Tyneside Sea Cities

Around the coast of Britain,

are cities where lives are shaped by the sea.

-Whoa, whoa! Turbot, nice turbot.

-Lovely job.

Each city is a gateway to the wider world and around each city,

thousands of people working jobs that touch all of our lives.

Whether it's shipping cars...

-Just short of £29 million worth here today.

-..or importing fruit...

What I love about bananas, is they don't answer back.

Jobs that keep the nation afloat...

This is the tricky bit. This is where the skill comes in.

..where every day brings fresh challenges.

These are cities that welcome the Navy, both serving sailors

and new recruits.

From clocking on in the morning...

See me flying a kite, mate. I'm brilliant.

..to relaxing after work.

It's all part of the warm up.

Around the shores and rivers of people's hometowns,

water is a way of life.

In the north-east of England, Newcastle and the River Tyne

mix a modern port with timeless traditions.

Fire in zone nine.

As the next generation learns the ropes,

an older one battles for business.

You're keeping the faith against impossible odds.

And there's star spotting at the big race.

-Hello, darling, are you all right?

-You're just like Sting.

-Do you reckon?

-Yeah.

A dawn call for the Port of Tyne's pilot boat.

It's heading out to sea to meet a very special visitor.

It's the Marina.

It's a cruise liner with all happy holiday-makers on board.

Probably seeing their first view of the entrance to the Tyne.

The River Tyne is narrow and tricky to navigate.

The Marina needs all the help she can get.

And the pilots are here to guide her safely upstream.

You never lose the thrill.

It's like steering a big block of flats through the piers,

so, it's always very interesting.

He'll have to jump ship in the middle of the sea,

but he's got boatman, Paul Ridley, to help.

It would be a real risk if he did slip overboard or anything,

so, we've got to make sure that never happens.

All right?

-OK, thank you.

-Another one safely onboard.

If any of the passengers are up,

they'll be seeing all my favourite bits now.

As you come in, you've got the Priory and then the old watch tower

and then Collingwood Monument.

I think it's quite a nice entrance for them when they first come in.

I've always had boats since I was a little kid, so, getting to

ride around on a £1 million one and get paid for it, is not a bad thing.

A ship full of well-heeled American visitors shows how

things are changing round here.

New industries are emerging while old ones are dying.

Can the River Tyne thrive, but still keep its links with the past?

Near the mouth of the Tyne,

another boat is on the river at crack of dawn.

This little ferry potters between North Shields and South Shields.

There's been a ferry service since 1377.

Chris McGuiness is skipper.

I've worked here for 25 years of that time and Davey, on his break,

the tired-est man on the ferry.

He's been here about six years.

There's Davey there, look. The tired-est man in the world.

Davey's now coming on to drive the vessel, steer the vessel,

corner the vessel, whatever you want to call it.

-What do you call it, Davey, when you're driving the boat?

-Driving it.

Driving the boat, that's what I do, as well.

He's got shaving foam on his lugs, look. Tired man.

This is our lovely Astrid, one of our favourite passengers down here.

She always likes to give me a little kiss. Hello there. Lovely.

We allow Astrid in the wheelhouse,

because she's our favourite passenger.

Because I look after them with teas, coffees and cakes and biscuits

and bacon sandwiches.

And she's a big Sunderland fan, aren't you?

Oh, I love Sunderland Football Club.

If we go down, Astrid, will you start supporting Newcastle?

Absolutely not. Never.

As long as I draw breath, I will never support Newcastle.

There aren't enough passengers.

It's losing money, but the Shield Ferry is an institution,

like Chris McGuiness.

He's got more than a passing resemblance to the

Geordie singer, Sting.

I've done daft little things like open supermarkets.

Would Sting really open a supermarket, you know?

I pronounce this supermarket open.

Don't stand so close to me.

He doesn't half model himself on him, doesn't he?

He hired this vessel and he was just like a regular guy, you know.

Just a nice normal guy.

Just before he left, he says, "You look just like my brother."

And I go, "No, I look just like you. I've made a living out of it."

Up river, the Marina has reached her berth.

Passenger numbers here are climbing and that's good news for the Tyne,

as it battles to win business from other UK ports.

Good morning, everyone. Groups one, two and three ready for you there.

The jacket. A little brisk this morning.

These cruise passengers, combined with the Tyne's North Sea ferry

traffic, bring around £55 million into the north-east every year.

Today, they're going to see Hadrian's Wall.

The latest Roman remains. Then, take a look.

Quite a lot going to see the Harry Potter...An-week Castle.

'Alnwick.'

Alnwick. That's the way you pronounce it. Alnwick.

I remember, I'm only from Barcelona.

