It is just a short walk from the now notorious Cladhan Hotel to the Battle of Falkirk memorial, up a steep hill that offers a bird’s eye view across the Forth Valley.

From there, the town’s Steeple can be seen rising above the High Street, the Kelpies glimmer and the remains of Grangemouth’s industrial powerhouse sends occasional plumes of vapour skywards.

There is much for Falkirk Bairns like me to be proud of.

More than just a town with two railway stations, it’s a town steeped in history, where Romans built forts and blood spilled across two battlefields. Its foundries churned out carronades that helped win the Battle of Waterloo, post boxes, telephone boxes, bathtubs and stoves.

More recently, the town emerged as a tourist destination: the Wheel, the Kelpies, canals and Helix Park became new sources of local pride.

The Kelpies(Image: newsquest)

Walking group Ramblers hailed Falkirk the best and most beautiful place for an urban stroll, and Rightmove said it had the UK’s fastest property market, such was demand for home seekers.

From the same spot close to the memorial can be seen the scene of the latest ‘battle of Falkirk’, the Cladhan hotel.

Once a place for high teas, weddings and where a few years ago my family and I gathered after my mother’s funeral, it is now ‘ground zero’ for a Scotland-wide anti-asylum movement.

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Until recently, mentioning you come from Falkirk would cue debate about why it has two railway stations. Now, it’s an opener to discussion about how racist we all are.

When Sadeq Nikzad, an asylum seeker from Afghanistan, was jailed for nine years in June for the rape of a teenage girl near the High Street, he ignited rumours and frustrations that had been simmering for months.

Girls had been followed home from school, someone’s child had been ‘lifted’ from a playground and then snatched back, someone else, a boy or maybe a girl might or might not have been raped...

What was true was that in February 2024 – just days after the Rochdale report........

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