2nd September 2010PORTLAND: Official opening for regenerated Circle of Stones
by Harry Walton
A CEREMONY has been held to officially name the Circle of Stones attraction at Tout Quarry on Portland.
In 2001 a group of sculptors known as Group 85, most of them from Nijmegan in the Netherlands, arranged a visit to Portland Sculpture and Quarry Trust for a stone carving and sculpture workshop.
Having discussed a quarry regeneration project with the trust their focus became an area of Tout Quarry that was previously the site of a council road depot and household refuse tip.
A design was developed with the trust for a circle of stones with carvings on large boulders on the theme of animals that had become extinct and on mythological themes.
Group 85 returned each year to regenerate this area, clearing broken glass, rusty metal and bricks, replacing rubble with limestone, encouraging natural regeneration by native plants and animals and creating a new landform through their carvings.
The project is central to the wider network of quarry environments within Portland known as the Quarry Park which is part of the Dorset and East Devon World Heritage Site.
PSQT chairman David Emett thanked the many people involved in putting the project together while Portland Town Mayor David Thurston overcame a cloudburst to say that Tout Quarry was just one of many amazing things on Portland.
He thanked Group 85 for all their work over many years and added that he hoped as many people as possible would come and visit the Circle of Stones, particularly with the Olympics coming up.
PICTURE: Visitors brave bad weather to wander round and enjoy the stones and sculptures
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