A home movie made by Edwin Davison which features both his family at home in Wallsend as well as on the beach at Cresswell in Northumberland. The film also features two tanker launches from Swan, Hunter & Wigham Richardson shipyard at Wallsend where the filmmaker was a Manager in the Cost Department. The first is the British Argosy launched 7th February, 1966 and at the end of the film the Regent Westminster launched 1st November, 1967. The film also features the British Argosy leaving...

A home movie made by Edwin Davison which features both his family at home in Wallsend as well as on the beach at Cresswell in Northumberland. The film also features two tanker launches from Swan, Hunter & Wigham Richardson shipyard at Wallsend where the filmmaker was a Manager in the Cost Department. The first is the British Argosy launched 7th February, 1966 and at the end of the film the Regent Westminster launched 1st November, 1967. The film also features the British Argosy leaving the Tyne possibly on its seat trials, but this appears in the film before the launching. Other notable events featured include the shipwreck of the Lebanese cargo steamer Adelfotis II which ran aground on Herd Sands at South Shields on the 20th January, 1963 and construction work to turn the Coast Road around Wallsend it into a dual-carriageway between 1964 and 1966 that ends with a journey through the recently opened Tyne Tunnel in 1967. A panorama of a snowy woodland area, a man waves as he walks with a shovel along a path. Three older boys walk along a snowy path towards a bridge. The shipwreck of the cargo steamer Adelfotis II aground on Herd Sands at South Shields. A rowing in the water between ship and shore and what appears to be a line or rope down which a member of the crew is being rescued. Crowds of onlookers wonder up and down the beach looking over the wrecked ship. Looking towards the bow a line can clearly be seen going from the ship to shore. An advertising poster of the Esso lion and another large billboard for a brand cigarettes. The sun reflects off the sea. Through the haze the shape of a cargo ship possibly making its way into the river Tyne. At the base of the Collingwood Memorial at Tynemouth the filmmakers daughter Karen smiling and waving at the camera. Two men walking along a tarmacked path through a municipal park or woodland, possibly Richardson Dees Park at Wallsend. Houses can be seen on the other side of a wooden fence. They walk past a large greenhouse inside which many colourful flowers are growing, in front of it a decorative flowerbed. Around the park manicured lawns and other flowerbeds with a gardener working nearby. More colourful flowerbeds growing beside a bowling green, two women sit chatting on a nearby park bench. In a suburban garden blackbirds, sparrows, and other domestic birds feed on scraps of bread and food laid out for them. From the dunes a beach below with people sunbathing, the filmmakers wife Evelyne makes her way carefully onto the beach where her daughter wearing a yellow swimsuit is laying on a towel. Karen smiles at the camera before getting up and going paddling in the sea, the woman sits on the sand watching. Along the beach Karen and Edwin, his trousers rolled up above his knees, paddle in the surf throwing rocks into the sea. Cars drive along a narrow coastal road passing a sign for the village of Cresswell. Cars are parked overlooking the sea beside one Karen laying on a blanket, her mother Evelyne sitting in the car. In a field a tractor and trailer full of recently cut grass comes to a stop and a man and two boys open the back to allow the content to eventually fall out. The tractor then collects up a bundle of this grass and two boys use forks to spread it into an elongated pile. In another field Karen rides a horse that is being led by an older girl, a second girl walks beside them. In another part of the farm the girl comes over and picks up a cat before picking up a second feline. From an elevated position in front of several buildings a tugboat slowing pulls the massive BP tanker British Argosy out of the River Tyne, its size dwarfs the buildings it passes. A small crowd, including Karen, gathers along the river's edge as the ship passes. A phantom bus ride along the Coast Road pulling into a stop, on the left-hand side the start of construction work to convert the road into a dual-carriageway. The bus continues westbound through a now more rural landscape. The filmmaker lays on the grass beside a lake relaxing, beside him sitting in a stool his daughter. General views of the surrounding landscape and the girl stroking a Terrier dog. Food and camping equipment are set up nearby, the girl runs off to join another girl playing near the water. A phantom car ride along the Coast Road following a car and bus in front passing under a bridge and a sign that reads ‘Drive Slow’. [Dark] the film changes to what appears to be a car travelling at speed through an urban location at night and past decorative lights. It then travels though the centre of Newcastle at night with shops lit up with neon lights. At Swan, Hunter & Wigham Richardson shipyards at Wallsend a tanker under construction on its slipway surrounded by scaffolding and with cranes moving equipment about the yard. A large metal ship section lays on the ground awaiting installation, behind it the Ship Inn. In the family garden Karen kisses a snowman she has built changing to an office calendar for the 7th February. Back at Swan, Hunter & Wigham Richardson workers stand on the deck of the tanker British Argosy on her launch day. A large crowd gathered around the base of the ship watching it slips into the Tyne. A chalkboard with writing on it that reads: Title: April May 1966 Title: Wallsend dual carriageway started Title: Tynemouth dual carriageway finished 1964 Title: Newcastle dual carriageway started 1965 (half finished) At an intersection along the Coast Road at Wallsend traffic pass through a set of lights. On a green space on the far side of the road heavy equipment and machinery used in road construction. A red double-decker bus passes through the traffic lights passing through road works. At another section along the Coast Road a building is part way through demolition. A nameplate above the window reads ‘James Nesbit’. Behind a bus stop a modern office block, the camera panning left-to-right to show a parade of shops behind the camera. In the garden the filmmaker lays on the rug while his daughter plays around him. Another girl and the daughter stroking a rabbit which is hopping around the garden and into its hutch. Phantom car ride heading east along the Coast Road passing a sign that reads ‘Diversion Tynemouth’. The car follows the diversion around road construction passing two tower blocks. The journey continues along the new section of dual carriageway and a sign for the Wallsend exit. The car continues passing another road sign near a roundabout points towards the Tyne Tunnel. The car comes to a stop at a red light at a Tyne Tunnel toll booth. It turns green as the car enters the tunnel driving south passing traffic heading in the opposite direction. In the distance and getting closer light from the exit. On leaving the car passes a road sign for South Shields and traffic queuing to enter the tunnel. Two rescue Land Rovers are parked in a building a short distance away from the entrance to the tunnel after which the car appears to be heading back into the tunnel northbound passing under the heraldic shield of County Durham installed above the entrance. The car travels through the darkened tunnel appearing into the light and passing through a tollbooth and back along the Coast Road and the sign again for the Wallsend exit. The film ends back at Swan, Hunter & Wigham Richardson shipyards where crowds wave as the tanker Regent Westminster is launched into the River Tyne.