The North East Film Archive is one of a network of regional film archives established to collect, preserve and show film made in, or about the North East of England. Our collections are non-fiction, and date from the early 1900s to the present day, providing a rich record of life in the region over the 20th century. Many of our films are available to watch, free of charge, on our website.
This film is part of Free
River Tees Trip
A river trip explores the industrial heartlands of Teesside in the 70s.
From the collection of:
Overview
Take a fascinating downriver cruise through Teesside’s very own hard-working rust belt region with the filmmakers of the Cleveland Cine Club. This brooding boat trip slices through a collage of the great industries that transformed the Tees Valley in the twentieth century, from the Dorman Long steel that built the magnificent Newport and Transporter Bridges to ICI’s chemical plants and giant cargo ships from around the world at Tees Dock.
Just 5 years later, Margaret Thatcher’s infamous ‘walk in the wilderness’ across the derelict site of former steel foundry Head Wrightson in Thornaby was caught on camera as a defining moment for the north east in the Conservative 80s, an era from which the region's industries have yet to recover.