorted events off – to

present to your guests on arrival, so

they have all the events during their

stay.

Monthly What’s On brochure.

Each months events are compiled in to

an on line brochure which you can print

off for your guests. We know hotels,

Guest houses, that print off the months

events brochure and leave it in the re-

ception for their guests, reprinting if guests

take it away with them.

4

Explore Scotland Social Media and What’s On (cont’d)

Adding events FREE of charge – if you are

running a tourist event (it can be of interest

to locals too), and would like it to be includ-

ed in the above, all you have to do is:-

Go to the Explore What’s On web site

section.

Top left, just under the logo, click on

‘Submit your event’ link

Fill in your event details.

This will come to us at Ex-

plore Scotland and we will

double check all the con-

tent before publishing it.

We try and do this process

as quickly as possible, usu-

ally with in 24 hours, your

event will be live.

Social Media.

I manage the day to day Explore

FaceBook, Twitter and Google+

channels, talking about and cham-

pioning the area, promoting many

of the events that are on during

each month in the What’s On.

If you would like me to help promote an

event coming up, please make sure the

details are in our What’s On page. You can

send a photo too and I will add it to the en-

try to help enhance it. I will then post and

talk about your event on our social media

sites and help you get your message out.

Also let me know when you have something

to say and you would like our support in

helping to get the word out, we will be de-

lighted to support you, if at all possible.

You can contact me on

[email protected]

I would like to take this opportunity to ask

you for some help and I look forward to

hearing from you.


Ceres Highland Games - 28th June 2014

Ceres Highland Games

700 years of history on 28th June 2014

Ceres Highland Games will be celebrating

our 700th anniversary this year. We are a

traditional highland games - the village of

Ceres is tucked away in the countryside of

North East Fife near St Andrews (and a 2

day march from Bannockburn), we are the

oldest free games, possibly the smallest

and certainly (or so we believe) one of the

best highland games in Scotland. We can

trace our history directly back to Robert the

Bruce and Bannockburn and we celebrate

not the battle itself but the safe return of

the men of Ceres from the battle.

We celebrate with traditional events from

the Pipe band, Highland Dancing, Athletics

(track & cycling), Scottish wrestling and of

course, the Heavies (including the unique

Ceres Staine and the Ceres Caber). There

will also be market stalls, the famous

Gamesburger BBQ and a fun fair for the

children.

As a free games there is no entry fee for

spectators - there will also be unique

souvenirs available both on the day and

online. We rely entirely on donations, fund

raising, market stalls, advertising and spon-

sorship to keep going year on year. We

would be delighted to see you on the

day. You can also join in our history with a

pack of unique commemorative souvenirs

where you can support the future of the

Ceres Highland Games. Check out our web-

site at www.ceresgames.co.uk.

You can be part of our history and support

us to celebrate this unique event with:

- your name on a personalised scroll com-

memorating the 700th anniversary

- a commemorative photo of the 700th

Ceres Highland Games

- a commemorative t-shirt

- an e-photo album of the 700th Ceres High-

land Games

- add your name to the time capsule to be-

come part of our history

- a unique (personalised) pottery plaque

from the world famous Wemyss Ware

pottery (conveniently based in Ceres)

www.wemyss-ware.co.uk

Donate now for the 2014 Ceres Games

www.btplc.com/mydonate and enter Ceres

Highland Games in the charity section

Ceres Highland Games is a partner pro-

gramme with Homecoming Scotland 2014.

Find us on Twitter and Facebook

https://www.facebook.com/CeresGames

https://twitter.com/CeresGames

mailto:[email protected]

http://www.wemyss-ware.co.uk/

http://www.btplc.com/mydonate

https://www.facebook.com/CeresGames

https://twitter.com/CeresGames

5

Well this is the start of Year 10…..time does

seem to fly can’t believe that we opened our

door ten years ago….. it’s been a fun jour-

ney here’s to the next ten !

Some new gifts have been sourced, includ-

ing personalised mugs that will have an

image from our local artist DS Mackie im-

printed on them. And in preparation for

being open over December we

have already sourced some

wonderful Christmas gifts (!) as

we plan to run seven days

though to 4th January 2015.

