We started today with a visit to the David Leach Pottery in St. Ives. An English potter, born in Japan, he was trained as a potter by his father's friend Shoji Hamada. He worked in his father's pottery business before going out on his own. While the pottery we visited had lots of his equipment and kilns we were somewhat disappointed that there was not much information about his life and not very much of his pottery on display, although there was lots of interesting local potters works on display and for sale.

Leaving the disappointment behind us we headed for Porthcurno where we had booked to watch William Shakespeare's Midsummer Night's Dream comedy at the Minack Theatre. What we saw was Benjamin Britten's version performed by the Surrey Opera with a full orchestra although not sure where the orchestra was from. Being the 400th anniversary of Shakespeare's death it seemed fitting that this was on, which is no doubt why it was on! We purchased the tickets in London and were very lucky to get them at all as there was only one session not sold out while we were in the area. We had further luck when we struck the perfect weather for the performance. There had been the threat of rain all week and we went prepared for it as there is no cover and the seating is stone and grass.

There was a full orchestra which was not in the usual orchestra pit but instead was in a tent at stage level but alongside the audience. Although the theatre looks a bit like a an amphitheatre it is not of a design that gives natural acoustics. The sound was via microphones but was extremely clear and good. There was no feed back, wind sounds etc and nor could you actually see where they were. The opera was fantastic and if you did not like it then you could look out for seals playing in the ocean behind the stage. Would recommend attending any performance at this theatre to everyone and should we get the opportunity to go again it would be good to do an evening show.

The view from the theatre across to the Logan Rock Promontory was stunning.

The history behind the making of the theatre was also very interesting and there was a very good gallery/museum at the theatre. Basically it was designed and constructed by Rowena Cade who lived in Minack House which is just nearby (of course). In the 1930s, with the help of her gardener, Billy Rawlings, they moved around lots of boulders to construct what is still the basis of the theatre although there has been other work carried out over the years.

One mistake we made was to park in the (pay and display) carpark below the theatre and walk up the hill. There was ample and free parking up at the theatre although the road up was very narrow and getting out might take quite a while.