Volunteers on the Tanfield Railway near Gateshead in County Durham work to keep the heritage line running over the August Bank Holiday weekend of 1988.

The Tanfield Railway is an unique heritage railway in that it has not one, but two world records to its name. The railway is a 3-mile standard gauge heritage railway in County Durham which runs between Sunniside in the north to East Tanfield in the south. Opened in 1725 it is the world's oldest railway originally built as a wagonway to transport coal from the local coalfields to the staithes at Redheugh on the River Tyne. Original designed for horses to pull wooden wagon from Sunniside as far as Causey Arch, the railway expanded with the introduction of steel rails in 1837 and a steam powered winding engine between 1840-41. The line was extended to East Tanfield in 1837 and on again to East Tanfield Colliery in 1840. Steam locomotives were introduced in 1881, and the railway continued in operation until 1970.

Running parallel to the Tanfield Railway is Causey Arch, the oldest surviving single-arch railway bridge in the world. Built and designed by stonemason Ralph Wood between 1725 and 1727, when it opened it was longest single-span bridge in country with an arch of 31-metres. The arch was made Grade 1 listed in 1950 with work carried out to restore and reinforce it in 1980.

The Tanfield Railway became a heritage railway in 1973 pulling its first passengers in August 1975. Since that time work has continued to extend the line and enhance the passenger experience through the hard work and dedication of a team of volunteers, work that continues to this day. Amateur filmmakers Clive Bishop and Andy Hibbert capture what must be a typical busy August Bank Holiday weekend with volunteers working hard to make the experience of visitors a happy one.

"Forty-eight hours is just a moment in time in the social history of a nation. However, over 26 and 27 August 1988, the people of the North East England have produced a significant record of their lives, their time and their country." These are the words of HRH Prince Charles in his introduction to the book '48hrs: Two Days in the Life of the North East' published by BBC Books and containing hundreds of original and unique photographs taken by people across the region that, according to David Cox producer of 48hrs, "Create a true reflection of how people feel about their area and their lives' at a specific moment in time."

'48hrs: Two Days in the Life of the North East' began as a collaborative project between the BBC in Newcastle, local production company Filmnova and the Tyne & Wear Development Corporation. The BBC were able to promote the project and along with Filmnova provided curatorial assistance in witling down the thousands of submissions to those that would eventually make up the book. The Tyne and Wear Development Corporation provided financial support with the books publishing.

While the book went onto become a success, what is less know is that twenty film submissions in the form of video tapes were also submitted by for consideration. Sadly, none of these films made it into the final publication and for the next thirty they sat on the shelves of Filmnova until being donated to the Yorkshire & North East Film Archives in the early 2010s. Now, thanks to the support of BFI Heritage 2022 these tapes have been digitised and made available here for you to view and look back on the people of the North-East of England over a summer Bank Holiday more than thirty years ago.