BBC - My Kind of Town Series 2 (2021)
Ian Hamilton and his guide dog Major explore the past, present and future of towns across Scotland.
Chapter 1 Cumnock
Ian Hamilton and guide dog Major head to Cumnock in East Ayrshire. Once a thriving mining town, Cumnock now has an ambition to become Scotland’s first green town by running its own hi-tech renewable energy system and making use of digital and smart technologies.
Digging below the surface of these ambitious plans for the town, Ian meets the locals to see what they think about it all, and also to find out what smaller steps they are taking to move towards a greener world.
Cumnock provided coal to power the country for generations and is now is hoping to transform its future.
Chapter 2 Shotts
Ian and Major head to Shotts in North Lanarkshire, a town that’s feeling a bit unloved and down on its luck. Since the closing of its iron foundry, there has been very little solid employment. However, Ian and Major find plenty of places to go and people to chat to, visiting the prison, an abandoned psychiatric hospital, and even doing some street dancing.
Chapter 3 Arbroath
Ian and Major head to Angus and the town of Arbroath, a fine red sandstone town which nestles around its historic abbey.
No longer with a fishing industry, the town relies on leisure boats visiting the beautiful little harbour, and Ian and Major have the chance to make pizza, bottle some rum and ride the dodgems.
Chapter 4 Stornoway
Ian and Major leave dry land and cross the Minch to Stornoway, capital of the Western Isles.
With plans for a big new harbour to attract cruise ships and more business investment, Stornoway is looking to the future. Ian visits the mosque that was crowdfunded by the local Muslim community, learns some Gaelic at the college, and speaks to some people in the creative industries who tell him some of the benefits of being in Stornoway.
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