ONE of East Yorkshire's oldest stonemasons is carving out a new future after 170 years of business.
Neal Everingham has taken over the reins at Hedon stonemasons WP Everingham and Sons Limited.
In doing so, he becomes the fifth generation of his family to take the business forward.
Mr Everingham, a former management accountant with Reckitt Benckiser, has swapped career paths after two decades of working in the finance industry to take over from his father Clifford, 71, who has run the business for 57 years.
"I think the stoneyard is in my blood," he said.
"I have been helping my father since I was a small boy and I have always known that my future lay here.
"This business has a tremendous heritage and a reputation for excellence and we are building on that by using new technology to make our services easier to use and give customer's greater choice."
The core of the business is headstones, but it also produces bespoke pieces for gardens made out of stone, marble or granite.
WP Everingham and Sons also makes house name plaques and even coasters for coffee cups.
Neal said: "We can create an infinite range of headstones with individual designs.
"We are often asked to reproduce carvings from photographs of pets on headstones and we are just completing one that has the back of the headstone covered in bubbles to represent the lady's nickname.
"Much of the work is still done by hand but we have also invested in computer- based design tools and sand- blasting technology."
The company was founded in 1843 by John McDougald.
After retiring in 1865, he was succeeded by the first member of the Everingham family, Penrose.
Penrose started in the stoneyard as an apprentice on one shilling (5p) a week – seven years later, he qualified as a stone mason and his salary was increased to eight shillings a week (40p).
Now, the business employs five people and is looking to hire a new apprentice stonemason.
Clifford said: "It's been a great privilege to have worked on behalf of so many wonderful families over the years, people from all backgrounds, including the Constable family from Burton Constable Hall.
"We are currently carrying out work on the memorial of the late Sir John Chichester Constable.
"We are delighted that Neal has joined the business. He has always had a natural talent for the work and I'm happy in the knowledge that the business is in safe hands and hopefully will keep going for another 170 years."
Visit www.wp-everingham. com for more information about the business.
