Malvern Hills New Year Walks 2019. Joy & Sadness

Mostly off message but Gill and spent new year in Great Malvern, Worcestershire. We had never been here before but I had seen the historical railway poster (see bottom right) and thought it might be a good place to go walking.

It turned out to be a fabulous place to visit and go walking. We stayed in a lovely rented cottage in Great Malvern (much better value than anything on Airbnb).

Walk across the road and you start climbing up the hills which are "an area of outstanding natural beauty".  Our best walk was from Great Malvern along the ridge to the ancient celtic fort now called the "British camp". Then walk down across countryside to Colwall railway station and take train back home. About 8 miles walking and under 5 hours. Stunning views from beginning to end.

There are a number of good restaurants, cafes and pubs as well as an impressive church with beautiful medieval stained glass windows (and outside were Annie, the 10 year old daughter of Charles Darwin is buried. We actually stayed near where she actually died. I remember the moving film about her death and the impact on her father and science "Creation").

Another nearby sad sight but one bang up to date, was the flowers and messages in the Great Malvern department store doorway, (see top left) where in this prosperous, very middle England town, a young homeless man was found dead on Christmas day. 

London Loop Walk Section 6: Banstead to Kingston

This post is a little late and off message but the weekend after the May 5 elections I resumed my attempt to walk around the London Loop route from last year.

The London Loop is a 150 mile circular walk around London split into sections. I had hoped to complete the whole walk last year but only managed to do the walks 1-5. The further away from East London the more difficult it was to get to get to and fro the start and finish of each walk.

This time I decided to do one Loop walk on the Saturday and stay over for the night then do the next walk the following day (Sunday).  It was about 11 miles.

It was a nice walk but mostly urban and suburbia.  Tudor Nonsuch Park and Palace was pretty and interesting but the main path along the river Hogworth was a bit disappointing. Ewell was well worth a visit with the Roman remains and the Village Jail. Brought refreshing ice lollies at Bourne Hall. There was beautiful tree blossom throughout the route. May is a wonderful time of year to go walking.

The best part of the walk was the ending in Kingston upon Thames. There was a Airbnb apartment just off the route and 10 minutes walk from the centre. Kingston is lovely and had a great meal in a restaurant next to the river in the evening and was able to carry on route 7 the following day (Sunday).