The Malverns ~ June 2022

So here we are in Hanley on Swan, just outside of Malvern, with the Malvern hills looking down on us. What a beautiful location. Hanley Swan itself, is a lovely quaint village, with pub and local shop and within easy walking distance of the campsite. This is new territory for us and the reason why we've come here, well two fold, to explore this area and also to catch up with Valerie, whom we met 8 years ago in Spain. So we arrived and arranged to meet up with Valerie in the local pub here. It was so good to see her, we spent a good couple of hours just catching up and made arrangements to meet up the next day.


Friday, Valerie picked us up and we headed off to Malvern. A lovely town with the most beautiful buildings, very quaint and full of fresh water springs. Everywhere you looked in this town, was a glorious view, with either the hills as a backdrop, or down over the countryside. We stopped for coffee and cake and continued with our catch up. Valerie left us and we continued to explore the town with it's beautiful shops and scenery. We eventually stopped for something to eat in a tapas restaurant and then decided to walk back to Hanley Swan via a footpath that took us back through fields to Hanley Swan. A lovely walk and a nice end to a lovely day.

Saturday Steve and I walked to Rhyd where we picked up the River Severn. We walked along the river for a while, it was so peaceful and quiet and was very enjoyable watching the occasional boat cruising by. We came to Alpaca Meadows, where we stopped for a light lunch and then retraced our steps back to Hanley. Valerie came and picked us up and we went to her place for dinner. We had  lovely evening at Valerie's. A most enjoyable day.


Sunday, Steve and I walked to Upton Upon Severn. A quaint town which was hosting a jazz festival. Quite a pleasant walk, although it was along the road. The town was quite busy and buzzing. Several venues where hosting the jazz entertainers and it was lovely to just walk around and hear all the different music. We stopped for lunch and hadn't realised that where we were was a venue for music. So whilst eating an old boy set up next to us and started playing his own music he had composed. Whilst it wasn't jazz, it was very entertaining, just him and his guitar. After a short stroll along the river, we headed home. 


Monday we caught the bus to Worcester and spent the afternoon there. Quite a nice place,
beautiful cathedral right on the river. Again, we strolled along the river, and took in the sights; Worcester Race Course, Worcester Cricket Club and The Shambles, the oldest part of town. Beautiful buildings. We stopped for a late lunch before heading back to camp.




Tuesday, Valerie picked us up and we headed off to 'The Hills'. The length of The Malvern hills is 9 miles. We went up mid point, quite a climb to the top, but got the most stunning views all around. It was a bit cooler today and quite a breeze up there but very exhilarating. It's very undulating with paths going off in all directions. We stopped mid-way and had lunch and then continued with our walk. When then headed back to Malvern and stopped at a cafe for tea and cake.


Wednesday, our last day here.  We didn't do too much. Took a stroll into Hanley Swan and saw these young fellas on our way back cooling in the river. Early evening, we met up with Valerie at the Swan Inn in Hanley Swan and had an early dinner. Very nice too. A lovely ending to our week in Malvern. We hope to come back again soon. Tomorrow we are heading off to a new location.......

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