Two baby dragons have “hatched” at Caerphilly Castle from eggs laid by its two resident dragons Dewi and Dwynwen.
Dewi the dragon first pitched up in Caerphilly on St David’s Day last year, and returned to Wales’ biggest castle with female friend Dwynwen on April 3. At Easter, the dragons “laid” two eggs, and visitors have been eager to find out what would happen next.
Today, it has been revealed that two 6ft baby dragons have “hatched”.
The family of Cadw Dragons, along with the nest and eggs, were brought to life by a team of 16 at Cardiff-based prop design specialist, Wild Creations. Dewi and Dwynwen, who weigh a whopping two tonnes each, and the babies were sculpted and moulded before being cast and built out of fibreglass.
The dragon babies are also fitted with state-of-the-art animatronic technology and can be seen moving their wings, heads and necks.
The family will be at Caerphilly this weekend, before flying off to Chepstow Castle on Monday, May 29, for the half-term holiday. They will then go on a tour of Cadw sites across Wales as part of Visit Wales’ Year of Legends marketing campaign.
Ken Skates AM, Cabinet Secretary for Economy and Infrastructure, said: “The Cadw Dragons have captured the imagination of a nation — inspiring more people than ever before to visit Wales’ historic sites, and I have no doubt that locals and visitors alike will flock to catch a glimpse of the new arrivals this summer.
“The ‘dragon effect’ on the public so far has been evident — this Easter bank holiday, visitor figures at Caerphilly Castle were up by an astonishing 70% compared to the same time the previous year, thanks to the arrival of two giant dragon eggs.
“During Visit Wales’ Year of Legends, it’s more important than ever to connect people to Wales’ rich heritage and culture by creating exciting and immersive events and experiences.”
Visitors to Caerphilly Castle will be able to see Dewi, Dwynwen and the new arrivals by normal site admission until Sunday, May 28 with extended opening hours on Friday and Saturday (closing at 7pm, with final entries at 6.30pm).
Watch where you park.As well as having to pay to see the dragons,due to CADW,s greed,there is a time limit in Castle court shopping center….over 3 hours it will cost you £85
The dragons and their eggs are amusing but I wonder how many readers of the Observer know that CADW employ a company called Aderyn to shoot the real wildlife around the Castle? It seems that living, wild creatures have no right to be there but fanciful, inanimate dragons are seen as a cash cow for CADW.
It was very lucky for the Dragons that their eggs were missed by workers from the firm ARERYN; who have been engaged by this Welsh Assembly agency to kill wildlife in the Killing grounds around the town Castle otherwise CADW would have lost some revenue; it is also `lucky` that through the incompetence of ADERYN and CADW the town has a clutch of FIVE new Swans being born last week; they missed those eggs too;
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