The red telephone box on Pennan's seafront is the village's most photographed object and its reason for existence as a tourist destination. The 1983 Bafta-winning film Local Hero, directed by Bill Forsyth and starring Burt Lancaster, used Pennan as a key location, and the phone box features in several scenes. Visitors have been making the pilgrimage ever since.
It sits on the quayside, directly opposite the Pennan Inn, listing slightly on the uneven ground. Whether you make a call from it, photograph it, or simply stand next to it, you will understand why the village has been drawing visitors for four decades. It was listed as a building of special architectural or historic interest in 1989 — not for its architecture, which is standard, but for its cultural significance.