Four families with a longing to escape the demands of the modern world head back over a hundred years. They’re experiencing life, for a month, as a small fishing community on the dramatic and wild tidal island of Llanddwyn, off the coast of Anglesey. They may have settled into the 1900s style of living, without running water or electricity, but that doesn’t make life any easier.
A steam-powered fishing vessel arrives in the bay, threatening the village's livelihood. The women gut and prepare the large catch of fish from the men's fishing trip, but prices have fallen and they make much less than they hoped. Both the men and women go searching for cockles and mussels, which fetch better prices. Ruby is taught how to use a sewing machine, though is unhappy about her lack of prospects as a young woman. Arwel and Kate, being child-free and more mobile, decide to leave the island to find alternative work. The cockle and mussel catch fetches a handsome sum. The villagers celebrate their final night, in the tavern.