Last Hadrian Wall coach has gone. Number seven is gone, over.

All right, that was easy. 8:35, everybody on the road.

MUSIC PLAYS

A little further towards Newcastle,

one sign the traditional industries are having a hard time.

Offshore Group Newcastle, OGN, one of only four yards in Britain

big enough to make oil rigs.

Plater, Stephen Goicoechea, is hard at work.

I've been a plater since 1976, so my time at Swan Hunter shipyard.

What's that? Nearly 40 years now.

These are giant modules for a gas plant in Norway.

Five-storey structures, each the size of a small hotel.

Soon, they have to be loaded onto a barge and sailed off to sea.

The race is on to finish them.

Putting the handrails on, just as a barrier,

so no-one can step off or fall off.

Tyneside was a world centre of shipbuilding.

Huge ship hulls would have been lined up in OGN's sheds,

but almost all the shipyards have closed.

The most famous was Swan Hunter.

This is Swan Hunter in Wallsend being demolished.

The fabrication shed where the Mauritania was built.

That was it up and running in India.

It was an outrage at the time

because when there's slumps in engineering,

other countries use it to modernise, update machinery and train.

Here, we just look for somewhere we can level and build houses on it.

At OGN, Terry Telford's union office is part museum, part library.

British Trade Unionism. Das Kapital by Karl Marx.

And a thing that many shop stewards have had recourse to,

over the years,

the Bible itself. Sometimes it's all you've got.

It is an anxious time.

OGN is Tyneside's last major fabrication yard

and this could be its last contract.

A lot of lads realise it's come to the end of the job.

You lose friends, you know.

You might never see some of the lads again, you know?

Tyneside shipyards may have disappeared,

but the land they stood on is busy again.

It's perfect to store cars.

Nissan runs the UK's largest plant in nearby Sunderland.

And appearing on the horizon, the world's largest car transporter.

They call this a mother ship.

The Hoege Target is brand-new and has come from Japan.

It'll take Nissans from Port of Tyne around the world.

Loading 900 for Amsterdam, loading four cars for Maputo, Mozambique.

It is, very much, a jigsaw puzzle and the poor captain from Norway

was in overall control of the vessel.

He must be very good at jigsaws.

Port of Tyne exports 600,000 cars a year.

The majority of them are for Nissan.

We're loading Australian cars.

It's quite easy for them because they drive right-hand drive

all the time.

They're supposed to be, anyway. These ones are going to Brisbane.

Leadsman, Lenny Palmer, is the man who makes sure every vehicle

ends up where it's supposed to be.

MUSIC PLAYS

We store the cars ten centimetres, from side to side.

The women drivers tend to be the best, actually,

because they listen to what the lads are telling them and maybe

you'll get your young boy racer who thinks he can do everything.

To have some strange person come and reverse back at you

with a car, yeah, it can be nerve-racking.

The Target can carry 8,500 cars with deck space

the size of ten football pitches.

Every car is precious cargo.

Each one varies between 15 and 20, £22,000, something like that,

so...

we're putting 1,400 of £15-20,000 worth on, so,

that's quite a lot.

£29 million worth with the load we're doing today.

A lot of money.

If they trust me to handle £28 million worth of cars,

it's got to be classed as a skilled job.

With the Brisbane cars on board, Lenny is getting impatient.

This is not showing a very good side of it, is it?

Supposed to be like a mini production line.

Finding the right cars is the main problem.

Out here, they're like needles in a haystack.

Obviously, if there's about 10,000 cars in the compound

and they're looking for 150, say, drags the shift out quite a bit.

Cars found, they're bound for Fremantle in Australia.

That's how the operation is supposed to work.

You see how I've got three or four leadsmen there?

They're all going to put a car in all at the same time.

I suppose that's where your job satisfaction is,

seeing it operating like that.

Knowing that the cars are going to the other side of the world

and you've sent them there in one piece.

Put 1,400 cars on and not one car has been damaged. Happy man.

Newcastle city centre on the Quayside.

-Tommy, what time are we kicking off?

-11 o'clock.

Seven teams, all from different marine schools in shipping

companies, are preparing to do battle in a charity rowing race.

A bit of competitiveness and it's good. It's team bonding.

That's what it's all about. That's what it's like on a ship.

They'll race nine miles from the city centre

to the mouth of the Tyne.

-Have you put it on, Peter?

-Huh?

-Have you put them all on?

-Aye.

Good lad, thank you.

Tommy Proctor's organised the event

but he's more interested in winning it, for the third year in a row.

It might be third time lucky for you,

-this year and then again

-BLEEP

-might not, either.

Tommy's coxing the team from South Shields Marine School,

the naughty boys.

They're all students at the school.

