The Minack Theatre is an open-air theatre in Porthcumo, Cornwall (which is 4 miles from Land’s End). It sits on top of a cliff with glorious views of the ocean behind the stage area and below is a beautiful sandy beach.

The history of this location is as unique as the place itself. After all, it was originally the back garden of a woman named Rowena Cade, who moved to Cornwall after WW1. It was only through the efforts of Cade, her gardener, Billy Rowlings and another Cornish man, who created the stage and seating originally for a local village group’s production of The Tempest in 1932. The concrete that they used was mixed with sand from the beach I mentioned before, the designs etched with a screwdriver. This extraordinary woman continued to work on the area for the rest of her life, resulting in a plaque being put in halfway down the theatre to acknowledge her achievement.

Since the seats and stage were created various aspects of the theatre have been added, as would be expected, for example dressing rooms were added in 1955. One of the more recent changes that a lot of people enjoy was the commissioning of what is known as “The Minack Gardens” in 1998. It has since grown to encompass 1.5 acres, using the terrain to protect the plants from strong weather conditions.

While the Minack Theatre has great accessibility from its car park, we used a cliff path from the beach to visit the site, about ten years ago. It is definitely not for those whose fear of heights is worse than mine! Climbing up the cliff face is a challenge; the path was narrow and we didn’t dare to look down because we’d start wobbling from the sight of what lay below.

The theatre is still very much in use, they have regular storytelling sessions, performances, and opportunities to get involved. Tickets are available to simply explore the theatre (and given the current climate all performances have been cancelled), but there are usually tickets being sold for the shows that are currently being performed should you wish to properly experience an outdoor theatre.