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

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.

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...

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.

Surviving Haiti | This World

Surviving Haiti | This World

BBC Two | 2010 | 59'05''

Filmed over the six months after the Haiti earthquake, This World follows four of the few who were rescued from a death beneath the rubble.

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...

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...

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.

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...

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...

04: India | Tropic of Cancer with Simon Reeve

04: India | Tropic of Cancer with Simon Reeve

BBC Two | 2010 | 59'02''

In India, Simon travels from the coast of Gujarat in the west to Kolkata in the east, via Bhopal and Gandhi's home town of Ahme...

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...

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...

Episode 1 | The Americas with Simon Reeve

Episode 1 | The Americas with Simon Reeve

BBC Two | 2019 | 59'11''

Simon Reeve begins his most ambitious journey yet - travelling the entire length of the Americas. In this first leg, Simon travels ...

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.

Globalisation and Immigration | World's Busiest Cities

Globalisation and Immigration | World's Busiest Cities

BBC Two | 2017 | 4'05''

Anita Rani visits Chungking Mansions, a culturally diverse location in Hong Kong, where people from over hundred count...

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...

01: Honshu | Japan: Earth's Enchanted Islands

01: Honshu | Japan: Earth's Enchanted Islands

BBC Two | 2015 | 59'08''

Japan's central island of Honshu is home to over 100 million people, but it has a wild heart, and an astonishing range of wildl...

Episode 3 | Russia with Simon Reeve

Episode 3 | Russia with Simon Reeve

BBC Two | 2017 | 44'14''

The third and final leg of Simon's Russian journey takes him from the illegally annexed peninsula of Crimea to the historic Baltic city o...

S02E01: Zimbabwe | The Misadventures of Romesh Ranganathan

S02E01: Zimbabwe | The Misadventures of Romesh Ranganathan

BBC Two | 2019 | 58'51''

Romesh travels around Zimbabwe, gets caught in biblical lightning storms, re-enacts the film Titanic on a Lake Kar...

01: Bath | Hart-Davis on History

01: Bath | Hart-Davis on History

BBC Two | 1999 | 27'59''

Adam Hart-Davis explores Roman Bath, and Jayne Constantinis tries Georgian dancing.