Tag Archives: beach

The Minack Theatre, Porthcurno

On Saturday morning we walked down to the seafront and waited for the first bus to Porthcurno.

Sea and railings

Railings

The bus took us along narrow windy lanes, passing farmlands into Porthcurno.  A large building housing the Telegraph Museum dominates the area where the bus stops.  After a steep walk to the top of the hill we entered The Minack Theatre.

Firstly, I’m going to give you a little of the history of The Minack Theatre and then just let the photographs do the talking,

In 1929, local drama enthusiasts put on an out-door performance of A Midsummer Night’s Dream on a grassy meadow about a mile inland from the Minack. It was a great success and a couple of years later the players were looking for a venue to perform The Tempest.

Rowena Cade, who lived in Minack House, decided that the cliffs below her garden would be the perfect setting, and over the winter of 1931 and into 1932 she and her gardener, Billy Rawlings, moved endless granite boulders and earth, creating the lower terraces of the theatre, much as they are today.

The Tempest was big success, even gaining a positive review in The Times, and over the next few years Rowena and her gardeners made many improvements, building a throne for Antony and Cleopatra and creating the beginnings of the stage structures you see today.

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Row A, Seat 1 The Tempest 1932 – the very first performance.

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Although the Minack is built into huge granite cliffs, almost all of the theatre is made from concrete, mixed with local beach sand. Rowena carried many tons of sand from Porthcurno to the theatre where the concrete was used for seats, pillars, steps and walkways. Many of the seats in the theatre bear the name of a play or performance, each carefully carved into the wet concrete, and Rowena carved many intricate designs into new structures as they were made.

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I don’t think I have seen a place more beautiful.

We only stayed for an hour because we had to get back to Penzance to catch the train home but we’ll definitely return, hopefully to actually see a play or concert.

Rowena Cade must have been an incredible woman and I would love to have met her.  Not only did she have the amazing vision to design and build the amphitheatre but continued working on it until well in her 80′s.

Rowena Cade 1893 – 1983

Three go mad in Dorset

At the beginning of November we rented a cottage, threw some waterproof clothes in a bag and headed off to Dorset for five exciting days.  The drive there was foggy and we arrived late evening in the dark.  So, after unpacking there was nothing else to do but crack open the complimentary bottle of wine and settle in for the night.

On the first day we drove to Charmouth along the Jurassic Coast to have a go at fossil hunting.  We hired some equipment and set about splitting open likely stones in the hope of finding an ammonite or two.

Hammer

I didn’t having much luck and even what I thought was a fish fossil has since been disputed!

Charmouth beach

beach huts

Elsa yawning

Someone had been very patient so we called it a day and headed back to the cottage.

ammonites

These were outside a nearby house (no wonder I couldn’t find any – they’re all here!)

The next day we drove to Sidmouth to visit my adopted donkey ‘Teddy’ at The Donkey Sanctuary.  The sanctuary was founded as a charity in 1969, by Dr Elisabeth Svendsen MBE and has given over 15,500 donkeys and mules in need lifelong care in the UK, Ireland and mainland Europe.  There are currently 5,800 donkeys in their care, 500 of which are homed in Sidmouth.

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It was lovely to see the donkeys and mules in such beautiful surroundings.

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Some days we did nothing more than take a walk along the narrow lanes and explore the surroundings.

graveyard sign

A big house along the lane still had pumpkins left over from Halloween.  I thought this childlike sign sitting on the wall was wonderful.

Postbox

Doggy in window

How much is that doggie in the window?
The one with the waggly tail.
How much is that doggie in the window?
I do hope that doggie’s for sale.

St Catherine's

A foggy view over to St. Catherine’s Chapel in Abbotsbury.

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Even on a grey day, the view was breathtaking.

Pano

We walked back down the hill from St. Catherine’s Chapel to the deserted Chesil beach.

Chesil beach

pebbles

I couldn’t go home without taking a photo of a hilltop we’d passed several times during the week.

Tree silhouette

Photography course

Last year for my Birthday my children bought me a voucher for a photography course.  The courses on offer were varied and all over the country, but I chose one in Brighton.  Yesterday I got up early (for me!) and headed off to the coast.   Having hung onto the voucher for nine months I’m so glad it was a lovely sunny day.

Brighton beach

Gull's head

Wheel & Pier

Tarot caravan

Brighton Museum & Art Gallery

Barbed railings

Hendrix Ewok

Brighton Station

I had a great day and learnt a lot of new skills.  It’s going to take a while for my brain to process everything, but I hope to get out with my camera again soon and put in some practice!