Malvern Hills are a range of hills located on the borders of Worcestershire and Herefordshire and a small area of northern Gloucestershire, dominating the surrounding countryside and the towns and villages of the district of Malvern. Their beauty is appealing to all sorts of people, including walkers/trekkers, runners and mountain bikers. You can find more information at: http://www.malvernhills.org.uk/
I've impulsively decided to do a trip there on Saturday as the weather was supposed to be good and really the other option for me was going shopping (ugh) for my trip home next week. Unfortunately Paul couldn't make it due to other commitments so I was taking this trip as a training for my physique and mental relaxation for my mind.
So at 8:42am on Saturday I found myself dropping off the train in Malvern Link where my trek started. It was already warm but the first part from the train station to the bottom of the North Hill was in a pleasant shade. The full walk from the North Hill to the Chase End is around 11 miles. My original plan was to start the walk climbing on the second hill to Worcestershire Beacon and then continue walking towards the Chase End and Hollybush where I would hop on the Hillhopper Bus that would take me back to Malvern train station. Unfortunately the Hillhopper Bus services were axed very recently - presumably to make more space for other local bus operators. Looking for alternatives how to get to Malvern I found out that there wasn't any direct service. As for the train, the closest train station from Hollybush is Ledbury which would mean to walk another three miles. At the end I've decided to walk up to the British Camp (approximately half way of the route), then go a bit back towards Little Malvern and catch a bus from there to Great Malvern.
Once you're on the top of one of the hills you can enjoy views from all directions, either over Great Malvern, West Malvern or the hills ahead of you. My first brief stop was just a few meters from St. Ann's Well where I dutifully put on sunscreen (lesson learnt...) and briefly chatted to a local lady who was walking her dog and at the same time cleaning the area by removing all the rubbish some tourists left behind. She told me she picks up up to fifty cans every day!!! It never ceases to amaze me why people leave their rubbish on the ground, especially where litter bins are provided. If they weren't lazy to bring their stuff in, why are they lazy to take it back with them??
From St. Ann's Well it's a nice climb towards the Worcestershire Beacon, the highest point of the Malvern Hills. Ok, it's only 1395 ft, it's still another 17946 ft to Kilimanjaro!!! But it's a start, right?
Then I continued south in the direction of the other hills. There are basically two treks available, one is up and down the hills and one is sort of around the hills if you don't feel like clibming up and down all the time. I was quite happy to choose the more difficult up and down route, the views are really rewarding although there was a very slight cloud (or fog?) lingering over Great Malvern and the pictures are not as sharp as they could be.
Following are a few pictures taken on the way from the Beacon towards the Summer Hill:
From Summer Hill I was supposed to descend to Upper Wyche and then continue towards Perseverance and Pinnacle Hills. Somehow I got distracted and instead of right turned left (the option to the left was promising a view of the Malvern area) and then continued via the closest public bridle path. It was suspiciously flat but it was hot and I wasn't willing to go back and look for the correct path. The hills must have been there somewhere so I assumed I would just naturally end up getting to them anyway. It took about half an hour walking through a forest and passing several path forks so if anybody asked me to turn around and go back I wouldn't be able to find the way. This rather boring and dark forest path suddenly opened and there they were. The hills in their full beauty. Funnily enough I managed to miss both the above mentioned hills and emerged at the bottom of the Black Hill! Nevermind, this one was short but very steep.
After conquering Black Hill and having a short lunch stop I was thinking about the next step. I was a bit puzzled about missing those two hills so I've altered my plan a bit. I was going to continue towards the British Camp, then turn around and instead of catching a bus from Little Malvern, I would walk back to Great Malvern through the hills I've just missed. And so I did.
British Camp is an Iron Age hill fort located at the top of Herefordshire Beacon. Today you can still see the extensive earthworks, they look like a giant wedding cake. The climb up there is very steep and (as I've noticed) very popular with local runners! Maybe next time then. The view from British Camp offers a nice picture of the hills you've just walked (thanks to the two nice people for taking this photo of rather tired me :-) !)
Then I trekked back the same route, at this point a bit fed up with the scorching sun and talking to myself, towards the Black Hill. From there I finally had a chance to climb the Pinnacle & Perseverance Hills and ended up at the Upper Wyche (I now know where I should have done the right turn!) It was another mile or so walking to Great Malvern so I stopped in the Wyche Inn for half pint of a local cider which was very refreshing and mood boosting!
Great Malvern is a very nice place with historical centre, beautiful priory and several theatres. One of the theatres is called "The theatre of small convenience" and is the world's smallest commercial theatre, it accommodates only 12 people!
So that was my visit to the Malvern area. No doubt we will be coming back to do more trekking and I would like to do some more running here too, it's very challenging but so much worth it. I have also made a few mental notes regarding this trip that relate to our Kili adventure. The Camelbak with full bladder (3 litres), clothing (waterproof overtrousers, fleece, jacket, spare socks), food and other little bits like maps and sun lotion is quite heavy considering you need to carry it in much worse conditions. We definitely need to get some thin socks (liners I guess) as even though my feet stayed dry in the current trekking socks (medium thickness), I was so hot, hot, hot. And - here I can only comment on my part - I need to do more walking/trekking, after a few miles yesterday I felt more tired than running the marathon!!
