Portcurno & Minack Theatre, Cornwall - from air - Murray King postcard c.1980s

Postcard
• Picture / Image:  Porthcurno and the Minack Theatre - from the air over the sea
• Publisher:  Murray King, St. Ives
• Postally used:  no
• Stamp:  n/a
• Postmark(s): n/a
• Sent to:  n/a
• Notes / condition: 

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Text from the free encyclopedia WIKIPEDIA may appear below to give a little background information (internal links may not  work) :

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Porthcurno (Cornish: Porthkornow^[1]) is a small village in the parish of St. Levan located in a valley on the south coast of Cornwall, in the United Kingdom.^[2] It is approximately 9 miles (14 km) to the west of the market town of Penzance and about 3 miles (4.8 km) from Land's End, the most westerly point of the British mainland. Access by road is only available from the north end of the valley along an 'unclassified' spur road off the B3283 'B' class road.^[2] The village comprises houses and apartment blocks together with a few commercial premises located along the access road known as ""The Valley"". There is a small sub post office at the north end of The Valley and the road ends at St. Levan's Church about half a mile further on from the village.^[2] At the southern end of The Valley there is a small hotel, a public car park for about 200 cars, a small seasonal cafe and a public house.^[3] The village is also accessible on foot by the South West Coast Path, being about two hours walk from Land's End or about four hours walk from Penzance for experienced cliff walkers.^[4] There is an occasional bus service linking Porthcurno with Penzance, Lands End and nearby villages and hamlets including Newlyn, Paul, Sheffield, Lamorna, St Buryan, Treen, Trethewey, Polgigga and Sennen.

The cliffs and coastline around Porthcurno are officially designated Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty. Part of the Cornwall Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB) and widely considered as some of the most visually stunning in the United Kingdom.^[26][27] Almost a third of Cornwall has AONB designation, with the same status and protection as a National Park.

Porthcurno beach and bay enclosed by the Logan Rock headland has been listed among the ten most beautiful bays in the World.^[28] The cliffs are enjoyed by walkers using the many public footpaths in the area and the protected South West Coastal Footpath passes through the area often within just a few yards of the clifftops.^[2][4] Coastal areas around Porthcurno, including those formerly owned by Cable and Wireless, are now owned, preserved and maintained by the National Trust and the remainder by the local parish council on behalf of Cornwall Council.^[29][30] The nearby cliffs rise to 60 m to 70 m above mean sea level and are formed from a bedrock of prismatic granite; over the geological timescales having been eroded, shaped and divided vertically and horizontally sometimes almost into rounded cubic blocks.^{[3][4][31][32]}

An ancient bridleway, probably an early route to Porthcurno beach via the nearby Trendrennen Farm, about half a mile to the east of the village, has been opened by the Ramblers Association. This was probably used by horse-drawn carts to collect seaweed which was used for land fertilisation.^{[citation needed]}

Porthcurno beach and bay, a few hundred yards south of the village is situated in the shelter of the Logan Rock headland just less than one mile (1 km) to the east. The beach is noted for its sand of crushed, white sea shells, privacy and isolation rather than movement of ships.^[5][33][34] Porthcurno Bay has been described as “floored by glorious white sand that shines through translucent water"".^[35] Sometimes combinations of wind, tides and sea currents can change the 'sandscape' dramatically in a few hours, but the volume of sand is sufficient that it is unusual for the beach to be completely inundated by the sea at high tide. To the immediate east of Porthcurno beach, on the other side of Percella Point is a small tidal beach called Green Bay. Sometimes this is accessible with caution from Porthcurno beach at low tide.^[4]

Another tidal beach called Pedn Vounder lies further to the east between Porthcurno and the Logan Rock headland for which footpath access is by a steep and rugged path leading down from the cliff path. Often a sand bank forms off Pedn Vounder at low tide. Unlike the nearby fishing coves of Penberth and Porthgwarra, about one and a half miles (2 km) to the east and west respectively, Porthcurno has no known recent history of commercial fishing activity.

The Minack Theatre (Cornish: Gwaryjy Minack) is an open-air theatre, constructed above a gully with a rocky granite outcrop jutting into the sea (minack from Cornish meynek means a stony or rocky place). The theatre is at Porthcurno, 4 miles (6.4 km) from Land's End in Cornwall, England.^[1] The season runs each year from May to September, and by 2012 some 80,000 people a year see a show, and more than 100,000 pay an entrance fee to look around the site.^{[2] [3]}

The theatre was the brainchild of Rowena Cade (2 August 1893 – 1983), older sister of the feminist Katharine Burdekin, who moved to Cornwall after the First World War and built a house for herself and her mother on land at Minack Point for £100. In 1929, a local village group of players had staged Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream in a nearby meadow at Crean, repeating the production the next year. They decided that their next production would be The Tempest and Miss Cade offered the garden of her house as a suitable location, as it was beside the sea. Miss Cade and her gardener made a terrace and rough seating, hauling materials down from the house or up via the winding path from the beach below. In 1932, The Tempest was performed with the sea as a dramatic backdrop, to great success. Miss Cade resolved to improve the theatre, working over the course of the winter months each year throughout her life (with the help of Billy Rawlings and Charles Angove) so that others might perform each summer.^[3]

In 1944, the theatre was used as a location for the Gainsborough Studios film Love Story, starring Stewart Granger and Margaret Lockwood but inclement weather forced them to retreat to a studio mock-up. In 1955, the first dressing rooms were built. In the 1970s, the theatre was managed by Lawrence Shove. Since 1976 the theatre has been registered as a Charitable Trust and is now run by a local management team. Rowena Cade died on 26 March 1983, at the age of 89.

Nowadays, the theatre is used from June to September for a full summer season of 17 plays, produced by companies from all over the UK and visiting companies from the USA. The theatre is open for visitors throughout the rest of the year. The 75th anniversary of Minack was celebrated with a production of The Tempest in August 2007, directed by Simon Taylor and performed by the Winchester College Players.

type=printed postcards

theme=topographical: british

sub-theme=england

county/ country=cornwall/ scilly isles

number of items=single

period=1945 - present

postage condition=unposted