Kamisaka Sekka  From 1000 Butterflies, “Chō senshu”, 1903

Rowena Cade, founder of the Minack Theatre, Cornwall, takes a well earned rest in her trusty wheelbarrow, 1977.

“…The story began in 1929, when after a local production of  A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Rowena decided the cliffs below her garden, would make the perfect setting to provide a future theatre space for local performers. In 1931, with the help of her then gardener, Billy Rawlings, Rowena began the unenviable task of excavating tonnes of earth, and moving granite boulders to create the terraced theatre. Today, the lower terraces remain as they were. Rowena worked on the construction of the Minack throughout her life, and up until her eighties she could still be seen lugging driftwood and sand up from the beach below.

Whilst Rowena recruited the help of a few other hands to help bring her ideas to life, she retained the title of “Master Builder”, and dreamt up innovative building techniques to overcome the barriers of cost and material availability. Many of her innovations can still be seen in the theatre today, including the pillars which line the steps.”

Sheep on the Isle of Harris, Outer Hebrides, Scotland