A great little therapeutic long weekend wandering in the hills of Shropshire and Malvern. A couple of nights in Chapel Lawn at the lovely Old School House B&B, run by Claire and David who are both charming and so well informed about the local area. David even has a map room in the house were guests can sit and plan adventures! Cool!
An early morning stroll through the hamlet of Chapel Lawn prepared us nicely for breakfast, which is great by the way, before we layered up for a nice figure of eight walk, starting with climbing up and over the dominant hill Caer Caradoc with the ground markings of an ancient hill fort. The climb up, gaining nearly 200m's was a good lung buster and leg stretch! But in stead of amazing 360 views, we were met with wind and driving rain, initially really heavy but thankfully that eased and allowed a teaser of the views! Back down in the valley the dark foreboding skies and weather app both hinted at heavy rain, so we cut down our figure of eight with a path through the foot of Breneddin Wood which afforded us some protection from the passing heavy rain, and an opportunity to learn about this ancient wood and it's quillet's. Evening meal in Wales! Nice!
Saturday we moved on from The School House (I'll always think of it as a school house as I learnt a lot in a couple of days!) on to Malvern via a short stop and wander about Ledbury! Very nice it is too! Arrived after dark at the campsite, but with the van it was simply a case of pull onto our pitch, run the EHU lead out and plug in, turn the heater on, sort some drinks and chill!
Sunday was all about the Malvern Hills, starting from the north end we walked around North Hill and up to The Beacon, grabbed a trig shot (mostly for my mate Vince!) enjoyed the views and set off for North Hill and return just before dark! Issue with winter breaks, short days. Evening meal in a local pub. Back to a cosy van for a final night.
Return journey via Worcester for a wander around. Miserable weather cut that short too!
Late lunch in Tenbury on Wells after a delayed start!
Tenbury has a lot of character, love the old cinema /play house.
Mostly independent shops line the little high street.
Enough of this, on to the Shropshire Hills.
Sunrise in Chapel Lawn.
Morning commute in Redlake Valley!
Looking down over Chapel Lawn with Breneddin Wood as a backdrop. A few weeks late for full autumnal effect, end of October next time!
With weather comes opportunities right!
Deb trying not to get blown off the top of Caer Caradoc
The Hill Fort must have been impressive back in the day!
Lone White House!
Interesting planting in the fields !
Looking up Redlake Valley
Hi!
Not sure who's watching who here!!
Leaving the Shropshire Hills
Stunning road with amazing views!
Van made light work of the road over Wild Moor!
I am more than impressed with Shropshire!
Ledbury
Narrow streets an old buildings define Ledbury's character.
Coffee!
First cold night in the van, -1 outside, too hot inside hence the rood vent was opened in the middle of the night!
The Beacon Trig Point!
Another windy day lol!
View north westerly towards Shropshire
North Hill from The Beacon.
Looking south from The Beacon
Looking down and across Great Malvern.
Oi, don't push me lol!!
Attention seeker!
Looking towards the Beacon from North Hill - over exposed the sky :(
Wander back through Malvern, this claims to be the smallest theatre in the UK!
Gas Lamps!
Malvern Water!
Abbey Gardens
Abbey Gardens in Great Malvern
Worcester Cathedral
Worchester
Worcester Guild Hall
Inside the Guildhall! Leather buckets hark back to the
Great bakery cafe ' Colston Bakery'
Worcester street art
Worcester street art
Worcester street art
A few streets in the centre of Worcester provide a hint at the past!
A final stop enroute home in Broadway!
