In Case You Missed it:
A new BBC ALBA documentary drills down into the history and legacy of the oil industry in Aberdeen – and asks why is it not a wealthier city today?
Produced by Midas Media, Baile na h-Ola (Aberdeen – When Oil Came to Town) explores the impact oil has had on the city of Aberdeen and its people over the last 50 years.
Very much a social history not a political one, the special 75-minute film assesses why The Granite City has not benefited as much from oil as North Sea neighbours Shetland and Norway, despite its one-time reputation as “the most important oil centre in the world”.
With archive footage from the 70’s and 80’s, the film illustrates the harsh realities of the early days of this industry which was to prove so vital for the UK economy.
With a rich history to draw on, Norman MacLeod, from the Isle of Scalpay in the Western Isles, who has lived in Aberdeen since 1985, tells the story of the city and its people through its highs and lows over the last 50 years.
Industry in the city had been built on fishing, granite, farming and paper mills, but, when oil was discovered on its doorstep, everything changed.
While the rest of the UK was going through an economic crisis, oil was first found in the North Sea in the 1970s. It was the beginning of a golden age for Aberdeen and life would never be the same again in the North East.
The Americans – mostly Texans – came to the “Wild West of Europe” with their skills in harvesting oil but it was the Scottish fishermen who had the experience of working in the hostile waters. Boom times were ahead, but also economic crashes and tragic disasters.
Things started brightly and rather excitingly as Duane Mead from Michigan came to set up an American School. He opened the school with just 16 pupils and in four years the school roll was 400. American food stores and hamburger bars opened and you could spot stetsons around town.
Local tradespeople and unskilled workers were enticed by the high wages offshore to drill the treacherous fields, the housing market in the city sky rocketed to levels not seen in the UK outside of London and even Aberdeen FC were in their pomp.
However, while many prospered, it became a tale of two cities where those who weren’t involved in oil struggled.
It wasn’t all sunshine and roses for the industry as economic crashes and tragic disasters hit with devastating effects.
The Chinook helicopter that crashed off Shetland in 1986 claimed 45 lives, making it the world’s worst-ever civilian helicopter crash. Captain Pushp Vaid was one of the two survivors and talks about what happened. Two years later, worse was to come when tragedy hit the oil platform Piper Alpha. An explosion killed a total of 167 people and the devastating effects still resonate in Aberdeen today.
The city continued to change, as did the cultural landscape, and, unlike the earlier transient workers, many nationalities were coming to stay and make it their home.
The Nigerian population in Aberdeen has grown to become the biggest per capita in the UK. Key to this growth has been the two city universities, which are globally recognised for educational excellence in the energy sector, the most important industry of Nigeria.
But what of the future? We hear from people like Sir Ian Wood, born and raised in the city, who became a billionaire businessman from his success in the industry. He grew his father’s family-owned fishing business into a multinational oil services company employing 53,000 people in 42 countries. and from former trawler captain Jimmy Buchan who saw the fishing industry change forever.
While Shetland has its £400 million oil fund; in Aberdeen, although the future looked bright, and the money poured in, Baile na h-Ola (Aberdeen – When Oil Came to Town) sheds light on why the on-land legacy of oil found deep beneath the surface isn’t as evident as it is across the rest of the North Sea coastline.
Aberdeen – When Oil Came to Town airs on BBC ALBA on TONIGHT at 9pm and is available to watch on BBC iPlayer for 30 days after.
