hydrangeas and white daisies: One amazing woman

Today I have one final post about our recent trip to Cornwall. Last Friday we travelled to what is about the most southerly point in the country - Lands End is the furthest point but I feel sure here is further South! So the place I am talking about is the Minack Theatre at Porthcurno. The history surrounding this spectacular location is truly amazing and the life story of a remarkable lady called Rowena Cade.

(via Google Images)

Born in Derbyshire in 1893 she moved to Cornwall, after the death of her father, with her mother after the First World War, there she took part and hosted several theatre productions in the grounds of her home but at the age of thirty eight she undertook to provide the stage for a production of The Tempest. "Until that moment the nearest she had come to manual work was sewing and mucking out horses. During that first winter of 1931-32, she laboured as apprentice to her gardener and his mate. Using the skills of the two men, granite was cut by hand from a pile of tumbled boulders. Stones were inched into place. The terraces were in-filled with earth, small stones and pebbles shovelled down from the higher ledges. All this work took place on the slope above a sheer drop into the Atlantic. Luckily the only "men overboard" were a few stones and one wheelbarrow. Thus the Minack Theatre grew from Rowena's commitment that one show should go on."

Sadly the Second World War ravaged much of their original work but when peace was establihsed once more she set about work once more. "As its reputation spread, Rowena realised that she would have to separate the Theatre from her garden. Through the early fifties she and Billy Rawlings (her gardener) completed this huge task with granite walls, an access road, a car park and a flight of 90 steps up from the beach. When Billy died in 1966 Rowena inscribed the one granite seat in the whole auditorium as his memorial. Rowena Cade had become "The Master Builder". Unable to afford the cost of granite, she had developed her own technique for working with cement. Using the tip of an old screwdriver she decorated the surfaces with lettering and intricate Celtic designs before they hardened. It was not just the artistic work that she did. Rowena fetched sand from Porthcurno beach: to start with in bags on her back and latterly in her cars, soon rusted out by the sea salt."

The theatre was honestly one of the most amazing things I have ever seen and all down to the dedication of one woman who cannot fail to be an inspiration to any of us. Even upon her death, just before her ninetieth birthday she left plans and drawings on how to cover the theatre in bad weather. The Minack Theatre and its story is one of those truly special places which will always remain firm in my memory. You can see the beauty of this site on the theatre website here.