#St Andrews, the city, is on Scotland's east coast. #St Andrews, the University, is the oldest in Scotland, the third oldest in the UK and, #quite naturally, tradition plays a large part in the students' lives. #Everywhere there are rituals, ceremonies and customs. #For example, every Sunday, students dress in their gowns and walk on the pier, #a relic of the days when the chaplains were met as they arrived by boat. #A quarter of students buy their own gowns at a cost of about ú60. #Subsequently, they charge tourists to have their photo taken and, #whilst wearing it, they can gain free admission to the castle. #Although the tourists do come for the castle, the cathedral and the die-for scenery, #it's the golf that's the chief attraction. #There's not only the Royal & Ancient Golf Club, the oldest in the world, #but 5 others, attracting hosts of globe-trotting golfers. #But tourists need to come a fair way to the fairways of St Andrews. #Dundee's an awkward 13 miles away and Edinburgh nearly 50. #It is isolated and not very big. #The city's 3 main streets don't support many wallet wrenching spending opportunities. #The University is not big either - fewer than 5,000 students - #but even so, they compose more than a quarter of the local population. #The North Haugh, #Buchanan buildings and St Mary's College areas of the University are scattered all over town, #but still within walking distance of each other. #Local relations are generally good, #although some problems have arisen from the fact that more than half the students are English. #Meanwhile between the students themselves, the only rifts are between those from public and from state schools. #Otherwise, there's a very happy atmosphere, #if a touch claustrophobic. #Students support each other with the 'parent system' #where senior students take freshers under their wing in exchange for a bottle of wine. #This is the sort of place where students would rather have a bottle of wine or Pimms #than a few tinnies of Fosters. #There's never any need for students to organise their social lives, #they're bound to bump into whoever they want to see anyway and going round to see them is probably quicker than dialling. #Nevertheless, the Students' Union focuses the fun in its 3 bars which provide the cheapest eating and drinking in town. #The Beer Bar at the Union's main site in St Mary's Place #has a range of continental and bottled lagers and 18 different beers on tap. #The Beer Bar also hosts discos and gigs #as do the Younger and Fraser Halls. #But, the city's total lack of any real night-clubs is really made up for by the Union's weekly Megabop in the Union Theatre. #The Theatre, though, is principally the home of the University's immense selection of thespian goings on. #Every student is automatically a member of the Mermaids University Dramatic Society #which regularly performs at all the best drama festivals. #But posh types like St Andrews students #are never happier than when strutting around at balls and at the slightest excuse, #they pull on the fancy frocks and penguin suits. #Many of the University's amenities reflect the length of time it's been around #rather than the number of students it's got. #The main library, for instance, has well over 750,000 books and the sports facilities are excellent - #especially, of course, for golf. #There's also a lot of University accommodation and 93% of students who want to live in can do, #although one in five have to share rooms. #This means two-thirds of students are housed by the University #including nearly all first years, #mostly within walking distance of each other and teaching sites. #A variety of old and new, large and small, #single and mixed sex accommodation is available in 10 catered halls, #self-catered student houses in Fife Park and flats at Albany Park. #For the third who do live out, #it's slightly harder to buy condoms in a convent than to find suitable housing in St Andrews and many resort to local villages. #It appears size does matter, after all.
