Mark McDonnell, a technician at Moulton College, has taken top honours in the European Stone Festival held this year in Kiskunfélegyháza, Hungary, from 19 to 21 May.

Last year the competition was held in Salzburg, Austria, where Mark won a prize in the apprentice category for his gothic leaf carving. There, Alex Wenham took top honours for the third time in succession. He was competing again this year and came second behind Mark. A report from the event will be in the next issue of NSS.

The theme this year was Secession and Life in the Puszta, which left plenty of scope for interpretation.

Mark started working stone in 2013 when he retired after 30 years as a police officer. He had visited the 2012 European Stone Festival in Lincoln as a spectator and saw details of the courses at Moulton College on a stand. In 2013 he joined a Level 2 course in stonemasonry at Moulton and afterwards stayed on as a volunteer helper. For the past year he has been employed by the college for 15 hours a week as a technician in the department, where he continues to learn carving and lettercutting from lecturer Emma Dexter.