Peter Schrammel - Mountains

31. 5. 2021

Peter Schrammel

Weather

foggy, sunny towards noon

Interest

***: Traversal of the northern part of the impressive Malvern Hills chain

Route

Colwall, 131m - British Camp, 238m - Pinnacle Hill, 357m - Wyche, 265m - Worcestershire Beacon, 424m - Sugarloaf Hill, 352m - Table Hill, 375m - North Hill, 398m - Great Malvern, 87m

Elevation gain

+568m/-600m

Distance

14km

Timing

3 1/3h (1/2 + 1/2 + 1/2 + 2/3 + 1/6 + 1/6 + 1/6 + 2/3)

Stamina

Difficulty

Danger

Visitor frequency

e: extremely popular

Report

I had done the southern part of this hill chain in 2019. Since then it never worked to do the northern part too. This bank holiday the weather was announced excellent. So, I took the first train in the morning leaving at 5.10am. As usual there were railroad improvement works on the bank holiday. I had to change to the replacement bus in Moreton-in-Marsh to Worcester Foregate Street. Finally, I arrived in at 8.05am in Colwall where I left off two years ago. The weather was overcast and foggy. The first walkers were already out with their dogs when I hiked up through meadows to the little pass of A449 road. I continued to Black Hill and followed the ridge. It became increasingly windy towards Pinnacle Hill, so that I put on jacket, hood and gloves. Several runners overtook me. The wind rained the dew from the trees. Over Perseverance Hill I walkd down to Upper Wyche where the B4218 crosses the chain. There were no signs of clearing the fog. I climbed steep up to Summer Hill. There were more badly equipped walkers in this section. Sheep were grazing all along the way. Finally a steeper slop leads up to Worcestershire Beacon. The cold wind was not easing. After 10am I looked for a sheltered spot behind the rocks and started eating my sandwiches. Several hikers arrived and left immediately because there was no view and the temperatures were not inviting to stay. More and more people arrived. Among them a family with two little boys who had great fun climbing up and down on the rocks until they got too cold too. Suddenly there was a little hole in the clouds towards the west and at 10.45am suddenly the clouds were gone. Not it became visible how many people were approaching the summit from all sides. The summit was already quite crowded when I left and hundreds of people were still coming. There was a nice view back towards the southern ridge until Herefordshire Beacon, still in the mist, and North Hill on the other side. I walkd down and up to Sugarleaf Hill, a bit steeper up to Table Hill and again further up to North Hill. From there I had a nice view down to Great Malvern, perched against the steep eastern slopes. Since I was much faster than expected, I wanted to take the train at 1.10pm rather than 3.10pm. I walked down into the town centre quickly. A few mountainbikers were on their way uphill. I wanted to get ice cream somewhere, but did not find a suitable place. So, I continued to the station. Looking back up to summit, it seemed even more crowded now. A paraglider was preparing to fly. I took the train to Worcester and had my ice cream there while waiting for the bus. I slept most of the journey. Finally, I arrived in Oxford at 4.25pm.