A Moderate walk along the ridge of the Malvern Hills

A moderate 12 mile linear walk on the ridge of the Malvern Hills. From Great Malvern Railway station, we walk through the town to the steps next to Victoria Park and the Mount Pleasant Hotel. We climb the 100 steps to St Ann’s Well, where we are told the late Queen Elizabeth II would collect fresh spring water on her visits to Malvern. We climb up to North Hill and then onto the Worcestershire Beacon, the highest point on the walk at 397m. It is said that on a clear day, views are possible over seven counties. We follow the ridge of the Malvern Hills towards the Wyche Cutting, an engineering feat of a passage hewn through ancient rock originally to enable the salt trains to move easily down to Bristol and on to France by the local salt king, John Corbett. Onto the British Camp car park where there are refreshments and toilets. This may be a good spot for our packed lunch. We climb to the Herefordshire Beacon, and the 2nd century iron-age fort, the second highest point of the walk at 338m where, on a clear day, there are splendid views over the Cotswolds, the Clee Hills in Shropshire and towards the Bristol Channel. We continue along the ridge then onto Eastnor Deer Park, to an obelisk, a monument to the local Somers family; past the mock 19th century Eastnor Castle, and Eastnor Church, originally built in Norman times, rebuilt in 1852; then onto open field tracks and woods down to the town of Ledbury with its 17th century market hall, and onto Ledbury Railway Station where we take a 12 minute train ride back to the pretty Victorian railway station at Great Malvern.