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www.crabpublishing.co.uk

CRAIL MATTERSW/C 26 June No 20

Free - Donation welcome

CAN YOU HELP?Crail Museum needs someone to translate the descriptions ofour Exhibition Rooms into Spanish and Italian. The descrip-tions enable visitors who only speak those languages to getmuch more out of their visit.

Please leave contact details at the Museum.

Saturday 8 July, 10am-12pm Red Cross Coffee Morning,

British Legion Hall. Usual stalls - home baking, raffle, garden produce.

Funding Crail MattersWe depend on your support to keep producing Crail Matters.If you enjoy reading what we produce and wish to make a do-nation, then please contact crailmatters@gmail.com for detailsof our account for bank transfers, or contact a member of theEditorial Team

The North East Fife Superfast Broadband website is nowlive at:

http://www.nefifesuperfast.org.uk/

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Be careful - FallingDid you know that one–in-three over 65’s will have at least one significant fall each year,rising to half of those over 80? And falls can be very distressing, damaging and even dan-gerous - hip fractures and head injuries are the most dangerous complications of a fall in theelderly.

A fall is defined as an unintentional or unexpected loss of balance resulting in coming torest on the floor, the ground, or an object below knee level. Sometimes, of course, falls areinevitable and are the result of unavoidable accident, maybe resulting from restricted move-ment of a leg, for example, caught in something, or a slippy floor. A more mundane causemight simply be ill-fitting slippers. But if falls happen during ordinary day-to-day activities,

and particularly if this happens repeatedly, then alarm bells should sound, and help should be sought.

There are lots of reasons why falls occur, and some might be indicative of simple causes, others more complex and serious. Forexample, the side effects of some medications, especially those that reduce blood pressure, can result in light-headedness. Aquite normal response to standing up too quickly out of a hot bath, for example, or getting out of bed quickly can be a feeling ofwooziness, and this can be sometimes be exaggerated by medication. If you have experienced this, perhaps when going to theloo in the night, then sit down and pause and always turn on the light and touch the wall – that will help your brain compensatefor erroneous signals; visual impairment or ear problems can also sometimes be factors, as might just generally weakness whichwe all experience as we age.

If you have a fall, it's important to keep calm. If you're not hurt and you feel strong enough to get up, don't get up quickly. Rollonto your hands and knees and look for a stable piece of furniture, such as a chair or bed. Hold on to the furniture with bothhands to support yourself and, when you feel ready, slowly get up. Sit down and rest for a while before carrying on with yourdaily activities. If you're hurt or unable to get up, try to get someone's attention by calling out for help, banging on the wall orfloor, or using your aid call button (if you have one). If possible, crawl to a telephone and dial 999 to request an ambulance. Tryto reach something warm, such as a blanket or dressing gown, to put over you, particularly your legs and feet. Stay as comfortableas possible and try to change your position at least once every half an hour or so.

There are several measures you can take to help prevent a fall. Simple everyday measures around the home include:• using non-slip mats in the bathroom• mopping up spills to prevent wet, slippery floors• getting help lifting or moving items that are heavy or difficult to liftRemoving clutter and ensuring all areas of the home are well lit can also help to prevent falls. The charity Age UK has adviceabout how to make tasks easier around the home. (http://www.ageuk.org.uk/home-and-care/adapting-your-home/ways-to-make-tasks-easier-around-the-home/)

If you feel concerned, either for yourself or for others, it is always a good idea to see your GP to exclude serious causes. Strengthand balance training can help, and also a physiotherapist can help, but it is always a good idea to seek professional help.

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East Neuk Open StudiosEast Neuk Open Studios are open 1st and 2nd Julyfrom 10.30 am till 5.30 pm in Crail Kirk Hall. Thereare nine artists in Crail taking part in it -

Elizabeth Shepherd 37 NethergateLesley Gilbert 33 NethergateGeorge Gilbert 33 NethergateKeny Drew 24-25 Comielaw Kellie by Pittenweem,Katie Smith 21 Marketgate NorthLesley Reilly 13 Langhouse GreenPhillippa Mitchell 4 The Maltings High StreetJo Walker 1 st floor flat 20 Westgate SouthMary Webster 13 Carr Crescent

