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
The Pub with No Name
The pub with an open door policy
In partnership with:
Overview
TV reporter Clive Gunnell reports from a mysterious cottage in the Somerset countryside. It's a pub with no name, which is better than pub with no beer - or cider, as in this case! Anyone wandering in through the open door to the cottage may hear a voice kindly requesting them to serve themselves. Clive helps himself to a drink at the unattended bar and follows the direction of the voice.
The publican farmer and cider maker is interviewed about his extraordinary endeavour. The choice is limited to rough and sweet cider but his punters are not fussy. For five generations here, they have grown their own apples for cider but this is not enough to satisfy regulars or strangers. It may also date from a time of the first licensing laws where the 1830 Beerhouse Act enabled anyone to brew and sell beer on payment of a licence. If the Pub or Inn and Landlord or Innkeeper had no name then they could not be taxed!
Related
Victorian Pub Victorian Pub
News 1974 6 mins Location: Aston
Music hall ghosts haunt the Bartons Arms pub in Birmingham; a temple to drink and a rare survivor in a city that has destroyed much of its Victorian architecture.
Bellamy on Beer Bellamy on Beer
Promotional 1982 9 mins Location: Hartlepool
David Bellamy puts his head into hops, then into a fermenting tank, watches it mash into wort and has a pint – all grist to our engaging presenter.
Mild & Bitter: Portsmouth & Plymouth Mild & Bitter: Portsmouth & Plymouth
Amateur film 1963 15 mins Silent Location: Plymouth
A polemical film where two men in a pub compare and contrast the post-war resurrection of both Portsmouth and Plymouth after their pummelling by the Luftwaffe.
Tour of the Inns Tour of the Inns
Amateur film 1938 6 mins Silent Location: Newark
Join this pub crawl and tread in the ghostly footsteps of innkeepers, smugglers, authors and bargemen of old.
Pub Donkey Pub Donkey
News 1975 4 mins Location: Gotherington
Jim is a particularly obstinate customer at the Shutter Inn at Gotherington, drinking five gallons a day from a bucket - he doesn't even pay!
Teenage Mocktailers Teenage Mocktailers
Current affairs 1980 2 mins Location: Burnham-on-Sea
A non-alcohol-serving pub offers somewhere to go and something to do for teenagers in Burnham-on-Sea.
Going Self-sufficient Going Self-sufficient
Current affairs 1980 4 mins Location: Somerset
The Buxtons decide to live the good life in Somerset.
Just the Job Just the Job
Current affairs 1980 29 mins Location: Devon
If you weren’t a yuppy you were a yoppy on the government Youth Opportunities Programme aimed at placing sixteen to eighteen year-olds in the workplace.
The Last Load from Kilmersdon The Last Load from Kilmersdon
Amateur film 1973 9 mins Silent Location: Somerset
The last working day at the coalface of Kilmersdon Colliery endures a quiet ending.
The Wicker Men of Somerset The Wicker Men of Somerset
Current affairs 1962 6 mins Location: Somerset
The process from harvest to basket is highlighted in this report about the willow growers of the Somerset Levels.
Weddings and Holidays Weddings and Holidays
Amateur film 1955 12 mins Silent Location: Devon
There are blizzards of confetti in this wedding montage which also features holidays in the West Country and the Empress Queen
Old England XI Old England XI
Sport 1966 3 mins Location: Somerset
An England team takes on an invitational XI
Laura Mulvey in Conversation Laura Mulvey in Conversation
Inside Film 2025 76 mins
Laura Mulvey in conversation, following her BFI Fellowship Award.
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.
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.
Edgar Wright on The Running Man Edgar Wright on The Running Man
Inside Film 2025 28 mins
The director talks to Mark Kermode about putting Stephen King's dystopian life-or-death gameshow thriller through its paces.
Richard Linklater Screen Talk | BFI London Film Festival 2025 Richard Linklater Screen Talk | BFI London Film Festival 2025
Inside Film 2025 69 mins
Richard Linklater discusses his remarkable and wide-ranging body of work, including Blue Moon and Nouvelle Vague.
Daniel Day-Lewis Screen Talk | BFI London Film Festival 2025 Daniel Day-Lewis Screen Talk | BFI London Film Festival 2025
Inside Film 2025 73 mins
Daniel Day-Lewis, the ultimate actor’s actor discusses his career in conversation with Mark Kermode.