The collection

• Places
• Subjects
• Productions
• Film-makers
• Related collections

Selected films

Contact and access

South West Film and Television Archive - The Collection

The South West Film & Television Archive was founded in 1993 when the TSW regional television franchise came to an end. The TSW TV collection of film and video material, its equipment and the holdings of its predecessor, Westward TV then became the basis of the initial archive collection. The BBC South West regional holdings were later added and, together with amateur, corporate and other film material related to the region, these collections form the largest regional film and television archive in England. The archive aims to preserve and disseminate its large and growing collection of films and video tapes on all aspects of life in the South West region.

The archive is based at Royal William Yard, Stonehouse, in Plymouth and covers the counties of Cornwall, Devon, Somerset, Dorset, Wiltshire, Gloucestershire, the Isles of Scilly, and the unitary authority of Bristol (formally Avon).

The South West Film & Television Archive houses approximately 110 thousand film and video items. The archive includes a large collection of television material from the BBC and from Independent television broadcasting companies in the South West region including regional news output, documentaries, and programmes on issues of local interest. The archive also has a substantial collection of film from other sources that either originates from or covers subjects specific to the South West region, including films by amateur cinematographers, corporate and publicity films, government information films and films by other local organisations. The South West Film & Television Archive also holds collections of related and contextual non-film material including books, photographs and other documents of relevance to the archive's moving image collection.

Places

The archive's film and television collection is particularly strong on material from the counties of Devon, Cornwall, Somerset and Dorset with a growing collection from other counties in the South West. Material to be found in the collection featuring towns and cities in the region include the cities of Bristol, Exeter, Plymouth and Truro, along with county towns of Taunton and Swindon amongst others. In terms of rural areas, particularly in the far South West, it is rare for there to be an area or community that is not covered in some way in the archive’s collection. Places that feature strongly in the amateur holdings tend to be popular tourist destinations such as Clovelly and Ilfracombe in Devon where amateurs have filmed their family outings or holidays. The Isles of Scilly are well covered and the archive works closely with the local museum there to collect film material. The balance of the collection is more strongly focused on rural life due to the nature of the region and its rural industries. There is however, material depicting urban life in the region, such as material on the problems of poverty in the Plymouth area and on the building of Plymouth as a modern city after the war. The archive is currently building stronger relationships and beginning to collect more material from the counties of Gloucestershire and Wiltshire.

Subjects and periods

The South West Film & Television Archive collection features moving images that represent all aspects of life and landscape in the South West region. Particular strengths of the collection include coverage of issues such as rural working life and industry in the region, cultural traditions and folklore, family and community life, coverage of artists and crafts in the region, maritime history and transport. The collection contains material dating from the turn of the 20th century up to the present day, but has particular strengths in the 1930s through film material and from the 1960s onwards through its extensive collection of regional television material.

Rural life - The archive has a significant collection of film and television material depicting rural agricultural work both traditional and modern, including men and women working the land, dairy farming, cattle markets and auctions. Rural cottage industries and working lives are illustrated in the archive's collection, for example through film and television footage of cider making, bark collecting for tanning, coppicing and woodland management. The archive includes material looking at all kinds of related rural issues such as hunting, farming subsidies and the problems of dispersed rural communities. The archive's collection also reflects the nature and environment of the rural areas surrounding the farming communities including footage of national park land and walkways, wildlife and countryside.

Coastal and waterways - Much of the South West region is defined by its coast line and the collection is significantly influenced by the sea and the industries and activities that take place on or around it. Many films in the collection depict contrasting scenes of the coastal port of Plymouth. There is some material on Naval history in the collection, but largely the archive holds films depicting the fishing, merchant, industrial, rescue, travel and leisure pursuits to be found on the Devon and Cornwall coast. The archive holds films covering the Devonport dockyard, Cornish fishing fleets, pilchard factories, gravel barges in north Devon, Navy diving teams, rope making, flag making for maritime use, ferries, boat building and boat racing, surfing, beach and coastal tourism, ship wrecks, Lifeboats, and coastguards.

Industry - Aside from agricultural work, fishing and other maritime work, industrial life in the region has mainly focused on the main industries of mining and quarrying. Many of the working practices for these industries from the 1920s up to the late 90s have been captured on film and preserved where the industries themselves have all but disappeared. Tin, copper, china clay, stone and slate along with a variety of other minerals and metals have been mined or quarried in the region for centuries and have become synonymous with Cornish history and Cornishness. The film collection features footage of working mines and quarries, and the decline of the mining industry, along with the other social and community activities that accompanied mining and quarrying life such as miners choirs and donkey and pony cart racing. Aside from these major industries there are films in the archive that depict some of the small cottage industries of the region as well as a number of films made by local companies and corporations that depict other work places, these include lace making, pottery and iron making, and brewing, amongst many others.

Transport - There are various films in the archive that depict the decline of the rural and small branch line trains in the South West and give a hint of the impact their decline has had on the life of the disperse rural communities of the region. Aside from trains the archive holds transport related films showing motor rallying, motorbike racing, farming vehicles, ferries and planes. Plymouth, Bristol and Exeter airports are featured along with early footage of autogyros, the first passenger planes in the 1930s, air shows, and films by people connected to the building of concord at Filton and the Westland Helicopter manufacture.

