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
St George's Island Owner
Evelyn Atkins tours her Cornish island off Looe for the camera
In partnership with:
Overview
Reporter Stephen Matthews visits St George’s Island off the coast of Looe to talk to its owner Evelyn Atkins about the publication of a new book documenting the experience. We bought an Island is an autobiographical tale written with her sister Babs about how the two quit Surrey in 1964 for cottages in Looe in South East Cornwall but how, within 14 months, purchase the 22.5-acre island replete with house, boathouse, and out-buildings for the sum of twenty thousand pounds.
Evelyn dies at the age of 87 in 1997 and Babs retires to living on the island until she passes away in 2004 at the age of 86. They write a sequel entitled Tales from our Cornish Island (1986). The island, also known as Looe Island, is bequeathed by the sisters to the Cornwall Wildlife Trust to be a nature reserve in perpetuity and it is open in the summer to visitors. The Trelawny family own the island from 1743 to 1921 and a small neighbouring island called Little Island returns to the Trelawny family on Bab’s death in 2004 and is renamed Trelawny Island.
Related
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.
Watch for free
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.
Watch for free
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.
Watch for free
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.