Carved in stone
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A chance meeting and a generous loan offer by REID Lifting enabled a traditional stone carver to create a stunning new War Memorial to remember the fallen from two villages in the Forest of Dean.
The background
Carrie Horwood from Cat’s Eye Carving was commissioned by Mitcheldean Parish Council to create a new stone war memorial to be sited in Cross Gardens, adjacent to the village’s parish church.
It was to be carved on both sides with representations of two real soldiers from Mitcheldean and the neighbouring village of Abenhall, as well as names and dedications to the fallen.
A stunning 4 tonnes piece of sandstone was sourced from the nearby Barnhill Quarry and transported to Carrie’s studio in Lydney. It needed to be lifted to stand upright outside of the studio for an extended period and secured from any risk of falling or damage.
The challenge
At nearly 3m high and weighing almost 4 tonnes, the stone memorial was too large to stand upright inside the studio but too heavy to be propped outside without being secured. Nick Battersby, from REID Lifting, happened to be visiting Cat’s Eye Carving one day when Carrie was drawing out her design.
She shared her concerns about how she could lift the stone once it arrived and Nick suggested that REID Lifting could help by providing a portable lifting solution.
The SOLUTION
In response, REID Lifting agreed to loan Carrie a PORTAGANTRY 5000kg Extra Tall model with wind-up jack legs which could not only lift the stone upright off the lorry but also hold it safely during the many months it would take to complete the carving.
The wind-up jack legs offer an additional height adjustment of 250mm and can be used as a way of levelling the system on uneven ground. The PORTAGANTRY was supplied with a Master Link Trolley which is designed for easily attaching accessories for lifting operations.
In the midst of the pandemic, our own team delivered and installed the PORTAGANTRY 5000kg at the studio. Lightweight and portable, the mobile A-frame gantry took just two people to assemble in less than half an hour and it secured the stone upright using a 5 tonne block and tackle kept under tension.
Because the PORTAGANTRY is on castors, it could be moved halfway through the carving when the World War 1 side was complete to reverse the stone ready for the World War 2 side to be carved as well.
The feedback
Carrie Horwood, Stone Carver, Cat’s Eye Carving:
“I was struggling for ideas on how to secure the stone for the carving and had even contacted the local regiment of the Royal Engineers to see if they could help but without any success.
I am so grateful to REID Lifting for coming to my rescue. Nick Battersby put me in contact with Sales Engineer Alek Cooper and he has been fantastic throughout – even sourcing a different size PORTAGANTRY for me when the quarry supplied a heavier weight of stone to what we had expected.”
The PORTAGANTRY 5000kg will stay in position at the studio until the carving is complete. The finished memorial is to be installed in Cross Gardens in the summer of 2021.