The Northumbria Ferry crossed the River Tyne between North Shields and South Shields carrying workers, shoppers and kids, and in the evening the same again dressed up to sample the night life on the other side. The river crossing, though only ten minutes long, was an event, set against the busy river and its strong industrial landscape.

In the engine room of the ferry the elderly engine man reminisces about his life, and the life of the river, and considers his retirement in anticipation of the ferry being taken out of service. It was, in fact, converted into a trendy restaurant a few years later. In retrospect, the engine-man displays a worker's wisdom that is seldom sought. He talks about the contraction of work on the river Tyne and predicts its commercial death. When the film was shown at a week-end school for the Transport Unions soon after completion, union officials vehemently disagreed with the engine-man's analysis. Time proved him right.