The gradual emergence of a ship at the end of the street and its sudden subsequent disappearance was part of the annual cycle in Wallsend. To the unsuspecting visitor, the first encounter with a ship in its final stages, the awareness of its scale is breathtaking. A few days before the launch the yard takes on a special atmosphere of anticipation and this film is a response to, and an attempt to capture that atmosphere.

With a commitment to documenting working life in the North East, the scale and visual drama of shipyards were immediately attractive. Largely unplanned, it was in the main the work of Murray and Peter Roberts, who directed and shot the film jointly, on what was a casual journey round the yard, seeing, reacting, filming, working on and trusting each other's instinct and eye.