More information fromwww.eastneukopenstudios.org

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ROYAL BURGH OF CRAIL AND DISTRICT COMMUNITY COUNCIL NOTES

Letter to the Editor (or rather a letter to the Seagull)Mr Gull,Emboldened by the success of the move to oppose the closure of Kingsbarns facilities in the name of the almighty dollar, may Isuggest that the community council might turn its attention to the anti-social consequences of automotive activities on the formerCrail airfield.For starters the principal problem is summed up in the minutes of the CCC meeting of just under two years ago: Royal Burgh of Crail and District Community Council, Minutes of Meeting held Monday, 29th June 2015 Crail Town Hall.“Airfield-There is a market operators licence in place for Crail Airfield which was granted on 21/08/13 and expires on 20/08/16.This allows them to hold car boot sale every 2nd Sunday from 9a.m.-4p.m. There are no other licences in place for the airfieldand race days are not covered by a licence or need one because a race day is not listed on Fife Council’s current resolution.That requires a public entertainment licence.”It must surely be widely held that the noise and probable atmospheric pollution caused by the howl of engines and the ear-jarringscreech of tyres constitutes an entirely antisocial intrusion upon our peace. Coupled with the equally antisocial behaviour ofmany of the participants and the lack of any identifiable financial or other benefits this must be considered a suitable case of thecommunity’s objection to our council. I would suspect that our newly elected councillors might be persuaded to take up ourcase. Rightly or wrongly I believe that in the past Fife Council had set limits to the days of days per year when these activitiescould take place. Over to you, Mr Gull. I shall be watching closely.John Crow elder first cousin of the notorious Jim

BenchesIn an earlier Community Council Notes we drew attention tothe poor state of repair of a couple of the benches at RoomeBay Park, appealing for relatives of those commemorated tocontact us. No-one has so far been in contact. There is, how-ever, a more general concern about the state of a number ofbenches in Crail (the Community Council have received acomplaint about one at the Harbour, for instance), and thebenches at Castle Walk still need repair. This is indicative ofa general need to invest in maintaining what we have (as canalso be seen in the state of the roads), something which FifeCouncil have largely failed to do over the years – and the in-dications are that failures in spending on maintenance willcontinue. If you are aware of things that need maintenance,please let the Community Council know. The resources avail-able to the Community Council are limited in the extreme,but we can add our voice to complaints to Fife Council.

The Grenfell DisasterWe have all looked on with horror at the unfolding tragedyof the Grenfell Tower fire. We do not face the same chal-lenges in Crail, nor of course do we have the sheer densityof population that added to the death toll. Attention has fo-cussed on the role of the cladding for the building, and FifeCouncil have acted swiftly to reassure residents in high flatdevelopments in Fife that they are safe, and do not sufferfrom the same problems. But whether or not Kensington andChelsea Council have responsibility for the fire through itsweak or none existent enforcement of building standards (anissue in Fife), it is important that we also note the way inwhich the response, or rather lack of response, of the Counciladded to the misery for the residents and their families. It isheartening to see the way Community organisations rose tothe occasion and provided help – but should a disaster occurhere, would Fife Council have the capacity and experienceto respond to the immediate needs of the affected commu-nity? As readers of these Notes will be aware, Crail Commu-nity Council is developing an Emergency and Resilience

capacity, and we hope to have our resilience plan in placeshortly. Grenfell Towers may well seem very distant from us,but when tragedy does strike, it is important that we have adeveloped capacity to respond.

Democracy in FifeAt its meeting of 18 May, the new Fife Council outlined itsDecision-Making Arrangements. An element of that was‘Council believes that the political governance of the Councilwill be based on an inclusive decision making process.’ Weawait with interest the implementation of this with respect tothe proposals associated with the Ricoh Golf Tournament atKingsbarns. In particular, we will closely follow the actionsof our newly elected Councillors in representing the verynegative views these proposals have generated amongst thelocal community, particularly with respect to what will ef-fectively be the closure of Kingsbarns beach during the peakholiday season. To date theevidence suggests the vehi-cle access will be deniedfor a period greatly in ex-cess of the actual tourna-ment, as can be seen bythe signs now erected onthe road down to Kings-barns Beach .

DenburnComplaints have been received about potential pollutionproblems in Denburn Woods, and the outflow at Roome Bay.The Scottish Environmental Protection Agency (SEPA) werecontacted, who have advised: I can confirm that I carriedout a site visit in Crail this morning (23 June 2017) and couldfind no evidence of sewage related pollution in the water-course to which you refer. I am also unaware of any problemwith the Bow Butts pumping station. This is very reassuringresponse, and we want to express our gratitude to SEPA forresponding so promptly.

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WILD CRAILWill Cresswell,

with Photographs by John Anderson

We had some hot days in Crail last week – on the 17th wemade nearly 25 degrees. I watched the auks flying aroundFife Ness and felt like I was scanning the Mediterranean –apart from the seabirds of course. Sea watching in theMediterranean is fairly dull. The auks all looked slightly oddas the fish they were carrying glinted in the strong sunlightmaking them look like they had extended white heads. Andthe extra weight of the fish changes their flight and postureslightly so guillemots look more like razorbills and razorbills

like puffins. There are a lot more manx shearwater passingnow – some evenings last week flocks of more than 30 werepassing regularly.

