When Sue Thomas' children wanted to give her a memorable 60th birthday present she asked for a garden sculpture. And, as she runs Clipsham Quarry Company that produces Clipsham limestone from Leicestershire, she wanted it made from Clipsham Stone.

It took a while to find a suitable sculptor to produce what Sue wanted. Then she met Vladi-mir Pamihov. He was teaching sculpture to pupils at Oak-ham School, where Sue's father, Sir David Davenport-Handley, had been a Trustee. Sue met Vladimir when she went to look at some of the pupils' work.

"I told him I did not want a Grecian goddess but something that would show the beauty and shape of the stone as well as have a natural look," Sue told NSS.

"We went to the quarry together to choose a block of stone. It weighed about one tonne. We had it transported to Oakham School, where it stood in the yard outside the sculpture studio, much to the interest of staff and pupils in the school.

"After many discussions we agreed on a final design. Vladimir\'s work is very free flowing but not totally abstract (which I didn\'t want). Equally, it\'s not totally representational. The finished piece is exactly what I wanted - although it took a while for me to know what it was I did want!"

The sculpture, weighing approximately three quarters of a tonne, has now been transported to Sue\'s garden and was lifted into position in the pouring rain. "I have a video of the crane lifting it over our bungalow roof and placing it in the rose garden, where it sits in great grandeur.

"I couldn't be more thrilled with this work," she says.

And she points out that there is plenty more top quality Clipsham stone available from Clipsham Quarry Company, although it is more usually used as building stone and fine masonry.