Immigration delays ‘stone stacker’ as he flies in for competition
IT IS a seemingly harmless endeavour that is growing in popularity among ramblers.
But a renowned US stone stacker was held up at Edinburgh Airport after staff were baffled by his job description and reason for being here.
Sterling Gregory from Ohio, arrived to take part in the European Stone-stacking Championships in Dunbar this weekend.
However, immigration officials were not convinced and it was not until he was able to show his stone-stacking credentials on Facebook and Instagram that he managed to gain entry to the UK.
He is one of about 40 competitors, including another from the US, one from Paris, from Spain and another from Toulouse, taking part in the
East Lothian event which will see balance artists compete in two environments in the town’s Lauderdale Park on Saturday and Eye Cave Beach on Sunday.
Event organiser James Craig Page said Mr Gregory was delayed for about an hour.
He said: “When they saw his Facebook page and his work on Instagram they were absolutely happy that he was an artist.”
Mr Craig Page outlined the wider stone-stacking challenge for the weekend: “The first part is the balance against the clock, which is three minutes to balance with between five and seven stones in any order and difficulty they want and there’s a points system for that.
“Then it is the most stones balanced one on the other vertically, and the main competition is to make any creation that they want and that’s when you get the really spectacular ones.”
Described as both art and meditation, the internationally recognised practice of stonestacking – the use of natural materials found on beaches or in parks to create sculptures – is an artform rising in popularity.
Stone stacking has become popular in recent years, particularly on the coast where there are plenty of pebbles. Skilled exponents build delicately balanced stacks several feet high.
But historians say that prehistoric monuments are being ruined by a craze for balancing rocks on one another.
Moving the stones at the sites, many of which have lain in one place for millennia, destroys an important part of the archaeological record.
Historic England said that it was akin to “rubbing out history”.
But Mr Craig Page said the works are created for anyone to enjoy and the “benefit you find in trying it is the moments of clarity when you are zoned in to searching for the next stone when you know you’ve got the perfect balance”.