This amateur travelogue produced by Jack Mills explores the rich history of the five mile stretch of the River Tyne between Bywell and Wylam. As well as visiting many places of local interest, the film also speaks with some of its more fascinating and diverse characters who live and work around the Tyne. Title: River Journey The film opens on a hand-painted map showing the river Tyne between Bywell to Wylam and the locations this film will visit. The film changes to a view looking...

This amateur travelogue produced by Jack Mills explores the rich history of the five mile stretch of the River Tyne between Bywell and Wylam. As well as visiting many places of local interest, the film also speaks with some of its more fascinating and diverse characters who live and work around the Tyne. Title: River Journey The film opens on a hand-painted map showing the river Tyne between Bywell to Wylam and the locations this film will visit. The film changes to a view looking downstream along the Tyne with trees and greenery along or near to both riverbanks. Two men walk through the inner courtyard of Prudhoe Castle followed by a man walking near to the edge of the Tyne carrying a large fishing net. A phantom car ride near Bywell passes a field of grazing sheep and is followed by historic images of Bywell Castle, its two historic churches as well as the surrounding area. On an area of grass near to Bywell Castle a crowd watches as a group of costumed men re-enact a Viking raid on Lindisfarne. A battle begins between the two groups of men wielding pikes and axes. Along the road leading into Bywell is a stone market cross. Nearby views follow of the exterior of Bywell Castle plus those of historic plans and drawings of the building. A family house is built alongside the castle where the current owner, Mrs Wentworth-Beaumont, is interviewed by Fred Cowling as they walk through her garden. Mrs Beaumont talks about a number of ponies in a nearby paddock which the family owns. An older woman feeds one of them in the paddock which they share with a number of sheep. Views follow of the river Tyne at dusk and a squirrel leaping through the grass beside a tree. A room inside the castle is used as winter storage for several metal and wooden benches. A number of children bikes rest against the wall of an ornate stone gateway inside the castle walls. Views show the exterior of Bywell Hall, the residency of Viscount Allendale, are accompanied by historic images to help illustrate its history. To the east of the hall the village’s twin churches; St Peter’s and St. Andrew’s which stand only two-hundred yards apart. Views follow of the churchyard and interior of St Peter’s. A wooden sign on the wall of St Andrew’s states that it is maintained by The Redundant Churches Fund. In a field in front of St Andrew's a man rakes up cut grass is followed by interior views of the church. Three cross-slab grave covers hang from an interior wall of the church, another two are used in the external wall either side of a doorway. Some of the exterior medieval slabs have been removed and replaced with plain ones, the originals hanging inside the church. Two women come out of St Peter’s and walk through the church yard looking at the gravestone of Mary-Ann Herdman and its detailed eulogy. They move onto that of Isaac Elsdon which simply reads ‘Life how short, eternity how long!. In the south wall of the church a view shows 12th century scratch-clock followed by the graves of members of the Percy and Umfreville families lying side-by-side. The river Tyne flows under Bywell Bridge and from it a swimmer fights against the current of the water below. Nearby an angler reels in his catch, a cigarette hanging from his lips. On the north-bank of the river near Ovingham is a collection of holiday homes. Fred Cowling speaks with one of the residents, Michael Telvert with his Border Collie Bobo, about an America Confederate flag which flies from the roof of his property and its connection to his love of motorbikes. Michael is joined by neighbour Mary who talks about the ferry which use to cross the Tyne nearby and what it was like living here in the past. A number of anglers walk past near to a caravan parked nearby, a small dog barks loudly. A diesel passenger train bound for Carlisle travels past along the track which runs parallel to the Tyne. A National Trust sign changes to show the cottage of Cherryburn, birthplace of English wood-carver Thomas Bewick. Two men come out of the cottage into the small yard and look at a small window of the cottage. Inside the interior is as it was in Bewick’s day with a hearth in the centre of the room beside two chairs on a flagged-stone floor. A frame rests against the wall with a partially finished proggy mat. Pigeons or doves come through an opening