Tynemouth and Bamburgh

A farewell at Newcastle Quayside launches a salty travelogue of sorts.

An amateur filmmaker indulges a breezy passion for the sea, safely enjoyed on land. This collection of random scenes forms a loose travelogue, launched by a farewell at a freight and ferry terminal on Newcastle Quayside and travelling along the coast to Bamburgh Castle in Northumberland. The film includes a snapshot of Tynemouth Model Boat Club enthusiasts, the Tynemouth sea front lido and a packed Longsands beach, with close-ups of colourful flower displays to close.

Tynemouth Model Boat Club was formed in 1893, part of a vogue for the miniature later popularised by Meccano and Airfix. The Tyne and Wear region still has three long established clubs (Tynemouth included), more than any other part of Britain. No surprise perhaps for a great ship building region. Tynemouth’s salt water pool was opened on 30 May 1925 by Lord Mayor Alfred E. Hill, queues forming down the Grand Parade to swim in its chilly water during Tynemouth’s tourist heyday, captured in this 50s home movie. Its popularity waned in the 1970s when cheap package holidays abroad took off, and the pool gradually fell into disrepair.