As we walked out...one hot summer's day

Chris and Ronnie's walk across the Malvern Hills

This is a walk of some ten miles over fifteen 630,000,000 years old pre-Cambrian, pink, granite tops, the highest of which is Worcestershire Beacon at 425 metres, covering a distance of approximately ten miles.  The walk is best done north to south, the hills in the south being generally gentler and less demanding than those in the north.  We walked at least fifteen of the named summits and probably climbed more than the height of Snowdon to do so!

This was nearly a walk that wasn’t – in epic proportions.  Trying to sort out transport from the finishing end to the other, or from the start to the finish took an hour.  The Tourist Information Centre (TIC) informed us there were only Walkers’ Hoppers at weekends and could offer no alternatives other than a taxi.  We had thought to park the van at the opposite end to Great Malvern and find transport back to Great Malvern to start the walk.  This is the sensible way to do it, as all the big hills are closer to Great Malvern.  The ladies in the TIC said they advised people to do it the other way around – because of the buses!  What buses!

Having lost the will to even start we had a conference and I phoned the first taxi firm on the list that ladies in the TIC had given me to see if it was possible to get someone to meet us at an undefined place later in the day.  The chap on the phone said it would not be problem and I said I would phone later probably after 7 pm.  Having, we thought, arranged our transport back to Great Malvern we set off. 

Malvern Hills

It was a very hot morning but there were plenty of other people leaving the car park in an uphill direction.  We had purchased a leaflet in the TIC with a sketch map to follow but the main purpose of this map, we discovered during the day, was to promote similar sketch maps advocating circular walks on the hills.  We eventually came to a coomb where it was obvious we had to walk out to what we hoped was End Hill and come back towards North Hill.  We then climbed a col between North Hill and Table Hill.  We went over the top and down Sugar Loaf Hill where we had lunch.  We were probably at one of the busiest spots on the Hills with paths coming in from all directions.  We came across the first of several directional “tables” (for want of a better word).  Circular stone structures about knee high, with the signposts set flat on the top pointing and naming the various routes and places.

We had our lunch here on the col below Worcestershire Beacon.  There were paths going in all directions and people as well!  Lots of cyclists and several joggers, one of which leapt on and off the directional table and most of the frequent benches as well!  We had soon finished lunch and admiring the view and set off up Worcestershire Beacon.  On the top is a toposcope which the Great Malvern Round Tablers (or some other organisation) had had to replace in 2000 because of theft!  Whatever would the thief do with a toposcope some three feet across!  The original toposcope was placed here in either 1897 or 1899 and showed (as does its replacement) the bearing of every village, town and city that can be seen from the Beacon.  Covering, it is said, seven counties on a clear day.  Would these be Worcestershire, Gloucestershire, Herefordshire, Warwickshire, Monmouthshire, Shropshire and Staffordshire? 

Malvern Hills

Malvern Hills

Malvern Hills

Malvern Hills

Leaving Worcestershire Beacon we continued up first over Summer Hill, then to Wyche Cutting where the route drops down to the village of Upper Wyche and we got slightly misplaced.  We came down to a road and then back up again, after bumbling about amongst the houses for a few minutes. We filled up a flask with water from a public loo for Ky as there is no water on the tops for dogs apart from a couple of water bowsers for the cattle kept on the hills.  Somewhere, hereabouts, there is a gold mine but we didn’t find it and so missed our chances of making it rich!

There were not quite so many people on the hills now.  Most of the time there were very good made tracks which contoured around the majority of the tops, with ordinary unlaid paths going up and over.  These man-made paths seemed like motorways contouring around the hills, most of the time we chose paths going over the tops which were not quite so well trod. 

The views on both sides slowly changed.  To the east one looked towards the Cotswolds, but one could not see the River Severn and could only just make out the motorway in places.  Occasionally a train could be seen on non-existent rail tracks i.e. they could not be seen.  Many of the roads going away (or coming to) the Malvern Hills were incredibly straight!  Very obviously so.  The fields on this side seemed larger and the ground looked very flat.  On the west side the ground undulated more and the fields were quite a bit smaller.  There also seemed to be more and bigger groups of trees.  Both sides had well grown trees in the hedges of the fields.  The west side appeared to be all farm land.

The next hill, Perseverance Hill, has a railway tunnel dug through it, quite a feat through hard granite, was this why the hill has the name Perseverance? Next came Jubilee Hill, named in 1977 (presumably) to celebrate Queen Elizabeth II’s Silver Jubilee.  The hills were now beginning to get easier although the slope on Pinnacle Hill (after Jubilee Hill) was steep enough to encourage three or four hand gliders into the air.  They were not very expert at catching the thermals and seemed to be spending quite a lot of time on the ground!

After Pinnacle Hill, came Black Hill before dropping down to the A4104 and Wynds Point where we purchased ice cream and lots of cold drinks, sitting in the shade of the woods cloaking the slopes of Herefordshire Beacon, before setting off for British Camp on the other side of the Beacon. 

The Worcestershire/Herefordshire Border runs along the ridge of the hills so that is why there are two county beacons, Herefordshire Beacon is the highest top on the Herefordshire side of the county boundary (338 metres) and Worcestershire Beacon is the highest top on the Worcestershire side of the hills, as well as the highest point on the whole ridge.