in a barn door and two pigs sleep and eat hay in another barn. In a field a donkey reaches up and eats the leaves from a tree before being chased by a sheep. From an elevated position a view of  the village of Ovingham besides the Tyne and at its centre the parish church of St Mary the Virgin. An engraving of a Newcastle street scene is followed by examples of the engraving work of Thomas Bewick. The house built by William Bewick near to Cherryburn is now a museum to Thomas, inside displays relating to the man and his work. A guide at the museum, Maureen Lauriston speaks with an older couple visiting the museum while others look around the shop. In the Press Room museum guide Bill Bouche gives a talk to some visitors about the history of the property followed by a wood engraving demonstration by another guide Bob Brow. On a wall, an early example of Bewick’s work, a book ‘The Hutton Book of Mathematics’. At the hamlet of Mickley a number of cars are parked on a steep banked road near to the ‘The Bewick Studios’. Inside fine art printer Christopher Bacon speaks with a couple before giving a demonstration of printing for the camera. A number of visitors look over his work hanging from the walls of the studio. Next door to ‘The Bewick Studios’ is the ‘The Jiggery Pokery Shop’ where inside an older man looks through a selection of LP’s for sale. In the shop’s tea room groups of people around tables enjoy afternoon refreshments. Around the antique shop larger items for sale hang down from the walls while smaller items are on display in a various sized cabinets. A sign points in the direction of ‘Cheyne Books’ and the camera moves through this ‘Aladdin’s Cave’ of a shop and up a set of steep stairs past even more displays of bric-a-brac. As the cameraman passes through the shop he passes a number of mirrors, his image reflected back at him. From a wooden beam a sign reads ‘Cheyne Books’. Shelves of second hand books are set up around the space and a man looks through them. Back downstairs ‘roving reporter’ Fred Cowling speaks with the shops owner John Dewitt who tells a funny story about how he came to acquire many of the items seen in the shop.  Looking across Ovingham Bridge is the 100ft long sculpture known as the Prudhoe Badger. The sculpture is built onto a hillside near to a roundabout, part of the Prudhoe bypass along Princess Way. From a railway bridge in the near distance large man-made mounds can be seen created from waste material produced by ICI at Prudhoe. A path runs along the south side of the Tyne with a number of people walking along it, part of the Tyne Riverside Country Park at Low Prudhoe. On the nearby river a group are given instruction in how to use a canoe paddle. Beside the Tyne Riverside Park Centre a man gives instructions to a group of pupils from Ryton Comprehensive School on the basics of abseiling. A number of pupils test out harnesses. From Station Road, Prudhoe Castle is seen behind trees in the distance. General views of the exterior of the castle and moat is followed by views of the inner courtyard and manor house intercut with historic images and plans.  A car is parked outside the manor house as the camera pans towards the gatehouse where inside is a room that was once was a chapel. A couple walk around the inner courtyard and read the information boards. An English Heritage custodian Howard Hill speaks with Fred Cowling about the castle and its history. As Howard speaks two men make their way into the inner courtyard via the gatehouse and walk around the interior castle grounds. Inside a barn a display made up of two mannequins, entitled ‘unwelcome visitor’. Outside a woman takes a photograph of a a holiday party posing beside a wall. Inside another room two women watch an English Heritage promotional video about the castle. A man buys a cup of coffee from the castle’s café. Across the Tyne on the far bank is the village of Ovingham. Road traffic crosses the rail line beside Prudhoe signal box just as the barrier is raised. The Tyne continues to flow downstream showing a stretch where there was once a ford and ferry landing. A man crosses the Ovingham Bridge using the footpath constructed next to the single-track road. Traffic crosses the narrow single-lane bridge in both directions. Scratches and marks in the stonework, visible during repair work on the bridge during the summer of 1993, show how cars have often literally just scraped across. Views of the parish church of St Mary the Virgin in Ovingham and a woman reading the inscription on one of the many gravestones. Opposite the church is the old vicarage, now owned by Frank Atkinson, founder of Beamish Open-Air Museum. Sitting on a set of steps in the back garden Frank talks about the catastrophic flood in 1771, the high-water mark of which can