BBC Alba Documentaries

In 1974, Lewis Offshore opened in Stornoway, producing large steel structures for the offshore oil industry, heralding a boom for the economy and changing the landscape of the Isle of Lewis. With oil in the North Sea, a new wave of opportunity sprung forth across the Highlands, a welcome development on the island, where the local economy was struggling. The development of Arnish began when a Norwegian company enquired about the possibility of a fabrication yard just outside of Stornoway, and since it opened in the mid-70s, it has been part of the landscape and culture of Lewis. It enabled many families to remain and work on the island, gave the local economy a much needed boost, and taught many people new skills that would benefit the community to this day. We hear memories from those who worked at Arnish, detailing the successful and challenging times throughout the years. They also explain the impact it had on the town of Stornoway and on the island.

During the First World War, a few miles from the front, soldiers played football, ran races or boxed. For most of them, this was a first encounter with organised sport. It helped troops to forget the horrors and death around them, and gave fresh hope. Surprisingly, the Great War played a key role in the history of sport. Soldiers from rural populations all now practised sport – an activity until then reserved for the elite.

How Gandhi is considered the embodiment of non-violent resistance. Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi, known as 'Mahatma', was assassinated by a Hindu fanatic on 30 January 1948. Today, Gandhi is considered the embodiment of non-violent resistance. His great words have also taken hold in the western world: ahimsa - non-violence, satyagraha - insistence on truth, and swaraj - self-governance. Gandhi was and remained a Hindu, but engaged intensively with other religions. He took the Baghavad Gita and the Sermon on the Mount as the spiritual basis for his political actions. His concept of renunciation of violence and loving one’s enemies therefore also had a strong influence on Christians, for instance the American Civil Rights movement and Martin Luther King.

The late Dr John Hay was a highly respected and long-serving GP in Uig and Bernera on the Isle of Lewis from the 1970s to the 1990s. Despite the demands of serving a large practice, he managed to create a vast film archive of life in the community to which he was devoted. Like many island communities at the time, crofting and fishing were the foundation of daily life and the resulting films and photographs are a priceless record of a changing society. They also reveal the affection in which Dr Hay was held locally. Photographer Calum Angus Mackay goes in search of John Hay, his archive and the people he captured on film. In a series of specially commissioned portraits, he also presents a snapshot of the people of Uig today. In Gaelic with English subtitles