Also great updates to our

menu…… that include Scottish

cheese board, Organic choco-

late cheesecake, Warm winter

dish and we now have two

cakes that are gluten free…..

Double chocolate cake and

caramelised apple tart.

We have a new family of

chickens….sadly Mr Fox got over

the beach and into our coup not

something we thought was possi-

ble….now have an automatic

metal door that should keep our

new girls safe, they are all pure

breeds.

Named by our son as Muffty,

Tuffty, Q, Boba and Drift!

We are now also on Face-

book and Twitter…..plans

afoot to start using social media

more often for updates etc.

And again there will be a Crail Food

festival on 14th and 15th June, not to

be missed as there is fun and food

for the whole family.

We have much the same staff as

last year, now with name badges,

please feel free to ask for any infor-

mation, we do have a lot of local

knowledge between all of us !

We painted and decorated inside and out

prior to opening, so our business is now

looking as fresh as when we opened in

2005. Let’s hope for a nice dry summer!

Above the Gallery we have a luxury cottage

for rent (MayView), this has been restored

with the same care as the Gallery and ac-

commodates up to two adults and one

small child. Full information on MayView is

at www.crailholidaycottages.co.uk

Maisha is a family run authentic Indian and

Seafood Restaurant right in the heart of St

Andrews. Maisha means “working with

pride.”

Voted top 5 in Scotland by Scottish Curry

Award 2011.

Their aim is to introduce a truly high quality

Indian and Seafood Restaurant created with

ambition, determination and a desire to

succeed. They specialise in Fish and

Seafood in an authentic and traditional

way. Throughout the world people are

becoming more aware of the health

advantages of including more fish and

seafood in their daily diets. Bengali

cuisine has always marinated fish as an

integral theme.

The Bay of Bengal provides a sweet

water delicious fish and seafood such

as Bengal Rupchanda – a silvery white

pomphet and Tilipia. They have intro-

duced a Tuna Fish Kebab, Scottish

Lamb’s Liver Bhuna, and a fresh local

Crab Bhuna recipe developed by Mah-

fuza, Mohi’s (the owner’s) wife.

They make sure they use as much fresh

local produce as they can in all their dishes.

Their team of chefs producing a mouth wa-

tering range of delicious dishes from Bang-

ladesh, India, Thailand and Scotland which

coupled with an extensive wine, Bangla-

deshi and Indian beer and spirit list, produc-

es a unique experience.

Their aim is to provide:-

“The best food, the best service

and all in a friendly atmosphere

second to none”

They accept all major credit cards.

FREE DELIVERY

On orders over £24.95 within the

St. Andrews area on regular menu

10% discount on collection on orders over

£ 15.00

For Reservations/Takeaway:

Tel: 01334 476666

5 College Street, St Andrews, Fife KYI6 9AA

Email: [email protected]

www.maisharestaurant.co.uk

www.maishastandrews.co.uk

Crail Harbour Gallery and Tearoom

Maisha - Authentic Indian and Seafood Restaurant


“We have a

new family

of chickens

Named as

Muffty,

Tuffty, Q,

Boba and

Drift!

http://www.crailholidaycottages.co.uk/

6

‘Farm Shop Of The Year’

Local Retailer Ardross Farm Shop Wins

‘Farm Shop Of The Year’

in the Farm Shop & Deli Awards

From nearly 300 entries nationwide, local

retailer Ardross Farm Shop wins ‘Farm Shop

Of The Year’ in the Farm Shop & Deli

Awards.

Nikki Storrar, Manager, Ardross Farm Shop

said: We are so absolutely delighted to have

won this Award, we have had tears and all

sorts – our staff have been jumping up and

down. It means the world to us, our team

have worked so hard and we want to thank

all of our loyal customers for not only sup-

porting us in the Awards with such great

comments on the consumer votes – but

every day, all year round . It’s just so great

to be recognised and to know that all our

hard work has paid off!”

The Farm Shop & Deli

Awards, in partnership

with Olives Et Al, rec-

ognise the very best

standards in speciality

retail and to celebrate

the highest levels of

service, product

knowledge, initiative,

innovation and com-

munity involvement.