still be seen on the stonework of the steps. A historic print entitled ‘Dyers of Ovingham’ is followed by one of the Old Bleach Green with its chimney. The film changes to show Bleach Green today as a family home beside the Whittle Burn. A pack-horse bridge also crosses the burn in the village, a modern road bridge built beside it. A painting by Wilson Hepple of the bridge dating from 1917 changes to the Old School House where the owners of the picture, Pat and Iris Palmer, now live. A group of school children play up for the camera while visiting the villages, one boy throws leaves into the burn watching as they sail away under with the current. Beside the burn is a red telephone box is the old village water pump. An angler fishes in the Tyne; the Wylam Railway Bridge can be seen in the distance. A sign at the entrance to the village includes an image of Puffin Billy, built by local resident William Hedley. From an elevated position the Wylam road bridge which connects the village on both sides of the river. A Super-Sprinter class diesel passenger train comes into Wylam railway station and a number of passengers climb aboard. The rail barrier is closed and the train makes its way to the next station. From the footbridge between the two station platforms a mineral train passes at speed through the station after which the barrier is lifted and traffic moves freely again. A phantom car ride across the Wylam Bridge into the southern part of Wylam stops at a number of places of local interest including the old Toll House as seen from the road bridge with a Puffing Billy weather vane in the roof. A former 1930’s corner shop is now a local residence with geraniums growing in the old shop window. On the village green is a view of the war memorial followed by views of the various styles of houses in the village, both traditional and modern. Continuing the phantom car ride through the village passing Lawson’s shop, birth place of Timothy Hackworth. A woman comes out of the Wylam Tea Shop outside of which stand a number of sandwich boards. Inside a display of local cheeses in a refrigeration unit is followed by couple giving their order to a member of staff in the tea shop. Back outside a horse and rider pass by. The film changes to views of Tynemouth Priory, the monks at Tynemouth were thought to have owned land around Wylam. A view follows taken from a wheat field down to the village. Two cars are parked beside Wylam Hall, a man looks at the decorative doorway leading into the building. A number of historic prints shows Wylam in the previous century as an industrial centre with coal mines and an iron-ore smelter. A museum displays items relating to the development of the railway and steam locomotion in the village which are intercut with images of Puffing Billy. A plaque on the side of a house shows it to have been once the home of William Hedley. Nearby views of  St Oswin’s Church with its bells ringing. A stone plinth built into a wall near a number of bungalows reads ‘Blackett Cottages 1958’ Beside the former wagon way, now a riverside footpath, is the cottage and birthplace of George Stephenson. A photograph dated 1953 shows the railway running past. A replica of Robert Stephenson’s Rocket locomotive travels along a railway track pulling into a platform. Inside The Falcon Centre is the Wylam Railway Museum as well as a local library where Fred Cowling interviews Councillor Philip Brooks about the development of the museum plus the important railway history linked to the village. Councillor Brooks takes Fred around the museum and they continue the interview from a former platform bench, the metal plaque on it reading ‘Wylam’. A model of the Wylam Railway Bridge in the museum changes to the real one and two women look over the parapet down onto the river below. A man and woman ride past on bicycles. The pupils seen previously from Ryton Comprehensive School receive last minute instruction before one of them abseils from the bridge. As the boys continue their abseiling adventure Warren Adams, a visitor from the United State of America, comes onto the bridge with his elderly dog Gus and speaks with Jack Mills about why he was has retired to Wylam. At his nearby home Warren comes into his garden with his dogs before the film returns to him being interviewed on Wylam Railway Bridge. Over the closing credits traffic continues to cross the Wylam Bridge  and the Tyne flows downstream from Wylam towards Newcastle and the North Sea. End credits: Our thanks to Bewick Studios,  Bywell Estates, English Heritage, Frank Graham, Jiggery Pokery, Laing Art Gallery, National Trust, James Pigg, Ryton Comprehensive School, Wylam Railway Museum End credit: Production Team Fred Cowling, Bill Ferguson, John, Gee, Geoff Mellor, Jack Mills. End title: The end. 1994