As the story starts, times are hard for The Treacle People. The once great treacle mines of Northern England are running dry and the treacle industry is in trouble. Things look bleak for Professor Baines-Pilling, inventor of the world's first treacle-powered engine and all the others who depend on the sticky stuff for a living. That's until Rosie and Wizzle, the local youngsters, enter the scene. Armed with nothing but a simple treacle-divining stick, can they save the village, or will the Treacle People come to a sticky end?