The owners of an aquarium in Tenby are about to say farewell to a home that has provided creature comforts for them and some fishy friends for over 20 years.

Ginny and Russ, of 'Silent World', are about to vacate the former 19th century cemetery chapel at Slippery Back in Narberth Road, where Ginny's parents, Chris and Marion Batt, opened the aquarium and reptile collection to the public back in 1989, originally as an aquarium and art gallery.

The couple are still on the hunt for new permanent premises to house their collection, but in the meantime they are taking the business out on the road by launching 'Silent World Zoo To You', which will see them take their educational programme out to schools and groups across Pembrokeshire, for interactive learning sessions with their 'creepy crawly' companions. A spin-off venture, entitled 'Bugs To You', is also in the pipeline.

Four the past four years, the couple have been trying to relocate the business to bigger premises, but admit it will be hard to finally leave their Tenby home.

"It will be the end of an era as my parents started off in Tenby many, many years ago with the zoo on St. Catherine's Island and then came here to these wonderful, unusual surroundings at the cemetery chapel, but I won't give up hope of returning to Tenby with the business some day," said Ginny.

"I'm sure we're going to miss the place, we've got a lot of history here.

"Jenni, our educational officer, started off here on work experience when she was 14, and Cleo, our Florida King snake has been here since the start too, so it's going to be a real wrench leaving," she explained.

"We'd like to thank everyone who has supported us, from customers to suppliers, from visitors to helpers, and we hope that everyone will follow us along with our new venture," remarked Russ.

The couple recently held talks with Tenby Town Council over leasing the De Valence Pavilion in Upper Frog Street to create a state-of-the-art aquarium at the premises, which they felt would provide the resort with an iconic all-weather tourist attraction, and enable them to remain in Tenby.

However, the talks broke down and the backers the couple have on board for their new venture, elected to view other sites, which they felt might be more suitable anyway.

"Dealing with Tenby Town Council proved to be a profoundly frustrating experience," remarked Russ.

"We gave a similar presentation of our proposals to Saundersfoot Community Council some weeks later which was very well received and they were so welcoming and enthusiastic about our ideas, and helpful in discussing the potential options that we'd have to bring Silent World to their resort.

"We've looked at a few sites in the village, so Saundersfoot is a real contender for our new venue, so we're still hopeful of finding a suitable permanent location in the area down the line.

"In the meantime, we're going to press on with the new mobile venture, in taking some of our creature friends on the road with us, while the rest of our variety of reptiles and amphibians, we'll house at home.

"We've been quite lucky that we've been inundated with offers to help re-home some of our collection, with the National Aquarium Workshop helping us out, meaning that aquariums throughout the UK will help out in some way," he added.

Ginny and Russ, along with educational officer Jenni Rice, have always prided themselves on the educational aspect of the business, and Silent World recently gained an accreditation for the 'learning outside the classroom quality badge' - a national benchmark for providers of educational visits, regulating organisations that are delivering high quality teaching and learning experiences.

Those who qualify for the badge have been assessed as competent providers of meaningful and inspiring experiences for young people.

Ginny has also been learning Welsh, so that she can deliver bilingual lessons, and has entered into the Sense of Place Programme.

"We've always strived to inform and inspire our visitors about the environment, Pembrokeshire, it's wildlife, culture and language," explained Ginny.

"After learning Welsh for the last few years, it will be nice to be able to offer bilingual educational packages about the seashore, deserts, rainforests and minibeasts to local schools who prefer bilingual workshops," she added.

Silent World will be holding a special open day with refreshments and activities on Sunday, from 10 am onwards, to mark Ginny and Russ's departure from the premises at Slippery Back.

"We'd very much like to see all our friends, customers, suppliers, and any familiar faces who would like to say farewell on the day," said the couple.