The Awards celebrate

the unsung heroes of

the high street and

speciality retail scene

with categories rang-

ing from butchers,

bakers, farm shops

and delis through to

garden centres, food halls and online busi-

nesses.

Judge Neil Nugent, Executive Chef and

Head of Product Development at Morrison’s

said “The Awards are a brilliant opportunity

for the UK’s small independent businesses

like Ardross Farm Shop to get recognition

nationally and enable them to become a

destination.”

The Farm Shop & Deli Awards received a

record number of entrants from nearly 300

businesses across the UK, along with thou-

sands of public votes from consumers sup-

porting their favourite speciality retailers.

Ardross Farm Shop was one of twelve cate-

gory winners and twenty five commended

and were chosen following a day of inten-

sive judging by leading speciality retailers

and key industry figures along with mystery

visits conducted throughout December by

BBC Radio 2’s Nigel Barden, Chair of Judg-

es.

Nigel Barden said “It's gratifying to know

that there are so many excellent purveyors

of food & drink in Britain, like Ardross Farm

Shop

During the mystery visits I have been de-

lighted, moved & inspired by the people I've

met and it's marvellous to find local retailers

like Ardross Farm Shop, are so much at the

heart of their community. “

The scores will now be counted and judged

within the ten UK regions, announcing the

Regional Champions in February – these

winners will go through to the final with the

chance to win Retailer of the Year. The

overall winner will be announced at the

Farm Shop & Deli Show on 24 March 2014

at Birmingham’s NEC.

F o r m o r e i n f o r m a t i o n v i s i t :

www.ardrossfarm.co.uk


7

The Secret Bunker

Re:Launch: Secret Bunker Celebrates 20

Years with Refurbishment

Scotland’s Secret Bunker, a Cold War nucle-

ar command centre, will be re-opening its

3 tonne blast proof doors to the public once

again this weekend, after undergoing an

extensive restoration project over the winter

months.

The Cold War museum, which is

situated just five minutes from St

Andrews in Fife, closed for the

winter and has carried out exten-

sive refurbishment ahead of its

20th Anniversary celebrations this

year.

Opened to the public in 1994,

after being decommissioned in the

late 1980s following the collapse

of the Soviet Union and the disso-

lution of nuclear threat, the bunker

is now one of Fife’s major tourist

attractions welcoming tens of thousands of

visitors through its blast doors every year.

One room which has been extensively

remodelled was the British Telecom equip-

ment room where never-seen before areas

have now been revealed, allowing Cold War

(and, indeed, telecoms) enthusiasts to see

the specialist communications equipment

which were in operation to distribute the

2800 phone lines connected to the bunker,

and which would have been the main line of

communication with the outside world in the

event of a nuclear attack on Scotland.

James Mitchell, Managing Director of Scot-

land’s Secret Bunker commented:

“We are really excited about our 20th anni-

versary year and to be re-opening this spring

with a fresh look to all our exhibits. Over the

years we have had many artefacts given to

us, or have acquired them from other de-

commissioned bunkers, and we felt it was

time for a fresh look at how everything was

being presented. We’ve invested in a series

of information screens throughout the mu-

seum which will help bring the bunker to life

for our visitors, in

addition to our

audio tour which

explains the his-

tory of the bunker

in full.

“We’re also very

excited about

being able to

extend and show

off areas of the

bunker that may

have never been

seen before. Re-

cently a whole

host of television programmes marked 30

years from when we were, literally, on the

brink of a nuclear war. Since the bunker

only opened to the public 20 years ago,

people are amazed at just how recent and

real the threat was, and just how prepared

we were. We are really looking forward to

welcoming our first visitors this Saturday

and their feedback on our improvements.”

For more information on Scotland’s Secret

Bunker please visit www.secretbunker.co.uk


Craigtoun Country Park

Craigtoun Country Park on the outskirts of

St Andrews has bounced back to life as one

of the top tourist attractions in Fife.

Offering a great day out for all the family,

the attractions at the park have been

brought back to life by the "Friends of

Craigtoun", and last season their efforts

were rewarded with a Four Star Rating from

VisitScotland.

