A 50-tonne granite roll made its way along closed roads in the north-east as it was taken to its new home today.
The historic symbol of Aberdeenshire’s papermaking heritage, the huge object was hoisted into position outside of the Garioch Heritage Centre in Inverurie.
Measuring 30ft in length and around 26ft in circumference, the granite roll was in operation for decades at Inverurie Paper Mill, which opened in 1852.
It played an integral part in the Paper Making history of the Garioch area when it was in service at the Thomas Tait and Sons Ltd Inverurie Paper Mill which closed in 2009.
The granite roll was donated to the heritage centre by the former mill’s operators, Thomas Tait and Sons.
It was rolled along closed roads this morning, before being lifted onto a set of specially-made supports by a 200-tonne crane.
Colin Wood, chairman of the Garioch Heritage Centre said: “The granite roll will be an extremely important addition to the Heritage Centre and we’re looking forward to its arrival.
“Many people have contributed to the move of this 50 tonne artefact of the papermaking industry which was such a important part of the history of our area.
“There will, in due course, be a formal opening of the exhibit and our exhibition of the importance of paper to Inverurie, but in the meantime the Garioch Heritage Society would like to thank Thomas and Sheila Tait for their considerable support and Bruce Allan and the team at Malcolm Allan Housebuilders which has fabricated the steel supports and donated the granite bases creating an impressive cradle for the roll to be displayed on.
“We’re delighted to be able to reopen the Garioch Heritage Centre today, Saturday 5 September, following lockdown and the flooding we experienced.
“Our café will also be launching on Saturday under new management and we look forward to welcoming visitors to Café Loco. We are open from Thursday to Saturday 11am to 3pm.
“Entrance to the centre is free however, we always welcome donations which help us to continue to enhance our collection and to preserve the long, proud heritage of the Garioch.”