Free Time Ideas (3)

St Andrews Ideas for Free Time (3)

Craigtoun Country Park

Opening Times

Sunday - Saturday 10:30am – 6:30pm

Introduction

Just two miles from the centre of St. Andrews lies Craigtoun Country Park.  All set within the attractive surroundings of mature trees, shrub and grass areas.  If visitors don’t want to picnic, there is a small cafeteria within the park.

Originally laid out as parkland attached to Mount Melville House - the house itself is now part of the Dukes Golf Course - Craigtoun has been operated as a country park since 1947 when it came into the ownership of Fife Council.  Much of the formal design - including the avenue of Lawson Cypress, the Italian Garden and the much loved Dutch Village - are part of the original design.

Craigtoun has a great deal to offers visitors of all ages. Younger visitors will enjoy the adventure playground, miniature railway, trampolines and bouncy castle, while older visitors will appreciate the formal gardens, glasshouses and bowling green.  Everyone can enjoy picnicking, boating, putting, crazy golf, pets' corner and the bird houses. The park also has a Countryside Centre run by the Ranger Service, where visitors can learn more about the wildlife and fauna of the park and surrounding area.

One entrance fee covers all the activities in the park.  Other facilities include a shop and several toilet blocks.

Free Time Ideas (2)

St Andrews Ideas for Free Time (2)

East Sands Leisure Centre

East Sands Leisure Centre provides excellent facilities and activities and is a great day out for all the family.

A tropical palm lined pool, squash courts, steam room, sunbeds, Jacuzzi, fitness facilities.  Small pool for the very young or non-swimmers.

After your exertions enjoy a drink or snack in the cafeteria.

* Free form Leisure Pool with sloping beach area*

* Toddlers pool*

* Flume*

* 2 Glass-backed squash courts*

* Steam room, spa bath and sunbed*

* Snooker and pool*

* General purpose room*

* Inspiration fitness suite*

Choose from a wide selection of activities including:

* Swimming*

* Aerobics*

* Aquaerobics*

* Aerobiking*

* Holiday activities*

Something for everyone!

Free Time Ideas (1)

St Andrews Ideas for Free Time (1)

St Andrews Aquarium

Opening Times

Sunday - Saturday 10am – 6pm

Talk Times

Talks are delivered daily by Aquarium team members and include:

11.30am: Rockpool Talk
12.00pm: Seal Feeding & Poolside Talk
12.20pm: Meerkat Talk
2.30pm: Rockpool Talk
3.00pm Seal Feeding & Poolside Talk
3.20pm: Meerkat Talk
4.00pm: Shark Tankside Talk

Admission Rates

Adult £8
Child (Aged 3-15) £6
Child (Aged 2 and Under) FREE
OAP £6
Student £6
Special Needs: £6
Registered Carers: £6
Wheelchair User: FREE*

Family

Family 1 - (2 adults 2 children) £25 (Saving £3)

Family 2 - (2 adults 3 children) £29 (Saving £3)
Family 3 - (2 adults 4 children) £33 (Saving £7)

Groups

Groups of 10 or more, special group rates apply which amount to a £1 discount per person off normal admission prices.

Adult £7
Child £5
OAP £5
Student £5

Introduction

Nestled on St Andrews' dramatic north facing cliffs, with stunning views of the famous west sands and St Andrews Bay, St Andrews Aquarium boasts one of the finest coastal locations in the historic town.

Step through the doors and be transported into an underwater world of adventure and discovery.  Come face to face with some of the most beautiful, fascinating and dangerous creatures of the watery worlds.  From black tip reef sharks to seahorses, lobsters to lionfish, poison dart frogs to piranhas, loveable seals...... and not to forget the fabulous meerkats.

Get up close and personal with the daily interactive demonstrations, which include seal feeding at 12pm and 3pm, and a rockpool ramble at 11.30am and 2.30pm.

Things to see.

Fish (of course)!

Where to start?  It’s not surprising to learn that St Andrews Aquarium have literally hundreds of fish!

From the exotic to the unusual, you will experience the full spectrum of aquatic inhabitants when you visit the Aquarium.  There’s too many to go into in detail, however my favourites are:

Stingrays which use their venomous spine to protect themselves from predators.

Piranhas who group together to attack larger animals.

The Poison Dart Frog whose bright colours warn predators of their toxic poison.

The Octopus who can move at great speed when the situation demands.

Pufferfish who inflate their body to scare away predators.

The Lionfish whose spines contain poisonous venom.

And not to forget the Stonefish, the most deadly fish in the world.

Rockpool Talks: Daily at 11.30am and 2.30pm

Harbour Seal

The Harbour Seal (Phoca vitulina) or Common Seal is one of 33 species of seals worldwide, and one of two species of seals that live in Britain.

Laurel, St Andrews Aquarium’s resident harbour seal, was found in 1991 as an abandoned seal pup near Craiginish near Oban.  She’s been there ever since.

Her hobbies include bubble blowing and flipper waving and she can be seen daily in her training pool playing games and showing off new found skills she learns during her training games.

Pop along to wave to Laurel – she’ll be sure to come over to see if you have any of her favourite food: herring.

Seal Feeding & Poolside Talks: Daily at 12pm and 3pm.

Black Tip Reef Sharks

The Black Tip Reef shark (carcharhinus melanopterus) is easily identified by the prominent black tips on its fins (particularly on its dorsal fin).

Native to the Indian and Pacific Oceans they enjoy shallow, inshore waters and feast on small bony fish, cephalods, sea snakes crustaceans and even seabirds.

