Listening to the media hype you’d be forgiven for thinking that Cornwall has been cut off from the rest of the world. Let’s get the message out there that whilst the Telegraph Museum Porthcurno might be temporarily closed for development, the rest of Cornwall is very much #OpenForBusiness!
Thanks to VisitCornwall for getting this positive video out there so quickly, with Cornwall ambassadors Rick Stein and Tim Smit: http://youtu.be/oNgG6VRtaQw
We’re delighted to announce that DCMS/Wolfson Museums and Galleries Improvement Fund has awarded £100,000 towards our project, Developing for the Future.
This places the museum alongside such heritage treasures as Kensington Palace and Shakespeare’s birthplace.
The grant was announced earlier today by Culture Minister, Ed Vaizey, as part of a £4m boost to 40 museums and galleries across England, and DCMS/Wolfson have developed an interactive map of all 40 grant recipients >
Commenting on the award, Ed Vaizey celebrated the diversity of England’s museum and galleries, whilst the Wolfson Foundation singled out the Telegraph Museum Porthcurno for special mention in its Twitter feed.
“The range of projects being funded is testament to the great variety of wonderful collections and attraction at our museums and galleries across the country. These grants will help improve visitor experience, benefiting local communities and helping to encourage growth, whilst also inspiring audiences with new knowledge, and I’m delighted that with the ongoing generosity of the Wolfson Foundation we have been able to fund so many projects.” Ed Vaizey, Culture Minister.
The award comes at a time when the museum is preparing to move into the next phase of its development, when new exhibitions will begin to be installed in the improved gallery spaces.
“We’re delighted by the news of today’s award. The support from DCMS/Wolfson has been vital in realising this project which will inspire people with a remarkable history that really has shaped the world we live in. The telegraph was the precursor to the internet, and in an age when we are constantly connected to one another, these stories and collections are more relevant than ever.” – Mark George, Chief Executive Officer, Telegraph Museum Porthcurno.
Last week staff and volunteers were treated to an early preview of the huge new gallery space opening up in Eastern House.
Site manager Ben Jefferies, of Symons construction, gave a guided tour of the first floor, where the main exhibition gallery space has been considerably extended by knocking into the old learning space and object store. Both functions have been moved to the brand new archive and Clore Learning Space, officially opened in September by Lord Pender of Porthcurno.
A huge aperture has been cut into the floor to accommodate a new stairway from the cafe area on the ground floor, to the gallery space on the first floor. The beautiful original hardwood parquet flooring has been removed, carefully cleaned and set aside for re-use.
Front of House staff Mary, Sue and Rudy were especially keen to see where the new demonstration space will be; at the far end of the gallery flanked by large object cases. The space will allow more visitors to enjoy the perennially popular live demos, and will be sited next to a viewing point looking towards Porthcurno beach.
The work is scheduled to continue for some time to come, with installation of exhibitions expected to begin in the spring, for a summer 2014 re-opening.
A huge gallery space has been opened up in Eastern House, where new exhibitions will be installed in 2014. The space will also house our popular live demonstrations.
Appearing in Punch magazine on 9th July 1870, this poem celebrated the recent completion of the Porthcurno-Bombay undersea telegraph cable in mock-heroic style. It followed the first exhibition of the Siphon Recorder at John Pender’s Arlington Street, London address- a demonstration which was witnessed by the Prince of Wales and the Duke of Cambridge.
Tempus Fugit
When Piccadilly’s ablaze, in the height and the heat of the season –
Rises a gaily hung tent in the yard of the mansion of Pender –
Mansion belit and bepictured and crowded with stateliest swelldom,
Swelldom that, down from blood royal, in Wales and in Cambridge embodied,
Flows through the pipes of the Peerage – Diplomacy – Ministers – Members –
Thence to the Magnates of Money and so to the syndics of Science.
