Bath stone from Hanson\'s Hartham Park mine will be used to create a huge fire surround in the Texas home of former rockstar Don Henley of the Eagles. And a further 80 tonnes of the stone from the underground quarry in Wiltshire has been shipped to China, where it will be made into slightly less grand fireplaces also to be sold in the United States.

That is what Hanson Bath & Portland Stone have already gained from their participation in a Stone Federation Great Britain exhibit at the American Institute of Architects\' convention in San Diego, California. They say they are currently following up a further 200 sales leads.

Visitors to the Britihs stand were able to examine samples of the range of stones produced by Hanson Bath & Portland and the three other companies taking part. Afterwards, Bath & Portland trading manager Colin Goble and technical sales manager Clinton Haigh, who attended the convention, were feeling positive about the potential in the US.

Colin Goble said: " We have come back with lots of potential sales leads and enquiries about our stone are coming in from architects we met at the convention. There is a massive market out there and a lot of interest in natural stone from the UK."