The second of a two-part Tyne Tees Television programme looking at the history and traditions of the towns and villages of the North East coastline. This film follows the coast north from Newcastle as far as Holy Island. Title: Tyne Tees Television Presents The film opens on waves gently splashing onto a rocky shore. The film cuts to a view of the beach and North Sea seen from the battlements of Bamburgh Castle. The film cuts to a view looking up at the battlements of Bamburgh Castle. The...

The second of a two-part Tyne Tees Television programme looking at the history and traditions of the towns and villages of the North East coastline. This film follows the coast north from Newcastle as far as Holy Island. Title: Tyne Tees Television Presents The film opens on waves gently splashing onto a rocky shore. The film cuts to a view of the beach and North Sea seen from the battlements of Bamburgh Castle. The film cuts to a view looking up at the battlements of Bamburgh Castle. The film cuts to a view looking into the sky from inside the ruin of an ancient castle or building. Title: Your Heritage A number of small fishing boats can be seen moored inside a small harbour, possibly Craster. Title: The Coast of Kings The film cuts to an overhead view of a busy Newcastle street. Buses and traffic pass through a street junction. Looking north from Pilgrim Street towards Northumberland Street pedestrians and traffic travel along New Bridge Street. A policeman on horseback follows the traffic along Blackett Street past Grey’s Monument. Women look in at a display in a shop window. Two older men in flat caps stand nearby chatting; one of the men is smoking a cigarette. General view of pedestrians walking along a busy shopping street past a number of shops with large window displays. There is another overhead view of traffic moving along a Newcastle street. The film cuts to a view of the Tyne Bridge filmed from the Newcastle Quayside. The steamer ferry ‘Northumbrian’ travels along the river Tyne past a number of cargo ships that are moored in the water. Smoke pours from the funnel and the ferry blows it whistle. From on board a boat travelling along the Tyne the camera passes the bow of the tanker ‘Caltex Newcastle’ which is moored in the water next to the ‘British Talent’. Another steam ferry is seen moored in the middle of the river beside one of the Tyne tugs. General views showing coal pouring down a chute from a coal staithe into the hold of a collier. A Scandinavia passenger ferry travels through the water and heads into the North Sea On the beach at Tynemouth an old man and three children paddle in the sea. The camera pans up to show the ruins of Tynemouth Priory in the distance. The film cuts to a view of cars parked along the middle of Front Street at Tynemouth. General views of buildings along Front Street including ‘Baxter’s Tea House’ and the ‘Salutation Inn’. General view of the exterior of Tynemouth Castle with pedestrians walking past. The large wooden doors leading into Tynemouth Castle are slowly opened showing another large doorway inside. General views around the ruins of Tynemouth Priory. Two stone coffins are laid out side-by-side inside a priory building. These are, the narrator says, the resting places of Malcolm III of Scotland and his son killed at the Battle of Alnwick in 1093. There are more general views around the priory. From the battlements of Tynemouth Castle can be seen the statue of Admiral Lord Collingwood. The film cuts to the monument itself and views around the plinth and statue taking in the four cannon which came from his ship the ‘Royal Sovereign’. The film cuts to a re-enactment showing 18th century sailors firing cannon on board a sailing ship and view of ships in battle at sea. This could be a recreation of the battle of Trafalgar to which Lord Collingwood lead the British fleet into action in 1805. The film cuts to waves crashing gently against a stone shoreline. The camera pans up from the ocean to show a small cargo ship travelling at night. Large telecommunication masts tower over the coast at Cullercoats. General views of men working at controls inside the Cullercoats Radio Station. Presenter Austin Steele interviews a Mr Fitton about the function of the radio station. Sitting at the controls and wearing earphones Mr Fitton turns to towards camera and says the station keeps a twenty-four listening watch for ships that get into distress at sea between Flamborough Head and the Firth of Forth. He continues to discuss what happens when they get a message from a ship in distress. A hand is seen using a Morse-code machine and views of men using the radio equipment. Mr Fitton advises that they take the full particulars of the casualty and advise the Coast Guard and where necessary the Admiralty. There are more general views of men working at the radio station and various pieces of equipment.  