We all had a great time on that walk to Hereford and it seemed logical to now aim for Worcester. It would be a longer walk, but with a decent halfway stop in Malvern to break things up.
I've walked the first stretch from Ledbury to Malvern a fair few times now, but that doesn’t make it much easier really. We headed out of Ledbury and up through the Conigree Wood towards Eastnor. We were making decent pace and generally feeling good about the walk ahead. That contented feeling didn’t last too long though. The climb up to the obelisk in Eastnor Deer Park is one of those paths that looks manageable enough but then slowly empties your tank as you struggle up the hill. We got the toughest bit of the walk out of the way and then enjoyed the views across Herefordshire and the Malverns.
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| Approaching Eastnor Obelisk |
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| Eastnor Castle from the Obelisk |
From there we decided we should walk over all the hilltops on our route along the Malvern Hills, rather than skirting around them on the easier paths. It’s the sort of call that feels right at the time, especially with a bit of early enthusiasm, but it would come back to bite us later. One peak rolled into another until we finally reached Worcestershire Beacon, pausing for a bit to take it in without letting the legs seize up.
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| The view from British Camp |
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| Walking the Malverns |
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| Descending the Worcestershire Beacon |
The descent towards St Ann's Well was a nice stroll as we knew we'd got all the major ascents out of they way. We aimed to refill our water bottles there, but a sign warning about failed bacteriological tests put an end to that idea fairly quickly. I'm fully prepared for tired legs after a walk, but draw the line at vomitting. We pushed on to get water in Malvern instead, which felt like the first sensible decision of the day.
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| St Ann's Well, Malvern |
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| The spring in St Ann's Well |
We strolled into Malvern with springs in our steps, keen to get some food and beers in the pub. We'd walked 11 miles in roughly 4 hours, which was good going considering the terrain. Perhaps a bit too quick. We were starting to feel some aches and still had a full 11 mile pilgrimage to walk, which would be more than enough on its own for most people. We grabbed some lunch from Parsons Bakery and ate it with our beers in the garden of Weavers of Malvern, which is an absolute corker of a pub.
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| Frankin D. Roosevelt's Malvern connection |
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| Beers at Weavers of Malvern |
Next was the part I’d been looking forward to the most. I’d found the St Wulfstan Day Way on the British Pilgrimage Trust website, hoping to give the walk a bit more of a purpose beyond just getting from A to B. I'd looked at the most direct walking routes from Malvern to Worcester which seemed to just be field after field. I quite like the feeling of completing trails, and finding a route that broke things up with potentially interesting things was perfect. The pilgrimage starts at Great Malvern Priory and winds its way through churches and countryside to Worcester Cathedral.
We picked the walk back up from the Priory and followed Back Lane out towards Link Common. Then through the Spring Lane Trading Estate, where we paused at the Morgan Motor Company factory for a look at the cars parked up there. I'm not a petrol head, but my friends are more keen so quite enjoyed looking around the various Morgan cars. It might have been slightly off theme for a pilgrimage, but it was the most enthusiasm some of us had shown since we started the walk.
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| Malvern Priory |
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| Link Common, Malvern |
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| The Morgan Motor Company, Malvern |
After walking some beautiful paths through wild garlic, our first proper stop of the St Wulfstan Day Way was St Mary the Virgin church in Madresfield, which required a slight detour. I could sense the mood dip at the point we left the church and had to start walking back the way we came. Heading a little away from the direct route to look at a church wasn’t popular with everyone. There were a few grumbles and questions of why we we had to bother. I’d committed to the route though, so that was that. Once I’ve decided on a plan, I tend to stick to it, particularly if it really winds up my mates.
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| A path through wild garlic between Malvern and Madresfield |
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| Apocalyptic looking stables, Malvern |
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| St Mary the Virgin, Madresfield |
From Madresfield, as we moved through open fields, the sun came out despite the forecast predicting thick cloud and patches of rain all day. It seemed to lift the mood, but it was possibly just because the other lads knew it was a while before the next forced church viewing. The lack of rain was probably quite a relief for Rich, who, for reasons unknown, decided it would be a good idea to wear tight jeans on a 22 mile hike.