Ceaseless the buzz and the bowing, the flashing of stars and garters,
Ceaseless the mopping of bows and imbibing of cooling refreshments,
Endless the glare and the glitter and gossip – the wealth and the wittles,
What have they met to accomplish, these leaders of fashion and science?
What is it brings them together, before the small siphon that, waving,
Scatters ifs fine jet of ink in accord with the pulses electric,
So making plain to the eye what the spark through the wire is conveying;
What is transacting tonight in the tent in the mansion of Pender?
Lo, ‘tis Britannia stretching invisible hands under ocean,
Bringing the furthermost East and the uttermost West into contact;
So does the spark of our wires outpace e’en the fleet foot of Chronos!
Miracle-workers are we – sitting here in the mansion of Pender,
Gossiping thus at our ease, over Continents, Hemispheres, Oceans,
Saying to space “Be no more,” and to baffled Time, “Get thou behind me!”
This original Siphon Recorder is one of the ten original Recorders used on the 1870 Porthcurno – Bombay undersea telegraph cable. This one has until recently been on display in Porthcurno’s famous WW2 tunnels, and will feature in the museum’s new exhibitions, opening in summer 2014. The only other example known to have survived is in the collection of the Science Museum, London.
Lord Pender of Porthcurno has officially opened our new Archive and Clore Learning Space, marking the completion of phase one of ‘Developing for the Future.’
L to R: Tamsin Daniel, HLF; Lord Pender, Patron of The PK Trust; Dave Foot, Chairman of The PK Trust; Mark George, Chief Executive of Porthcurno Telegraph Museum.
Following a celebratory day which saw a record-busting number of visitors, the museum has now closed its doors to the public whilst we continue with building work in the main museum buildings. We look forward to re-opening in summer 2014 with new visitor facilities and exciting new exhibitions.
“We are not closing completely. The new Clore Learning Space will open on special day for family events and activities, as well as our regular Ideas Cafe evening talks. We will continue to welcome school and college groups and we’ll also be holding community consultation sessions in the new space. Researchers who want to access Porthcurno’s archive are already benefiting from the fantastic new facilities including a new search room and digitisation facilities.” Rachel Webster, Communications Officer, Porthcurno Telegraph Museum
It is fitting that Lord Pender, the third Baron of Porthcurno and great-great-grandson of the telegraph pioneer John Pender, should unveil the commemorative plaque at the entrance to the new building; his ancestors’ portrait hangs in the new climate-controlled archive store which houses over 18,000 records.
Collections Manager Charlotte Dando shows a group of guests around the new archive store.
The museum’s project to develop for a growing and diverse audience has attracted funding from the DCMS/Wolfson Fund, the Coastal Communities Fund, the Clore Duffield Foundation, and Cornwall Council amongst others. For a full list of project funders, see the museum website. Heading up this support is the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF) who awarded the museum a grant of £1.44m in early 2012.
The opening of the new building also provided an opportunity to welcome the museum’s first Chief Executive, Mark George, newly in post. Relocating to West Cornwall to take up the new position, Mark recently headed the Heritage Lottery funded development of Chedworth Roman Villa and has spent 16 years in various roles with the National Trust. Mark’s role will be to lead the organisation, working alongside the Development Project Team, to secure the long term sustainability of the site.
The new building has been designed by award-winning architects Long & Kentish.
Here’s our brand new 2-minute digital postcard, produced in collaboration with the For Cornwall museums partnership, and Visit Cornwall. With thanks to the Arts Council England and Sound View Media. Let us know what you think!
Please feel free to comment, and share with your own networks, re-blog, etc.
A visitor climbs the escape steps from Porthcurno’s unique underground telegraph station. The WW2 tunnels and escape steps, which are Grade II listed, are a highlight for thousands of visitors to the museum.
Porthcurno Telegraph Museum is delighted to have been nominated in the Best Heritage Attraction category in the new Cornwall Today Awards. Cornwall Today magazine, which has developed the awards to celebrate all aspects of life in Cornwall, has invited people to cast their votes online now.
