...now, where to put it?

A statute of late Cornish comedian Jethro has been completed, after fans raised more than £16,000. Now friends and family are looking for a place to erect the life-sized tribute.

One of the most popular suggestions has been Camborne train station, in reference to one of Jethro's best known routine that has the punchline: ‘The train don't stop Camborne Wednesdays.’

However, there is already a plaque there, so campaigners are looking for a different site for the statue, which shows him in stand-up mode, mic in hand and leaning on the stand.

Fundraiser Peter Southwell has previously suggested Land's End, the Eden Project or Hall for Cornwall in Truro, which he called ‘the perfect spot’.

Jethro – real name Jeff Rowe – was born in St Buryan, Cornwall, and died in Plymouth, Devon, in December 2021, aged 73. He had been diagnosed with lymphoma two years earlier, and contracted Covid just before his death.

His daughter-in-law Stacey Rowe told the BBC: ‘If Jeff was here he would be so touched how everyone thought of him to donate all this.’

The statue was made by sculptor Richard Austin, who is. based in Wadebridge, Cornwall, who said he accepted the commission as the finished tribute would remain in the county. The money was raised from a crowdfunding campaign.

Published: 3 Sep 2023