06: Alloa | History On Your Doorstep

Duration: 24'20''

Synopsis

What happens when you start asking questions about why the place you live in grew up the way it did? Alloa in central Scotland earns its living today from many trades - brewing, distilling and glass making. Murray Dickie showed Fred Housego how its modern face hides a many-layered story, beginning with a small stream and the problems of early coalminers.

Further Information

More clips from History On Your Doorstep

01: Swavesey | History On Your Doorstep

01: Swavesey | History On Your Doorstep

BBC Two | 1982 | 24'22''

The rise and fall of a medieval village. To any visitor driving through Swavesey today it is as ordinary a village as any. It has a m...

02: Halifax | History On Your Doorstep

02: Halifax | History On Your Doorstep

BBC Two | 1982 | 24'02''

Industrial townscapes can often be taken for granted, until a landmark disappears. But rapid change is a feature of places that grew u...

03: Carmarthen | History On Your Doorstep

03: Carmarthen | History On Your Doorstep

BBC Two | 1982 | 24'14''

Fred Housego visits Carmarthen in South Wales where Terry James, printer and local historian, has recently written a study of the t...

04: The Story of a House | History On Your Doorstep

04: The Story of a House | History On Your Doorstep

BBC Two | 1982 | 24'15''

A semi in suburbia is not the obvious choice for a look at the history of a house. No blue plaque, no ghosts or legends. ...

05: Reading the Landscape | History On Your Doorstep

05: Reading the Landscape | History On Your Doorstep

BBC Two | 1982 | 24'10''

Few people driving up the M1 realise that this is a route used by travellers since prehistoric times. Within a few yards...

07: Ealing | History On Your Doorstep

07: Ealing | History On Your Doorstep

BBC Two | 1982 | 24'11''

In 1822 Ealing was a place in the country - a retreat for the gentry. The tithe map of 1840 reveals a tollgate, an animal pound and an ...

08: Butleigh | History On Your Doorstep

08: Butleigh | History On Your Doorstep

BBC Two | 1982 | 24'14''

Faces from the past stare out of an old photograph. How much can you discover about the daily lives of these people who once knew and...

More resources about Case Studies

01: Scotland | Rivers with Griff Rhys Jones

01: Scotland | Rivers with Griff Rhys Jones

BBC HD | 2009 | 58'56''

Griff Rhys Jones travels the wild rivers of Scotland. He heads east, upstream from Kinlochleven, then follows the course of the w...

04: Perth | The History Hour

04: Perth | The History Hour

BBC Two | 1997 | 58'56''

Adam Hart-Davis continues his tour of Britain with a visit to Perth, where he investigates the Black Watch Regiment and Pictish stones.

13: Fife | The History Hour

13: Fife | The History Hour

BBC Two | 1997 | 59'07''

Adam Hart-Davis visits St Andrews in Fife, Scotland, to study family history. Plus the first off-the-peg fashions.

Episode 1 | Russia with Simon Reeve

Episode 1 | Russia with Simon Reeve

BBC Two | 2017 | 59'12''

Simon Reeve embarks on the first leg of a three-part journey across Russia. He sets out amongst the volcanoes of Kamchatka and meets indi...

River Landscape | The Geography Programme

River Landscape | The Geography Programme

BBC Two | 1985 | 20'29''

This programme looks at the great variety of landscape and land use along the valley of the River Tees. Narrated by Bernard Clark.

02: Mexico City | World's Busiest Cities

02: Mexico City | World's Busiest Cities

BBC Two | 2017 | 59'02''

In Mexico City, Dan Snow, Anita Rani and Ade Adepitan uncover the hidden systems and armies of people that help run this sprawling m...

S03E02: Sierra Leone | The Misadventures of Romesh Ranganathan

S03E02: Sierra Leone | The Misadventures of Romesh Ranganathan

BBC Two | 2022 | 58'18''

Romesh visits Sierra Leone, a country with a dark past but hopes for the future. With Gwyn Jay Allen as a guid...

03: Egypt to Oman | Tropic of Cancer with Simon Reeve

03: Egypt to Oman | Tropic of Cancer with Simon Reeve

BBC Two | 2010 | 59'13''

The third leg of Simon Reeve's journey sees him rejoin the Tropic of Cancer in Egypt and follow it through Saudi Arabia...

03: Moscow | World's Busiest Cities

03: Moscow | World's Busiest Cities

BBC Two | 2017 | 59'20''

Dan Snow, Anita Rani and Ade Adepitan reveal the hidden systems and armies of people that help run Moscow, a city forged by power and pol...

01: Brazil 2000: City: Rio de Janeiro | The Geography Programme

01: Brazil 2000: City: Rio de Janeiro | The Geography Programme

BBC Two | 1996 | 19'07''

Series looking at Brazil from a geography perspective.

04: Delhi | World's Busiest Cities

04: Delhi | World's Busiest Cities

BBC Two | 2017 | 58'37''

Dan Snow, Anita Rani and Ade Adepitan visit Delhi. Anita discovers how this growing city feeds itself. Ade gets a taste of life as a porte...

01: Africa | Equator

01: Africa | Equator

BBC Two | 2006 | 59'16''

Documentary series in which Simon Reeve travels around the equator. In Africa, he catches malaria in Gabon, goes rafting on the Nile and witnesses a bul...

01: Hong Kong | World's Busiest Cities

01: Hong Kong | World's Busiest Cities

BBC Two | 2017 | 58'56''

Dan Snow, Anita Rani and Ade Adepitan reveal the hidden systems and armies of people running Hong Kong - one of the most densely popu...

Plastic on Kiwayu Island's Beaches | Indian Ocean with Simon Reeve

Plastic on Kiwayu Island's Beaches | Indian Ocean with Simon Reeve

BBC Two | 2012 | 5'32''

Simon Reeve visits Kiwayu Island, at the far north of Kenya's Indian Ocean coast, where local people are t...

South China Sea Trade | World's Busiest Cities

South China Sea Trade | World's Busiest Cities

BBC Two | 2017 | 3'03''

Hong Kong's busy port is a vital gateway to trade in the South China Sea.

Trade | World's Busiest Cities

Trade | World's Busiest Cities

BBC Two | 2017 | 3'31''

Global trade in Hong Kong's busy harbour.

02: Nigeria | Africa Rising with Afua Hirsch

02: Nigeria | Africa Rising with Afua Hirsch

BBC Two | 2023 | 58'51''

Afua Hirsch explores the energy and ambition of Nigerian fashion, film and music, asking what drives young Nigerians to succeed ...

03: Kenya to Somaliland | Indian Ocean with Simon Reeve

03: Kenya to Somaliland | Indian Ocean with Simon Reeve

BBC Two | 2012 | 58'35''

Simon Reeve travels from the coral coast of Kenya to the troubled Horn of Africa on the third leg of his Indian Ocean...

Earthquake prediction | World's Busiest Cities

Earthquake prediction | World's Busiest Cities

BBC Two | 2017 | 2'24''

The vital importance of earthquake prediction in Mexico City.

Episode 2 | Russia with Simon Reeve

Episode 2 | Russia with Simon Reeve

BBC Two | 2017 | 59'11''

The second leg of Simon Reeve's tour of modern-day Russia begins in Siberia and takes him to Russia's far south west and the majestic Cau...