Consett group painting rocks and hiding them around country

A craft group has hit 8,000 members six years after they began hiding painted pebbles around the world.

Stephanie Winter and her aunt Victoria Morris set up Consett Rocks in 2020 to help people stay creative during the coronavirus pandemic.

Since then, Winter has painted hundreds of stones and the group has amassed thousands of members on social media, all posting painted pebbles they have hidden or found.

Winter said she had been "amazed" to see how large the group had become and to know how many strangers they had made smile.

"We created the group to help people in and around the Consett area get creative and active again during lockdown," Winter said.

"Everyone who has found a rock and shared it on the group has always said its made them happy."

She said some people who found the painted rocks left them where they were, others took them home for their gardens and some hid them in different locations.

Winter once hid a Consett Rock in Iceland and remarkably it made its way back to the UK.

Leanne Harris and her family first started painting rocks after discovering a Consett Rock while on a day out.

She said some of their creations had popped back up in entirely different countries months after being placed.

"My husband hid a rock in Durham in July 2025 and it was not seen again until it turned up in October in Australia," Harris said.

"We hid a little crab rock in Bowlees Visitor Centre [in Teesdale] and it was found by a family having a holiday before the mum's maternity leave ended, and they took it home and put it in their baby's memory box."

Harris recommended people give pebble painting a go because all you needed was "a simple little rock and a bit of paint which ends up making someone's day".

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