Boasting acres of landscaped gardens and

open spaces the park's facilities include

boating, miniature railway, the Puffin Billy

road train, trampolines, pedal cars, bouncy

castles, a superb adventure playground and

'Fairy Glen". And, during the 2014 season

the opening of a new 'Trim Trail' and zip

wires will add to the wonderful facilities.

Away from the hustle and bustle of the paid-

for attractions visitors are free to wander

around beautiful glasshouses or find a quiet

corner by one of several follies around the

park including the Italian Garden or

Japanese Garden.

Acres of grassed space are the ideal place

for a kick about or a picnic although cafete-

ria facilities are also available.

Parking and entry to the park is free of

charge and there are various charges for

the use of the attractions ranging from a

single ride ticket to a family day pass or

season ticket, all offering exceptional value

for the top-notch facilities.

The park is open all year round and the

attractions operate - Main season - (Daily

from 29:6:14 to 31:8:14) Mon - Sat 10am -

6pm. Sundays 11am - 6pm. Off season -

(Daily 29:3:14 to 27:4:2014. Weekends to

23:6:2014. Weekends through September

& October) Mon - Sat 10.30am - 5pm.

Sundays 12noon - 5pm

Call the park on - 01334 472013

“We are really

excited about

our 20th

anniversary

year ”.

http://www.secretbunker.co.uk

8

Discover a living treasure, 125 years in the

making.

From our visitors:

“Wonderful afternoon spent strolling in the

beautiful surroundings. Worth far more than

the entry charge! “Somerset.

“One of my favourite places locally, so inter-

esting to visit, and of great value to local

gardeners, to see what flourishes so close

to the sea! “ Pitlessie.

“A highlight….inspiring….great to see the

children involved.” Derbyshire.

“I had lots of fun. Harvey age 5. And I loved

it….caught a mini beast, it was a wood-

lice…..best day ever.” Hannah age

8.

The Botanic Garden has a full programme of

events, workshops, walks, music, and

school activities. Especially popular are the

free open days in June; this year celebrating

125 years of a botanic garden in St Andrews

and Harvest Day in September. There is a

new Gruffalo trail for children to explore and

Big Ted has become a fixture. Our volunteer

guides are ready to conduct introductory

and specialist walks.

Come along and enjoy the peace and magi-

cal atmosphere of a special place.

Favourite plants to spot are Magnolia in

March, Rhododendrons in April, the Gun-

nera or ‘Giant rhubarb’ in June, Giant Hima-

layan Lily in July, and wonderful glasshouse

collections too.

See the Botanic Garden website for details:

www.st-andrews-botanic.org.


“This

delightful

trail is the

brainchild

of sculptor

Robin

Wood !”.

The Glingbobs and Tootflits have

taken up residence on Cambo

Estate!

Young visitors to Cambo are being asked to

keep their eyes wide open as they explore

the new woodland paths by the burn and

drive on Cambo Estate where there is plenty

of evidence that those mythical creatures,

the Glingbobs and Tootflits, have taken up

residence. Doors and windows have

appeared in trees – high up if home to the

Tootflits (Finky Twitch and Griffin Stixworth

to name but two) low down for the Gling-

bobs (such as Boggy Bean and Brimble

Cottlebok). Other mysterious wooden struc-

tures have also appeared along

the route and with a map to fol-

low, children have plenty to look

out for and a lovely map to colour

in when they get home as well as

being encouraged to look out for

signs along the trail of other ani-

mals and birds that live in the

woods.

This delightful trail is the brain-

child of sculptor Robin Wood and

was created in the Cambo woods

thanks to funding from

Big Lottery Communities and Families and

Fife Council.

Rivals for the Pigs?

Pigs and piglets have long been a familiar

sight, and attraction, in the Cambo woods,

but two years ago three tiny Skyrian ponies

took up residence in the parkland in front of

Cambo House. Originating in Greece, they

lived throughout Greece in ancient times,

but now they are a protected species of just

over 200, the majority of these to be found

on the island of Skyros, the remainder in

Scotland!