Tommy really wants us to win.

Everyone is a bit nervous at the minute, but it should be good.

Everyone's in good spirits. Got all seven crews down here now.

Just waiting for the big kick-off.

One team has got them worried. They're noisy local rivals.

Going to win!

South Tyneside College's General Engineering Department.

Big lumps, all of them. Really good rowers.

About eight of them did it last year and apart from that, I think

it'll just be between us and them.

Guys, we've got the draw we wanted.

They're going to catch wuh, but as long as we can keep with them,

especially in the second team, you guys can do it.

Just shout, "Go!"

On your marks, get set, go!

Together! One, two,...

-Tommy is the only person you can hear on the water.

-Come on!

We've got a good start. Two, three...

The Marine School pulls away, but by the first bend in the river,

they've been reeled in by General Engineering.

Never mind them. Concentrate on us. One, two, three...

One... Put your backs into it. One, two, three, four...

We've got about two cables to go until the changeover. One, two...

Tommy could have a problem.

The crews change over in the middle of the river.

For other teams, it's going like clockwork,

but the speedboat carrying Tommy's new crew hasn't shown up.

The crews are just going to have to row a little bit further

and then we'll get a crew swap.

-Three, four... I don't want any of you

-BLEEP

-enjoying yourselves.

-You've got another

-BLEEP

-leg to row.

The tired crew is slipping further behind to fourth place out of seven.

Come on, boys, we're not beat yet.

-Tanya, what's happening to the

-BLEEP

-changeover?

Finally, the relief crew arrives.

Four, standby to take your oars in.

One, two... Take your oars in.

One off, one in!

Two out, two in!

Three out, three in!

Four, come on! Come on, Andrew!

Standby to row. Altogether. Row.

One, two...

We cannot win it, but we can get second. Come on!

One, two, three.

Dig deep, boys. One, two, three...

At South Shields, an expectant crowd watches on.

-You can't hear Tommy, so, I guess, General Engineering.

-Is it?

-Yeah.

-Oh, no!

-Tommy's going to be absolutely gutted.

-Amazing.

-Great.

-Tired.

General Engineering has won by more than half a mile.

-Tommy's team is in a sprint for third.

-Two, three, four...

Come on, you're nearly there. You've got them. You've got them, come on.

One, two, three...

Can you smell the barbecue? Come on, come on.

One, two, three... Come on, man.

One, two, three... Come on!

One, two, three, four...

Yes, you've done it. Well done.

Well done. Magnificent.

-A third-place finish.

-Tommy, come on.

Rubbing salt in the wounds,

Tommy's having to present the winner's trophy to his rivals.

It's taken them three year to do it.

But, by God, when they did it, they did it in style.

-This year's champions.

-CHEERING AND APPLAUSE

Of course you're disappointed.

It's not the end of the world, it's not the end of the world.

We'll be back next year, hopefully.

Ships need crews and there's a global shortage of officers.

South Shields Marine School is the oldest in the world,

training the seafarers of the future.

The first half is all about calculations.

The second part is operations.

Ryan Bird, from Derby, and Chris Falconer, from Suffolk,

are in the last year of their course.

They want to become deck officers

and Chris is not your typical student.

Turned up wearing chino shorts, yacht club polo top,

stuff like that and they were a bit like, right, he's a bit posh.

When he first started at college, yeah, he got a lot of stick.

He carried around a briefcase, instead of a normal schoolbag.

I just thought, if you dressed in uniform, you might as well look

official, professional, so that was it.

Briefcase, uniform, every single day.

I got the nickname, Boris, rather quickly, after Boris Johnson.

ALL: Oh!

Ryan and Chris are training to work on the ship's bridge.

They're being sponsored through college by shipping companies.

They get a small wage now.

If they qualify this summer, it'll become a big one.

When I was at school, when we did careers,

we did work experience, this wasn't even considered.

It wasn't even mentioned. You do higher education for free.

It's a massive thing, nowadays. Universities are charging a fortune.

Where else do you get paid to travel the world?

You sit at school while you're doing your GCSEs, grafting away,

not going to any parties and you think, actually, yeah,

I'd love to go and do that.

-130 degrees.

-130 degrees.

To become deck officers, the boys are about to go through exams,

but, first, a tough simulator assessment.

130.

An 18-year-old and a 20-year-old in charge of a huge cargo ship.

-Starboard, yep?.

-Yeah.

-Next one.

-130 again.

They don't know it, but they're about to face a drama at sea.

The exercise for the cadets is twofold.

It's a navigation exercise and the second part is anti-collision work.

-Going to cross my stern at 0.1 miles.

-You've got a guy after port.

-Yep, just coming on six miles.

-Yep.

