Porthcurno

Lots of navigating through, over, and around ROCKS, but gorgeous walking. See what you get to see?




Not the destination, but a moment that gave pause to think:



Indeed:



This is why people are so upset with what Land's End has become:



To make sure you get the idea:



The big red cone and the smaller black one are markers for ships:



Porthcurno has one café, one pub, a few hostelries, a magnificent beach, a major telegraph museum, and the Minack theater.

There were lots of technological marvels in the Telegraph Museum and many reminders of the importance of communication systems during war time. One mind boggling thing was learning about the first laying of cables on (under?) the ocean floor. A section of telegraph cable was made of a copper wire, wrapped in gutta percha, then in jute, then a layer of tar and brass tape, and finally a steel or iron casing. It was very heavy.

It used to be thrilling to communicate by phone:




Among the many reminders of war displayed at the museum, the Anderson Shelter (a real one) was very affecting. These were air raid shelters buried about three feet below ground, covered with a deep layer of soil, which was often used to grorw vegetables. They were effective in saving lives, but were cold, often flooded, and frighteningly noisy during an air raid:




Inside:



The Minack Theater is this coliseum-like marvel built into the cliffs, which offers a spectacular setting for theatrical performances:




The play that was playing was The Titfield Thunderbolt. Titfield is the name of a town and Thunderbolt, the name of the train that the townspeople want to save from being decommissioned except for one man who bought an old beat-up bus to drive, with plans to take over the train route. You see the dramatic tension? I knew I could only stay for one act because walking back to my B and B in the pitch dark.....no sidewalks or anything.....was something I did not want chance. Fortunately, it was not hard to leave at intermission. But now I will never know whether the vicar of Titfield got to drive the train, which was something he really really really wanted to do.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Location:Old Cable Lane,Penzance,United Kingdom