By Colette Hume BBC Wales education correspondent

Ysgol y Frenni opened in 2006 after three small schools closed

Opened last year, his �5m primary school in Pembrokeshire is filled with light.

The long corridors of Ysgol y Frenni in Crymych open out to breathtaking views of the mountains beyond.

There is a hall large enough for every child to gather for morning assembly.

There are classes for every year group, carpeted areas for story time, and interactive whiteboards at every turn and a well stocked library.

But the road which led to this school's creation was long, rocky, and at times angry and emotional.

It was created following the closure of three small schools in the area - Hermon, Blaenffos and Crymych.

Parents of children at Hermon school took their battle to the High Court - it was a battle they eventually lost - and the school closed.

A total of 170 children drawn from those villages and beyond go to this new school.

John Davies said the reorganisation programme had been difficult

Councillor John Davies, Leader of Pembrokeshire Council and the man at the forefront of the school reorganisation programme admits that getting to this point was not without political pain.

However he believes the results have been worth the battle.

"We had 91 schools in 1995, now it's 68 - some have merged as well as being closed," he said.

He concedes people had a great affection for the small schools - but as the man in charge of the county budget some of the smallest were becoming in his eyes, unsustainable.

Educating a child in a very small school can cost three or four times the cost of educating that same child in a larger school, but the county - like many others across Wales - has small schools dotted across the landscape.

And as the man who speaks on education issues for the Welsh Local Government Association he knows the headaches faced by councils up and down the Wales.

"We will still have small schools of 30, 40 and 50 pupils," he said. "But it's clear that bigger schools are the way forward not just here in Pembrokeshire but across Wales."

Around 170 pupils attend the �5m primary school in Crymych

Within the communities it is clear emotions are still raw.

Some parents who campaigned to save their village school do not want to talk about their fight any more.

Campaign groups, protest marches, and petitions became part of life for some parents and there is still anger at the council's decision to take - what many believed to be - the heart of their community away.

But other parents are full of praise for their new school and are excited about the future.

One parent arriving with bunches of flowers to celebrate the end of term described the new school, Ysgol y Frenni, as "a joy".

For more than 100 years small schools have been as much as part of village life as the post office, the pub and the bakery.

But the face of Wales is changing - the birthrate is falling - we are moving away from the land and further towards the towns and cities.