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On a day when storm-force winds were forecast in every mountain area, a Midlands ‘ridge walk’ amid lovely scenery and packing in quite a lot of ascent and effort for something never climbing higher than 425m. The Malvern Ridge, rising jaggedly out of the surrounding flatlands like something dropped in from a different country, is a familiar and tempting landmark to those travelling to the south-west and the Beacons and – on a beautiful day out of the teeth of the wind – it didn’t disappoint.
This walk started with visits to a couple of landmarks towards the south of the Malverns, the spectacular wooded crags of the reclaimed quarry at The Gullet and then the viewpoint below the prominent obelisk to the west, before climbing gently through mature woodlands to gain the main ridge of open grasslands and heath. From there the nature of the next few miles’ walking is well summarised by the (often evocative) list of hills crossed – Swinyard Hill, Hangman’s Hill, Broad Down, Millennium Hill, Herefordshire Beacon, Black Hill, Pinnacle Hill, Jubilee Hill, Perseverance Hill, Summer Hill, and finally the high point of Worcestershire Beacon. There’s nothing very tall or dramatically steep, but the route is a constant switchback of short climbs to distinct summits; good views throughout of the green fields and woodlands left and right. The broad hill of Herefordshire Beacon (‘British Camp’), its slopes sculpted into terraces by ancient fortification and the clear highpoint of the southern ridge, is probably the most distinctive, but – even at only 338m up – it seemed very exposed to a gale that was hard to keep ones’ feet in this day.
- Swinyard Hill from the carpark
- The Gullet
- Eastnor Obelisk
- View east from Hangman's Hill
- Herefordshire Beacon
- Malvern Ridge from Herefordshire Beacon
North of there, in calming conditions, the ridge narrows and the hills get taller, the ascents a little tougher. Finally the Worcestershire Beacon is quite a fine pointy summit, but – rising almost straight out of the town of Great Malvern – a very busy one indeed with Sunday walkers. Between the crowds it’s a lovely short hill – long views all round and some nice rocky crops amid the grass and paths. Unusual to those inured to the ways of mountain-walking to see the trigpoint virtually ignored by the many taking group photos, the glossy new toposcope (on which a small crowd can obviously stand) instead being the magnet for ‘summit photos’…
- Herefordshire Beacon from near Black Hill
- View west from Malvern Ridge
- Worcestershire Beacon over Perseverance & Jubilee Hills from Pinnacle Hill
- Pinnacle Hill
- Worcs Beacon from Perseverance Hill
- Worcestershire Beacon
- North Hill
- View NW from near Worcs Beacon summit
The Malverns is a narrow range of hills and, wherever you go, you’ll pretty much end up going back the same way – although you can vary the route and rest the legs by taking clear flanking paths around (usually west of) just about every summit; the detour east of Herefordshire Beacon, winding across the hillside above the reservoir, is especially pleasant.
- British Camp Reservoir
- Malvern Ridge
- Herefordshire Beacon
- Millennium Hill
This isn’t an area for lovers of solitude, perhaps unless you pick an especially miserable weekday... Crisscrossed by roads and liberally served by carparks, it is obviously very popular casual walking territory, with the areas near to the two Beacons especially ‘honeypot’, and on an equivalent day in the height of summer it might be just a bit too much to enjoy. But otherwise terrific stuff, and very well worth a look.