In May 2013, Aglia, Adonis and Andronicus

were born at Cambo, so in keeping with

tradition, and as they were the first

Skyrian foals to be born at Cambo,

Sir Peter and Lady Erskine felt it

was appropriate not only to give

them Greek names, but start at

the beginning of the alphabet, in

so doing choosing to omit the

more obvious Alpha for the only

filly.

It is a delight to watch this small

herd grazing in the parkland and

fingers are crossed that there will

be more foals in Spring 2014.

“This

delightful

trail is the

brainchild

of sculptor

Robin

Wood !”.

Cambo Estate, — NEW residents Glingbobs & Tootflits

The St Andrews Botanic Garden

http://www.st-andrews-botanic.org/

9

Di Gilpin’s Hand Knit Design Studio

Your chance to meet Di Gilpin; creative di-

rector of renowned hand-knit design studio

creating couture knitwear which reflects the

rich Scottish heritage of hand-knitting and

folklore in an elegantly modern way, using

the finest cashmere and wool that Scotland

can produce. Di has designed and produced

knitwear for a number of companies in Brit-

ain as well as internationally, including Han-

cock VA, Jupiter, Mark Fast, Topshop

Unique, Cabbages & Roses, Sophia Ko-

kosolaki and Meadham Kirchhoff.

Pop along to meet Di at work, and for

the opportunity to chat about all thing hand

knit with expert advice freely giv-

en. Commission one of Di's bespoke de-

signs, and have a look though her beautiful

collection of knitwear, patterns and a won-

derful selection of yarns.

A weekly Knit Club is held

on Thursdays from 5pm to

7pm, which are free for

anyone to come along.

Sign up to their newsletter

to keep up to date with

what workshops and

events are on throughout

the year, as well as lots of

other knitterly inspiration

at digilpin.com. A warm welcome awaits!

Open by appointment.

E-mail: [email protected]

Phone: 07979974371

Di Gilpin's Knitting Bothy is in the village of

Largoward. At crossroads leave pub on your

left towards the Peat Inn, the Studio is 8th

on right. 16 Cupar Road KY9 1HX


“Pop

along to

meet Di

at work, ”

From an old cart shed with a

couple of freezers, no window

and a calculator - to the UK's

best Farm Shop - it's been an

extraordinary decade for the

Pollock family in Fife.

Ardross Farm Shop near the

village of Elie in the East Neuk

has won the coveted title Farm

Shop of the Year 2014, beat-

ing off three hundred busi-

nesses. - The only Scottish

business to feature in the

a w a r d s .

The business was started by

Fiona and Rob Pollok in 2005,

as a means of selling the beef

and vegetables produced on

their picturesque farm on the

Fife coast. It quickly became a

hit with local people, business-

es and tourists, gaining a

reputation for high quality

traditionally grown produce.

It now has an annual turnover

of hundreds of thousands of

pounds, employs 17 part and full time staff,

runs its own commercial kitchen and stocks

o v e r 2 5 0 0 p r o d u c t s .

Fiona Pollok said: "We started with a couple

of freezers and a calculator. The whole

family helped clean up and paint

an old cart shed. On our first

day, we had two customers and

took in £23 and I was delighted!"

Fiona's daughter Claire helped in

the shop when she got home

from school to give her mother a

break. Her sister Nikki got

involved after graduating from

university, and now manages the

business, sourcing and buying

produce.

Ardross Farm Shop - the inside story

“We started

with a couple

of freezers

and a

calculator.“

http://digilpin.com


10


“This

delightful

trail is the

brainchild

of sculptor

Robin

Wood !”.

They concentrate on small, artisan and local

producers. The shop has expanded, and

with it the business. A few years ago, the

Pollock’s built a commercial kitchen which

produces a constantly widening range - in-

cluding steak pies, soups, stocks, jams and

coulis.

Nikki believes their success is down to the

relationship the family have built with their

producers and their customers "everything

in the shop has been tasted by our family

and staff. If we wouldn't buy something or

don't like it, then we don't stock it. We

passionately believe in sup-

porting fellow farmers and

small producers and we

actively seek out new ways

to support them. We're very

privileged to live in such a

diverse area where local

food is really coming to the

fore."