-He's just come back on radar now.

No problems.

This is the people on our bridge at the moment,

and you can see that in just a little under 12 minutes' time,

they're going to be in a very close quarter situation.

A boat that's not following the rules, is heading

straight for their ship.

We've really got to see how long before they take some kind of

collision avoidance.

Zero now.

If he doesn't alter soon, I'm going to have to alter to starboard.

6.1 minutes. Yes, we're going to have to take action.

Five short blasts.

They've sounded warning blasts on the horn.

Less than six minutes now. If it hits five, were going to have to go.

-Take a full turn.

-OK, full turn.

And they're going to turn in a circle to let the other vessel pass.

-Ferry looks clear.

-Also looks clear out the window.

The danger has passed.

I'm happy to come back to the original course.

But another emergency is looming.

Give them a fire alarm in one of the fire zones.

Oh, we have a fire.

-Fire?

-Zone ten.

Bosun, we've got a reported fire alarm in zone ten.

-Could you check and report back, please?

-RADIO:

-Zone ten.

I'll check it down for you.

Bosun better get back to us soon.

The bosun has gone missing.

The right thing to do is to assume he's injured and sound a full alarm.

-Will the boys cotton on?

-No call-back from the bosun?

-No.

Give it two more minutes and I'll call him.

OK, Sir, I've just heard shouting from the mesh room.

There is an actual fire in zone ten

and it is not the toaster which we sent the bosun to investigate.

Full fire alarm, sir.

Everyone on board, everyone on board,

a fire in zone nine and zone ten. Muster stations.

It's, surprisingly, even quite senior people

can fall at the first hurdle.

So these guys have done very well.

Another big step closer to qualifying.

Fortunately, we've lost a crew member but that,

unfortunately, happens.

This is more realistic to what we do and so that's what reminds me, no,

I need to finish my exams, knuckle down, I need to get back out there.

It's Midsummer.

The Mouth Of The Tyne Music Festival is on all weekend.

At the North Shields Fishquay, the historic fishing port

is one of the fringe venues.

I'm going to have to brush...

You better not be taking this, cos I'm looking like the

mad woman of Borneo, but that's because I've been in

since six o'clock.

Pearl Saddington runs the Old Lowlight, a new visitor centre,

celebrating the port and the River Tyne.

Terry, do you want to do the stocks? We've got some stocks.

Stocks that you put your legs in and you throw sponges at people.

It's the biggest day since we've opened

and we only opened in Easter, right?

We're concentrating on heritage skills,

so, outside, there's all the skills associated with the Fishquay,

historically, so blacksmiths and fishermen making nets

and all the woodwork.

The Old Lowlight is a charity with targets to meet,

but Pearl is quite the entrepreneur.

If we don't, as a team, generate income,

then we can't pay bills and we can't pay wages and we can't survive.

What we have to do today, Jean, we're getting as much money

-as we can through the till, right?

-Right.

So, just push everything because I know you can.

-I've got to get £1,000 through the tills today.

-Right.

If I don't get that £1,000 through the till,

they're putting me in the stocks. You can have this, right?

£10 and then you'll become a member for the year.

Does it look as though I'm being threatened, here?

Every penny they make today, will help them

preserve this area's history.

The Old Lowlight was built in 1726.

The light helped ships steer a safe path into the river.

The building has been saved from dereliction

as a reminder that the Tyne was always a bustling port.

North Shields Fishquay.

It's a fishing community and it was actually the Fishquay

and fishing, that actually were the origins of the town, so, the river

has had a massive, massive cultural influence in the north-east.

Park your bus and then come round. Right.

A busload of tourists, just what they need.

This is Maggie, another member of the crew

and she'll be taking money off you.

She's strong arming me something terrible.

You know, Pearl definitely press gangs people around here.

Getting people to spend and part with their money. We are a charity.

-Donations, donations, donations.

-But that's part of her charm.

Tell her that, will you?

-£2 each. Come on.

-Right, go on, then.

-Thank you.

-You'll have a lovely time.

-I'm sure.

-I know you will.

-Thanks very much.

It's as easy as that.

As with other parts of the river, here, keeping tradition alive

means fighting for every penny.

It's not like we've had £100 million from some quango to say,

right, you know, let's regenerate the Fishquay.

People are wanting to do it themselves, hence the Old Lowlight.

-But has the hard sell paid off?

-How much have you made, Cheryl?

-336.

-So, that's 336. Follow us, follow me.

Wait a minute, wait a minute, wait a minute!

Nearly, nearly.

With the raffles and games, she's taken just over a grand.

That's it, sorted. I'm not going in the stocks.

# Off to the Lowlight and the quays we'll go. #

From the old port to the new one on the south side of the river.

