WELCOME TO NORTHERN ENGLAND

From the Angel of the North and Tyne Bridge to Penshaw, Roker, Durham Cathedral, Saltburn and Bamburgh - some of the landmarks that make this region instantly recognisable, brought together with an original song written for the journey. Northern Perspectives, celebrating the places that make the North East home. #NorthernPerspectives #NorthEastEngland #NorthernSummer

A short aerial flight around Herd Groyne Lighthouse during a summer sunset at the mouth of the River Tyne. Built in 1882, the distinctive red lighthouse stands on the Herd Groyne at South Shields and was designed to help guide shipping safely between the harbour piers and into the Tyne. Its unusual hexagonal shape was intended to provide greater stability against strong seas and weather. Known locally as the little red lighthouse, it remains one of South Shields’ best-known landmarks. This flight captures the lighthouse, the Tyne, Tynemouth across the river and the North Sea in the evening light.

A short video from today’s Durham Miners’ Gala, with one of the bands playing Time Warp and the crowd having an absolutely brilliant time. The Gala is built on history, community, banners and brass bands - but it also has plenty of moments like this, where everyone just leans into it and enjoys themselves.

A short aerial video flying around Tynemouth Lighthouse at sunset. The lighthouse stands at the end of the North Pier, marking the entrance to the River Tyne, with the North Sea ahead and Tynemouth Priory overlooking the coast behind it. The pier was built as part of the harbour works protecting the mouth of the Tyne, one of the most important river entrances in the North East. This evening flight captures the lighthouse, pier, coastline and sunset light in one view.

An aerial look at the National Glass Centre in Sunderland, which is due to close to the public on 31 July 2026, with demolition being pursued. Opened in 1998 on the banks of the River Wear, the building was created to celebrate Sunderland’s glassmaking heritage - a story linked back more than 1,300 years to Benedict Biscop and Monkwearmouth. It brought together galleries, teaching space, workshops, working glassmaking and public access in a landmark riverside building. But before the building has even reached 30 years old, its future is now in doubt. The University of Sunderland has cited major capital works, running costs and repair estimates, while campaigners argue that demolition should not be accepted without far greater scrutiny. How did a nationally important cultural building reach this point so quickly? Was it design, construction, maintenance, cost, neglect - or a mix of all of them? And if a smaller replacement is planned elsewhere, does that save the National Glass Centre, or just move the name while losing the place people actually know?

A short aerial video flying around Roker Lighthouse on a summer evening, with the pier busy with people fishing, walking and enjoying the Sunderland coast. Roker Pier was completed in 1903 as part of Sunderland’s harbour works, with the lighthouse standing at the end as one of the city’s most recognisable coastal landmarks. More than a century later, it remains a place people return to - for fishing, sea air, a walk along the pier and those wide North Sea views. This is Roker at its best: the lighthouse, the pier, the people, and a proper summer evening by the water.

A short aerial flyover of Cautley Spout in the Howgill Fells near Sedbergh, Cumbria. Cautley Spout is often described as England’s highest above-ground waterfall, dropping in a long series of broken cascades down the steep fellside. It is not a single clean plunge, but a dramatic stepped fall of water, rock and height, set in one of the most distinctive landscapes between the Yorkshire Dales and the Lake District. This short video captures the waterfall and surrounding fells from above, showing the scale of the drop and the shape of the valley below.

A short aerial video following a steam train along the South Tynedale Railway from Slaggyford towards Alston. The railway runs through the South Tyne Valley on part of the former Haltwhistle to Alston branch, which opened to passengers in 1852 and closed in 1976. The preserved railway now operates as a two-foot narrow gauge line, rebuilt in stages by volunteers after the original standard gauge route was lost. Passenger services on the preserved railway began in 1983, with later extensions through Kirkhaugh and Lintley. Slaggyford station welcomed its first paying passengers again in 2017, bringing trains back to one of the old branch line’s key stops. This short flight captures steam moving through one of the North Pennines’ finest railway landscapes - river, moorland, viaducts and a line that refused to vanish.

A short aerial look at the National Glass Centre on the banks of the River Wear in Sunderland. Opened in 1998, the building was created to celebrate Sunderland’s long glassmaking heritage, which reaches back to the 7th century and Benedict Biscop. Less than 30 years later, the centre is now set to close, with demolition plans being pursued. The University of Sunderland says the building faces major repair and running costs that make the current site unviable. Campaigners dispute the case for demolition and argue that alternatives need proper scrutiny before Sunderland loses a nationally important cultural building. Whatever side people take on the numbers, the question remains: how does a building of this age, purpose and public importance reach the point where demolition is seen as the answer? Save the National Glass Centre.