Sarah throws herself into work to take her mind off the pain of unrequited love, while Carne comes to terms with the idea that Muriel can never be restored to him.

Sarah's ambitions for her school find their focus in the gifted eldest child of a labourer and his wife, who live with their children in a shanty town on the cliffs.

Period drama charting the story of Sarah Burton, a teacher who returns to Yorkshire to take up her first headmistress-ship after 20 years teaching in London and the Empire.