Fear and despair in a once-thriving town

Published on Wednesday 21 February 2007 01:46

LEANNE Chidwick walked out of the Boots shop in Alloa's almost deserted High Street yesterday and summed up the town's woes eloquently.

The 16-year-old, who aspires to be a hairdresser, described the legacy the decline of its once-thriving brewing and heavy industries had left behind.

Unemployment, drugs and violence have left a climate of fear and despair in the main town of the Wee County.

"I've been jumped twice," Leanne said. "Once it was a gang of girls who attacked me and an ex-boyfriend. I wasn't doing anything to them, they just did it. The second time I was left with head injuries. There's nothing for young people to do around here. Even to get to a cinema you'd need to get a bus back late at night and you could get attacked."

The teenager, who is attending a work training course at a local college to learn how to construct her CV, said there was such demand for hairdressing jobs she might never get one locally.

"There aren't a lot of places to get in so there's a lot of competition. There's nothing else around here except for supermarkets like Asda, Tesco and Morrisons and they want older people in their thirties who already have a driving licence. It's either the supermarkets or the army for us."

With his arm in a sling after suffering a recent beating, Stuart Tolly described the town as "the worst place in Britain".

"I was nearly killed twice by the gangs," the unemployed 27-year-old said. "Seven years ago a crowd came to my door with samurai swords. Last Friday, I got attacked again and ended up in intensive care and my heart stopped twice. Even in the daytime, they wait outside the post office to try to get your money."

Even Gordon Snadden, a 37-year-old local government officer, admitted he felt intimidated walking home at 9pm because of gangs of up to 15 youths drinking in Greenfield Park.

"It's got progressively worse over the past five years or so. I really don't know if it is the kids or their parents to blame or both. I've never been targeted, but there is always the fear that something could happen."

Once famous for breweries and as a vital harbour on the Forth, many residents know first-hand the difficulties of life in post-industrial Scotland.

Unemployed Sandra Taylor, 45, from nearby Tullibody, said: "Sometimes you feel like you're stuck in a benefits trap. There are hardly any jobs about and most of the factories have closed. All the work is part-time and for minimum wage - and you have to find another job just to make ends meet."

Despite some optimism over the impending return of a railway link, residents admit that many young people face little choice but to quit the town.

"My oldest grandson is 12 and I dread the thought of when he leaves school," said Irene Ewan, 60, from Clackmannan. "It's terrible. There just aren't any jobs for them and a lot of young people have to go to England."

But amid such negativity, there remains an air of quiet ambition among some of the residents, who feel political change is on the horizon.

Stuart Drysdale, 27, a salesman, enjoying a stroll with his wife Danya and their five-month-old son Bruce, said he hoped Scotland would achieve independence soon.

"We don't need the English. They've taken so much away from us," he said. "The Scottish Parliament still has to bow down to Westminster, but it has done some excellent things. The Land Reform Act was good."

However, again, the discussion quickly switched to unemployment. "The job situation here is dire," he added. "Polish people are walking straight off the planes and into jobs. Life's easy for them - they all live together and can save up and buy laptops and flashy tellies which we can't do. If we say we're looking for work, people look down on us - but not them.

"People say an independent Scotland wouldn't survive, but look at Ireland and how it is flourishing. We've been under the English blade far too long."

Mrs Drysdale, 26, said she had always been aware of her Scottish identity, but felt it more strongly in recent years.

"I was stunned when I saw the film Braveheart. Then when Stuart took me to the Stirling monument and I was surrounded by English people I started crying just thinking of what had happened to us in our history. We need to stand on our own and get more jobs set up for the future."

Support for the SNP is traditionally strong in the town - which is represented by nationalist George Reid at Holyrood as well as Labour MP Gordon Banks at Westminster.

Sheena Fraser, 60, of Menstrie, blamed centuries of rule from London for some of the problems gripping towns like Alloa. "It's time we got out of this union," the retired voluntary sector worker said. "It's created a dependency culture but I think folks are beginning to see the light and get back self-respect."

She predicted Labour would pay a price at the ballot box in May for the Iraq war: "The vast majority in Scotland were not in favour, but we've found we're in it - and a lot of folk have started questioning it. Blair has been such a disappointment. I've been around a long time and seen Scotland go really downhill. Maybe it's global warming that's bringing us sunshine in the middle of February or even Andy Murray perking us up - but there seems to be a feeling about that we're coming up, a more hopeful attitude.

"We need to learn to stand on our own two feet again."

THE Scotsman's nationhood tour was in the Wee County of Clackmannanshire yesterday, finding out what the people of Alloa think about their country in 2007. What does Scotland mean to them - and what does the future hold? Issues of nationhood will be in the spotlight tomorrow night at the Corn Exchange, Cupar, Fife, at the latest of our nationhood debates. Panellists include former First Minister Henry McLeish and SNP MSP Tricia Marwick. For tickets (and for debates at North Berwick next Wednesday and Galashiels on 13 March), e-mail [e-mail]

'WE NEED TO GET PRIDE BACK IN OURSELVES'

"I'VE always felt more Scottish than English. I think it is the same with all my friends, but it is not something we need to talk about because it is just the way it is. I've not thought a lot about independence but it wouldn't come as a shock if it happened."

Kerry-Anne Carmichael, 16, unemployed on a training course, Coalsnaughton.

"I'm Scottish and proud of my heritage. They've been telling us for 30 years that Scotland is a small country that can't survive outside of the Union. If that's the case, I don't want to be a parasite."

Walter McAdam, 74, retired chief technician, Alloa

"We need to get pride back in ourselves instead of being lackeys - and be able to do what we want as opposed to what other people say is best for us."

Ian Fraser, 67, retired joiner, Menstrie

"There's a lot that I see that I don't like - particularly the sheer volume of traffic on the roads. At one time I'd know who to vote for, but I don't know anymore."

Joan Ramage, 74, retired jeweller, Alloa

"I'm proud of where I come from and class myself as Scottish, not British. There are a lot of drug users in Alloa. They get everything done for them - methadone, rent, benefits. Our children aren't entitled to those benefits."

Carrie Whyte, 26, mother-of-two, Alloa

"What's the point of being Scottish as a nation if we don't run our own affairs? We're quite a wealthy country but some people keep scaremongering that we'd never make it on our own to put people off the idea."

Alastair Allan, 73, retired design draughtsman, Alloa

"I'm not sure if we'd be better independent. We might not be so well off and there would be a worry over things like defence. I think we can stay Scottish but still have diversity between us and the English."

Joanne Taylor, 26, housewife, Alloa