On the day that World War II ends in Europe, Mayor George Boswell (Sir John Mills) recalls events of the previous twenty-five years in his home town of Browdley. As Councilman and Newspaper Editor, George has fought hard to better working and living conditions in the bleak Lancashire mill town. As a young man, he meets and marries Olivia Channing (Martha Scott), whose father was jailed in a scandal involving the mill he owned. Olivia is ambitious and manages to guide George within striking distance of a seat in Parliament. But an outbreak of diphtheria changes George's outlook, and his and Olivia's lives change forever.