A POPULAR resident in waterways around Chepstow is to be immortalised in sculpture form for the town's art festival.

Following the success of the 2021 event, Chepstow Festival of Arts has decided to create a seal sculpture trail after the salmon-stealing exploits of Sammy the seal found fame online.

Sammy has been photographed numerous times from the riverbank at the bottom of the town, munching his way through salmon and other fish in the Wye.

As a result the theme for the 2022 Chepstow Festival of Arts is The River Wye - called Afon Gwy in Welsh.

"It is clear that all sections of our community are worried about what is happening to the Afon Gwy," organisers said.

"One of the many aspects of our beloved river that is at risk from pollution and climate change is our occasional salmon-stealing visitor Sammy the Seal.

"This year we have been fortunate enough to secure funding to produce a series of seal sculptures."

These fibreglass Sammys will be painted by schoolchildren across the area and used to create a trail for visitors to the town and to draw attention to the dangers facing the environment.

The location of the seal statues is yet to be confirmed, but proposed locations include Chepstow Castle, the bandstand and Bulwark shops.

"For some years Chepstow has had a growing events and arts identity," organisers said.

"From Art on the Railings and Castell Roc, this has evolved into Chepstow Festival of the Arts. Chepstow knows that it has a strong offering for tourism, with its historic setting and artistic community.

"In the same way that Hay has books and Abergavenny has food, Chepstow aspires to have art at the core of the town’s identity."

They believe that Chepstow has long been treated as a stop-off town.

Frequently visitors will arrive at the Castle, often by coach, and leave after seeing it.

One of the functions of the Seal Trail, organisers say, is to draw visitors to other parts of the town.

"It would aim to draw people to the top of the hill at the Dell Park, where a community group is currently working hard to turn the facilities into a “destination park”," they said.

"It would bring them through our Town Arch and down our high street, increasing footfall in the town centre and it would continue down to our riverside where we have events at the bandstand.

"It would then lead visitors along the riverside to a newly opening stretch of path that passes the abandoned Severn Princess Ferry.

"It will then lead to iron age fort remains - known locally as the Warren - which are hardly ever visited and in turn to Bulwark. The festival may be a day, but our hope is the trail will enhance Chepstow permanently."

Funding for the Seal Trail has come from the Welsh Government’s Transforming Towns Fund, with the assistance of Monmouthshire County Council’s Town Regeneration Team.