When out and about on your travels throughout the three counties of West Wales, you may have discovered something unusual to bring a smile to your face. A friendly stone snake has been appearing at locations across West Wales, and maybe beyond.
Usually accompanied with a name and brief instructions of how to take part, the stone snake encourages passers by to add a stone or pebble to its tail, with a colourful improvisation or a short message for others to enjoy. The aim is to grow the snake as long as possible, leaving a colourful message of hope and connection for others to enjoy. Snakes have been spotted at many locations such as Pembroke’s Mill Pond (Feb 2021) and Colin the Covid snake in Amroth (April 2021), Pembrokeshire, and perhaps most recently the outer wall of the main car park near the beach at Llansteffan, Carmarthenshire.
The pebble snake, affectionately named Audrey the Adder stretches along the length of the wall, with a message for others to add stones to make her longer. The colourful stones include rainbows of hope, messages to smile and striking images of trees and coastal scenes.
In July 2020, ITV published an article on the stone snakes sweeping across the UK and bringing communities together during the pandemic.
Since then, the craze has swept across Wales and down to rural communities. The ITV article noted the message of hope had expanded from rainbows in windows, during the height of the pandemic and amidst lockdowns, where the window was perhaps the only way in to others homes and the only way of physically expressing thoughts and feelings to the outside world.
Whilst this is our way of expressing our feelings on entering the outside world and sharing messages of positivity and connection, some claim that these stones will be a piece of history and an important work of art to be treasured for the future. The Guardian called them ‘bright mementos of a dark year’.
The founder of the original stone snake project said in the ITV article,
“We didn’t think it was going to be that successful, but in no time there were 500 stones, then 1,000, then 2,000 and then we stopped counting.”
ITV news also noted that there were plans to permanently install some stone sculptures in the ground or to donate them to schools and care homes.
Whatever the future of the stone snakes across the county, it’s clear that they have done their bit in raising smiles, connecting the community and getting people involved in artistic expression in a relaxed outdoor environment. Keep an eye out for stone snakes in your area. We’d love to see your pictures at Life seeker post them on our Ways to live well in west Wales page.
