The Famous Welsh Dragon

It’s true, Wales is well known for its dragons and dragon stories, this is nothing new or unusual. But what is unusual is that a modern day dragon made the national news and caused havoc on the roads. Or one road in particular, the A5 in North Wales.

You see, a very talented man and his chainsaw create amazing sculptures that are dotted around the country and stop traffic from time to time. His name is Simon. Simon O’Rourke.

And so it came that Simon was commissioned to carve a dragon out of a fallen oak tree on someone’s property. It landed on top of a stone wall and it was the perfect setting for Simon and his creative eye to carve a 7 meter (25 ft) long dragon.

This isn’t the first time Simon has been asked to do such a thing but it is the first time one of his sculptures caused road accidents and near misses to the point that the local police took to social media and news to warn the drivers to keep their eyes on the road.

Of course that just attracted more people and I had to see it for myself.

It has taken me a few weeks before I got to see the masterpiece. It was the Easter bank holiday weekend and a few of us went for a ride out on a Friday afternoon. One of the riders pointed to the dragon as we were passing it but there were several visitors already on a tiny lay-by and nowhere to stop. So we carried on.

However, on the morning of my sunrise adventure I proceeded towards Bethesda from Rhos on Sea and parked the bike in the little lay-by. Being a Sunday and 7.30 am in the morning the place was quiet and empty and it gave me the opportunity to admire it in the silence of the trees and the beautiful surrounding.

The dragon isn’t right on the road so you could miss it if you didn’t know where to look and as the land is on the bend, it is easily to see how an accident could occur.

I took a few photos then proceeded to Betws-Y-Coed where I stopped for a big fry-up.

So if you have a fallen tree or a stump that could do with a little creativity, make sure you contact Simon O’Rourke.