Mr Fitton also explains that they are also a relay communication station for ships at sea and can pass on messages to either the shore or other vessels. A large crowd of people enjoy the beach at Cullercoat. There are views of the exterior of the Dove Marine Laboratory. On the promenade at Whitley Bay two musicians play an accordion and saxophone to the passing crowds. People stand along the esplanade looking out onto the beach. The camera pans left to right showing large crowds enjoying a walk along the promenade. On the beach seven children ride along on donkeys.  A motorised rocket-shaped ride travels slowly along the beach. Writing along the side of the vehicle reads ‘Luna. Spaceship Ride 6d’.  As it passes the children on board waves to the camera. On the beach underneath the seawall two young women play ball. The film cuts to an old woman sitting in a deck-chair knitting. A toddler plays with a spade in the sand. Two women in bathing costumes and caps sit in the surf as waves splash over them. The film cuts to an overhead view of Spanish City at Whitley Bay showing the various rides in action. From one of the ride views of young people enjoying themselves. A roller-coaster reaches the top of a steep incline and begins to descend at speed. A sign above the drop reads ‘Keep Your Seats’. General views of young people smiling and laughing as they speed around the track. Inside a glass case a puppet of a sailor is seen laughing. Two young women come down a helter-skelter. A large sign reads ‘Any Teenage Girl.' Two young girls look up at the sign. A man walks away from a stall eating an ice cream sandwich; the ice cream is dripping from his lips.    The film cuts to a view of St Mary’s Lighthouse on St Mary’s Island. The camera pulls back to show the stone causeway at low tide and a wooden breakwater. A fishing trawler comes into harbour a Blyth. General view of the marina where a number of small pleasure boats are moored. The camera pans up to show a cargo ship moored along a quayside. General view from a boat travelling alongside one of the Blyth coal staithes showing colliers moored alongside and railway wagons running along the top. The film cuts to a large stack of pit-props imported into Blyth for the local coal industry. Back at Blyth harbour views showing a steam tug boat pulling a collier away from the quayside and out into the North Sea. The camera pans up from a large steel anchor chain to show the view inside a ship breakers yard. General views of vessels that are being broken up at various stages of deconstruction. A large section of steel plate falls away from a hull and drops into the water. On the deck of a ship men work to cut up and dismantle the vessel for scrap. From another ship a pilot vessel travels along the coast towards, the narrator says, Amble. The camera passes a large buoy floating in the water. Written along the side is ‘S-W Coquet’. General view of Coquet Island and its lighthouse. A large number of seabirds circle around or are seen on the ground at low-tide. The pilot boat travels at speed through the water. A number of people are seen fishing from the pier at Amble as the boat enters the harbour. Overhead view of the harbour and coal staithes. On board a collier a number of men shovel coal. Coal wagons pass along a staithe pushed by a steam-train. At the controls of the engine is the driver who keeps an eye on his gauges. Hanging out of the cabin in the fireman.  A line of full coal wagons passes the camera. General views of the driver at the controls of the train which comes to a stop. Two men push a number of wagons along the track on top of the staithe. An overhead view of coal passing down a chute into the hold of a waiting collier. On board the collier men place wooden struts over the full hold of coal and cover it with a tarpaulin. The sequence ends with the collier slowly pulls away from the staithe. A road sign reads ‘Warkworth’. The camera pans right to left showing the ruins of Warkworth Castle in the distance. General views around the ruin of the castle. An overhead view from the castle looks down onto the river Coquet. General view of the river moving through a weir. Silver Salmon leap up the weir as they attempt to make their way upstream. A view from the river looking up at Warkworth Castle. In the distance a couple in a rowing boat pass under the castle ramparts. The film cuts to a view of Warkworth Bridge passing over the river Coquet. From the road a view of the roadway leading under the bridge tower. A car travels along a country road. The camera pans right to left showing the river Aln passing through countryside. General view of the concrete sea defences along the beach at Alnmouth. A pub sign hangs above the door of the ‘Schooner Hotel’. The camera pans left to right along Northumberland Street in Alnmouth showing the church of St John the Baptist in the distance. The film cuts to show a square building built on Beacon Hill with the camera panning left to right looking out to sea. Waves splash onto