Cornwall Life – October 2019

Cornwall Life: August 2019Š 65

T

his photograph shows 24-year-old

British ballerina Kristel Karnilova

in action almost 70 years ago.

Karnilova was a dancer with the

Continental Ballet, practicing steps from

Swan Lake on the rocks at Porthcurno, in

June 1950.

Kristel’s home was in the valley above

the cove, where she was known to her

friends and neighbours by her private

KRISTEL KARNILOVA

name, Miss Anne Cleaver. Anne’s father, W

E Cleaver, was the manager of Cable and

Wireless Ltd, the communications giant

who owned and operated the Porthcurno

Telegraph Station. Once the largest

telegraph station in the world, it is now the

site of the Telegraph Museum Porthcurno,

and this spectacular photograph is just one

from the museum’s extensive archive of

more than 6,000 images. 

THE GAZE

Telegraph Museum Porthcurno

WHERE TO SEE IT: SEE THIS AND OTHER HISTORIC PHOTOGRAPHS AT THE

TELEGRAPH MUSEUM PORTHCURNO, EASTERN HOUSE, PORTHCURNO, PENZANCE,

TR19 6JX. TELEGRAPHMUSEUM.ORG

Ballerina Kristel Karnilova on Porthcurno Beach in June 1950

ART