This amateur film by Stephen Gray records life on the River Tyne from the South Shields riverside, including pilot boats helping ships navigate downriver, fishermen, sailing boat activities, and locals enjoying some stormy weather along the Shields pier. Title: Tyne and Tide People board the Shieldsman ferry at South Shields and the ferry moves off down the river Tyne. Travelling shots from the ferry follow of the Ben Edra [SN138] trawler docked at North Shields. General view from the stern...

This amateur film by Stephen Gray records life on the River Tyne from the South Shields riverside, including pilot boats helping ships navigate downriver, fishermen, sailing boat activities, and locals enjoying some stormy weather along the Shields pier. Title: Tyne and Tide People board the Shieldsman ferry at South Shields and the ferry moves off down the river Tyne. Travelling shots from the ferry follow of the Ben Edra [SN138] trawler docked at North Shields. General view from the stern of the ferry of shipyard cranes on the Tyne. A man fishes from the riverside at South Shields as a trawler sails by, the Sir James Knott Memorial Flats above North Groyne Promenade, North Shields, in the background. Another fishing boat is moored at a jetty at South Shields as various trawlers sail past towards the mouth of the Tyne. In the next sequence, men are fishing from the causeway as the DFDS passenger ship Dana Futura sails out of the Tyne into the North Sea. Pilot boats guide the motor cargo ship Tepuy (Puerto Cabello) out of the Tyne.  A pilot boat speeds past to the mouth of the Tyne where a ship is awaiting entry. A man and his child watch as a flotilla of pilot boats guide the huge crude oil tanker Esso Augusta out of the mouth of the Tyne past the Tynemouth lighthouses. The Fred Olsen Line cruise ship Blenheim is then guided by pilot boats towards the mouth of the Tyne. A row of anglers stand on the quayside fishing. Sailing classes are taking place with a fleet of small yachts from South Shields Sailing Club (mainly dinghies). The boats then pull in to a small harbour past Herd Groyne, the Sir James Knott Memorial Flats across the Tyne. Travelling shots follow taken on board the Tyne Port Health Authority launch 'Hygiea' in the summer of 1979 as it speeds to the mouth of the Tyne, with a brief shot of the captain and companion at the wheel. The boat passes Tynemouth Castle and Priory on the headland as it sails out to sea. On the way back, it passes the North Pier at Tynemouth.   A man has set up his fishing rod on Little Haven beach at South Shields, the Herd Groyne pier and lighthouse in the background. Adults and children are on the beach as the waves roll in. Sailing boats are out practising on the Tyne. Two children play at the waves' edge, the boy flinging floatsam around on the beach. Two horses and their riders stand in the waves on the shoreline.  On stormy winter days, waves splash dramatically onto a beach front drive. Children and adults, and a good many cars, are on the promenade road, splashed by waves. Some lads in wellies get soaked by a huge wave. Cars are driving through on the flooded road, stalling in the water from a stormy North Sea. A ferry sails up the Tyne. Title: The End