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
Gladding at Watchet
An old tradition of gladding to hunt for conger eels on the beach is evidenced here on the shores of the Bristol Channel.
In partnership with:
Overview
TV reporter Clive Gunnell is on the beach at Watchet in Somerset looking for conger eels. Underneath craggy rocks and seaweed the conger eels await the rising tide of the Bristol Channel. Two men are gladding with dogs, keeping up an old tradition believed now to have died out altogether. Conger eel commercial values are relatively low and the use of terrier-type dogs to flush out the congers at low tide may also be to avoid being snapped at by the large fish.
Snake-like and almost prehistoric, the slate grey European conger eel Conger Conger is found in the northeast Atlantic and the Mediterranean Sea and is strong and good at hiding in eel pits. They can however be line-caught at sea or end up in trawler nets and some large specimens have been fished off the south coast of Devon and recorded at over ten feet long. Conger eels are sometimes used to make caldeirada, a Portuguese fish stew and French bouillabaisse with the spine and tail too bony to be used as fish steak. Watchet is on the Washford River and sits on the edge Exmoor National Park.
Related
Watch for free
Minehead - 1932 - Osborne Personal Film Minehead - 1932 - Osborne Personal Film
Amateur film 1932 45 mins Silent Location: Minehead
A Somerset holiday with prolific amateur cinematographers the Tigg family
Watch for free
New Perspectives: La Haine New Perspectives: La Haine
Short documentary 2025 4 mins
Charlie Hammersley, a student from Northumbria University, explains how Mathieu Kassovitz's 1995 film holds up a mirror to society.
Watch for free
Dreamers Q&A Dreamers Q&A
Inside Film 2025 30 mins
The film-makers behind a haunting tale of love and community within a UK immigration detention centre visited the BFI Southbank to discuss their film.
Watch for free
Paul Thomas Anderson and Leonardo DiCaprio in Conversation Paul Thomas Anderson and Leonardo DiCaprio in Conversation
Inside Film 2025 50 mins
Paul Thomas Anderson and Leonardo DiCaprio in Conversation at BFI Southbank, discussing the making of One Battle After Another.
Watch for free
Laura Mulvey in Conversation Laura Mulvey in Conversation
Inside Film 2025 76 mins
Laura Mulvey in conversation, following her BFI Fellowship Award.
Watch for free
George Clooney in Conversation George Clooney in Conversation
Inside Film 2025 74 mins
George Clooney visited BFI Southbank to look back on his life and career.
Watch for free
Chloé Zhao Screen Talk | BFI London Film Festival 2025 Chloé Zhao Screen Talk | BFI London Film Festival 2025
Inside Film 2025 65 mins
The Oscar®- winning director of Nomadland discusses her unique approach to filmmaking and the inspiration behind the adaptation of Hamnet.