With the kind permission of Paul Alinson at the Sherburn Stone Company Ltd, I can work in a limestone quarry in Weardale County Durham.  The stone ranges in hardness and colour that varies from grey to jet black, holds a good polish but is very unyielding.  Also, on occasion, they expose a stone that is locally referred to as Frosterley Marble, once known as the cockle post by quarry men and miners, this black limestone is packed with white coral (Dibunophyllum Bipartitum) a carboniferous fossil some 325 million years old.  Frosterley marble is synonymous with the interior columns of Durham Cathedral and was used to adorn many stately homes and churches throughout Britain.

 

Raw Frosterly Marble from the very base of the quarry.

Selecting stones before they disappear into the crusher.