PETE Smith from Presteigne who describes himself as "a traditional village blacksmith who makes things" has just carried out the first annual repainting of his memorial dragon.

The sleeping dragon was placed on the Great Western Road roundabout in Presteigne last August to mark the centenary of the First World War.

It was designed by Pete and his friend Chris Blythman after he was asked to design a memorial to represent the 35,000 Welsh soldiers who died in the war. The memorial was to be taken to Flanders in France, but Pete's design was unfortunately sent back as not suitable and a large bronze dragon was used instead.

But Pete went ahead and made his model anyway because he believes his sleeping dragon reflects the soft inner being of all those sleeping Welshmen who rest so far from the country they loved, in the fields of the First World War. It took Pete four months to make and he used 3500 zip ties, 700ft of steel, 50 gallons of PVA glue, 50 metres of cheesecloth and rabbit wire and then painted it with household paint.

Pete has become very fond of the dragon and many people have stopped to view it throughout the year.

He said “I was touched last October when 34 crosses to remember the Welsh fallen were placed by the dragon. I haven’t named it, but locals have come up with various names including Idris and Dilwyn.”