Boy tells of cliff tragedy

Paul Mantle tried to save his grandson Lee Williams

An 11-year-old boy heard his grandfather cry in vain for help after falling from a cliff, an inquest has heard.

Peter Mantle, 47, drowned after falling from a rock face in west Wales where he and his grandson had been out for a beach walk.

Mr Mantle had been trying to climb the cliff to raise help after the pair were cut off by an incoming tide.

In a statement read out at the Aberystwyth inquest, Lee Williams, of Warrington, Cheshire, described his grandfather's last moments.

He said they had decided to go for a walk on Penbryn Beach, near Cardigan, with his grandfather's Staffordshire bull terrier Sophie.

Lee told police: "We were nearly round a corner that leads to Tresaith Beach when granddad saw the tide coming in.

"We walked back a bit. Granddad said the tide was still coming in so we climbed up the rock a bit.

"Just me and Sophie went on the rocks, granddad climbed.

"I could see granddad all the time he was climbing up. He was nearly at the top but he could not get right up.

"He started to climb down. I saw him climb down a little bit, but then I couldn't see him.

The cliffs where Lee Williams was found

"A bit later I saw granddad below me.

"I saw granddad move his legs a little bit. I heard him shout help. He said this a few times and then went quiet.

"After a bit the tide came in further. It went over granddad. I couldn't see him then."

The inquest heard Mr Mantle drowned after falling and hitting his head, which knocked him unconscious.

Lee had just arrived at his grandparents' home in Sarnau for a week's holiday when the accident happened in February.

Mr Mantle's wife Lynne, 48, told the inquest she had initially told Lee he could not go for a walk to the beach because it was too late.

But she said her husband, a retired roofer, said he would take him for an hour. When they failed to return she called police.

Lee was discovered several hours later sitting on a small rock ledge 10ft above the beach with the dog.

His grandfather was about 30 metres away on the beach wedged between two boulders.

Coroner Peter Brunton, who recorded a verdict of accidental death, said: "Mr Mantle, on realising the difficulty, had tried to raise help.

"It seems to me that he must have slipped in some way and fallen."

The coroner added that it was "almost miraculous" that Lee had managed to survive the terrible ordeal.