Proud men, debating forces out of their control

My great uncle was welder at the shipyards, he could neither read nor write but was a first class welder.

3:20

Hard men doing a hard job.

You could relate the old fellas as parents debating to the UK construction industry today.

it's amazing to watch images of the United Kingdom in the 60's, it already shows how much a place is ahead of time because even the way people talk is different

wonderful sunderland accent!

This makes me so sad seeing our long lost heritage in a once proud Sunderland gone. We now have Nissan and it's going to be here for a long time to come, but let's wait and see .....

This was filmed a year after a hanheld Eclair camera with sync sound was created. Looks much less stilted than 1950s vox pops. The BBC should provide more info about subjects and equipment used for every archive reel.

Don’t mess with geezer with the 📝 paper

Proper Mackem blokes

Other countries can build things cheaper. Another great film.

The old boy with the newspaper looks like Paul's grandfather in "A Hard Days Night".

I just wish Ant & Dec would have had a more wholesome life working at the shipyard there. On a more serious note this is great listening to the serious economic concerns of workers in their local area from over 60 years ago, these days it's just hire and fire with few working rights if you're a bloke.

This video is the perfect example of what happens when you don’t evolve, the world just passes you by. There’s no real reason this industry had to die.

I was 6, me Grandaa worked at many of the yards first as riveter then as welder, he'd had a hard life which was visible, as most had who'd been through the war. Sunderland was doomed as a shipbuilder due to one thing, geography, the Wear was too narrow, too shallow and with tight bends unsuitable for the size of ships becoming demanded after the 60's, it was that simple. With hindsight they should have swapped from ocean going to coastal and smaller vessels, but the foresight and will weren't there, the Dutch taught them a lesson here. To rub their noses in it they were sent abroad to teach other countries, signing their own death warrant. Everything comes to it's end, shipyards and pits included, but the people naturally were loathe to accept this fact. There will never be a return as the idiots in the council build houses on riverside sites, instead of keeping the areas near the sea for future industry. R.I.P. Sunderland heavy industry both past, present and future.

Crane op's job not for the partially sighted ... no CCTV to help

Strange but they don't all sound as if their from Sunderland

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Re those the men who wore tee shirts out when it was snowing?