History workshops

Tunnels and telegrams

Life in Porthcurno during WWII was greatly affected by the number of people coming into the area. Evacuees, telegraph operators, miners digging secret tunnels, military personnel and many other people all descended on this quiet corner of Cornwall.
Porthcurno was an important communications centre because cables could not be intercepted like radio signals so the cables which came ashore at Porthcurno carried some of the most important messages of the war.
This workshop explores these subjects through archive material, artefacts, activity sessions and a Museum trail. Activities include operating an air-raid siren, tasting a war-time recipe, typing names in code on an original wartime machine and going up the escape stairs onto the hilltop above the valley.

Electrifying Victorians

There was an explosion of scientific and technological development during the Victorian era. In early times there was no electricity available - even for the wealthiest families, but by the start of the 20th century the introduction of electrical inventions had affected the whole population through communication technology, medical instruments, domestic items, lighting etc.
This workshop looks at some of the inventors and inventions of the Victorian world with particular reference to local connections like Davy, Brunel and Marconi and covers many aspects of science in their historical context.
Pupils will think about how life changed as a result of electricity and how dependent we are on this form of power today and what life would be like without it.
Activities allow pupils to build their own circuits, handle and draw Victorian artefacts and play with some fascinating gadgets which illustrate the basics of electricity.

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