With Christmas Day behind us we were able to enjoy brief encounters with the outside world on the few occasions when the weather cheered up. Sometimes we just got on with it despite the weather.
Boxing Day “Steam-up”
On Boxing Day Michael and Helen Whitehouse hosted a “steam-up” at their home in the beautiful Worcestershire countryside. This is an annual event, which I always look forward to, and is one of the highlights of Christmas. It is aways in aid of charity and this year it was in aid of the Himalayan Trust UK. People arrive to park their cars in the lane below the paddock adjoining the Whitehouse garden. Passing through the gate into the field you wait on the station for the train to collect you to take you on a circuitous route with many recognizable railway features, even if they are scaled down, up to the house where there is another station. There we are provided with mulled wine, coffee and delicious mince pies and the chance to meet with people whom you last met at the same occasion a year ago.
The weather was an improvement in progress but as it was dull and damp early on many people decided not to to venture out. For those that did, the weather improved, the sun began to shine and they all generously donated into the collecting pot for the Himalayan Trust UK. I just love it!
May Hill
The 29th December proved to be the best day of the holidays with clear skies and bright sunshine. It was still unseasonably warm. It was a good day to meet up with a few friends, Sandie, Simon, David, Annie, Tudor and three dogs on May Hill Common for a short walk over May Hill and back through Newent Woods before retiring to the Glass House Inn for a long, relaxed, sociable lunch.
Like those we were with, I had never walked in the area, although I have driven past it on many occasions en route to Wales. A gentle climb took us towards the top of the hill, passing a herd of docile Belted Galloways with their distinctive black and white markings. The most notable thing about May Hill is the clump of trees on the top, visible from many points along the Malvern Hills and from the more easterly summits of the Black Mountains. These were planted in 1887 to commemorate Queen Victoria’s Golden Jubilee. From this vantage point we looked down on to the flooded Severn Valley, looking more like a lake than a river.
Descending the southern ridge of May Hill we returned through Newent Woods, home to some spectacular Redwoods standing tall and straight in the lea of the hill. This returned us to our cars park on the common. It was not a long walk but it opened my eyes to the possibility of investigating the potential for adding a few miles to it so that it could be included in the next round of day walks.
I can highly recommend the The Glass House Inn if you don’t mind being watched by a plethora of stuffed animals hanging from every beam and staring out from every wall. You constantly feel you are being watched, but it adds interest to the place. There is a good choice of beers and the food is excellent, even if we had to wait a little too long for it to appear. That did not matter as we had plenty to talk about while we waited.
New Year Ramble on the Malvern Hills
Over the years the New Year Ramble on the southern end of the Malvern Hills has generally had a good turn out. We have had exceptionally mild walks, some damp ones and the occasional one with snow, heavy frost and clear blue skies. The forecast for this year was to be particularly damp and from about 24 hours before the walk the excuses started to arrive by text message or email. Those, for whom it meant a significant journey were the first to pull out, and I can understand their unwillingness to get wet and then to have to travel uncomfortably home for a couple of hours. That said, my stalwart supporter (or should that read “stalker”), Claire, travelled up without complaint from Bristol.
On the morning of the walk the text messages increased and there seemed to be an alphabetical connection. Everybody whose name began with an “A” suddenly couldn’t make it, including my wife, Angela. Where’s the support when you need it? Then there was ‘car trouble!’ I thought I had heard the end of lame excuses when I left teaching. No more, ‘I did my homework but the dog ate it!’ One of the best was a letter from a mum asking if her son could be excused from abseiling in case he got his ears wet! This was turning out to be nearly as good.
Having been accused of being Captain Fairweather two years ago by David Thomas, I was particularly upset when he pulled out. He had clearly looked out of the window and decided he was not going to bother. I feel I have earned my Captain Anyweather stripes again.
A hardy bunch met me at the car park, including Libby, not dressed for walking but wanting to know what time we would be finishing so she and Ellie could meet us in the bar of the Malvern Hills Hotel afterwards. There were eight of us brave enough, or stupid enough to venture out. I decided that we would curtail the walk to last a couple of hours or so, so that we would know we had been for a walk. Once we got going it was not too bad, a little exposed on the tops but on the west side, out of the wind, it was quite pleasant, sufficiently so that we added an extra few minutes to the walk by visiting the obelisk. The hills were sodden with so much recent rain it was mucky underfoot. There were no views from on high as we had our heads in the cloud. But the company was good and all those that languished in bed do not know what they missed.
Himalayan Club Malvern Rambler
If we thought it was wet for the first Malvern Rambler, the next day was so much more so. Again text messages came flooding in from Sixth Formers bogged down with revision, feeling under the weather or still travelling home from far flung places. To be honest, I did not blame anyone for not wanting to turn out on a day like this. The rain fell by the bucket load. Driving to Malvern the River Severn was now Lake Severn with the flood plain doing what it should do in such circumstances.
Will, me and Dom
The car park at the foot of the Herefordshire Beacon was, predictably, almost empty and part of me hoped nobody would show up. When you have a group of 25 you are working with, somebody is guaranteed to turn up, and, true to form, two did, Will and Dominik. Dominik even brought his mother and little sister along. I can understand Will, he is a country lad, well used to getting wet. Dominik had just bought some new boots (we met in Cotswold Outdoor after the first Malvern Rambler) so needed to test them. I admired both for their spirit but also Dom’s mother and sister, neither of whom needed to be there.
We did the same walk as the previous day, only this time there was no let up in the ferocity of the rain. Funnily enough, we hardly saw another soul out on the hills. Despite the conditions, it was actually a very pleasant walk and I had ample opportunity to answer any questions the boys had about their upcoming trip to Kyrgyzstan in the summer.
By the time we got back to the car park, I felt that we were so wet we did not need to linger over coffee of hot chocolate; we just wanted to get home and get out of our wet gear. However, despite the extremely wet conditions, I was glad we did it.