It has been a steep learning

curve for all the family, get-

ting to grips with a business

which has surpassed their

expectations. Their growing

reputation has meant the

car park at the farm is often

filled with customers and

holidaymakers at weekends. Nikki has had

to get to grips with managing staff, and all

the legislation and acronyms that are cen-

tral to the food industry. "it

took us ages to work out all

the abbreviations when we

first started. There were

a lot of amusing conversa-

tions before we managed to

work out what EPOS, USP,

PSB and all the others

meant!"

One thing has remained

constant as the business

has changed beyond recog-

nition: the passion and com-

mitment of the entire family.

Claire is now a trainee ac-

countant and her other sister

Tara is a PE teacher in Oban,

but at weekends and holidays, everyone

mucks in to help. "Without my sisters

helping Dad dig parsnips and cut

sprouts from our fields over Christmas

and New Year, we wouldn't have

s u r v i v e d , " N i k k i s a i d .

The business is now looking to take on

a full time cook, as their home made

products are best sellers.

The family will go to the

NEC in Birmingham in

November to collect the

award.

Ardross Farm is right on

the coast, one mile out-

side Elie in Fife on the

F i r t h o f F o r t h .

Contact Nikki for more

i n f o r m a t i o n

Tel: 01333 331400

E m a i l :

[email protected]

Address: Ardross Farm Shop, Ardross Farm,

Elie, Fife. KY9 1EU

Ardross Farm Shop - the inside story (continued)


11

The Big Hitters on the Internet!

The big hitters - accommo-

dation booking engines

dominate the Internet

I remember back in 2000, there was a web

site called Smooth Hound, that was the

leader in providing bookings for accommo-

dation providers. Almost every where we

went we would see their stickers on the

doors of hotels and guest houses.

I have just done a quick search and Smooth

Hound is still around, but I no longer see it

appearing in the accommodation searches

as it once did.

The current big players that we hear many

accommodation provid-

ers talk about are Book-

ings.com, Late Rooms,

and Trip Adviser.

Bookings.com

Wikipedia tells us

“Booking.com is a Dutch

online booking portal,

owned and operated by

Priceline. It was estab-

lished in 1996, and of-

fers accommodation

booking. It claims to deal

with more than 550,000 room nights reser-

vations per day, and in 2013 accounted for

more than two thirds of Priceline's revenue.

It was acquired by Priceline in 2005. Book-

ing.com is available in more than 41 lan-

guages.”

Who are Priceline? Wikipedia tells us

“Priceline.com is an American company and

a commercial website that claims to help

users obtain discount rates for travel-

related purchases such as airline tickets

and hotel stays.

The company is

not a direct suppli-

er of these ser-

vices; instead it

facilitates the

provision of travel

services by its

suppliers to its

customers. It is

headquartered in

Norwalk, Connecti-

c u t , U n i t e d

States.”

No registration

fees, subscriptions

or fixed costs -

Registrat ion

with Book-

ing.com is

c o m p l e t e l y

free. There

are no sign-up

or subscrip-

tion costs.

Commission-

based model - Guests pay you directly,

so you don’t have to wait for payment.

You will receive a monthly commission

invoice from Bookings.com based on

the guests that stayed with you that

month.

Trip Advisor.com

Wikipedia tells us “TripAdvisor was an early

adopter of user-generated content. The

website services are free to users, who pro-

vide most of the content, and the website is

supported by an advertising business mod-

el.”and “TripAdvisor Media Group operates

seventeen travel brands.”

The site that many busi-

ness owners hate, while

many agree at the same

time using it to help them

make their holiday choices.

The Guardian sums up the

situation quite well in an

article “Barely a week goes

by without the restaurant

industry and TripAdvisor

falling out. Last week, it

was reported that mischie-

vous web-users had pro-

pelled a fictitious venue to

a top ranking in Brixham,

reports followed this week

about how it was all a ruse

to prove you can game the

system, while, despite

vociferous objections from

its owner, a Yorkshire restaurant had nu-

merous positive reviews removed, after TA's

filters judged them suspicious. Claims and

counter claims swirl around such stories,

most generating more heat than light.”

