In a quiet spot near Land’s End lies the grave of the very first woman in the world to build and fly an aircraft. Author Sally Smith tells the fascinating story of this remarkable woman who finally called Cornwall home.
While Land’s End attracts thousands of tourists every year, the nearby ancient church of St Sennen looks quietly on in peaceful solitude. Only a few visitors, as they rush down to Britain’s south west tip, even notice the historic building standing quietly to the side of the A30.
This is a shame because the church of St Sennen is well worth a visit – not only because it is founded on 1,500 years of history, but because buried in the churchyard is one of Britain’s most remarkable women.
Lilian Bland was the first woman in the world to design, build and then fly an aircraft. It was an amazing accomplishment, and the most unlikely activity for a woman who had been brought up in a gentle, very traditional Victorian family. Both her grandfathers were men of the church and her father was a successful and talented artist.
Lilian was brought up to respect the genteel values of the day and when she was older, she left her childhood home in Kent to study art in Paris and then music in Rome.
In 1900, though, when Lilian was 22, there was a dramatic change in her life. Her mother became ill and moved to the south of France, and Lilian moved with her father to join an elderly aunt in Northern Ireland. Suddenly she had a new found freedom, and soon the real Lilian emerged. To the horror of both her father and elderly aunt, she started smoking and even wearing trousers; when she started riding astride on a horse instead of sidesaddle, there were firm talks in the Bland household. But Lilian kept going, throwing herself into activities including photography, fishing and shooting, and she was determined to excel at everything she touched. She started selling her photographs to magazines and newspapers – some of her pictures were shown at London’s Photographical Society exhibition.
Then, in 1908 when Lilian had just turned 30, she saw a picture of one of the new Bleriot aeroplanes. Lilian had found another interest! Immediately she researched all she could, visiting the 1909 Blackpool Aviation Week and making meticulous notes of every aircraft. She watched fascinated as the Farman, the Voisin and the delicate Antoinette aeroplanes hesitantly lifted up into the air and looked on carefully as a Roe triplane failed to take off. Lilian was instantly drawn into the new, exciting world of flight.
Back home, and looking through her notes, Lillian saw no reason why she couldn’t create her own flying machine. Relegating her photographic equipment to one section of her workshop, she put all her notes in order and got going. Her first attempt was to create a model biplane glider with a wingspan of around 6ft. Designing the plane as best she could from her extensive notes, she bought in materials and then began cutting and fixing. Lilian’s workshop was a buzz of activity as she put her wooden model plane together with enormous precision and care. When she took it out into the garden and towed it along like a glider, the little frame easily lifted up into the air and flew well.
Lilian was now ready to build a proper flying machine. Her father and aunt had got over their shock but were still totally bewildered by what young Lilian was up to; they had never seen a plane, what was she doing in those hours spent in the chilly workshop at the back of the house?
Lilian was busy cutting and sawing and hammering and sewing. Throughout the winter of 1909/1910 she obtained supplies of spruce, ash, elm and bamboo and cut and shaped them to her plan. She bought some unbleached calico and painted on a homemade mixture of gelatine and formalin to make the fabric for the wings weather proof. She was testing various aspects as she went along.
Bit by bit the plane took shape. With a wingspan of 27 feet and 7 inches, it was soon too big for the little workshed, and Lillian transferred it to a nearby coach house where she continued with the construction. Finally she added an engine she had bought in from Manchester, and all was ready. What a wonderful moment when Lilian could stand back and look at her own little plane. With its cleverly attached rear rudder and gently rounded wings held in place with a myriad of criss-crossing struts and wires, it looked intricate and beautiful.
Lilian decided to call her little aircraft the Mayfly, joking at the time that it may fly, it may not!
In August 1910 the plane was ready for its maiden flight. Lilian contacted a nearby landowner and asked to use his open fields. She called in assistance to tow the airplane to the new site, and the time had come.
With her hair neatly tied back and dressed in sturdy overalls, Lilian climbed into her little plane and started the engine. The Mayfly started edging forward. On its shuddering struts, it moved across the grass faster and faster and then up it went. The Mayfly could fly!
Lilian did several flights with her little plane, making constant adjustments and increasing flight distances and going higher and higher. She had ideas to make some new planes and sell them to make money.
Sadly this idea came too late. Lilian’s father was running out of money; he couldn’t finance her any more. If Lilian had been able to continue with her flying and build her new aircraft, she would have become one of the really famous women in aviation. Instead, to the delight of her aunt and father, she decided to get married. For a while she lived in Canada, but when her only child died at the age of 16, she returned to England.
Lilian moved to Maria’s Lane in Sennen in the 1950s, loving the wild landscapes and the wild weather. She revived her childhood pastime of painting and also spent a lot of time with her plants, which she loved. She created beautiful gardens not just for herself but also for friends and became recognised for her garden designs. But even as she reached old age, Lilian was still not the genteel lady her father had so hoped for. She had continued with her interest in horses but now, instead of riding, she turned to gambling. Studying form and employing a special system she had worked out, Lilian would bet on around five horses every day, sometimes with success, but as she said, always with a great deal of fun.
Lilian was one of the characters of her age, an individual who overcame general disapproval and pursued a very individual path. Perhaps one day her grave at St Sennen will be better recognised, and people will visit the tip of Cornwall not just to see Land's End, but to pay their respects to this extraordinary woman who was the first woman in the world to design, build and fly an aircraft.
More information is available in Sally Smith’s new book, Magnificent Women and Flying Machines, published by the History Press and available at Waterstones in Cornwall, at selected other bookshops and through Amazon.
