A NEWLY opened footpath above the southern side of the Gwaun Valley is giving the public access to the tallest waterfall in Pembrokeshire.

The permissive footpath at Tregynon descends steeply for 200 feet from an existing public path into a wooded gorge, revealing the full drop of the cascading stream, before crossing it on a wooden bridge and climbing back to another public path, close to an iron age fort.

In the past, walkers have been able to hear the falling water as they pass around the top of the gorge, but there has been no access to view its splendour.

The project was conceived by landowners Peter and Jane Heard and, after months of negotiation, planning and preparation with the Pembrokeshire Coast National Park Authority, the work was carried out by the authority and the Friends of Pembrokeshire Coast National Park, who put in 650 volunteer hours, over a two-year period.

The path includes 107 steps and 250 metres of railing. Six tonnes of filling stone and three tonnes of dressed stone were used in constructing the path, all of which had to be moved into the gorge by hand using trugs and buckets.

It was opened by authority chair, Gwyneth Hayward, on May 25.

"The authority would like to extend its thanks to Mr and Mrs Heard for allowing us to create this footpath across their land," said Mrs Hayward.

"Our gratitude is also extended to the friends' work party, who have contributed many hours of their time to this project and the various national park authority officers, rangers and wardens who have been involved at various stages of the work.

"This path will enable people to access a type of landscape that you rarely encounter in the national park and links up with the existing network of public rights of way bringing an added attraction to a popular walk in the Gwaun Valley."

Peter Heard added: "Jane and I would like to thank all the park authority staff for their assistance and support throughout this project. I also thank the friends' work party for their labours and congratulate them on the successful completion of their most ambitious and challenging project to date."

Friends chair, Steve Drinkwater, also paid tribute to the friends' work party and thanked Mr and Mrs Heard, especially for their generous donation of a bench next to the bridge at the bottom of the gorge which is dedicated to the friends and their role in the creation of the path.

The path starts at OS Grid Reference SN053346.