The Tyne has one of the fastest-growing ports in the UK.

It imports millions of tonnes of coal and wood pellet.

And a third of all tea drunk in Britain, arrives here.

A multi-million pound business needs engineers to keep things

running smoothly.

Jordan Gibson is a new recruit.

I've always been hands-on since a kid.

To be honest, I was a bit of a devil child.

I used to take all my toys apart and my mum used to go crazy about it.

Just wanted to see how it worked.

It's interesting seeing how things work

and the principles behind why things work.

It ended up with motorbikes.

My mum didn't like that part, either.

My dad bought us a motorcycle for my eighth birthday

and from there, it just keeps getting bigger and bigger.

We're about to go up and check the brakes on the container crate,

prior to the ship coming in.

We're on the sixth flight of stairs, Steve.

So, just before the ship comes in, we'll check that.

We'll check the linings and we'll check the disc.

We'll get a bit of rag.

Jordan is one of 18 apprentices at the port.

They're picked from the best of their generation, so, we've

never had a bad one, but I have a soft spot for Jordan, I think.

To be honest, but don't tell him.

I think I'm a bit more like his big brother.

I'm far too young to be his father.

But, we've got a system, whereby, I ask him what to do

and he tells us where to go. And it's always worked well for wuh.

My favourite toy to play with, actually, isn't in the port.

It would be the Swing Bridge in Newcastle.

Jordan and the Port of Tyne's engineers look after

Newcastle's quirkiest bridge.

The Swing Bridge is 140 years old.

William Armstrong actually built the superstructure

and the hydraulic machinery and he paid for it, as well.

The point was to get ships to Armstrong's munitions factory.

The middle section rotated, so boats could pass either side.

It works on the principle of generating and storing water

under pressure and it uses the energy in that pressurised

water to drive machinery, which then propels the bridge around.

It's old and temperamental.

Something's not right there. You can hear it.

It's got a knock on it normally when it's running right.

It's an airlock, I think.

We're just having some problems with the pump at the minute.

We can't get the accumulator right,

so, it's fault-finding now, seeing where the problem is.

They can't build enough water pressure to drive the bridge.

There's definitely water coming out of there now?

Aye and it's white, so it's been...

There you go.

Problem solved.

Every month, the engineers turn the bridge 180 degrees,

to check it still works and today, it's Jordan's big moment.

It's the first time he's swung it.

He's built up a lot of knowledge over the years

he's been an apprentice, so now we're at the stage where he's going

-to do it with me standing back.

-Have you got a radio?

-Yes.

-Give me a shout when it's all clear and we're ready to go.

-Will do.

Make sure you follow the right sequence to get the bridge to turn.

For starters, that's the hard part and after that,

it's getting it parked.

It's got no brakes, so, it's just how good of a driver you are.

Very few manage to park the bridge first time.

Getting it wrong would mean holding up busy city centre traffic.

Turn the water pressure on.

From there, we need to get the bolts out.

This one, yeah?

That is ramps down, which then...

When that finishes...

Clear the blocks.

That's right.

Two ends of the bridge are now floating on nothing.

-There's no edges, there's nothing for it. Left ten, Clyde.

-Left turn.

Give it some welly.

-And that's the bridge away.

-Away we go.

But can Jordan park it?

If you get it first time, I won't speak to you again, mind.

-You do understand that, don't you?

-I do understand.

The lads will take the mickey out of us.

It's a challenge, that, isn't it? That's what that is, Steve.

Why aye, bring it home nice and gentle. Slow down, Jordan.

It's going to come to a stop.

Mega, mega, mega, quick one.

That's it, that's it. And again.

Right, straight off, straight off, Jordan. Perfect.

RADIO SOUNDS

That's the bridge parked correctly. Surprisingly, we've done it.

-I've just got to turn the water supply off.

-Well done.

And that is it.

Hopefully, get these barriers up and get the traffic across.

I know it's not an easy thing to do, but I'm quite proud how it went.

You can only blame your teacher, can't you?

Better parker than me, man.

There's trouble at OGN.

The slump in oil prices is good news at the pumps, not here.

Oil companies are scaling back big projects.

Less than a year ago, OGN's workforce was more than 2,000.

Now, it's fewer than 400.

The yard's plight has hit the headlines.

Unhappy reading for Stephen Goicoechea.

I don't think it's telling ya anything that we don't know

here, anyway, you know?

Other than how much it costs to get it done in the Middle East,

which we all know it's going to be cheaper.

Well, it's nice to have a bit of action in the papers, isn't it?

This is the last main place on the river, now, for us,

and if this closes, everybody will be working away.

Well, I'm 57 in December.

