Low Water

Working and playing hard, men compete to gather sea coal from Durham beaches and sink pints in the public bar

In north-east England some men make a living collecting coal washed up on beaches from undersea seams. Sea-coal man Joe drives his convertible Ford Zephyr from Peterlee New Town through the cobbled streets and miner's terraces of Horden to work on Blackhall Beach. Later there's revelry and courting in the Queen pub on Hartlepool's West View before a breathy climax in a Dene Mouth caravan park.

The band seen playing on stage in the Queen on Easington Road, Hartlepool are the Corantos, a local pop group from Peterlee. Film fans may recognise Blackhall Beach and the conveyor system of Blackhall Colliery from the final scene of Mike Hodges' 1971 film Get Carter, starring Michael Caine.