Produced by students of Walkerdene Special School, a film about the Customs House building along the Newcastle Quayside and the work of HM Customs and Excise who are based there. Pupils get to interview several members of staff asking them about what they do and produce an animation on the history of Customs. The pupils also enact their own Customs checkpoint in a classroom to show how they work in air or seaports. They also interview two dog handlers before being given a demonstration of...

Produced by students of Walkerdene Special School, a film about the Customs House building along the Newcastle Quayside and the work of HM Customs and Excise who are based there. Pupils get to interview several members of staff asking them about what they do and produce an animation on the history of Customs. The pupils also enact their own Customs checkpoint in a classroom to show how they work in air or seaports. They also interview two dog handlers before being given a demonstration of their dog Bruno sniffing out drugs. Title: Quayside Custom House From the Gateshead side of the River Tyne the Custom House along he Newcastle Quayside. Standing outside views of the building including a City of Newcastle Upon Tyne Blue Plaque above the door. Inside a staircase leading to several floors and a large wall clock. Title: Who works there? Sitting at his desk a Stewart Davidson, Senior Officer Estate Management Unit, is asked how long he has worked for HM Customs and Excise and what he does. He is asked about working in the Customs House. A hand-drawn map of the North of England showing the area covered by Custom House Newcastle from Berwick-upon-Tweed in the north to Scarborough in the south. The map changes to a diagram showing how customs works. Title: Something to declare In a classroom back at Walkerdene School, pupils re-enact a scene in which two travellers passing through Customs declare items they have purchased overseas. A girl declares a bottle of wine, but no duty is needed to be paid. A second pupil declares bottles of whiskey and pays a fee to the Customs officer. Title: Nothing to declare Another scene in which a Customs officers check over bags for two travellers, in the first nothing is found but in the second something is uncovered and girl is taken away by guards. Back at the Customs House an interview with Keith Kemp, Senior Officer in charge of accounting about his job and the kind of things people smuggle into the country from drugs to ivory. He provides details on how Customs and Excise officers catch them. Back at Walkerdene School two dog handlers, Susan Gothard and Nick Hampstead, are interviewed about the work they do for Custom and Excise and about their dog Bruno such as what he does and how he was trained. A demonstration is held for the pupils using a tube containing drugs being hidden in the classroom and Bruno being brought into the classroom to sniff it out. Title: Will he find the drugs behind the books? Yes? Or No? Bruno’s tail wags as he find the drugs on a bookshelf, everyone applauds when he runs around the room with the tube in his month before it is collected by Nick. Title: How did the Customs begin? The history of Customs and Excise is recreated by the pupils with a simple hand-drawn animation. The Long Room inside the Customs, on one of the walls a large regal coat of arms. A montage of drawings and old photographs showing how busy the River Tyne and the Newcastle Quayside was with ships in the past. From outside the Custom House the Gateshead quayside on the other side of the Tyne with a Royal Naval vessel moored at HMS Calliope and the Tuxedo Princess night club moored under the Tyne Bridge. Traffic crosses the Tyne, Swing and High-Level bridges changes to new builds built along the Quayside including Newcastle Crown Court and a converted quayside warehouse now apartment block next door along Cox Chare. A phantom car ride along the Quayside passing construction work taking place under the Tyne Bridge and both the Customs House and Crown Court. The car drives past construction work taking place along the Quayside as part of the areas redevelopment by the Tyne & Wear Development Corporation. The film ends as it began with the Custom House as seen from Gateshead. Title: A film made by 8T, Walkerdene School Credit: Sarah Marshall, Jasmeet Bedi, Gary Mill, Kerry Bransby, Peter Clayton Smith, Sara Lumbard, Caroline Willis, Andrew Green, Steven Wardle, Mark Kellie, Mark Hawthorn, Darren Drinkeld Title: With thanks to the staff of the Customs House especially: Stewart Davidson Senior Officer Estate Management Unit, Sandra Robinson Officer Estate Management Unit and Keith Kemp Senior Officer Title: Also to Dog Handlers Susan Gothard and Nick Hampstead and Bruno the dog Credit: Animation assisted by Sally Cooper Music by K. Riley Gledhill Title: Photos of Quayside with permission of Newcastle upon Tyne City Libraries and Arts Title: Financed by Tyne and Wear Development Corporation Title: Helped by W. Stapleton, and G. Ballantyne End title: March 1994