I've got my kids are grown-up and I live by myself. I'm a widower.

I've got no ties. Going away wouldn't bother us but, you know...

Just don't want to. I want to see my grand bairn grow up. You know?

MUSIC PLAYS

We're Newcastle United supporters in here, we've got

very much experience in keeping the faith against impossible odds.

We believe the company has a future, we just need a little bit of help.

There's that many places going on the River Tyne, now.

If Julius Caesar was to float back up in his galleon,

he would recognise it as he left it.

Green banks with a few sheep grazing.

When I first started here 25 year ago, and there were still

shipyards over here, Smith's Dock, it was heaving, crammed.

150 people, like, you know?

Almost every crossing. It was a busy hive of activity, you know?

The death of traditional industries has hit Shields Ferry

passenger numbers.

From her office on high, manager, Carol Timlin,

is cracking the whip to try and get new customers.

I can keep an eye on things, you know.

I see a ferry looks like it's leaving a minute late,

I'll be asking questions as to why that's happening.

First woman on the ferry since 1377.

Erm, aye, she's OK, yeah.

They say I spy on them with my binoculars all day

and they're nearly right.

Carol's having to bring in extra money for the ferry.

Today, they've sold all the tickets for a river cruise featuring

a local singer.

-We've got Carol Lee this afternoon. How many have we got on?

-About 110.

I mean, I know it's a nice day, but if it's a sing-along,

-they like to be with her, don't they?

-They do.

-Is there a bar?

-Eh?

-A bar.

Aye, downstairs. You going to have a couple, are you? Why not.

Oh, I think you're getting your warnings there.

I think you've had it.

There's a story where he was on one of the river trips.

They were short of a stripper,

so the rest of the lads convinced him to get in his undies and do it.

Aye.

Luckily, for me, I had my black thong on with the gold studs.

I mustn't have known, eh?

I wore a pair of sunglasses, actually, black sunglasses,

so they couldn't see the fear in my eyes, you know?

Sweetest feeling.

-Hiya, love.

-Nice to see you, Carol. How are you?

-Really good.

-Got quite a few on again.

-Absolutely.

Honestly, all the time, applicants are just going up and up.

-Oh, that's lovely.

-I'll catch up with you later.

Thank you, Carol, I'll catch up with you. Thank you.

I've got my glamorous outfit that was kindly donated by a very

lovely lady at the charity shop. I'm going to go now and get changed.

You might see a big difference. OK? Thank you.

La-la-la-la-la-la-la.

I've come from a very, very posh area called Scotswood, Newcastle.

-CHEERING

-Oh, yes.

# Diamonds are forever

# They are all I need to please me

# They can stimulate and tease me

# I won't sleep in the night

# I've no fears that they might desert me

# Diamonds are forever... #

'I've always done it.

'My mum discovered me when I was three years old.

'She said, "Carol," she says,'

"You are really good." I just worked my way up into different places.

You know, look where I am on the ferry. I can't believe it.

# I can see every part

# Nothing lies in the heart to hurt me... #

I was called to go for the X Factor, so I thought, I don't know,

I'll give it a go, see what it's all about.

Cheryl looked at me and she said,

"Carol, you sang that song very close to my heart."

She says, "You've done me proud and you've done the north-east proud"

I'll never forget her words. Amazing.

Bye, lasses! Bye.

MUSIC: I Hear You Knocking by Dave Edmunds

A successful trip.

Vital cash.

But the biggest money-spinner is yet to come.

At the port, they're gearing up for the world's biggest half marathon -

The Great North Run.

This warehouse, temporarily, is a gym.

HE PANTS

Right, so, you can start off full press ups.

You can start off however you want actually to do them.

But you've got to hit 50. 50's what your target is.

Paul Ridley, who works on Port of Tyne's pilot boat,

has a big role on Great North Run Day.

The port sponsored the race,

and the team had a nice idea

for a team from the port to raise some money for local charities.

As the captain of the team, hopefully,

the idea will be to inspire people to come to the training.

Any of them that haven't done it before, try and keep their spirits up

and make sure they have a nice day and enjoy it.

It's a really fun day, totally different to any other running that people will ever do.

It's too hard!

What's your pulse at now?

Do you know what it is?

About 200.

It knocks you out.

You're not... You're not used to a lot of this steady endurance.

This is why this is so good for you because it's short and sharp,

which is going to improve your speed, your strength in them races.

The training I do, the shortest intervals I ever do are 400 metres.

So, it's completely different to this.

But...it certainly feels like it's done something good!

Five weeks and counting.

-Have you got heavy-lift?

-Heavy-lift? Easy.

It's exam time at South Shields Marine School.

Cadets Chris Falconer and Ryan Bird have nearly finished theirs.