I came back to Crail on the 17th through Kilminning andflushed a bird which looked a bit like a sparrowhawk crossedwith a nightjar. I saw it poorly and started thinking aboutnightjars and how fantastic it would be to find one for theCrail list. Then three flew up in front of me and showed them-selves well – cuckoos! Already on their way back to Africa

and stoppingfor a quick re-fuel on thec a t e r p i l l a r sand large in-sects in thegrass ofK i m i n n i n g ,along theshore. Therewere cuckoos

recorded from Kilminning the week before and passing alongthe coast further West in Fife the day before. When you onlyhave to lay your eggs in another’s nest, and don’t need to lookafter your own chicks then you can head back to Africa afteronly a few weeks here in Scotland. We get another wave ofcuckoos through in August, but this time the juveniles. I saywave – but cuckoos are good Crail birds. I saw more cuckoosthat day than I have seen in the last five years around Crail.

I have been seeingquite a few sandmartins in onesand twos betweenAnstruther andKingsbarns. Sandmartins are swal-lows, pale brownabove, whitebelow with a neatbrown breast band.It’s hard to noticemore than the gen-eral brownishcolour when theyfly by, but the lackof clear black and whites makes it easy to rule out the othertwo common Crail swallow species, the barn swallow andthe house martin. The most characteristic thing about sandmartins, to me, is their flickering flight. They are extremeswallows, with a lightness of flight and loose wingbeats al-most as if each wing is being flicked independently ratherthan being systematically beat together. When you get youreye in then suddenly you see sand martins much more often.The best places to see them are along the shore. They breedin holes they dig in sandy or loose soil banks, so the smallearthy cliffs common along the shoreline – particularly be-tween Balcomie and Kingsbarns – are where they concentratein summer. But I see them almost anywhere around Crail;never daily as the other swallows, but perhaps once everyweek during the summer. They have bred in the pipeholes inthe seawall at Roome Bay in a couple of years: then theywere a daily sighting. They breed in colonies but often thesedon’t last for more than a few years because of the nature ofthe temporary sandy cliffs that they use. Sand martins are afantastically common species worldwide – they breed inNorth America and from here to Japan. They winter or passthrough everywhere in the world apart from Australia and thePacific islands. I have seen thousands of sand martins overrivers and wetlands from the Amazon to the Congo, and whenI was in Kazakhstan, surveying wetlands there late one sum-mer, we counted a million spread along the telephone wiresrunning beside the salt lakes there, congregating before mi-gration. That’s a lot of swallows and a lot of mosquitos andmidges being eaten.

The longest day passed last Thursday and with a spectacularthunderstorm to end it. We are up to 52 mm of rain this monthwith 10% of this falling that night in just 40 minutes. Juneonwards really is the rainy season for us.

The sedge warblers are continuing to sing very loudly andvigorously from weedy tangles and bramble patches at thesides of the fields and roads. They have a tight schedule. Ar-rive at the end of April, then two months to get their firstbrood completely independent (a fairly typical small bird 3

Cuckoo

Sand Martin

Puffin

Sand sculptureFor the seventh year in succession, 20 tonnes of sand havearrived at Honeypot Crail. Join them over the next week asthe wonderful collaboration between East Neuk Festivaland Sand In Your Eye reveals this years theme. A collectionwill be available to raise funds for Euans Guide for disabledaccess and Crail Museum & Heritage Centre who featurean exhibition related to the piece. All will be revealed.Thank you for your support.

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weeks eggs, 2 weeks chicks and then 3-4 weeks feedingfledged chicks). As long as everything goes to plan. But aswith most open nesting birds, and even ones like sedge war-blers that nest hidden deep in cover, they lose 40% of theirnests to predators. So many birds will be trying to renest evenas some may be thinking of finishing and starting their moultbefore returning to Africa in August. It means a staggeredseason and desperate birds singing right through June andJuly. Some nesting sedge warblers have it even more com-plicated, with one male having several females in their terri-tory – they may be the ones that really sing vigorously.

In an unusual bit of sensible management by the Council, thecracked and broken tarmac footpath along the top of thesheep field and Roome Bay Avenue was removed a coupleof months ago. I walked past the digger for a couple of daysas it dug out the old tarmac and hoped that more new tarmacwasn’t to follow. It’s an unnecessary bit of footpath, rightnext to the field and the tree roots along it have taken over –they would have to go if there was to be any chance of a flat

path there again. And common sense prevailed. The bareearth was left to itself. Now the old footpath is now burgeon-ing with wild flowers and insects. It’s nice when somethinggets put back to a wilder state: something no longer costingus money to maintain and a thing of beauty instead of some-thing sterile and useless.

