The Pons Caules family
The Pitxon family began working in the Saint Stephen Quarry in the late 1950s with the quarrier Toni Pons Nadal (1921-2010), who opened a quarry by hand and acquired a rail-mounted quarry wagon equipped with radial saws around 1960. Toni worked together with his son Joan Pons Caules. When his younger son, also named Toni, was old enough to work, he joined them and has been extracting marès-stone from deep quarries ever since.
Toni Pitxon the elder (Toni Pons Nadal) was a marès-stone quarryman who inspired the Lithica project through the transmission of his knowledge. He is a cornerstone of this initiative, which began with a family working in a quarry. From generation to generation, they have been passing on their knowledge and passion for a trade that values not only quarries, but also marès-stone and its ultimate role in shaping our cities.
At Lithica, his younger son Toni continues the quarrying tradition. We capture this legacy through his daily work, in which he scores a quarry bench, extracts marès-stone blocks and operates the quarry wagon, as well as through observing his technique and the strength required to fit and sharpen radial saw blades, and to cut cantons (marès-stones of a size of 60x20x33 cm), quarts (marès-stones of a size of 60x3x33 cm), etc.
Famille Pons Caules
La famille Pitxon commence à exercer son métier à la carrière de Sant Esteve à la fin des années 1950. Le carrier Toni Pons Nadal (1921-2010) ouvre une carrière manuellement avant d’introduire, vers 1960, le wagonnet mécanique à disques. Il travaillait avec son fils Joan Pons Caules, et quand son jeune frère Toni fut en âge de le faire, il les rejoignit et taille depuis lors des carrières profondes.
Toni Pitxon père, carrier de marès, a inspiré le projet Lithica en partageant ses connaissances et son expérience. Véritable pilier de cette aventure, il représente une famille qui, de génération en génération, a travaillé dans la carrière et nous a légué le savoir et l’attachement à un métier qui accorde autant de valeur à la carrière qu’à la pierre et à sa destination: construire nos villes.
À Lithica, c’est Toni fils qui est le passeur de la tradition du carrier. Nous recueillons sa mémoire dans le geste quotidien: creuser les sillons de chaque replat, tailler les rodones, maîtriser le wagonnet, monter et affûter les disques, débiter cantons et quarts