Arts and craft - Parts of Cornwall and Devon are noted for their connection with the arts, and the archive holds film and television material on all forms of local arts, artists, crafts people, music festivals and arts schools. The regional TV stations regularly featured the arts and the collection houses recordings of interviews with every significant artist and crafts person living in the region including documentary footage of Bernard Leach, Dame Barbara Hepworth, Beryl Cook and Robert Lenkiewicz.

Culture and tradition - Celtic and rural folklore and traditions have been kept alive in many places of the South West and in Cornwall in particular. The archive has significant holdings of moving images focusing on cultural tradition including regional dialect, dances, songs, and costumes for example. Traditional celebrations and ceremonies from the region also feature strongly in the archive, and include films of the 'Obby Oss' festival at Padstow, apple tree propitiation ceremonies, Helston Floral Day, midsummer eve bonfires, the celebration of "Tom Babcock's Eve" with the eating of Stargazey pie at Mousehole, and the "Wisht Hound" legends of Dartmoor amongst others. The archive also has films in the collection that illustrate a resurgence in interest in traditional lifestyles and folklore in the West Country. For example, the archive includes material on the influx of new communities to the region seeking an alternative lifestyle, such as hippies in the 1960s, and "new age" communities in the 80s and 90s.

Family life - The archive contains a great deal of moving image material depicting family and every day life from the 1920s through to the 1990s. Notable collections in the archive include amateur film by Claude Endicott dating from the 1920s up to the 1950s revealing their family life through activities such as picnics, holidays, weddings, and garden tennis. The Parriss Collection is the work of a father and son team from Plymouth, who also made amateur films in their spare time offering an interesting and different perspective on their family life and work in the 1930s, 40s and 50s. The archive also holds collection of films by the Digby family from the late 1920s to the end of the 40s, who were minor aristocracy in the region. This collection includes films of their stag shooting trips to Scotland amongst many others.

War-time - Despite the restrictions on filming during the Second World War period and the scarcity of film stock, there are some fascinating films in the archive that depict the life of the region on the home front. Second World War footage includes amateur, company and government films of the naval dock areas, agricultural work during the war, the aftermath of bombing attacks, how to cope with rations, and footage of VE and VJ day celebrations. The archive also holds television and film footage covering other war related issues from the region including interviews with surviving combatants from the First World War, television coverage of the ships heading for the Falklands War from Plymouth in 1982 and the wives left behind, along with other material on military related subjects such as films made by service personnel or regiments based in the South West region, or serving abroad.

Recent and current material - the archive encourages present day film makers to think about recording local and regional events, people and scenes around the region for posterity. The archive also works with other local bodies to commission work of relevance to the community. This has included making a film entitled ‘Union Street’ in conjunction with the Theatre Royal in Plymouth for a competition in 2001. The archive also encourages regional broadcasters to commission short pieces for television that could eventually become part of the archive collection.

Production Types

Television - The archive holds an extensive collection of regional television material for the South West area dating from the 1960s. The ITV material includes the archive of Westward Television which ran from 1961 to 1981 and its successor TSW which ceased broadcasting in 1992. The BBC material in the collection currently runs from 1962 to the late 1980s. The television material includes news, documentaries, and features on regional issues, arts, sports and events. Examples include regular programmes and series' on rural and regional arts issues such as 'Forum' and ‘The A to Z of Villages’.

Amateur film - The South West Film & Television Archive holds a number of notable amateur film collections depicting home life and aspects of South West life and landscape from the 1920s up to the 1980s. Many amateur film makers made films for a hobby, recording their families and holidays. There are also a few collections from members of cine societies in the region who often made short amateur fiction and documentary films. The Plymouth film society was particularly active and produced some excellent collections made by its members which are now in the archive.

Corporate and promotional films - Collections of films made or commissioned by public and private organisations held in the archive include companies such as the Holman's, the South West Electricity Board (SWEB), South West Gas, the Police, the Fire Brigade, Plymouth dockyard, and Plymouth City Council. These films were often made to promote services, advertise goods or as public information films.

Key film-makers

Early key film makers relating to the South West Film & Television Archive collection include the award winning documentary film makers, John and William Barnes and the film-makers of the Dartington Hall Film Unit. The archive holds copies of a couple of the Barnes Brother's early films relating to the region such as their film 'The Cornish Nets' on the fishermen of St Ives (1938). Influential British film maker and socialist, Jill Craigie, is also important to the region as she made the film ‘The Way We Live’ (1946) about plans for the redevelopment of post war Plymouth.

Other related collections

The archive holds extensive still photo collections from Westward and TSW Television which complement the television collections but currently require further development to make them more accessible to users. The archive also holds the reference book collection previously owned by South West and Westcountry Television presenter David Young who appeared in weekly regional programmes on the architectural heritage of the region. His books are a strong complementary resource to the programmes and add a rich dimension to researchers examining the collection. The Don Boyd film collection that is housed at the archive is also complemented by related papers and documents that are held at the Bill Douglas Centre in Exeter.

Return to top