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
Olympic and British Fencer Bill Hoskyns
Fencer Bill Hoskyns defends medals after a break-in at home
In partnership with:
Overview
Olympic and British fencer Bill Hoskyns has his house checked for fingerprints after a break-in at his home in North Perrott in Somerset. He graduated from Oxford with a Fourth in Agriculture preferring instead to fence and mastered the épée, foil and sabre. Hoskyns missed the Helsinki Olympics in 1952 but helped Britain to a team bronze at the 1955 World Championships. After an invitation from Hungary he became the first private pilot to land a plane behind the Iron Curtain.
Hoskyns, a Major in the Army and a fruit farm manager, competed in six Olympic Games from Melbourne in 1956 to Montreal in 1976, winning the épée team silver at Rome in 1960 and an individual épée silver at Tokyo in 1964. No British fencer has since won an Olympic medal. He competed in a total of seven World Championships from 1955 to 1967 winning épée gold in Philadelphia in 1958 beating the then Olympic champion Eduardo Mangiarott. Hoskyns won nine gold medals in épée and sabre and a silver medal in foil at the Commonwealth Games. In the British Championships he took 21 medals. He won four épée titles, three foil titles and one sabre title and became only the second competitor to win all three championships at once.
Related
Watch for free
Flashing Blades Flashing Blades
Sport 1948 9 mins Silent
Tricky weather conditions cause some spills in the downhill and ski jumping at the 1948 Winter Olympics in St Moritz.
Watch for free
The Wheelchair Olympians The Wheelchair Olympians
Documentary 1983 25 mins Location: Cleckheaton
With the Paralympics even more marginalised than today, these athletes show great determination, dedication, camaraderie and humility.
Watch for free
Mining Review 22nd Year No. 1 Mining Review 22nd Year No. 1
1968 3 mins
We're off! Olympic training on the streets of Mansfield as local boy John Whetton prepares for the 1968 Mexico City games.
Watch for free
Women's Olympiad Women's Olympiad
Non-Fiction 1924 3 mins Silent Location: Fulham
British "girl athletes" prove themselves in competition with women from around the world at Stamford Bridge.
Watch for free
Diving and Swimming Diving and Swimming
1926 14 mins Silent
Special effects galore in this demonstration of fancy swimming and diving, featuring Olympic medallist Belle White.
Watch for free
Olga Olga
Sport 1973 54 mins
A rare insight into gymnast Olga Korbut's life at the height of her fame, showing the discipline it takes to be an Olympic champion.
Watch for free
China O'Brien: The Reunion China O'Brien: The Reunion
Documentary 2024 60 mins
Cynthia Rothrock, Richard Norton and Keith Cooke reunite three decades on from the groundbreaking martial arts classic.
Watch for free
Women in Action Panel Discussion Women in Action Panel Discussion
Inside Film 2024 28 mins
Action Xtreme - the UK's leading action film studio - hosts this panel discussion with four leading women in action cinema - Soo Cole, Jo Rolison, Jadey Duffield and Ioanna Karavela.
Watch for free
Starve Acre - Exclusive Q&A Starve Acre - Exclusive Q&A
Short interview 2024 24 mins
Daniel Kokotajlo talks to Nia Childs about Starve Acre, his folk horror about a couple digging deep into grief in the heart of the Yorkshire Dales.
Watch for free
Sky Peals - Exclusive Q&A Sky Peals - Exclusive Q&A
Short interview 2024 30 mins
Sky Peals director Moin Hussain and lead actor Faraz Ayub talk to Tomisin Adepeju about their magic realist drama.
Watch for free
Inside the Archive: The Early Films of Michael Powell Inside the Archive: The Early Films of Michael Powell
Documentary 2024 42 mins
Documentary exploring the BFI National Archive’s role in rediscovering and remastering the early films of Michael Powell.
Watch for free
Inside the Archive: The Riviera Revels Inside the Archive: The Riviera Revels
Short documentary 2024 12 mins
Bryony Dixon, curator of silent film at the BFI national archive, explores the origins of a series of comic travelogues, and Michael Powell's involvement in making them.