Life Beyond the Glassworks

Have you ever wondered what life looked and sounded like for local people in Alloa and Clackmannanshire across different decades? Now is your chance to see and hear with a 25 – 30 minute documentary screening created in collaboration with members of the public in Alloa and Clackmannanshire. The documentary focuses on everyday, and extraordinary, life experiences of residents in Alloa and Clackmannanshire. It explores childhood, school experiences, working life, family life, social activities and has a particular focus on women’s experiences.  

Following the documentary screening there will be a 30 - 40 minute panel discussion on the topic, why oral histories matter and how to get involved. This panel will include contributions from an archivist, a professional photographer and documentary maker, and a researcher from the Social Science department. There will also be an opportunity for you to ask any questions from the panellists, and possibly some of the contributors to the documentary.

The event focuses on cross-generational interactions and is intended to inspire interest in learning about the ways in which life, living and, especially, our working lives have changed over time in the local area.  

The documentary has been created using oral history interviews conducted by members of the public who attend ‘The Thursday Club’ at The Hub in Alloa. Their interviews are accompanied by archival images, footage and newly shot photographs and footage.  

This is a unique opportunity for people in Alloa and Clackmannanshire to learn what working life was like in times when women had specific hours they were not allowed to work , the impact of maternity leave, and later paternity leave, on working lives; the impact on wages when women were allowed to have their own bank accounts; to discover what children did after school whilst parents worked; and to consider how working spaces have changed in Alloa and Clackmannanshire over the decades. By combining it with photography and interviews into video we can bring the past and the present into a meaningful conversation for and by the town’s inhabitants.

Dr Francis Stewart, lecturer in Sociology at the University of Stirling will be leading the event. Also in attendance will be:  

Susan Yule, an archivist at Spiers Centre;  

Joshua Johnston, a professional photographer and documentary maker;  

Vall Whyte, Development officer at The Hub, Alloa 

Anyone is welcome at this event, it is suitable for all ages.

Of particular interest to multi-generational families, long-term residents of Alloa / Clackmannashire, those caring for elderly family or a relative with dementia.

7 days before the event.