Films & Recordings
As part of the research phase of this project, we’ve unearthed recordings and films that capture Luppitt’s people, places and traditions across several decades. These include a BBC Radio Devon interview from 1985 with local characters Arthur Salter and Albert Wright; and a 1976 filmed interview with Arthur Salter demonstrating his divining technique.
Luppitt Voices: BBC Radio Devon Recordings from 1985
This audio recording was rediscovered by project volunteer Sally Twiss, who originally made them with fellow BBC journalist John Burgess while they were working for BBC Radio Devon. Recorded in 1985, the pair had been sent out to capture the voices of local people from the Blackdown Hills for a programme called‘Back in they day’. In these recordings, they interview two well‑known Luppitt characters: Arthur Salter, the village diviner and healer, and Albert Wright, the long‑standing landlord of the local pub.
The interview features Albert Wright, long‑time landlord of the tiny Luppitt Inn, a pub he has personally run for “68 years,” following his father and grandfather. Albert reflects on the pub’s remarkably small size (once fitting “22… one night”), its role during the Second World War when “loads of Americans” drank the place dry, and its place at the heart of Luppitt. (Interview begins 5 minutes and 43 seconds into the recording).
The audio clip also captures an engaging interview with Arthur Salter, a self‑described water diviner and healer whose unusual abilities have fascinated the residents of Luppitt for decades. Arthur explains how he first discovered his gift when a hazel twig unexpectedly moved in his hands, calling it “a sensation that you can’t explain.” Throughout the interview he demonstrates and describes his methods, ranging from finding underground water to sensing illness from photographs. His stories, including locating a lost dog and even advising on potential oil sites, illustrate the remarkable claims that have made him a memorable local figure. (Interview begins 9 minutes and 17 seconds into the recording).
A Filmed Interview with Arthur Salter 1976
TV reporter John Doyle interviews water diviner Arthur Salter in 1976 having discovered he had successfully located water at Kinghead Farm in Lupitt near Honiton in Devon. Divining also known as dowsing is a type of divination attempting to locate sources of water underground. Arthur Salter featured prominently in our conversations with local people, who recalled him fondly as a mystical and enigmatic figure, reputed to have extraordinary, unexplained powers ranging from water divining and healing to locating burried bodies, oil, and veins of silver beneath the ground.
The link will take you to the British Film Institute archive.