The nomination comes shortly after the museum won Gold in the Small Visitor Attraction of the Year category at the Cornwall Tourism Awards in late 2012, and then scooped Bronze Small Visitor Attraction at the South West Tourism Excellence Awards in February 2013.
“We are very grateful to be nominated for this award alongside some of Cornwall’s best known and loved heritage attractions. These awards are a celebration of the very best of Cornwall and we are extremely proud to be recognised as a part of that.” Rachel Webster, Communications Officer, Porthcurno Telegraph Museum.
Anyone can vote online across the 15 award categories, including Best Heritage Attraction.
People are being invited now to vote online across the 15 award categories. The results of the voting will be announced at an awards ceremony on Thursday 26th September 2013 at the Headland Hotel, Newquay.
Preparation for the move has taken two years, during which time the museum’s Collections Team and volunteers have used over 700 acid-free boxes and 5,600 archival envelopes to package 595 shelves of historic volumes, documents, glass slides, maps, flags and photographs. The collection will share its new home with the Clore Learning Space; a flexible space for visiting schools, colleges, special interest groups and community groups.
Collections Management Assistant Eleanor Mills checks off boxes as they arrive in the new archive facility. The high-spec space is temperature and humidity controlled.
“The collection contains objects and documents that form the business archive of Cable & Wireless. This tells the story of Porthcurno, the telegraph and early wireless. That doesn’t just mean the ins and outs of the communication technology that shaped the world, but personal stories of the people involved. During its time as a training college, thousands of people have been through these doors and called Porthcurno home for a time. Many of them went on to be stationed all over the world, and this unique collection brings their stories to life.” Charlotte Dando, Collections Manager, Porthcurno Telegraph Museum.
Archive records often illustrate the social life of students and staff at Porthcurno cable station. This photograph from 1968/1969 shows staff and students performing ‘Tobias and the Angel’ at the neighbouring Minack Theatre.
Moving such an archive is a painstaking process. 7255 brand new records have been added to the archive database with a further 12,426 database records being modified and improved. Over 2,300 items which were previously un-located in the archive have also been recorded. All of this means that, once the archive re-opens again later this summer, the academics, family researchers and local historians who visit the archive will have much improved access to a collection which is recognised as being of national and international importance.
“It is an extraordinary rarity to have an archive which is one hundred percent catalogued, because most archives, like ours, are acquiring new items and updating records as they learn more about the collection. There will still be a great deal of work to do once the archive has relocated, which means there will be volunteering opportunities for people who want to get hands on with a fascinating collection.” Charlotte Dando.
The task of physically moving the archive into its new home is a joint effort for staff and volunteers. A special behind-the-scenes events will take place on Sunday the 15th of September, coinciding with the national Heritage Open Days campaign. Collections Management Assistant Eleanor Mills describes what she hopes will be achieved;
“Archives can be a bit misunderstood. They are often seen as off-limits, or a bit scary for anyone who has never been to one before. But they are treasure troves for anyone interested in their local history or family history. The September open day will give people the opportunity to get closer to the collection, and find out how they can access the archive. I hope we can make more people aware of Porthcurno’s heritage and excited about archives in general.” Eleanor Mills.
The Porthcurno archive remains closed for visits and enquiries whilst it relocates. Normal access is expected to resume in August 2013. For more information about the September open day and other events, sign-up to the museum’s email newsletter: http://www.porthcurno.org.uk/page.php?id=296
As part of the museum’s development project, the Porthcurno archive and search room will shortly be moving from its current location in the main museum building, Eastern House, to a new purpose-built facility. Due to this, the search room and archive is now closed to public visits and enquiries whilst we relocate the archive. We regret we will be unable to respond to any archive enquiries during this time, and apologise for any inconvenience caused. Normal service is expected to resume in August, with a ‘behind-the-scenes’ event planned for later in the year.
Watch out for more news and latest photos of the new building, which also houses the Clore Learning Space, coming soon.
Telegraph Museum Porthcurno: Development 