We caught
the train from Malvern Station, which would take us to Colwall, a minute
or so before 10 a.m. We should have caught it at 9.48 a.m. but it was running 8 minutes late, so the extra minutes gave us time
to consider what we were letting ourselves in for.
Larry,
Mick, Peter and I had left Warwick shortly after
8 o’clock for our latest adventure, a walk along the Malvern ridge. We were really looking forward to it. The weather forecast earlier in the week had
promised a very good day, but as we got nearer to the walk date it looked
increasingly that we would have some rain, and we did. Within 10 minutes of leaving Warwick the heavens
opened and rain accompanied us all the way to Malvern Station. On nearing Malvern it was so bad we were even
considering staying in the car until the weather improved. But on arrival
at the station the rain did became less so we got our boots on, got
tickets and waited for the 9.48, and a few minutes later, from the shelter
of the platform we watched the rain start to get worse.
The
train journey took 8 minutes. As we approached the tunnel, that would take
the train from the east side of the hill to the west, one of the “boys”
remarked that it might be dry on the other side of the hill. I remember replying that “pigs might fly”.
Well we didn’t see any pigs but as the train pulled in to Colwall
the rain started to ease and the sun started to glimmer through the
clouds. Maybe the day would not
be as bad as it promised to be less than an hour ago.
We
crossed the railway line and soon were following field tracks towards
the Herefordshire Beacon, or at least towards where we expected it to
be under the mist. I had expected
this part of the walk to be bad and I was not disappointed. The ground was wet and muddy. Mick, Larry and I were all in shorts and so
our bare legs were slashed by the damp grasses etc. Peter had decided on long trousers which, although
giving protection, were soon muddy and wet. In addition, our walking boots were soon very
wet, but once on proper paths we expected them to dry out, which they
did.
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Mick,
Peter and Barry walking from Colwall Station towards the "Hills".
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Larry made sure he was first over the stile and away from the
bullocks on the pretext of taking this photograph.
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So
across the fields we went, stopping at one point to put on rain wear
– it had started to rain again - gradually ascending, and passing some
inquisitive looking bullocks, which were given a wide berth (especially
by Larry), until we reached and crossed the A4014. The path the other side of the road indicated
the route for the “Worcestershire
Way South”, which
we followed. At some point along
this track we could have gone east/north to get onto the Herefordshire
Beacon but Peter and Larry had different ideas.
They’d got the map and lead Mick and me the mile or two to the
west side of The Gullet near one of the entrances to
Eastnor Park.
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Left
to right, Larry at one of the entrances to Eastnor Park admiring
his feet!, Larry and Mick with Peter in the distance trying
to catch me up on the track to Hollybush, and Peter with his
walking poles at the ready to assist with the ascent of Midsummer
Hill.
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By
now it was getting close to noon
so we stopped here for food and drink, before continuing southwards. Peter and Larry seemed to know where they were
taking us and soon after we arrived at the small community of Hollybush. But when were we going to start getting on these
hills? “Soon”, Peter assured
us, as we walked east through Hollybush before taking a minor road left
(north) and soon after a damp and very steep track west.
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On
the left, Larry leading the way into the woodland and the ascent
of Midsummer Hill. And on the right the "Boys" vanishing
into the distance while I remove my waterproof and take this
"snap" of the path up the hill. It certainly was steeper
than this photograph indicates.
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Now
this is what I called an ascent. There was a less steep route, but I think we
all would rather have short sharp shocks than longer gradual climbs,
and this was certainly a short sharp shock.
Needless to say I was the fourth to reach the top of the hill,
but I did stop half way to remove my waterproof - the others, being
more optimistic about the weather, had removed theirs earlier.
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Larry
and Peter on top of Midsummer Hill. Although I have lightened
the photograph you can see it was a very "grey day". |
It
had taken about 20 minutes to climb this ascent - Midsummer Hill (286
metres) - and then about half that amount of time to take a track from
the top, going north west, which
brought us to the west end of The Gullet, where we had enjoyed lunch about an hour and a half earlier. If we do this walk again Peter, Mick and I know
a short cut!
