A MYSTICAL dragon has become the centre of attention in Limekilns, attracting visitors from near and far.

The 8ft sculpture nicknamed simply as “Fiona’s dragon” landed in the garden of Fiona Philp last week to accompany a sycamore tree that had to be cut down.

The fantastic piece of artwork, made up of 1,000 crafted scales from scrap metal and pieces of glass, has become a huge hit with locals and visitors who have turned up in their droves to catch a glimpse of the beast.

Fiona, 58, of Upper Wellheads, told the Press: “I cannot get over the amount of children AND adults who have turned up at my front door to have a look at it!

“I think it’s put Limekilns on the map which is lovely because I’ve lived here all my life.

“Our old sycamore tree grew so tall, it just kept bringing down telephone lines and I had to do something with it.

“I really didn’t want to take the tree down because I think it’s sacrilege so the best I could so was leave it at about 20 ft, so it wasn’t just a stump.

“I really wanted it to have a future, so I thought it would be fantastic to have something eye-catching sitting it on it.”

Fiona commissioned blacksmiths ‘Iron Design by Rory’, based in Leslie, to make the sculpture after drawing some mystical creature designs with her two grandsons.

Kyran Thomas and his father Rory were left to get creative with the only requirement being that it would be a “smiling” dragon.

Fiona added: “It’s just amazing! It’s just how we envisaged and it looks like it just flew here, and it’s made our garden its home.

“Rory and Kyran are artists and everything they do is unique. They’ve had a lot of interest since the piece and I’m glad it’s given them some exposure because they’re brilliant.

“I’ve also had a lot of Facebook messages from strangers asking where Limekilns is so I’ve told them to pop in and get some lunch in the village – so hopefully we can boost some businesses around here too!”

The retired hairdressing lecturer added: “I suppose I better come up with a name for the dragon soon!

“All the children seem to think it’s a boy, but maybe I’ll do a competition at the primary school to make it a bit of fun for them.”

Rory Thomas, of Iron Design by Rory, said: “The piece has brought a lot of interest for us – our Facebook has just been going ding-dong non-stop!

“We’ve done similar stuff in the past but never something this big. It took us about six weeks to make and all the components are made from recycled material.

“We’ve now been commissioned by Fife Council to do some pieces for them so we’re over the moon.”