They say you should "follow your nose". I took that advice in its literal sense and followed the smell of burgers, which guided us to an afternoon walk on a scenic hill in Gloucestershire.
My good mate Shaun lives in the Forest of Dean and I occasionally travel with him for our often disappointing days out supporting Bristol Rovers. He'd recently purchased some cans of Astro dry cider from a manufacturer called Just Pressed in Longhope in the Forest. He gave me a can to try on one of our train journeys and it was superb. The shop is only half hour from Ledbury, so I planned to pop there one day and pick some up. Then I saw an event on their Facebook page. The Beefy Boys were going to be at Just Pressed for an afternoon of cider and burgers. My new favourite cider and my favourite eatery would be in one place for a day. It would be daft not to go.
If you haven't heard of The Beefy Boys, they are a multi-award winning burger restaurant in Hereford with newer branches in Shrewsbury and Cheltenham. In 2014, their "Butty Back" burger came second against 49 other competitors from around the globe at the World Food Championships in Las Vegas, which is pretty amazing for some lads from Hereford. That recognition created massive demand and led to them to opening their first restaurant in their home town. The food there is absolutely incredible and whenever we visit Hereford (which is quite often), I always insist we go to The Beefy Boys to eat.
I suggested to my wife Stace that we go for a walk up May Hill on the way to Longhope. With the promise of a decent burger too she was happy with the idea. So, first stop, May Hill.
There is a car park alongside the narrow lane that runs past the hill. We followed the paths up through the woodland to a clearing and a gate, which our dog Wilf pissed on.
Through the now damp gate, we headed straight towards the trees that that sit on the summit. The hill used to be a beacon for ships travelling along the Severn. The trees were used for these beacons, and as they dwindled, May Hill began to lose its identity. Corsican pines were planted there in 1887 to mark Queen Victoria's Golden Jubilee and return the hill to its former glory. Scots pines were planted later for Queen Elizabeth's Silver Jubilee.
This is not the sort of walk that would challenge a seasoned hiker. It's a short and gentle climb, but the views make it worthwhile if you find yourself in this neck of the woods. Belted Galloway cattle and semi-feral ponies are found grazing on the hill as part of a conservation method by the National Trust. They help to manage the vegetation and preserve the landscape. With the combination of nice scenery, hilltop conifers, wild-ish horses and an easy walk, it's a lovely place to visit for all ages.
It took us about 20 minutes to reach the top of the hill from the car park at a very leisurely pace. Stace is definitely a horsey person and grew up riding horses. I am not a horsey person and grew up riding a mountain bike. I took control of the dogs and let her go and say hello to the ponies.
There are a few benches on the hill around the edge of the circle of trees, so we settled for a bit and enjoyed spending some time in a little gem of a place.
There are some decent, longer walks over May Hill. The National Trust have a 3 mile route called the May Hill Countryside Walk which also includes a wander through the beautiful woodland in the Huntley Estate. AllTrails also have a May Hill Circular which is a bit more challenging at 7.7 miles. I absolutely love walking and seeing new, beautiful places in my local area. I also absolutely love burgers and cider though and was conscious of the time. I didn't want to get to the event and find that The Beefy Boys had packed up for the day. We were satisfied with our little scenic walk so headed back to the car for a short drive to Just Pressed in Longhope.
I ordered our burgers from the pop up and then picked up a pint and a half of cider for us to wash them down with. After smashing through the burgers, moreish bacon fries and excellent cider, I visited the shop and picked up a crate of Astro to take home. The place was pretty full so it seemed to be a successful day and it's nice to go and support local manufacturers of top quality food and drink.
We'd had a beautful walk followed by some good eating and drinking. It doesn't get much better than that for me. The exercise certainly didn't do a lot to counteract the massive calorie intake on this little adventure though, so it's probably a good thing that these events don't happen very often.
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