An amateur film made by members of the Cleveland Cine Club of a trip to the Farne Islands on the 29th June 1969. From the village of Seahouses the group travel by fishing boat, first to Inner Farne and then onto Staple Island. They visit St Cuthbert’s Chapel, but the majority of the film focuses on the wildlife and the many breeding sea birds and their chicks including terns, arctic terns, kittiwakes, European shag’s, puffins, cormorants and grey seals. The film opens on an Ordnance Survey...

An amateur film made by members of the Cleveland Cine Club of a trip to the Farne Islands on the 29th June 1969. From the village of Seahouses the group travel by fishing boat, first to Inner Farne and then onto Staple Island. They visit St Cuthbert’s Chapel, but the majority of the film focuses on the wildlife and the many breeding sea birds and their chicks including terns, arctic terns, kittiwakes, European shag’s, puffins, cormorants and grey seals. The film opens on an Ordnance Survey map focusing on the Farne Islands and Northumberland coast. The film cuts to a general view of the marina at Seahouses where a number of small fishing vessels are moored in the harbour. As the camera pans right a group of tourists stand on the quayside looking at the scene. Below in the harbour a fisherman works on his small fishing boat. Across the harbour seawall Inner Farne with its lighthouse can be seen in the distance. A small two manned motor fishing boat, the “Glad Tidings” (BK.10), comes into the harbour and manoeuvres towards the sea wall. The film cuts to a view of a large crowd standing on the quayside as the boat pulls away. On board there are views of the passengers and boat travelling through the water towards Inner Farne. At the tiller the helmsman, with a cigarette hanging from his mouth, steers the boat through the waves. As the boat approached Inner Farne a tern sits on a large sign that reads ‘Farne Islands’ while other birds fly past. A man kneels beside another sign that reads ‘National Trust. Landing Fee 3’6 per Head’. On the island a Tern comes to land beside the camera before flying away quickly. Another Tern sits on a nest. There is a general view of the exterior of the chapel of St Cuthbert. The film cuts to show a Puffin standing on the cliffs beside a nesting gull. On another part of the cliff edge sit a number of Guillemot’s and Puffins. As a Puffin comes into land a Guillemot crows at it. General views follow of Kittiwakes and their chicks on a nest built precariously into the cliffs. A Cormorant stand beside two Kittiwake nests. There are close up views of Kittiwakes protecting their chicks from the wind and waves crashing against the cliffs. Arctic Terns swoop and dive at two men walking close to their nests.  A woman twirls a scarf in the air to deter an Artic Tern from attacking her. Looking up at St Cuthbert’s chapel the visitors are seen walking away. Back on the boat heading towards Staple Island views of seabirds, mainly Guillemots, nesting on an outcrop of rock. Six Puffins rest on a cliff edge. The film cuts to views of gulls sitting on their nests with their chicks. A gull gets up to reveal an egg in its nest. A European Shag with its greenish-black plumage sits on a nest built on a cliff edge. General view follows of a colony of Guillemot’s nesting on a rock outcrop. General views show roosting birds with chicks and eggs along the cliff edge. On a grassy rocky outcrop, a group of Puffins stand resting. One of the birds has a small fish in its beak. A man carrying a camera on a tripod walks past. The film cuts to him and a number of other people walking across a rocky shoreline. From the boat a woman in a green headscarf looks up at the camera. The man at the tiller directs passengers onto his boat as they climb aboard. A woman hands a pair of binoculars to a friend as she scrambles across a rocky outcrop. She is helped on board by two men who then assist a man to jump aboard. General views of the boats travelling away from the island. In the water a colony of Grey Seals watch as the boat passes by. As the boat approaches there is a view of the Longstone Lighthouse with its distinctive red and white stripes. A large radio mast can be seen built nearby. The film cuts to the two fisherman sitting at the tiller chatting. Passengers look out on the water as the boat approaches Seahouses. The film ends in the harbour where passengers climbing carefully out off the boat. Title: The end