The Box is a major cultural and heritage attraction and archive, which opened in Plymouth’s city centre in September 2020. Its collection, formally the South West Film and Television Archive (SWFTA), is the regional film archive for the South West of England, comprising the combined programme libraries of Westward Television and Television South West (TSW). It also includes a significant number of donated film collections dating back to the early 1890s.
This film is part of Free

Beachcombers
This documentary explores the pastime and livelihoods associated with beachcombing in the South West.
In partnership with:

Overview
This film is a portrayal of the characters that have associations with the beach where they live and who make a livelihood working between the tides. Barney Hansford was also known as the fossil man of Charmouth who for decades exhibited his collection of fossils near Charmouth Beach in Dorset. Ginny Arnold uses seine-haul fishing techniques at Chesil Beach in Dorset where nets set offshore are held down by weights and buoyed by floats and hauled onto the beach.
Ginny sells the catch to local wholesalers. Robert Troake and Jim White are wardens of Slapton Ley Field Centre and Nature Reserve and help protect the ecosystem of the shingle beach and freshwater lake. Brendan Sellick of Stolford is the third generation of fishermen to work the mudflats in Bridgwater Bay. His sledge is also known as a mud horse and his catch of shrimp and fish are sold locally. Len Martin collects razorfish or razor clams, a shellfish delicacy at Torre Abbey Sands in Torquay. Irene Jones of Bude in Cornwall is an artist who paints and sells pebbles. Richard Cormery is a driftwood artist from Widemouth in North Cornwall. All have one thing in common; they are beachcombers.
Related

The Fossil Man of Charmouth The Fossil Man of Charmouth
News 1965 6 mins Location: Charmouth
Barney Hansford is a Charmouth fossil hunter with a rocking good collection.

If I Make It To The Morning If I Make It To The Morning
Drama 2024 9 mins
A Chinese teenager dreams of living with her cool aunt in New York, until tensions boil over during a crab dinner.

We’ll Go Down in History We’ll Go Down in History
Documentary 2025 25 mins
Two years in the life of TRUK United FC, a beacon for positive change and trans inclusivity in football.

Wrong Bathroom Wrong Bathroom
Drama 2024 9 mins
A trans high-schooler is tempted by toxic masculinity in the boys’ bathroom.

Dragfox Dragfox
Animation & Artists Moving Image 2024 8 mins
A child struggling with their identity and a charismatic fox (voiced by Sir Ian McKellen) learn to embrace their differences in this heart warming stop-motion animation.

Wait, Wait, Now! Wait, Wait, Now!
Drama 2024 13 mins
A Maori and a Kiwi teen buddy up to raid their mum’s wardrobe and pucker their lips with red.

NGGAK!!! NGGAK!!!
Drama 2024 8 mins
‘I pronounce you wife and wife.’ A young couple design their perfect wedding online, but then mum dials in.