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
Lulworth Cove to Weymouth Swim
Oil up, goggle on and swim out in this stunning adventure along the Jurassic Coast of Dorset.
In partnership with:
Overview
This is the international ten-mile swim from Lulworth Cove to Weymouth held on 14th July 1966 and won by Geoffrey Lake. The swim also has a return leg setting out from Weymouth and held since 1951. According to the Channel Swimming and Piloting Association Geoffrey went on to swim the English Channel in 1967 in a time of 15 hours and 21 minutes. Here, swimmers depart Lulworth Cove and take in Stair Hole and Durdle Door before being greeted by crowds along the front at Weymouth.
Lulworth Cove is almost a perfect circle and Durdle Door is an arch of Portland stone. Since 2001 this area forms the UNESCO World Heritage Site for its geology and is known as the Jurassic Coast stretching 96 miles from Old Harry Rocks Studland Bay near Swanage in Dorset to Orcombe Point near Exmouth in Devon and has a continuous sequence of Triassic, Jurassic and Cretaceous rock formations spanning the Mesozoic Era and teaming with fossils. Geologists and geographers from around the world are regular visitors and UNESCO teams monitor coastal erosion. The swim is popular with wild swimmers and locals alike and an annual Christmas swim still takes place.
Related
Arundel, Poole and Lulworth Cove Arundel, Poole and Lulworth Cove
Amateur film 1938 4 mins Silent Location: Arundel
Join Sydney Bligh's whistle stop tour of Southern beauty spots - calling at Arundel, Poole Harbour and the dramatic sea ravaged cliffs at Stair Hole, Dorset
Dorset Coast Dorset Coast
Amateur film 1925 13 mins Silent Location: Lulworth Cove
As popular in the 1920s and 1930s as it is today, Dorset's Jurassic coastline is the star of this delightful holiday film from Stoll Bailey
Coasts Coasts
Amateur film 1945 11 mins Silent Location: Lulworth Cove
Frank Bealing's gorgeous colour film captures the timeless grandeur of Dorset's coastline - with huge cliffs, pretty villages and wild seas
Showgirls is a Western Showgirls is a Western
Short documentary 2025 2 mins
In this mini video essay, BFI contributor Maha Al-Badrawi explains why Paul Verhoeven's Showgirls is a rhinestoned, stilettoed Western.
Frederick Wiseman's High School - a discussion Frederick Wiseman's High School - a discussion
Short documentary 2026 22 mins
Filmmaker Andrea Luka Zimmerman and curator Matthew Barrington discuss Frederick Wiseman’s High School with Sandra Hebron.
Hard, Cracked the Wind Hard, Cracked the Wind
Horror 2019 17 mins
A haunting with words is the lure between life and death for a young Cornish poet.
A Last Resort A Last Resort
Comedy 2022 17 mins
Rose is desperate to celebrate her 60th birthday in style, but her daughter Genevieve is struggling to ignore some recent tragic news about her mum.
Seagull Seagull
Horror 2022 6 mins
Seagull is a recovering drug addict who is about to have a very strange night on The English Riviera.
The Walk The Walk
Drama 2023 12 mins
Adeel Akhtar portrays a man on a weekly trek to his nearest JobCentre, entering a state of purgatory through barriers put in place by the system.