PK Wrapped 2023
Wow! What a busy year 2023 has been. Welcome to PK Wrapped! Check out our moments of the year and recount all of our amazing highlights from the last 12 months.
Explore the monthly highlights by clicking on the headers below.
FEBRUARY
Cornish Caretakers School Tour Wins Heritage Award
At the start of the year we celebrated as we won the ‘Collaboration Award’ at the Cornwall Heritage Awards 2023 for our Cornish Caretakers Schools Tour in partnership with Edward Rowe ‘A Message to PK Porthcurno’, which had reached over 10,000 children in Cornwall… READ MORE
APRIL
Koffi PK
In April we introduced Koffi PK to the Café PK family. Located within the beach car park, Koffi PK is the perfect stop for a quick refreshment during your visit to the museum, Porthcurno Beach, or exploring the breathtaking Southwest Coast path.
Surfers Against Sewage Million Mile Beach Clean
PK Porthcurno staff and local residents participated in the Surfers Against Sewage Million Mile Beach Clean campaign — a national collaboration to clean the beaches and waterways of your local communities.
MAY
PLANET PK PARTNERS WITH THE MINACK & CORNWALL AONB FOR A DAY OF ENVIRONMENTAL ACTIVITIES.
With the initial school visits taking place throughout May, the many talented people from PK, The Minack Theatre and Cornwall Area of Natural Beauty (AONB) joined forces to deliver Environmental workshops to local school children… READ MORE
GPO MOBILE TELEGRAPH OFFICE (AKA POPPY)
Poppy finally arrived at her new home in Cornwall. the bus has already become a key part of our outreach engagement and activities, allowing us to take the museum outside the Porthcurno Valley to provide a visible presence at local events and schools. Poppy has also appeared at PK Porthcurno during some of our events this year… READ MORE
JUNE
PK PORTHCURNO VISIT QUAY FAIR DAY, GOLOWAN 2023
We brought a variety of activities for families to interact with. Along with the spectacular weather we were able to enjoy engaging with a gentle flow of families whilst enjoying the music floating up from the bandstand… READ MORE
JULY
NEW MUSEUM CONSORTIUM TO DRIVE CREATIVITY, COLLABORATION AND CULTURAL AWARENESS IN CORNWALL
In July, PK announced the joining of mc7 – A new consortium which brings together the buildings, collections and stories embodied of seven diverse Cornish museums to drive creativity, collaboration and cultural awareness for residents and visitors alike… READ MORE
PK Porthcurno Receives the Bronze Award at the Visit England Awards for Excellence!
After winning Gold at both the Cornwall and South-West competitions, PK Porthcurno was shortlisted for the Small Visitor Attraction of the Year. There was a buzz of excitement as we arrived at the location for the ceremony, being held at Warner Bros. Studio Tour London – The Making of Harry Potter… READ MORE
Trelya Takes over PK Porthcurno
A small group of young people from Trelya, an award-winning charity working to enable positive change in West Cornwall’s most under-resourced communities, were invited to visit PK Porthcurno in June 2023. Following this they worked together each week with local musician Matt Thomason to develop a playful, musical response to their visit in the form of a song… LISTEN HERE
AUGUST
SUMMER FUN!
We had an incredibly busy summer this year. Our visitors, rain or shine, dove into a world of family-friendly fun. It was a season filled with memorable experiences and learning opportunities for all ages… READ MORE
SEPTEMBER
GCHQ x PK PORTHCURNO: Watcher of Skies Exhibitions ends
Our exhibition with intelligence, cyber and security agency GCHQ called ‘Watcher of the Skies’ ended its run at PK. The exhibition told the fascinating story of a secret communications site on an exposed Cornish headland featuring never-before-seen artefacts and stories… LEARN MORE
OCTOBER
‘GOING MOBILE’ EXHIBITION LAUNCHES!
This October we opened a new exhibition on the 40-year history of the mobile phone. Delivered in partnership with the Mobile Phone Museum, and sponsored by Vodafone UK, ‘Going Mobile’ explores the amazing journey of this everyday communication device from an exclusive status symbol… READ MORE
Cornish heritage expo
A two-day Cornish Heritage EXPO was hosted at the National Trust’s Godolphin Estate, in support of Cornwall Council’s Heritage Strategy. PK Porthcurno attended the event on a lovely, sunny Friday to which local secondary schools and colleges had been invited. Alongside our stall set up in the main marquee, it was also the first public appearance of Poppy (our recently acquired mobile telegraph unit) since her arrival in Cornwall… READ MORE
DECEMBER
Christmas at PK Porthcurno
Early December saw us reintroducing Christmas activities and events at PK. Our Christmas switch-on featured the wonderful ‘Winter Windows’ artwork created by our local schools; Sennen School St Levan Primary School, St Buran Academy, Pendeen Primary School & Mousehole School.
We also enjoyed live Cornish Carols from the Boilerhouse singers, children’s activities, festive fun, and delicious seasonal food & drink!
Exiles Live Show
We enjoyed a magical performance by Bagas Degol & Annamaria Murphy of their ‘Exiles’ show.
Set in the 1960s, ‘Exiles’ is a magical, musical and spoken word Odyssey based on extraordinary tales and characters from the Cable & Wireless archive. Starting with the infamous Porthcurno car rally, the story winds through the country lanes of West Cornwall and out into the far-flung corners of the globe. The journey takes in the exotic locations and stories of Cable & Wireless engineers and the people they encountered.
Look out for future dates and tours soon!