Length: 20.6 km (12.8 mi) [shorter and longer
versions possible, see below]
Ascent/Descent: 1078m
Net Walking Time: ca. 6 ¼ hours
Toughness: 8 out of 10
Take the 08.50 Great Malvern train from
Paddington (Slough 09.05, Reading 09.20), arrives Great Malvern 11.24.
With a Network Railcard (valid to Worcester Stations), buy split tickets
(unless you have secured a cheap Advance Ticket).
(Direct) Return trains: 17.43,
19.00, 20.55 (from 144 mins). There are also the 19.11 (change
at Worcester Foregate) and the 20.10 (change at B’ham New Street), which
take longer.
“The Malvern Hills stand majestically above the
Severn Plain in Worcestershire and the rolling wooded hills of Herefordshire,
offering far reaching panoramic views across a variety of landscapes from a
multitude of viewpoints. The area is famed for its steep dramatic hills rising
out of flat vales and for the pure spring water that flows from them, but it
also offers a rich cultural heritage of forts, castles and priories in a
landscape of ancient woodland, rolling pastures and wild, open commons.
The circular route rises through the town past all important landmarks and
ascends the famous 99 Steps to St. Ann’s Well, but then heads southerly, mostly
through ancient woodlands along the foot of the hills, to lunch. It then rises
up through the mid slopes of scrub, grass, rock and bracken, first to the
Herefordshire Beacon and then returns along the top of the ridge via the
Worcestershire Beacon to Great Malvern, with its grassy commons maintained by
livestock grazing, in places with Bilberry and Common Heather.”
Walk Options:
Taxi from the station to Wyche Cutting/The Wyche Inn or The Malvern Hills Hotel/British Camp
(£7/£12 resp., taxis usually on stand, else try: 01684 578 749 or 07730 573
738).
Bus 675 to/from Wyche Cutting (from outside The Mount Pleasant Hotel at
12.00, 1.5 km into the walk).
Outward and return route are never far from each other (if mostly at much different height), therefore there are several ways to pick up the return route to Great Malvern earlier than described:
· at the Gold Mine stone dial (7.9 km/4.9 mi, 457m ascent);
· at the Wyche Cutting/The Wyche Inn (9.1 km/5.6 mi, 519m ascent);
· at The Malvern Hills Hotel (17.2 km/10.7 mi, 884m ascent).
Finish at The Malvern Hills Hotel after going up to British Camp and take the 675 bus back (12.9 km/8.0 mi, 737m ascent; runs at 16.05 and 17.40).
Outward and return route are never far from each other (if mostly at much different height), therefore there are several ways to pick up the return route to Great Malvern earlier than described:
· at the Gold Mine stone dial (7.9 km/4.9 mi, 457m ascent);
· at the Wyche Cutting/The Wyche Inn (9.1 km/5.6 mi, 519m ascent);
· at The Malvern Hills Hotel (17.2 km/10.7 mi, 884m ascent).
Finish at The Malvern Hills Hotel after going up to British Camp and take the 675 bus back (12.9 km/8.0 mi, 737m ascent; runs at 16.05 and 17.40).
An Extension to the four northerly tops adds 2.0 km/1.2 mi and 111m ascent.
Elenvenses/Lunch/Tea en route/Tea in Great Malvern: Plentiful options. Check the webpage or the pdf for details.
For walk directions, map, height profile, photos and gpx/kml files click here. T=swc.324
1 comment:
n=5 on this long expedition in w=warm-and-sunny weather.
Tourists are back, and with a vengeance: only after the Windsor & Eton crowd had departed at Slough and the Oxford masses had left the train a bit later, did a quiet journey develop.
In Great Malvern, we were only slightly delayed by a food fair in Priory Park, before scaling The 99 Steps to St Anne's Well and spending most of the route to lunch under tree cover, with plenty of breaks in the canopy though for views into the plain.
At the Malvern Hills hotel, 4 had lunch, while the 1 picnicker settled at the next-door Sally's Cafe for a hot drink and an ice cream (local farm-made). Up onto the ridge then and into the sun, but thankfully with a kind breeze that prevented the weather feeling stifling. The views from the Herefordshire Beacon were simply stupendous, the dry air having no haze at all. So, not only were the Cotswolds and the Black Mountains crystal clear, but also Sugarloaf, Blorenge, The Skirrid and the Central Beacons out to Pen y Fan.
We descended to the road through the pass and the 4 lunchers then decided to have a go at the local farm-made ice cream as well. 6 more hills to go then, and by the time we got up onto the Worcestershire Beacon, the lightest of hazes had developed, yet this was the first instance I can remember when one could clearly see ALL the hills and towns detailed on the toposcope. The Long Mynd and The Wrekin in Shropshire seeemed just a stones' throw away...
At the decision point (extension or not) it had reached 6 o'clock already, and unanimously we turned down into Great Malvern, where 3 stocked up with food and drink for the 19.00 train, while 2 with Advance tickets for the 20.55 settled in for dinner in the perfect-for-an-outdoor-meal temperatures.
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