Sedge Warbler

Small Gardens of the Burgh ofCrail

The 'Small Gardens of the Burgh of Crail' will be on the 8thand 9th July from 1.00p.m. to 5.00p.m. On Saturday 8thJuly, 'Crail in Bloom' will be serving teas/coffees in the Le-gion Hall, Nethergate from 2.00p.m. to 4.30p.m. Entry £2.00This will be a fund raising event for Crail's floral enhance-ment. The 'In Bloom' group are very grateful for the contin-ued support of so many local people and hope you can allcontinue as it is of great encouragement to the Committeeand all the volunteers.

Planning Applications- Erection of poultry unit comprising of 3 poultry houses,service building and 3 feed silos with associated infras-tructure including 4 gas tanks, access, parking, drainageand boundary fencing - Airdrie Farm Lochton Crail Fife- Installation of 3no rooflights - 17 Westgate CrailAnstruther Fife KY10 3RE

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The CrailSeagull

An eye on our world

How about this? Go to theJohn Lewis web site, look attheir towel range, and lookfor the Cheeky Gull range oftowels - and what a beautyyou see! This is one of mycousins. A rather handsome

chap even if I say so myself.

Seen the letter to me? I agree with it. The noise is verybothering and from what I see the participants to theevents at the Airfield bring little economic benefit toCrail. Balance that against the negative effect of thenoise on visitors and tourism in general, and it seemsto me the negatives outway the positives. I can evenhear them in Flook Dub.

Did you know that a formal approach was made to FifeCouncil some months ago to take over the Town Halland the Community Hall? My little friend in Glen-rothes (a rather charming lady seagull) tells me itsfallen through and has now been withdrawn - but wasanyone consulted before an approach was made?

Material for inclusion in Crail Matters should be sent to crailmatters@gmail.com and received on Friday middaybefore publication. We reserve the right to edit copy for length and style. Submission does not guarantee inclusion.

© Crab Publishing 2017: Editorial Team this week: Graham Anderson, Julie Middleton, Isla Reid, ValenciaSowry, Max Taylor, John Wilson

Crail Parish Church of Scotland Intimations Sunday 25th June

Crail Primary School P7 leavers service will take place in CrailChurch on Tuesday 27th June at 1:30pm, all welcomeSunday 2nd July will be a Joint Service with Kingsbarns in Crailat 11:15am followed by a Pot Luck Lunch in the Kirk Hall, (pleasebring a plate of food to share) as it’s Rev Ann Allison’s last ser-vice.Church Bell the bell has had to be switched off until further noticeas there has been a survey of the tower done and we have been ad-vised that they are not sure how much of the integrity of the timbersare being affected by it.

Kirk Sale 19 July 2017Basket Tombola Helen Armitage & Nancy TurnerBooks Patrick Garrad & Catriona ShepherdBottle Tombola Eric Dewhirst & Alan MenzieCake and Candy Mandy GuthrieJewellery and Scarf’s Patricia Dewhirst & Joan ForrestProduce Liz Arnott & Marjorie RichardsonTeas The Guild White Elephant Ruby Mackie & Linda Douglas.Raffle David Clelland& Diana BrownChildren’s Stall JAM clubDonations for the stalls will be greatly appreciated and can behanded into the Community Hall on the evening of Tuesday 18th,6.00 – 7.00pm and on the morning of the sale, 10.00 – 12 noon. Ifyou wish anything to be collected for the stalls please contact thestall holders. Doors open at 2.00pm and more information can be had fromHelen Armitage 450516.

LibrarySince the library at Crail has closed residents have re-duced options when they wish to borrow a book. We dohave the mobile library which will be visiting Crail on the6th and 20th July, and the 3rd, 17th and 31st of August. Itis found in the Marketgate 10am till 11am. Septembertimes will be made available nearer the time.

Anstruther Library, which was a good alternative to Crail,has now relocated to the new Waid Academy. As it isbeing run by the school librarian, to some extent the open-ing times depend on school hours. At the moment it isopen Monday to Friday from 9am to 5pm, but from the24th of July to 11th August it will only be open on a Tues-day and Friday, again from 9am till 5pm. These are noevening opening sessions planned at the moment.

There are as yet no parking facilities at the library butthere will eventually be provision once some demolitionwork has been done. The nearest parking at the momentis Station Road, though probably the local Co-op wouldn'tmind. I understand that the number 95 bus now includesthe library as part of its route. The new telephone numberfor Anstruther Library is 01334 659404. It should be re-membered that books can be renewed by telephone or re-turned or borrowed at St Andrews branch.

This is the time of year when the Poppy, that most beautifuland sad of all flowers blooms. We see them in the fields andhedgerows, bright and proud. A flower of joy and sorrow:the joy summer, and sorrow of The Battle of the Somme.

In Flanders fields the poppies blowBetween the crosses, row on row,

That mark our place; and in the skyThe larks, still bravely singing, flyScarce heard amid the guns below.

Poppies