In the late nineteenth century, the remote beach at Porthcurno became internationally famous as the British termination of early submarine telegraph cables, the first of which was landed in 1870, part of an early international link stretching all the way from the UK to India, which was then a British colony.

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.

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.

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.

Pedn Vounder beach at low tide with the Logan Rock headland behindAnother 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.

Porthcurno coast where the cables come ashore to a small building at the top of the beach

It is now located in the previously excavated tunnels near Porthcurno beach, Cornwall.

The next bay lies below Porthcurno.

This cable, called Project Liberty by JT, will augment the existing submarine cables and is in direct response to a similar cable installed by Cable and Wireless between Porthcurno and L ' Ancresse Bay, Guernsey and Saints Bay, Guernsey and Lannion in Brittany for its Project Hugo initiative.

Porthcurno was chosen in preference to the busy port of Falmouth because of the reduced risk of damage to the cables caused by ships ’ anchors.

Porthcurno is still known colloquially by the acronym ' PK ' being represented in Morse code as ' di-dah-dah-dit ' followed by ' dah-di-dah '.

Over the years, many apprentices were trained at the Porthcurno cable office in telegraphy and supporting skills, initially by ETC and then by Cable and Wireless.

Porthcurno is still recalled today by long-serving staff at telecommunications offices across the World who were former students here.

Today the tunnel is both an exhibit itself and houses exhibits of the Porthcurno Telegraph Museum, operated by PK Trust, a charity formed by Cable and Wireless Limited.

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.

Porthcurno Bay has been described as “ floored by glorious white sand that shines through translucent water ".

* Wire around the World Porthcurno to Alice Springs by Telegraph, BBC Radio 4

In the 19th century Porthcurno was connected to the rest of the world by submarine cables

After several unsuccessful attempts Lt. Goldsmith and a number of his crew turned their attention inland and succeeded in toppling the famous Logan Rock from its precarious perch on the Treryn Dinas headland east of Porthcurno.

Porthcurno Bay and Logan Rock headland

The village has a popular pub, The Logan Rock Inn, a village shop, cafe and campsite with views to both Logan Rock and nearby Porthcurno.

The district is largely rural, and contains many villages, principal amongst them being Botallack, Carbis Bay, Crowlas, Drift, Gulval, Gwithian, Hayle, Lamorna, Lelant, Levant, Long Rock, Ludgvan, Madron, Marazion, Morvah, Mousehole, Nancledra, Newlyn, Paul, Penberth, Pendeen, Porthcurno, Sancreed, Sennen, St Buryan, St Erth, St Hilary, St Just in Penwith, St Levan and Zennor.

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.

These also have been landed at Porthcurno forming a significant link, part of the UK connection to the international telecommunications ' backbone ' infrastructure.

B. O. A. T receive excellent national and regional coverage, and have been featured in The Guardian as one of the UK's Top 10 Open Air Theatre Venues, listed second to the Minack Theatre in Porthcurno, Cornwall.

The cliffs and coastline around Porthcurno are officially designated Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty and widely considered as some of the most visually stunning in the United Kingdom.

The cable office at Porthcurno was a critical communications centre and considered at serious risk of attack during the Second World War being only about from the port of Brest in occupied France.

Gibraltar was a landing point of the long-range submarine cable that from Porthcurno, in the United Kingdom ran to Lisbon, Gibraltar, Malta, Alexandria, Suez, Aden, Bombay, over land to the east coast of India, then on to Penang, Malacca, Singapore, Batavia ( current Jakarta ), to finally reach Darwin, Australia.

Although intended to land at Falmouth, the final landing point was Porthcurno near Land's End.

The cable connected between Long Island ( at Shirley, New York ), USA ; Green Hill, Rhode Island, USA ; Porthcurno, UK ; Bude, UK ; and Penmarch, France.

The theatre is located at Porthcurno, from Land's End in Cornwall, England, United Kingdom.

However, neither cable ran directly to the U. S. Both cables passed through a relay station at Porthcurno, near Land's End, the westernmost tip of England.

All traffic through the Porthcurno relay was copied to British intelligence ; in particular, to the codebreakers and analysts in Room 40 at the Admiralty.

It was at this tower about 1898 that Guglielmo Marconi heard wireless signals transmitted from Porthcurno, a distance of 30 miles.

Porthcurnow ( or Porthcurno ) in Cornwall was the landing site of several international telecommunication cables.

Porthcurno () is a small village in the parish of St. Levan located in a valley on the south coast of the county of Cornwall, England in the United Kingdom.

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.

Porthcurno Valley looking north showing the car park and a few of the former Engineering College buildings.

Porthcurno is unusually well known for its size because of its history as a major international submarine communications cable station.

In 1872, the Eastern Telegraph Company ( ETC ) Limited was formed which took over the operation of the cables and built a cable office in Porthcurno valley.

In the Inter-War years, the Porthcurno cable office operated as many as 14 cables simultaneously, for a time becoming the largest submarine cable station in the world, with the capacity to receive and transmit up to two million words a day.