St Andrews
June 11, 2021
HM 125. St Andrews has an ancient and mystical feel to it, and nowhere is this felt more strongly than in its harbour, set below the ruined medieval Cathedral and tall St Rules tower. That said, the Scots do have a knack of building incredibly ugly new houses right on the seafront! (Photo 3)
We visited the town by bus due to the tides (St Andrews is a drying harbour - photo 4) and were met by HM Colin Brown who proudly walked us around his domain, so rich in history. He explained how 1,000 years ago ships had simply been sailed "onto the flat rocks" at high water and unloaded their cargo at low water. He showed us a little known stone paved road, only revealed at low water (photo 5), which was used to take horses and carts down onto the rocks - amazing!
The first record of a constructed harbour was in the 12th century which is very early indeed. This allowed significant trade with Germany, The Low Countries and France and this international connection must have contributed enormously to the very early wealth and sophistication of St Andrews. Incredibly the university was founded in 1413 by a group of disgruntled clergy from Paris!
There is a tradition marked by the students of the University after chapel every Sunday who walk to the end of the pier in their red academic gowns (photo 6) to commemorate a fellow student, John Honey, who rescued 5 sailors off the ship "Janet of Macduff" (see earlier post!). The boat was wrecked in a storm off the pier in January 1800. John survived to become a minister.
The North Sea can be ferocious. Colin told us of his own rescue mission when a ship was caught out and lay "balanced" on the sharp rocks outside the harbour. He then sportingly invited me to sail Good Dog into the narrow entrance on the next high tide! Thank you Colin for a brilliant insight into your magical harbour. As we sailed safely past the next day we took a stunning aerial photo of Good Dog from a drone (photo 8).
PS We do hope Alice said yes! (photo 10).
We visited the town by bus due to the tides (St Andrews is a drying harbour - photo 4) and were met by HM Colin Brown who proudly walked us around his domain, so rich in history. He explained how 1,000 years ago ships had simply been sailed "onto the flat rocks" at high water and unloaded their cargo at low water. He showed us a little known stone paved road, only revealed at low water (photo 5), which was used to take horses and carts down onto the rocks - amazing!
The first record of a constructed harbour was in the 12th century which is very early indeed. This allowed significant trade with Germany, The Low Countries and France and this international connection must have contributed enormously to the very early wealth and sophistication of St Andrews. Incredibly the university was founded in 1413 by a group of disgruntled clergy from Paris!
There is a tradition marked by the students of the University after chapel every Sunday who walk to the end of the pier in their red academic gowns (photo 6) to commemorate a fellow student, John Honey, who rescued 5 sailors off the ship "Janet of Macduff" (see earlier post!). The boat was wrecked in a storm off the pier in January 1800. John survived to become a minister.
The North Sea can be ferocious. Colin told us of his own rescue mission when a ship was caught out and lay "balanced" on the sharp rocks outside the harbour. He then sportingly invited me to sail Good Dog into the narrow entrance on the next high tide! Thank you Colin for a brilliant insight into your magical harbour. As we sailed safely past the next day we took a stunning aerial photo of Good Dog from a drone (photo 8).
PS We do hope Alice said yes! (photo 10).