PK Porthcurno / Telegraph Museum

Article By: Dan Hill

4 years ago

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Culture-Museum

By 1913, the British Empire consisted of 23% of the world's population, or some 412 million people. It had taken nearly a quarter of the world's land mass under its control. In order to establish timely communications in an era before radio, and where transportation was limited to sea vessels, the British government of the 19th century commissioned the Falmouth, Gibraltar & Malta Telegraph Company with laying an undersea cable between Britain and India. The original plan had been to land the cable at the docks at Falmouth in Cornwall - however this was changed to the small coastal village of Porthcurno in order to avoid any accidental damage by mooring ships. From the landing point in Porthcurno, the communications lines made their way up to London. On the 23rd of June 1870, in a remarkable feat, the first near-instant communication was made between Bombay and London. Subsequent cables were laid across the seas, arriving at Newfoundland in Canada, Spain, France and Gibraltar. During World War II, Porthcurno became a target for the Nazis, and local miners were drafted to move key equipment, cables and personnel into newly dug underground tunnels - protected by flame throwers. These tunnels may be visited at the museum. The highlights of the museum are a photographic collection, telling the story of the cables and the original in-place telegraphic equipment. Photo Credits: By Tony Atkin, CC BY-SA 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=12488110