Rotary Club of Guisborough & Great Ayton
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Restoring the Six Stoups at Birk Brow
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Six Stoups safely restored
 As its Rotary Centenary Project, the Rotary Club of Guisborough & Great Ayton, in partnership with Redcar & Cleveland Borough Council, restored six ancient standing stones. Known locally as The Six Stoups, the stones originally marked a safe way across a boggy section of the North Yorkshire Moors. The project completes a partnership, which celebrates the centenary of Rotary Clubs throughout the world.
Farmer Ralph Dalton shows the
remaining stump of a stoup
The Borough Council’s Conservation Department contacted the Rotary Club to ask if members knew of any farmers who might have a few old stone gate pillars. Stewart Ramsdale of the Council, visited the Club to explain the project and the Club adopted the restoration of the Six Stoups as its principal Rotary Centenary Project.
The ‘Six Stoups’ have been a local landmark for hundreds of years. Accident or theft had reduced the three pairs of ‘stoups’ to just one damaged stump until the Council and the Rotary Club combined to create a modern-day solution using redundant field gate piers of a similar size.
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An Appeal for Stones
 An appeal by the Rotary Club attracted widespread attention in local newspapers. Within a few days there were offers of five replacement stones.
The Council’s workforce collected them from locations across the district and, with their highways partner Alfred McAlpine, put them back into place alongside the Whitby Moor Road a few hundred yards past the top of Birk Brow towards Whitby.
Farmer Chris Thompson donated two stones, Nic Armstrong of Heritage Stone at Guisborough gave a third and donated the large rock on which the plaque is fixed, while the Council supplied the final two stones.
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Council provides practical help
 Council officers drew the plans, locating the pillars a little further from the roadside so as not cause traffic hazards.
The Rotary Club commissioned a special commemorative plaque from a local craftsman at Ruswarp. The Council’s Ground Maintenance Department gathered in the stones from outlying locations around the area.
To permit the men and their machines to work safely, it was necessary to partially close the busy road, using temporary traffic lights to control the flow of traffic. The installation work took one and a half days to complete. Once securely in place, local stonemason Mike Weatherill fixed the special plaque in place.
The New Stoups in place
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Stones handed over to the Town
 Winter weather delayed the installation, planned to coincide with the centenary of Rotary Clubs throughout the world. Work was completed as soon as the weather cleared, and on Friday 11th March, President Mark Hards formally handed over the restored stones to Deputy Mayor Ann Higgins.
The Council’s Cabinet Member for Rural Affairs, Councillor Graham Jeffery said: "This is an excellent example of partnership working that has helped restore a historic local feature in one of the Borough’s characteristic moorland areas."
Deputy Mayor Ann Higgins with President Mark Hards
and the commemorative plaque
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Environmental Award for Stoups Project
 The Rotary Club of Guisborough & Great Ayton has won the region's award for the best Environmental Project. Past District Governor Syd Howard presented the annual award at the Rotary Clubs' Regional Conference in Leeds Town Hall.
PDG Syd Howard said, "This was a model Rotary project. It involved the local community. It restored a local monument and it will remind local people of the work of Rotary International for years to come."
Syd Howarth (left) presents the award to
Six Stoups project leader Peter Sotheran
"The network of 1800 Rotary Clubs throughout Great Britain form the country's largest service organisation. We were delighted to have been of service right on our own doorstep," said local solicitor Mark Hards, President of the Rotary Club of Guisborough and Great Ayton.
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