Every so often I come across a story that particularly inspires me. This happened during our holiday when we visited the amazing creation of Rowena Cade. Maybe you have heard of her? I hadn’t, although I knew of the thing she made, namely The Minack Theatre. And when I say she made it, I am being literal – with her own hands and initially only the help of her gardener, Billy Rawlings, she built the most incredible theatre. But not just any old theatre – one created within the land, on the Minack Headland in Cornwall, overlooking the sea, nestled between the boulders.
In order to allow a local group to stage an outdoor production of The Tempest in 1932, Rowena and Billy created an amphitheatre on the headland. In the months prior to the performance, they moved granite boulders and shifted soil. In August 1932 the play was staged, lit by car headlights and with the audience scrambling down the slopes to get to the grassy seating terraces. It was a great success and the start of an amazing project.
To begin with many of the building materials were scavenged. Sand from the beach was carried up the steep path by Rowena herself each evening, ready for making concrete the following day. There’s a story of her collecting some large beams that had been washed ashore – she and Billy carrying them up from the beach. When the customs men came to see if she knew of the timber’s whereabouts, they took one look at her apparently frail frame and assumed that she couldn’t possibly have taken the beams and she didn’t correct them!
These are some of the steps from the beach!
WW2 interrupted development of the theatre, but when it was over, they were left with a concrete bunker, which served as the box office for many years! Rowena kept working on the theatre until she was in her mid-eighties. She died in 1983, but her vision and legacy live on.
I love the story – I love the fact that Rowena had a vision and had the tenacity to turn that vision into reality. I love that she didn’t simply achieve this by spending money, that she dedicated her time and her energy into creating this amazing place. I love that she worked alongside Billy and subsequent helpers. Admittedly, she did have the benefit of money to allow her the freedom to do this, but much of the labour was her own. What an inspirational woman.
I really hope that we can go and see a performance there in the future – this time we only went to look round.
The Snail of Happiness 
katechiconi
/ May 1, 2017A true case of ‘build it and they will come’. I love that she has followed the Greek and Roman model, the perfect sound shell amphitheatre. And what an utterly perfect setting for The Tempest…
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The Snail of Happiness
/ May 1, 2017Absolutely… although I think there may also sometimes be rather unwanted tempests!
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KerryCan
/ May 1, 2017Here’s a spot I’ve actually visited! We took the walk that included those steps from the beach, and more. I love everything about Cornwall and coming upon the Minack was amazing!
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The Snail of Happiness
/ May 1, 2017We hadn’t been to Cornwall for years, but have now managed two trips in 11 months – it is a lovely place.
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Andrew
/ May 1, 2017Happy May! I nominated you for The Mystery Blogger Award. I do hope that you’ll participate as it was a good experience for me to write my post. https://w1nt3l.com/2017/05/01/mystery-blogger-award/
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Mariel Tan
/ May 1, 2017That’s an amazing story! She had enough passion to fuel that feat!
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The Snail of Happiness
/ May 1, 2017I know! The cliffs are so steep and she did such a huge proportion of the original manual work!
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Laurie Graves
/ May 1, 2017Wonderful story! And what a great place to see a play.
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The Snail of Happiness
/ May 1, 2017Yes, I think we are going to have to arrange a special trip next year.
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nanacathy2
/ May 1, 2017I saw a documentary about this theatre on tv once. She was an amazing woman and wouldn’t it be marvellous to see the Tempest there.
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The Snail of Happiness
/ May 1, 2017Oh yes… a few days after we visited there was going to be a performance by a circus-type company… I’m not sure that my stomach would have stood acrobatics and trapezes so close to that cliff!!
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juliascreativeyear
/ May 1, 2017I love the minack theatre anyway, and had been to see a performance before. But when my husband and I were there on honeymoon we read her amazing story. The story behind it makes the whole place even more special than it appears on the surface. I love the fact that she kept adding more bits to it each year… I think we often want things finished quickly, but she used what she had and continued as time allowed
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The Snail of Happiness
/ May 2, 2017Yes that ever changing nature of the place is lovely… and the way that they still follow Rowena’s ideas and techniques. I’ve already started looking at places to stay nearby for next year!
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juliascreativeyear
/ May 2, 2017Check out places in Mousehole. It’s such a gorgeous little fishing village
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The Snail of Happiness
/ May 2, 2017I will!
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Wood So Wild
/ May 2, 2017It is a great place. I visited on a May day a long time ago and was amazed at what this woman had accomplished. Thanks for this post; it brought back wonderful memories!
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The Snail of Happiness
/ May 2, 2017A pleasure – I am really glad we visited.
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arlingwoman
/ May 2, 2017Wow, this is fascinating. I love that she built it with a gardener and goodness, it looks Greco-Roman. I imagine people bring cushions for the stone seating.
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The Snail of Happiness
/ May 2, 2017We tried out the very hard seats and decided that, if we were coming to a performance, we’d prefer to sit on the grassy terraces!
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Born To Organize
/ May 2, 2017What a fascinating woman. Thanks for sharing her story and the history of the making of the amphitheater. What an incredible amount of work, but just look at this place. It’s fantastic.
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The Snail of Happiness
/ May 2, 2017It’s almost at Land’s End, so a long way from most places in England, but everyone seemed to think it was worth the trip!
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Wild Daffodil
/ May 2, 2017I didn’t know about Rowena – thank you. Amazing and inspiring.
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The Snail of Happiness
/ May 2, 2017I just kept thinking ‘what a woman’. The place is stunning, but when you know its history, it becomes a true wonder. Oh that we all had that much energy and passion.
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crawcraftsbeasties
/ May 4, 2017How amazing! The setting is incredible, and the crafts(wo)manship involved is truly inspirational. I hope you get the chance to see a performance here someday!
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The Snail of Happiness
/ May 4, 2017me too… it really is amazing
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unionhomestead
/ May 14, 2017This is on our trip list. So lovely to hear it’s story
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