A WEE COUNTY strongman joined an elite group of power lifters when he conquered the legendary Dinnie Stones in Aberdeenshire.

Earlier his month, Chris Beetham lifted the two giant granite boulders, weighing a total of 52 stones, and became one of the few people to pass such an arduous test of strength.

The Tullibody man, who made an inspirational comeback to the sport after breaking his back in 2014, joined competitors from as far afield as America and Australia at the inaugural Donald Dinnie Day.

More than 500 spectators turned up at Potarch Bridge, where the legendary strongman carried them over the River Dee and back in 1860.

Chris told the Advertiser: “The atmosphere was brilliant, everyone was pretty nervous in the morning, but once guys started making their attempts each of the strongmen were supporting each other along with big cheers and applause from the crowd.

“Being piped onto the bridge was a surreal feeling,” he added.

“Walking up the short distance to the Potarch Bridge in my kilt, surrounded by 20 strongmen from all over the world, the sound of bagpipes ringing in our ears and the crowd following us, knowing my fiancée and newborn son were there was incredible.

“I couldn’t have felt any more patriotic and proud.”

Chris first heard about the 332.49kg stones in 2014 when World’s Strongest Man regular Mark Felix lifted them, but never thought he would be able to pass the test himself

The 29-year-old continued: “I’ve done a lot of training since then and made the application to lift them in May this year; however, could not attend as I injured myself in training”,

“I took this opportunity with two weeks’ notice, so I was a bit apprehensive about trying them with no training and no experience of the steel rings used.

“I did not want to let the opportunity pass; however, especially with it being such a big occasion, and luckily I had enough grip and back strength to complete the lift.”

Chris previously featured in the Advertiser when he finished sixth in the Britain’s Natural Strongman Federation UK finals - missing out on the world-wide competition by just one spot.

And this was all after a come-back from a rugby injury which left him with a broken back.

Since then, he was invited to Hungary in March for a team event and competed in Scotland’s Strongest Man qualifiers where he made it through to the finals, but was hit by an injury.

He said: “Not being able to go was absolutely gutting as this was my overarching goal, but I’ll try again next year and hopefully get there.

“For now I’m just head down and training hard for the Scottish Powerlifting Nationals at the end of the month. My injuries seem to be behind me and I’ve competed in this before so the aim is qualification for the British Final in 2018.”