the rocks along the shoreline. A view follows looking up from the harbour and fishing cottages along Dunstanburgh Road at Craster. The number 29 bus for ‘Bamburgh’ turns out of Dunstanburgh Road into Haven Hill. The film cuts to show views of the exterior of Craster Tower. Seated on a bench in the grounds Sir John Craster speaks to camera about his families’ long connections to the village of Craster as well as the tower. He continues by talking about the ‘death knells’ of his families fishing fleet at with the advent of the steam trawler. He feels it is a great pity that only a few people are continuing with the in-shore fishing. The film cuts to a rose bush. The camera pans up to show Craster harbour. The sea crashes against the rocks close to the harbour. A small fishing boat has been brought up onto the land and sits beside a number of crab pots. In the background can be seen the harbour entrance and walls. A view of a metal plaque attached to the north pier commemorating Craster Memorial Harbour which was constructed to the memory of Captain John Charles Pulliene Craster. The film cuts back to Sir John Craster who says the harbour was also used to export crushed whinstone from the local quarry. General view of the whinstone quarry.  The film cuts back to Sir John seated on the bench. As he begins to talk about Dunstanburgh Castle the film cuts to a view of the ruin from a distance. General views follow around the interior of the castle. From a tower looking toward Craster the camera pans down to a set of concrete steps leading back down to the ground. General views of the exterior of the castle ruin with the wind blowing through it. A view of the Lilburn Tower, also known as Queen Margaret’s Tower. From the gully below the tower there follows a view of the small inlet looking out to sea. Waves crash along the rocky beach. The film cuts to a man pulling a small pleasure yacht into the water at Beadnall. The camera pans right to left to show the harbour wall and lime kilns. General view of a beach with a number of small pleasure boats moored on the sand. A panning shot of the village filmed from the harbour wall takes in the lime kilns and a number of small fishing boats moored along the seawall and in the small harbour. General view of boats moored in the harbour at Seahouses. Crates of fish are seen being winched from the hold of a trawler onto the quayside. A row of fishing cobles are moored in a line in the water. From the battlements of Bamburgh Castle can be seen the beach and sand dunes around the caste. A woman crosses the road in the village of Bamburgh. A view of Grace Darling’s cottage in the village. A plaque on the wall reads ‘Grace Horsley Darling was born here on the 24th November 1815’. The film cuts to focus on the image of Grace Darling shown in a picture of her and her father during the rescue of survivors from the shipwreck Forfarshire in 1838. There are various other close-ups of different dramatic parts of the picture. The film cuts to a view Bamburgh and the exterior of the parish church of St Aidan. General views of Grace Darling’s canopied grave. General views of Bamburgh Castle as seen from Bamburgh village. The film cuts to the castle itself and various views around the exterior and interior of the castle. Sitting on a bench inside Bamburgh Castle Austin Steele interviews author Norah Balls about why she came to live on this part of the Northumbrian coast. She says that she had always wanted to come to this part of the county with all its historical associations. When the opportunity arose to have a ‘little dwelling in the wonderful castle of Bamburgh’ she accepted it gladly. She agrees with Austin that living in the castle has given her inspiration in her work. She says that although the weather can be changeable you can get some wonderful ‘sky scapes’. The winters in the castle are not nearly as bad as people think and she really enjoys them. She continues by saying that the Anglo-Saxon period of the castle was the most exciting period for the castle where ‘40 Saxon kings ruled of this rock at Bamburgh’. The film cuts to a recreation of a Viking long boat travelling through the water. On the deck of the boat men can be seen with horned helmets and carrying spears and axes. As the men in Viking dress come ashore and walk along a path the film intercuts to views of the exterior of Bamburgh Castle. On the island of Lindisfarne a young family sit on the grass looking towards Lindisfarne Castle on the hill in the distance. There is a close-up view of the castle from the bottom of the hill. The film ends with general views of the ruins of Lindisfarne Priory and the statue of Saint Aidan. End Credit: Introduced by Austin Steele End Credit: Written by Philip McDonnell End Credit: Sound Recordist Ray Hole End Credit: Cameraman Fred Thomas End Credit: Produced by Leslie Barrett End Credit: Directed by Michael Dunk End Credit: A Tyne Tees Television Features Production