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| Fields between Madresfield and Callow End |
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| A view of the Malverns |
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| A break in the sunshine |
After a a long stint of relative flatness, we now had to climb the Old Hills. The walk up to the trig point wasn't anywhere near as challenging as the main hills of the Malverns, but we were getting tired. The top presented us with our first decent view of Worcester Cathedral, the finish line of our walk. It seemed pretty far away, but there were no more hills to climb and we knew that there was another pub stop and the bottom of this hill. Down into Callow End and straight in the Blue Bell for a round of drinks. 5 pints and a Coke for £42 seemed really expensive in a locals pub with a dartboard, but it was Lee's round not mine. The beer garden had a view of Stanbrook Abbey, which was the next church on our pilgrimage route. I told the lads that we didn't need to walk up to it. They said that we may as well get it done. Perhaps they were actually now coming on board with doing this walk properly, or perhaps they knew I might moan about it later.
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| Old Hills, Worcestershire |
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| Worcester Cathedral from Old Hills |
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| Stanbrook Abbey |
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| Stanbrook Abbey |
Next we pushed on towards Powick Church but the path went through the graveyard anyway so there was no risk of that causing any frustration. We passed through fields of rapeseed and a Christmas tree plantation with a backdrop of a huge, derelict house. We were now getting very close to Worcester.
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| Rapeseed fields between Callow End and Powick |
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| More apocalyptic scenery in Worcestershire |
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| St Peter's, Powick |
Patience started to wear thin again as we approached Worcester though. The route, as mapped, initially took us in what felt like completely the wrong direction, following the banks of the River Teme. Looking back over our shoulders, we could see the cathedral we were supposed to be heading towards which caused a few grumbles. Particularly as Matt and Scott had pushed ahead and then had to turn back. In fairness, it did eventually straighten out, joining a more direct line along the River Severn into Worcester. Matt isn't the most patient person and I could tell he was getting really tired and irritable.
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| Scottish Memorial, Worcester |
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| The Teme, Worcester |
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| At first glance, we thought this was a dead swan |
By the time we reached Diglis Basin, everyone was feeling it. I’d made a schoolboy error earlier by loosening my boot laces for a bit of comfort, but I ended up with the opposite. The rubbing from the loose boots had caused some really nasty blisters. My legs felt fine, but my feet were in pain. We limped the final stretch to Worcester Cathedral, and it wasn’t quite the triumphant feeling we’d had on the Hereford walk. We just needed food, a beer, and somewhere to sit down as soon as possible, so we passed the Cathedral pretty quickly in a desperate search for rest and refreshments.
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| The finishing straight |
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| Worcester Cathedral |
We ended up at the Worcester branch of Weavers, out in the beer garden with various bits of takeaway we’d grabbed on the way. There wasn’t much energy left for celebration, but there was a definite sense that we’d earned the rest. We clinked our pint glasses together and congraulated each other for completing another tough walk. It had been 22.5 miles in total, with 1,062 metres of ascent. By the end of the day, including a dog walk before we’d set off, I’d clocked over 57,000 steps.
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| Much needed beers at Weavers, Worcester |
We got the train at 7pm from Worcester Foregate Street back to Ledbury and joined our wives in the Feathers. They'd been making the most of an evening without us weirdos around and had sank a fair few bottles of wine. They clapped us as we walked in and we all were now starting to feel pretty proud of ourselves for completing our most challenging group walk to date. It had been a pretty epic journey in our local area. I'd definitely recommend the walk from Ledbury to Malvern and would definitely recommend the St Wulfstan Day Way. If, like us, you decide to do them both in the same day, make sure your fellow walkers are fully aware of the schedule and lace up your boots nice and tight.
Walk Details
Route: Ledbury to Worcester including the St Wulfstan Day Way Pilgrimage
Distance: 22.5 miles
Difficulty: Hard
Time: 10-11 hours including stops
Terrain: Hills, woodland paths, fields, riverbanks, pavements and lanes
Dog Friendly?: Ledbury to Malvern is very dog friendly. Malvern to Worcester has lots of stiles and some livestock. Please don't drag your dogs on the full route we took
Pub Stop: The Malvern Hills Hotel, then plenty of choice in Malvern, the Blue Bell in Callow End, then even more choice in Worcester
Found on: British Pilgrimage Trust - St Wulfstan Day Way
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