A POPULAR walk taking in a breathtaking waterfall in Radnorshire remains closed to the public due to safety concerns.

The Water-Break-its-Neck waterfall in the Radnor Forest, between Llanfihangel-nant-Melan and New Radnor, was shut off to the public by Natural Resources Wales in January due to the presence of Ash Dieback – a chronic fungal disease found in ash trees and an issue that has become widespread in Europe in recent decades.

“There is currently no access to the Water-Break-its-Neck waterfall,” NRW said in a section of its website under Warren Wood, where the popular tourist attraction is located.

“We have closed the boardwalk that leads to the waterfall on the waterfall walk.

“Ash Dieback has infected many of the trees on either side of the boardwalk. This may have weakened the trees and could cause them to fall onto the boardwalk.”

This short ½ mile (0.9 kilometre) walk goes along a steep-sided gorge to the waterfall, which was a popular destination for Victorian tourists.

The waterfall is a spectacular sight after a few days of rain but it can be reduced to a trickle after a long hot spell.

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The trail returns via the same route to the car park or you can join one of the longer trails through the wood.

Warren Wood has been popular with tourists for over 200 years because of the waterfall. The area is named after the rabbit warren which once provided a source of food and this part of the Radnor Forest has seen huge changes over the centuries.

The Radnor Forest was once a royal hunting ground. In those days it wasn’t an area covered in trees but an unenclosed piece of land, legally set aside for the Norman kings to hunt deer.

Today, it is a land of hill farming and great moorlands, steep narrow valleys and hills, rising up to the highest point in Radnorshire, Black Mixen, at 2,150 feet (650 metres).

The Victorian landowners created a forest by planting trees on the moorland. You can see many of these trees, which are now huge, on the network of walking trails.

There is a small picnic site in the parking area which you pass on your way to the main Warren Wood car park.