A promotional video by Turners Visual Communications unit for the Port of Blyth, describing the port's ability to handle modern trade. Includes short sequence about environmental concerns. The film opens with dawn, dusk and night views of the pier and wind turbines at Blyth, wild birds around the port, the ferry Nordic Link arriving, and lobster pots stacked on the quayside, with location flags attached to the pots fluttering in the wind. A Port of Blyth employee answers the telephone...

A promotional video by Turners Visual Communications unit for the Port of Blyth, describing the port's ability to handle modern trade. Includes short sequence about environmental concerns. The film opens with dawn, dusk and night views of the pier and wind turbines at Blyth, wild birds around the port, the ferry Nordic Link arriving, and lobster pots stacked on the quayside, with location flags attached to the pots fluttering in the wind. A Port of Blyth employee answers the telephone in an office. Travelling shot from the stern of a boat, looking over the slipstream, stretching out to the grey sky over the horizon. Two men are at the controls in the bridge. A view follows out at sea of the European roll on, roll off (Ro-Ro) vessel MV Anne Marie owned by shipping company Transfennica. The Port of Blyth harbour master climbs aboard the vessel on a rope ladder. He is boarding the Anne Marie at the request of the ship’s master to pilot the vessel into port after its journey from Finland. The ship is delivering 4000 tons of forest products. The harbour master uses the ship to shore phone. A screen on the bridge shows a radar image of the approach to the port.  A brief image of the approach to the port seen from the bridge is followed by a close-up of a wind turbine turning imprinted with Port of Tyne. Title: Ship Shape Blyth 90’s Style [with Blyth Harbour Commission’s coat of arms] Travelling shot from ship coming in to Blyth East pier and lighthouse with wind turbine, the harbour master and captain on the bridge. A diagrammatic map of Britain is marked with Blyth’s location. An aerial photograph next to the map shows a view of the port. An aerial view follows showing the port of Blyth and the town. A large ship moored at the port is taking on a shipment of coal. As the ship Anne Marie comes in to port, quayside loading equipment, cranes and flatbed trailers, on the quayside. A map illustrates the good transport links to be had with Blyth’s northerly location and footage of high speed rail, a busy motorway, and Newcastle airport The film cuts to a high speed passenger train negotiating a curve. Next a view of traffic on a busy motorway, which is followed by a view of the front parking area and main building of Newcastle International Airport. A British Airways plane taxis on a runway, then takes off. Aerial view of the harbour, pier and wind turbines. Footage of Port of Blyth South Harbour activities unloading various forest products. A container is loaded back onto a ship.   Exterior shot of an elegant Victorian corner building, the Port of Blyth headquarters. Inside, senior managers hold discussions as they look at a display board of photographs of the port, pointing to features. In the South Harbour offices the operations manager and his team are in a planning meeting. Women work in an office organising computerised details of all stages of a shipment. Fergusons trucks road haulage collection and delivery head out from the terminal. Handling facilities for coal, grain and aluminium industrial products are illustrated in split screen stills. The hopper and belt conveyor system for unloading coal is shown, followed by high speed loading of road aggregate. The next view shows Alcan’s specialised discharging terminal on the north side of the harbour, where a large nozzle is placed in a ship’s hold carrying raw material for the making of aluminium to ‘hoover’ the material. Special trucks move along a railway to deliver aluminium related materials to plants in Scotland. An aerial view shows grain silos next to the north bank of the river. The terminal is operated by W Gledhill and sons who store grain prior to shipment. The film shows grain being ‘sprayed’ into the hold of a ship from a long square shaped tube or nozzle. A man sits at his desk using a computer to map out a new development for the port of Blyth. The on-screen image shows a plan drawing of the harbour with a number of squares overlaying the image. A title on screen reads: ‘Port of Blyth New Development Programme’. On an aerial view of land on the north side of the harbour, a red line outlines the perimeter showing the extent of the land, which will be used for the new development. Another view at ground level shows a cleared area of land on the opposite bank of the river also ready for development. The MV Anne Marie is moored at the port. Forest products from Finland are unloaded using tractors and trailers and fork lift trucks. A fork lift truck fills a shipping container with waste paper for a return trip to Finland. The commentary explains that ships don’t make the return journey to Scandinavia empty, they ship paper for recycling as well as deliver other goods. Blyth also handles shipment of cars from the Nissan plant near Sunderland. The film shows new cars being driven into the hold of a ship, bound for a Scandinavian port. The cars are secured in the Ro-Ro ship’s hold. General views show other items, including containers and pressurised vessels being loaded onto ships, illustrating the diverse items that are being dispatched from the port. The film shows maintenance of fork lift trucks in a workshop, as the commentary emphasises the need for a good support team to ensure the smooth running of the port. The port’s fishing fleet are moored in the harbour, including visiting boats from Scotland. A still depicts the Royal Northumberland yacht club vessels who operate from the south harbour. The port also offers facilities, properties and land to let, to a number of local businesses. A sign on a wall reads; ‘Port of Blyth Albert Street Industrial Estate’. A large warehouse structure is designated as ‘Port of Blyth Maritime Industrial Units’ and another sign reads ‘Port of Blyth Caravan and Boat Storage Park’. British Gas also has a presence with a Subsea Engineering unit where underwater work and research on pipe laying is carried out in anticipation of work that may be done in the harsh environment of the North Sea. A worker records details on a desk in front of a bank of CCTV terminals. Boats battle through a stormy sea. General views show the environmentally friendly wind farm at Blyth, generating power to the regional grid. Other industries are documented such as Colpitts engineering company and the Quayside Joinery business where a man puts the finishing touches to a wooden door or gate. Others put together roof trusses or special window frames. The two pubs either side of the river, The Golden Fleece and The Ridley Arms, are owned by Port of Blyth. Shots of sea birds and waders illustrate that other non-operational areas of the port have been designated sites of special scientific interest. The commentary states: “As a port, it shares everyone’s concern today with environmental issues.” Health and safety training takes place in a room for employees. More footage of their specialised cargo handling and other activities follows. Title: Port of Blyth – For Further Information Contact: The Commercial Manager, Blyth Harbour Commission, 70 Bridge Street, Blyth, Northumberland, UK Tel: 0670 352066 – Fax: 0670 355169 Title: Produced for the Port of Blyth Title: By Turner Visual Communications Producer: John Grant Camera: Peter Brock Recordist/Editor: Hilton Davis