The Malvern "Switchback"
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.
On the left - Mick,
Peter and Barry walking from Colwall Station
towards the "Hills".
On the right - Larry made sure he was first over
the stile and away from the bullocks on the pretext
of taking this photo.
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.
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.
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.
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
aterproof and take this "snap" of the path up the
hill. (It certainly was steeper than this photo
indicates)
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.
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.
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.
Yours truly almost
hidden by the nettles, brambles and bracken
on the ascent of Swinyard Hill. Yet another picture
by Larry.
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.
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.
Views of the British
Camp and parts of the surrounding area.
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.
Photographs taken at
the top of the Worcestershire Beacon.
Click on them to enlarge.
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.
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.