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.
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Oak Apple Day in Great Wishford
The villagers celebrate ancient rights
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Overview
On this day, Great Wishford villagers claim the ancient rights of collecting wood from Grovely Wood. This tradition is said to date back to 1603, when the charter of rights to collect wood in the Royal Forest of Grovely was confirmed by the Forest Court. Oak Apple Day was formally abolished in 1859 and it is debatable whether the celebrations have been kept up or whether they were revived in the late 19th century.
The events of a modern oak apple day include a band waking the villagers, gathering oak branches from the woods at dawn, a village breakfast in the local pub, the Royal Oak and on to Salisbury, where there is dancing outside the Cathedral shouting Grovely, Grovely, Grovely and all Grovely. Oak Apple Day is celebrated in a handful of villages and also thought to be based on Charles II’s escape from the Roundhead army. In 1651 after the Battle of Worcester Charles II famously hid in an oak tree and after the restoration of the monarchy, 29 May was declared a holiday.
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