THE mystery of the six stoups at Birk Brow, near Guisborough, is a lot clearer.

A story in The Northern Echo and The East Cleveland Advertiser returned an immediate response to Guisborough and Great Ayton Rotary Club's appeal for information about the stones on the A171 route to Whitby.

Retired farmer Ralph Dalton has lived in the Stangow area all his life and recollects walking to the stoups in his youth.

He said: "The six stone pillars stood three either side of the road to mark the safe track where the old moor road crossed a stretch of bog and a drainage channel."

Only the lower part of one of the six stones remains, and it was recently damaged by a machine trimming grass verges. Others were removed or damaged during cable laying and highway maintenance or were struck by vehicles.

The Rotary Club is seeking weathered stones to rebuild the set of ancient way-markers.

Peter Sotheran, chairman of its community action committee, said: "New stone would look out of place, but weathered stone will blend into the surroundings."

Redcar and Cleveland Borough Council had offered to help once suitable stones were found, he added.

The club has already been offered a stone gate pillar by a family in Fryupdale.