North East sandstone gets starring role at Olympics

Banks Group supply 40 tonnes of Blagdon sandstone for main entrance walkway to landmark stadium

THE North East will have an extra representative at the Olympic and Paralympic games this summer after sandstone from the region was specified for a key part of the Olympic Park.

Around 40 tonnes of honey-coloured Blagdon sandstone, which has been extracted from Durham-based Banks Mining’s Shotton surface mine on the Blagdon Estate, to the west of Cramlington, has been used as part of the main entrance walkway to the landmark stadium in east London, as well as for paving in and around the structure itself.

The stone provides a natural finish to the cladding for the structure and its position means it will be seen by both tens of thousands of daily visitors to the Olympic Park as well as millions of TV viewers around the world.

Mark Dowdall, environment and community director at Banks Group, said: ‘Seeing sandstone that we’ve extracted in place at the Olympic Stadium will be a very proud moment for our Shotton team, and they will no doubt be keeping a particular eye out for it on the television coverage once the Games begin.’