Peter
and Larry had not hung around to “enjoy” Mick’s and my comments about
the route as they were in front descending east down The
Gullet for the start of the next ascent.
Towards
the bottom of The Gullet, on its north side, is a quarry face with a lake below. We went anti clockwise around part of the water
and then followed Peter up a path to the start of our next ascent.
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The
lake near the bottom - eastern end - of the Gullet.
Another Larry picture. |
During
the morning Peter had taken a “lot of stick”
about not having shorts on. Now it was his turn to have a laugh at our expense.
The route was horrendous. The path was narrow. The vegetation was high and damp and consisted
of nettles, brambles and bracken and us ”short” boys were really glad
to reach the top of this ascent, which is called Swinyard Hill, having
had our legs stung, scratched and whipped as we plodded upwards.
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Yours
truly almost hidden by the nettles, brambles and bracken on the
ascent of Swinyard Hill.
Yet another picture by Larry.
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Views
on Swinyard Hill. On the left looking north towards the "Boys"
who were just a little way ahead, and on the right the view
downhill to the east.
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By
this time, the mist had cleared considerably and the views were better,
particularly towards the east. So a few photos were taken before we continued
northwards, passing Hangman’s Hill, Clutter’s Cave and Broad Down, before
we reached the path to the top of Herefordshire Beacon.
I
must admit after the previous two ascents I was feeling a bit weary,
but, as so often happens, Mick gave me a verbal kick up the back side
and soon after the top of the hill was reached. As the path to the top was very good it wasn’t
as difficult (tiring) as I had expected.
From here it was a short descent and ascent before the top of
the British Camp Hill Fort was reached. Then it was downhill again to reach the A4014,
where we enjoyed a cup of tea from the small café/shop located on the
roadside.
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Views
of the British Camp and parts of the surrounding area
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Tea
finished and refreshed it was back on to the hillside, always taking
the highest path to get the best views, as we headed north to Upper
Colwall, where the Malvern Hills are dissected by the B4218. This
was probably the most enjoyable part of the walk. Although, like most of the route, it was a bit
of a switchback, it was a comparatively easy switchback. It didn’t seem
as steep as other parts we had walked and the views were good. We had a bird’s eye view of Malvern Wells, although
the lack of sun and the haze were not conducive to getting good photographs. However, there was a downside to this part of
the walk. In the distance was
Worcestershire Beacon, which at 425 metres is the highest point in Worcestershire,
and had to be “conquered” before the end of the walk.
We
had considered not going up the Worcestershire Beacon, which would give
us time to get to a local hostelry, but we decided not to forgo this
final ascent, which was much easier than expected.
We
crossed the B4218, and followed Beacon Road uphill
towards this last “peak” and, even when the access to vehicles ceased,
the route still remained good. The
gradient was not excessive and the surface was tarmac - very easy walking.
And although the last couple of 100 yards was a bit of a pull it was,
as stated earlier, much easier than I had expected.
A few photos
were taken and then it was downhill.
This was probably the most dangerous part of the day.
The route was steep, and the grass was damp, which are excellent
conditions for slipping. Fortunately
I had my walking poles and, although I was slow, I got to the bottom
of the slopes without mishap – although I did go a longer way at one
point to reach St Ann’s Well. However, I must congratulate Mick on his wonderful
posterior grass surfing technique when he lost his footing and enjoyed
a very fast few yards of descent. The
sad thing was I wasn’t able to capture the moment on film. However, we all reached the bottom of the hill
safely and then it was a walk through the town back to the Malvern Station,
where we enjoyed its café facilities before returning to Warwick. It had been a memorable day.
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Walking
downhill towards Malvern, prior to Mick's "surfing" |
Navigation?
Larry and Peter had the Ordnance Survey Explorer Map No. 190, which
covers the Malvern Hills and Bredon Hill
but it wasn’t used much, particularly around Midsummer Hill. And the distance? I suppose it was a good 12 miles.
