If you found yourself at Chesil Beach over the bank holiday you may have noticed some strange goings-on. 

The curious stone towers are part of a yearly Portland ritual that sees residents head down to the beach and take part in the Stone Stax event. 

Started by Portland residents Antje Rook, Sammy Polley and Tophill West Councillor Ray Nowak six years ago, the Stone Stax has grown in popularity over the years as Portlanders spend the day building stone towers that slowly take over the beach.

Antje said as the day progresses the forest creates a stunning temporary installation in the form of a stone forest which is particularly spectacular at sunset.

“It looks amazing at the end of the day, especially when the sun goes down and the sea reclaims it,” she said. 

The idea for the event began when Antje was talking with a friend and realised they both built little stone towers while taking breaks to admire the views when they walked the island. 

She said they decided to create a free event to show how the community can come together and enjoy the beautiful island surroundings without having to spend money. 

“We made the event for people from the island and we have people who come year in and year out. We have some kids who have been coming since they were babies,” she said. 

Last year the event had to be cancelled due to a torrential downpour, but this year there was glorious sunshine for the islanders to get creative. 

Antje said while the weather was fantastic it made setting up difficult as the beach was inevitably very busy. 

“We always do it in the same little corner, usually without any problems but this year we had to ask a few people to move,” she said. 

She added that although the event is designed for locals, a few holiday makers joined in and it gathered a lot of interest from people on the beach. 

“There were lots of people who didn’t join in but came to admire and came back in the evening to see it in the sunset. It was a really lovely view," she said. 

As one of the organisers had been very ill, Antje said the group had kept the event quite low key this year, but next year she promised it would be bigger and better. 

“There weren’t as many people as previous years but everyone there was very enthusiastic so I think we had more Stone Stax than ever before.

“We built and built and the waves came and took them away and then we started all over again,” she said.

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