A PEMBROKESHIRE furniture maker has unveiled a unique piece of work inspired by the rocks of St Davids peninsula.

After a career producing and presenting nature-inspired radio programmes for the BBC natural history unit, Grant Sonnex designs and makes furniture inspired by nature.

In 2013 Grant moved to the landscape which had come to be his muse - the St Davids peninsula, Pembrokeshire – where he converted an old barn into a workshop.

Earlier this month, Grant unveiled his first piece of furniture since moving to the area - the Porthmelgan sideboard.

Commissioned by clients in Yorkshire who are geology-enthusiasts, the sideboard is inspired by the layered rock formations at a little bay which sits under the rocky outcrop of Carn Llidi, just a couple of miles from his workshop.

“The first time I walked down into the bay the sun was catching the iron in the rocks and they were glowing orange in the evening light,” said Grant.

“I knew I wanted to make something that captured the richness of colour and dramatic shape of these rocks.

“It was when I tried to imagine what it would be like to slide the rocks apart and see what lay behind them that I had the idea of making a sideboard with sliding doors where you could do just that.”

It took three months to make the sideboard.

Grant added: “At its heart are three doors made from thinly cut layers of oak, like the strata in the rocks themselves.

“Behind the doors are tactile drawers that you have to reach in and pull out like treasures hidden behind the rock face.”

“I’m not trying to copy what I find in nature, but to convey what I find so exciting in the natural world through the furniture. That’s in its form, textures, and very importantly what it feels like.

“Furniture is to be handled and used, so every detail of how you interact with it has to be considered, even how it sounds.”

The sideboard is a pilot project for an entire collection of pieces - Land, Sea and Light - inspired by the coastline around St Davids.