A look inside the Elliott Stone quarry in Bedford

Judy Elliott figures she’s given more than 500 limestone quarry tours. But she’s not a professional tour guide. She and her husband, Dave Elliott, bought the land for Elliott Stone in Bedford 54 years ago. The man who sold it to them said there was valuable Salem limestone beneath their feet, but no way to get to it.

Most of the 500 or so acres the Elliott family owns is woods or farmland. And 100 or so feet below, 50 acres — and growing — is an active limestone operation.