The article sums up the situation quite well

too “Me? I'm happy to go one better and

admit that in researching my "budget eats"

series for the Guardian, I find TripAdvisor

invaluable. As one of several research tools

(local contacts, trawling guides, blogs and

so on) it regularly points me towards excel-

lent cafes and restaurants that I would oth-

erwise have missed.

TripAdvisor is very quick, it's very democrat-

ic and so, particularly at that sub-£10 price-

point, it's useful. Of course, places crop up

in any town's top 20 that are there because

said venue does an enormous carvery/it's

Nando's/the chef spends more time drum-

ming up online support than cooking, but to

ignore TripAdvisor would be peculiarly arro-

gant, and self-defeating.”

So Trip Adviser is a necessary and important

part of a tourist businesses marketing,

whether you like it or not.

As one commentator said, “Love it or hate

it, no one in our industry can afford to ig-

nore Trip Advisor.”

One restaurant owner of a very good estab-

lishment in Highland Perthshire told he that

“The restaurant standards around here are

generally of a very good standard” adding

“It was due in some greater or lesser extent

to Trip Advisor, you just can not ignore it.”


“Barely a

week goes by

without the

restaurant

industry and

TripAdvisor

falling out.”

12

The Big Hitters on the Internet! Continued

So what should you as a business owner do

about Trip Advisor?

Trip Adviser does have a page with ‘Top Tips

for Dealing with Negative reviews on Trip

Advisor’

Our suggestion is:-

Monitor your TripAdvisor page. You can

not expect all feedback to be posi-

tive, do NOT get upset when you

are criticised.

Respond to

all reviews,

both positive

and negative,

diplomatically

and with as

much objec-

tivity as you

can muster.

R e m e m b e r

try as it

might, TripAd-

visor cannot

ensure all

reviews are

from genuine

customers.

You can re-

port reviews to TripAdvisor you

consider are false and TripAdvi-

sor does claim to investigate

and remove any that it believes

are suspicious. This process can

be frustratingly ineffective as it is

almost impossible to prove a re-

view is not genuine.

Importantly, remember with TripAdvisor take

everything you read with a good pinch of

salt, enjoy the positive reviews, take heed of

the constructive criticism, and if you

receive false reviews be

flattered as some one

sees you as a threat! John

McEnroe said, “Everybody

loves success, but they

hate successful people.”


“with TripAdvisor take

everything you read

with a good pinch of

salt, enjoy the positive

reviews, take heed of

the constructive

criticism, and if you

receive false reviews

be flattered that some

one sees you as a

threat!”

St Andrews Aquarium News — Male Penguins Arrive

A new waddle of Humboldt penguins, three

of them male, recently arrived at the Aquari-

um and are now settling into their new en-

closure alongside resident penguins Andy,

Shirley, Judy and Kim.

The 3 males and 1 female have been trans-

ferred to Scotland from a marine park in

Blankenberge, Belgium, and are now per-

manent residents, bring-

ing the complement of

Humboldt penguins at the

Aquarium up to 8.

Named following Andy

Murray’s triumphant win

at Wimbledon in 2013,

the new additions to the

Murray clan will be named

J a m i e ,

W i l l i a m

and Roy

a f t e r

A n d y ’ s

b r o t h e r ,

father and

g r a n d f a -

ther.

The newest female penguin

has also been named Virgin-

ia, after Virginia Wade who

was the last British female

to win Wimbledon in 1977.

John Mace, manager at St Andrews Aquari-

um commented:

“We are so excited to be welcoming four

new penguins into the waddle. They have

settled in well and seem to be enjoying ex-

ploring their new home. While they are quite

young male penguins, we are hoping that in

time they choose a mate and that we may

be lucky enough to hear the p.p.p.pitter

patter tiny feet in the future.”

Since arriving last year the wad-

dle of Humboldt penguins have

been extremely popular with

visitors, with Judy Murray even

popping into the aquarium to

visit her name-sake late last

year.

Humboldt penguins originate

from South America and num-

bers have been in steady de-

cline over the past decade due

to over fishing, habitat destruc-

tion and climate change.

"Named

following Andy

Murray’s

triumphant win

at Wimbledon in

2013”

Explore St Andrews Newsletter 2014

Documents

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