But the most important exam of all,

a face-to-face grilling,

is yet to come.

Chris, have you got any more washing up in your room?

Last week, me and Chris went down and booked our orals.

So, someone's just sort of took three steps out the ladder

and now it's time to knuckle down.

What you need to do is you need to be confident with your answers.

Know exactly what you're going to do, what you're going to say, and how you're going to do it.

And then just go ahead with it.

And it's one guy that says, "Yes, you can go to sea."

Or, "No, you can't."

It's make or break, at the end of the day.

The oral exam strikes fear into the heart of anyone who trains

to navigate ships.

Answering questions from a Maritime And Coastguard Agency examiner

is like the worst driving test you can ever imagine.

The exam is so secret only the candidates are allowed in.

How did you get on?

Well, I've passed!

I have this signature here saying that I've passed.

Oh, my God.

Next, Chris' turn.

I was hoping today to be able to walk out.

Pass, celebrate, that would be me completed everything,

qualified officer.

But that's not the case.

He stumbled on one section.

He has to go through it all again tomorrow.

It is, yeah, just, you only have a resit.

So, it's competently on the edge.

Very nerve-racking.

One last chance to revise and get it right.

It's been a stressful 24 hours.

For Chris and his girlfriend, Sarah.

He didn't sleep at all.

He just kept tossing and turning.

He's panicking, I think.

Which is the worst thing you can do.

How did it go?

-Yeah.

-You've passed?

-Yeah.

Oh!

Well done, baby.

It was a good exam.

Well, it is now. Now I've passed.

That's it. Last thing done, send this off, get my certificate,

go to sea as an officer.

Before he does, the little matter of graduation day.

-Hello, how are we?

-Hi!

-You look lovely.

-Thank you.

How are you doing? Oh, look at this.

We all brush up very well.

Hello, darling. How are you?

He's always dressed very smartly.

From the age of three, if he had an official photograph,

he insists on having a tie.

So, from that to him in his gown.

Very proud mum.

Three...two...one...go!

THEY CHEER

Offshore Group Newcastle, OGN, is threatened with closure.

There's been manufacturing at this yard for more than 100 years.

But the last big order is finished.

Now, the gas modules need to be delivered.

The problem?

How can you get these giant structures onto a boat?

The process is called the loadout.

I think it's the most exciting part of the job.

I certainly don't get nervous.

OK, take it up to 90 bar all round.

90 bar all round.

The module must first be weighed.

General Foreman Peter Duffy is in charge.

Vitus is the loadout coordinator,

and he's going to be stood at the back here with his laptop,

and he will coordinate the weighing of the module.

To weigh the module, traders lift the giant structure.

Then lower its feet onto six load cells. They're like scales.

Hold on. No, no. Not yet. Leave that there, please.

Are we OK to put that load cell now on?

Yeah, if it fits.

617.3.

617 tonnes.

Now they just need to move it.

It's done with a joystick.

Like using a video game controller to move a tower block.

That's the easy bit.

Tomorrow, they'll have to load it onto a barge.

Just a few safety points that we have to follow.

Anybody that's going under the barge has to have their T card, yeah?

If you're not involved in the specific point of the operation,

do not get in there.

The barge needs to be level with the quayside

before the module can be driven onto it.

The team must now wait for the barge to rise with the incoming tide.

I need this tide to hurry up.

Five minutes.

And I've got your guarantee on that?

Once the weight of the module goes onto the barge,

it'll want to tilt, like this.

So, at the other end of the barge we'll draw water from the river,

via the pumps, then we tuck it into the ballast tanks,

and that'll even the barge out.

Yes, that'll do for Alfa Bravo. Just lift Charlie Delta a touch.

One false move, one miscalculation...

Go two degrees to your left, Piers. Two degrees.

..and a year's work could end up in the river Tyne.

We're going to travel up the barge, which is

slow going a lot of the time.

The module's safely aboard.

Now it needs to be welded into place

for the long sea journey to Norway.

Lining it up takes great precision.

You've got to be, as a rule, within a few millimetres.

So, just takes a good eye

and get in the right place, hopefully, every time.

Just a culmination of 12 months' work, or 18 months' work.

We're proud of what we've achieved in the last 12-14 months here.

It's normally a time for celebration.

But, today, there's sadness.

For everyone on the project, including plater Stephen Goicoechea.

A bit of a downer because of the way the work is, you know?

There's nothing else to follow after this. So...

people are looking at it as losing jobs now.

That's where the situation is at the minute.

18 months on this project now and when it goes...

we're virtually going down to zero, you know?

It's Sunday.

But, at the Shields Ferry, everyone's at work.

