The following pages show the trip which some members took to help raise the 'Strangford Stone'. Some of the pictures are a little large so please be patient

It was proposed two and a half years ago to erect this monument, using ancient methods to the millennium somewhere in Northern Ireland. The site chosen was a place called Delamont Park, about two miles from the town of Killyleagh, on the shores of Strangford Lough. Around fifty people were involved in the planning and preparation of the event.

A Word About The Stone from Dermott McCurdy

The stone when first quarried weighed 315 tonnes.  As far as we know the largest piece ever quarried in Ireland.  This gave us 3 chances (natural joints in the stone) to get the size we wanted .
Ther first 2 broke when being seperated by a method known as feathering.
With the third everything seemed OK.  Stephen McConnell (Quarry man) then came to us and pointed out a reed joint and said the stone would end up in 2 pieces.  It was broken then rather than at some time in transit.  Then removed to their yard in Kilkeel.  The 2 pieces of stone weighed about 52 tonnes.  Before jointing one large bulge was removed.  Thus the final weight ended up as 47 tons (we were first looking for a piece about 30 tons).  The top piece weighs about 27 tonnes.  The stone is jointed with 3 stainless dowels 150mm in diameter and 2m long.  The joint now sits about 2.4m above ground level.

On Friday, the 25th of June, a small contingent from the T.O.Fisher Venture Scout Unit, namely; Gordon  Colin, Keith, Tim (Tumble)  and Sarah sailed from Port St. Mary on the Isle of Man to Strangford Lough, in order to help erect the stone.

They sailed to Strangford Lough on the Winsome, a 38 foot yacht owned and skippered by Ron Spencer, the Assistant Island Commissioner for Scout Fellowship

Left to Right - Keith, Sarah, Tim and Colin

The trip over was fairly uneventful, apart from Colin losing his beautiful (hmmm….) Simpsons radio hat over the side, due to a flapping sail and Gordon getting absolutely soaked when the boat changed heading slightly, straight into a wave that came right over the bows, where he happened to be taking a snooze in the sun (much laughter).

Tim contemplating the mamoth task ahead

The Manx Have Arrived

Upon arriving at Delamont, we proceeded to get all the gear ashore and see about setting up camp. We had to walk a fair way to the campsite, and because we're from the Isle of Man, we took the scenic route, (read 'wrong' route), across some very picturesque fields, which Gordon took a picture of, to give us an excuse for going the wrong way

Strangford Stone on top of the hill...just

When we got to the campsite, we pitched camp in the field below the stone, and made ourselves prominent by immediately flying the Three Legs from a 7ft flagpole. After that exhausting work, we decided that it was time to get some food, so we went to the other side of the campsite and took the edge off our hunger with standard outdoor catering grub, chips, chips, chips………

Spot The Manx Flags

  While we were eating, Gordon and myself went to get our team registered for the pull. Initially, we thought that because we had received no formal training, we would not be allowed to participate, but the organisers were happy to let us join in, seeing we'd come all that way and everything, assigned us to the grid position H4, and gave us each a burgundy hat. We retired to bed soon after, because we were all slightly tired after quite a long day.