i first met Rowena when i moved into The Garth. She was at the piano, playing one of her favourite pieces. It was a funeral hymn. Apart from the words, she liked it because it was easy to play. Scored in C major, no sharps or flats. Easy rhythm, just crotchets and minims, no double dotted notes or semiquavers. The hymn is in a much older edition of the Methodist Hymn Book. I know some of the words:

safe home, safe home in port.

Rent cordage, shattered deck

Torn sails, provision short

And …….. not  wreck

But oh the joy upon the shore

When …. Peril’s o’er.

sorry about the dots.

i thought it was rather apt. Rowena had returned to Cornwall which she loved.

i should explain The Garth was a hostel for young women and run by the Methodist church.

Rowena had a little room at the top of the house. She had painted the walls midnight blue with a white ceiling. I think her brother, John, helped her.

i was having a coffee with her in that room when we heard President Kennedy had been shot. Yes, it was a long time ago.