This Website shows how Porthcurno became the British hub of worldwide communications technology. From the 1870s cables were laid which connected this Cornish town with Europe, India and eventually the world.The site includes a timeline explaining the development of telegraphy as well as a handbook to the area and its people. There is an instrument room with animated working instruments such as the Dearlove and Brown Perforator of the Double Current Morse Key, which invites you to type a message which it converts to Morse Code. You can also try out your message in Semaphore with a sailor to wave the flags indicated by your chosen letters. And do pay a virtual visit to the Underground Museum, a set of tunnels which housed the telegraph station during World War II.There is a large and interesting photo album with scenes of life in Porthcurno and the surrounding area as well as the picture archive of the Cable and Wirelesss company.For teachers there is a downloadable resource pack The Development of International Telecommunications in the Victorian Era and for those wishing to study the subjects in more depth there is a good description of available publications.