British Camp is a large prehistoric (Iron Age?) hill fort and is quite impressive.

Millennium Hill, named in 2000, comes next but we lost our way and missed Clutter’s Cave, which is apparently man made – why anyone would want to dig out a cave in granite heavens only knows!  Locally it is known as Giant’s Cave.  We saw it as we looked back along the col after we had put ourselves on the right path.  We had started to drop down quite a long way through some woods and were worried that we were loosing too much height, so scrambled up through the wood to the open top.  A little further on we saw that the path came out of the woods and back to open ground on the col and up to Hang Man’s Hill and then down and up to Swinyard Hill.

Eastnor Obelisk

We now had the choice of bearing off to the west and visiting the obelisk in Eastnor Park or dropping down either side of the slopes of Midsummer Hill.  We decided that the hill the obelisk was on did not really form part of the Malvern Hills and so we dropped down through Gullet Wood to skirt around Gullet Quarry.  Coming back up Midsummer Hill I got bitten on the palm of my hand by a horsefly and let out a loud scream.  Later on I had to apologise to a lady out walking her dogs in case I had frightened her.  Horseflies had been bothering us quite a bit but that one was the most painful and four weeks later the mark could still be seen.

From Midsummer Hill and its Iron Age hill fort (much smaller than British Camp) we dropped down a steep bank to a car park and the A438 at Hollybush.  We turned right along the road a short way and guessed we had to turn off left into the woods.  We met a couple out waling their dog and checked with them that we were going up Ragged Stone Hill.  They assured us we were and warned us to bear left and not right at the junction.  We settled down just inside the wood for our last cup of coffee and fruit scone.  It was lovely and cool in the shade.  But we couldn’t linger all day and packed our sacks before setting off up the wood, the hillside getting steeper and steeper.  We remembered to take the left hand path and slowly, ever so slowly, climbed up through the waist high ferns.  Chris was way ahead and occasionally called back to make sure I was OK.  Fortunately, Ragged Stone Hill is not very high at 254 metres, just steep and I was glad the hills at the end were not as high as those nearer Great Malvern.

The slope of the path gradually eased and I was suddenly on the top – at one end of a small narrow plateau, Chris was sitting on his rucksack at the other end.  It was like walking a cat walk, way above the surrounding landscape.  The descent was much quicker and we eventually came out in the small hamlet of Whiteleaved Oak, which we walked through, turning off the road down an old green lane and a quick sharp ascent of Chase End Hill.

Then our problems to get back to Great Malvern started.  This morning’s taxi man said his car had broken down during the day and he suggested one of the firms on the list given to me by the TIC.  That firm said they had no idea where we were and so did the next on the list.  We had no choice but to try and get back to Hollybush on the A438.  This would not be easy as we had no Ordnance Survey map with us.

Leaning against the trig. point on Chase End Hill in the early evening breeze was very pleasant.  The views over Worcestershire to the Cotswolds and over Herefordshire to Wales were certainly grand.

After a few minutes taking in the magnificent view, tired and weary we came off the end of Chase End Hill and came out on a road and turned right.  Hoping this was the right direction to take.  Fortunately it was as the road took us back to the small hamlet of Whiteleaved Oak, such a strange name for a hamlet!  We realised that if we had come off Chase End Hill the same way we had gone up we would have saved about a kilometre of walk.  Here we had a discussion and decided to take the footpath on the left.  After crossing a couple of fields and hoping we were right in between the non-existent/unhelpful right of way signs we walked down a farm drive to a road which we hoped was the A438.  Here we turned right and after about half a mile we came to the start of the path up Ragged Stone Hill and knew we were in the right place.  We continued up the road to the car park we had come down onto earlier and after phoning half a dozen or more taxi firms eventually found a driver willing to come and fetch us – much to our great relief.

It had been a hot day but it had also been very enjoyable walk, having climbed fifteen of the twenty hill tops and climbed higher than Snowdon (3560 fett/1085 metres). A great day.

End Hill:  between Table Hill and North Hill; Sugar Loaf Hill; Worcestershire Beacon (425); Summer Hill (382); Perseverance Hill; Jubilee Hill; Pinnacle Hill; Black Hill; Wynds Point; Herefordshire Beacon (338); Millennium Hill; Broad Down; Hang Man’s Hill; Swinyard Hill; Midsummer Hill (286); Ragged Stone Hill (254) and Chase End Hill (191).

The southern end of the Malverns are comparatively unpopulated – beech woods not necessarily on but close to Midsummer Hill with its twin peaks which are the site of an ancient hill fortress.

Raggedstone Hill (south of Midsummer Hill) is bare and bleak, local legend says it is haunted

Eastnor Park – obelisk is a memorial to the Somers family, owners of Eastnor Castle.

Hereford Beacon is the site of the huge British Camp one of the best examples of an ancient hill fort in Britain.  It commanded the only then existing pass through the Malvern Hills.  It is thought its population was about 20,000.  Legend says Caractacus was captured here in 75AD – one of three places where Caractacus met his end.

Chris and Ronnie walked the Malvern Hills in 2005.