ST DAVIDS Airfield was lit up by a giant adder and handmade lanterns last Tuesday as part of a scheme to boost the reputation and halt the decline of Britain's only venomous snake.

Dr Sam Langdon of Amphibian and Reptile Groups of the UK (ARG UK) has been working with pupils from Ysgol Penrhyn Dewi; Croesgoch CP School and Roch Community School as part of ARG UK's Adders are Amazing project

The project aims to change public attitudes towards adders, which are starting to disappear from parts of England and Wales but are still seen in Pembrokeshire.

During the day pupils from the three schools joined in a special assembly with Iolo Williams, to celebrate the work they had been doing together in class.

Pupils also had a chance and to meet the eight-metre giant adder lantern that they had helped to create, with each school creating a section.

Iolo heard about the school workshops and told the children that the adder is a small, gentle snake in desperate need of human acceptance and help.

He then went on to open the new Hurdwood Williams Atrium at Ysgol Penrhyn Dewi. The atrium displays artwork designed by the Year 7 pupils, based on a theme of the St Davids Peninsula and adders. Local artist Graham Hurdwood recreated the pupils' designs onto large canvases, with another local artist, Rod Williams, superimposing an image of the cathedral and the landscape onto the design.

In the evening more than 200 people gathered at St Davids Airfield stone circle to meet the giant adder, with extra lanterns adding to the festival-like atmosphere. The procession was led by project artist Emily Laurens.

Participants then met animal tribes, of dormice, glow worms and chough, played by the school children, who told stories of the environmental difficulties they face to the adder.

The event came to a beautiful end, returning to the stone circle to say good night and sing a lullaby to Gwiber the adder, as she went off to think about the animal's problems during her winter hibernation.

"The evening event was incredible, backlit by the most amazing sunset and moon rise," said Dr Langdon.

"Pembrokeshire Coast National Park Authority staff, who helped to organise the event, were delighted that the airfield, which is such an important part of the national park, could be used in such an amazing community celebration

"Families attending the event spoke of how much their children have been enjoying working on the project. It seems to have given them a common sense of community purpose and pride in an animal that is so often misunderstood and feared, with the children now wanting to become adder champions."