Shy and nervous, the black tip reef shark can be difficult to approach and seldom poses a danger to humans (unless roused by food).

However, people wading through shallow water are very much at risk of having their legs mistakenly bitten.

Shark Talks: Daily at 4pm

Meerkats

Meerkats (suricatta suricatta) are one of the most charismatic of the small mammals.

They are around 24 cm long with a 20 cm tail and weigh only a few hundred grams.  Active by day, meerkats take shelter in their warm burrows at night.

They are highly sociable animals, and like to take turns to act as “look-out” from a high branch or rock, warning the rest of the group of any approaching danger.  Their main enemies are birds of prey.  While on guard they often stand up on their hind legs.

St Andrews Aquarium has a growing family of meerkats:

Kate & Wills are their two dominant meerkats, and they have recently given birth to a baby boy, Piper, who has quickly made himself known as the most noisy member of the pack!

Windsor is our fourth meerkat and his name was selected by seven year old Rebekka Stewart of Pitcorthie Primary School in Dunfermline.

Piper is Kate & Wills' first baby, he's only a few months and cute as a button.  Piper was named by ten year old Marc Penman from South Parks Primary School in Glenrothes.

Meerkat Talks: Daily at 12.20pm and 3.20pm

A Football Club to be Proud Of JCFC

Jeddah City Football Club

“From stars of the future to complete beginners, there's a place at JCFC for everyone”.

Jeddah City FC is a football club for kids from all over Jeddah.  We focus on kids from International Schools but are not exclusive.  Our players range from 8 years old to 18 plus.

We are sponsored by Bupa, who will be an amazing support to the club for our 8-19 year olds!

Coaches are mainly from European backgrounds and the coaching is done in a European style.

In the coming season, 2011/2012 we are looking to compete in tournaments and even continue to travel abroad to play some international opposition!

Fife Tartan

Fife Tartan

The Tartan above is the ‘Fife Tartan’.  The colours of the Fife tartan represent some of those elements which symbolize the leading role Fife has played throughout the history of Scotland.

Red is taken from the tartan of the Clan Macduff whose links with Fife date back to the time of Macbeth.

Blue represents water.

Pale Blue represents the World Famous Bridges.

Gold represents Fife’s Royal heritage.

Black represents the coal that is in the region.

Glasgow

Glasgow

Glasgow  is the largest city in Scotland and third most populous in the United Kingdom.  The city is situated on the River Clyde in the country's west central lowlands.  A person from Glasgow is known as a Glaswegian.

Glasgow grew from the medieval Bishopric of Glasgow and the later establishment of the University of Glasgow in the 15th century, which subsequently became a major centre of the Scottish Enlightenment in the 18th century.  From the 18th century the city also grew as one of Britain's main hubs of transatlantic trade with British North America and the British West Indies.

With the Industrial Revolution, the city and surrounding region shifted to become one of the world's pre-eminent centres of Heavy Engineering, most notably in the Shipbuilding and Marine engineering industry, which produced many innovative and famous vessels.

 Glasgow was known as the "Second City of the British Empire" for much of the Victorian era and Edwardian period.  Today it is one of Europe's top twenty financial centres and is home to many of Scotland's leading businesses.  Glasgow is also ranked as the 57th most liveable city in the world.

In the late 19th and early 20th centuries Glasgow grew to a population of over one million, and was the fourth-largest city in Europe, after London, Paris and Berlin.  In the 1960s, comprehensive urban renewal projects resulting in large-scale relocation of people to new towns and peripheral suburbs, followed by successive boundary changes, have reduced the current population of the City of Glasgow unitary authority area to 580,690, with 1,199,629 people living in the Greater Glasgow urban area.

The entire region surrounding the conurbation covers approximately 2.3 million people, 41% of Scotland's population.

Edinburgh

Edinburgh

Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland, the second largest city in Scotland and the seventh-most populous in the United Kingdom.  The City of Edinburgh Council is one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas.  The council area includes urban Edinburgh and a 30-square-mile (78 km2) rural area.

Located in the south-east of Scotland, Edinburgh lies on the east coast of the Central Belt, along the Firth of Forth, near the North Sea.  Owing to its spectacular, rugged setting and vast collection of Medieval and Georgian architecture, including numerous stone tenements, it was considered by Sir John Betjeman one of the most beautiful cities in Europe.

Edinburgh is the seat of the Scottish Parliament.  The city was one of the major centres of the Enlightenment, led by the University of Edinburgh, earning it the nickname Athens of the North.  The Old Town and New Town districts of Edinburgh were listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1995.

There are over 4,500 listed buildings within the city.  In May 2010, it had a total of 40 conservation areas covering 23% of the building stock and 23% of the population, the highest such ratios of any major city in the UK.  In the 2009 mid year population estimates, Edinburgh had a total resident population of 477,660.

The city is well-known for the annual Edinburgh Festival, a collection of official and independent festivals held annually over about four weeks from early August.  The number of visitors attracted to Edinburgh for the Festival is roughly equal to the settled population of the city.

The most famous of these events are the Edinburgh Fringe (the largest performing arts festival in the world), the Edinburgh International Festival, the Edinburgh Military Tattoo, and the Edinburgh International Book Festival.

Other events include the Hogmanay street party, Burns Night and the Beltane Fire Festival.  Edinburgh attracts 1 million overseas visitors a year, making it the second most visited tourist destination in the United Kingdom, after London.