I don't know what the heck's going on at all.

I really don't know what's going on!

-Just tell us what to do.

-That's what I'm telling you.

Put two of them here. Tie them to the fence ...

-..for the Great North Run.

-Massive, massive for us.

Ten. We'll get about 10,000 passengers on the ferry today.

It's a huge day for us. Busiest day of the year.

A few butterflies. Nervousness, but not stressed.

It's the world's biggest half marathon, starting in Newcastle,

and ending here, in South Shields.

So, these are the people, obviously, the people who are

going to watch the runners come in at the finish line.

There'll be 50,000 runners, and their families,

needing to get home afterwards.

Many choose the ferry.

Normally, the problem for ferry manager Carol Timlin

is too few passengers.

-There's too many, though, isn't there?

-No, not at all.

The more, the merrier.

The Great North Run brings much needed revenue.

But someone's trying to pinch Carol's customers.

Hiya. I'm the ferry manager.

What we've heard, the guy's going to be picking up here.

He's been advertising on his Facebook...

He's trying to use his fishing boat as an illegal ferry

from this jetty nearby.

Could they not just put a padlock between there and there?

What we'll do is, when he actually comes,

we'll give you a call, and come back down.

I think that's going to be the easiest way.

Problem solved.

Now, the calm before the storm.

Over in Newcastle, the runners are gathering for the start of the race,

including the Port of Tyne team,

captained by Paul Ridley, who works on the pilot boat.

-At least a pint of Highland port last night.

-Did you?

-Yeah.

-It was my wedding party.

-Oh, no!

I woke up at 6am, I thought I'd already done the race.

I was going to check my time on the internet.

Good luck, everybody. Good luck, everybody.

Everybody in, group hug.

-We can do it!

-Do well, everybody. Training's all done.

Today's the easy bit. See you all at the end.

THEY LAUGH

Go in.

-In there.

-Where?

-In there.

Up.

We're getting on, you know.

-Up a bit?

-Aye.

-There you are.

You can tell how long it's going to be before it gets busy.

By the time the public get to the end of the finish line,

it's only about 20 minutes, half an hour later after Mo Farah,

that's what I think. How long do you think it is?

Before the rest of the public

gets to the finishing line after Mo Farah crosses, if he crosses?

Quarter of an hour?

The runners are well on their way to South Shields

and their families are on their way to meet them at the finish.

Mo Farah wins.

But there's another race on -

one man's personal challenge to be the first runner back on the ferry.

It's a tradition now that he makes a race back for the ferry,

so he's always first back.

Hey! You did it again, huh?

-How are you doing?

-Good.

I always come to see my old pal, I only see him once a year

and that's when I finish the Great North Run.

Third or fourth time, I think it is.

Excellent, well done.

Thousands have now crossed the finish line.

Hiya, Paul, how was it?

Hard, very hot.

Hey, it's over now.

-Well done.

-Well done, you all right?

Well done. What time did you get?

-1:43.

-Well done. Yourself?

-2:20.

-2:20?

WATCH BEEPS

-2:32.

-How much?

-2:32.

More than three hours since the race started

and the ferry queue is building.

The two boats are flat out going back and forth.

You close the gate behind them

and I'll let the 2:50 in, then get them the other side of the gate.

It's a bit like herding sheep, we're putting them all in pens and

then sending one pen down at a time

for the right numbers to get on the boat.

The queue is stretching hundreds of metres

and is about to get even longer.

Word is there is a big delay on the Metro train system.

-There is a power outage between the lines...

-Really?

..down to South Shields,

they say they have seven trains waiting but they can't get past,

so you have about 10,000 people in the queue looking annoyed.

That'd be a nightmare, that.

There's no Metros because one's broken down,

which I can understand, something breaks down, but there is no

information being given out, queues stretching now down South Shields.

Passengers who'd normally get the train home are coming here instead.

Could you just wait here, please?

So if you're standing there, you've got to stop them,

physically stop them.

The runners are having to wait for up to two hours,

so the staff turn on the charm.

Hello, darling, you all right?

That's not neat enough, come on, sort yourselves out, yous lot.

It's not as though you've been doing anything all day.

Oh, have you got a medal?

Daddy got it, did he?

Did you clap really hard when he came over the line?

Yeah? Did you cheer?

You look just like Sting.

-You reckon?

-Yeah.

-Get away!

I was thinking more like Bobby Davro!

THEY LAUGH

It has been a 12-hour shift, but worth it.

HE YAWNS

There's been a record number of passengers.

But one tired runner won't have to wait.

Special treat, I'm getting a lift in the pilot boat across.

Perks of the job.

Makes you feel a bit like James Bond, doesn't it, getting on that?

It's great.