Great Malvern Tuesday 12 May 2015
Start: Ross on Wye
Finish: Great Malvern
Miles walked today: 24
Total miles: 312
I think I could be lured over to the dark side... maybe our friends Dotty and Tim have the right idea? Could a bath each night mean less pain? I'm not going to find out tonight though. The charming Puddle Lane B&B in Great Malvern has a shower.
I started walking well before eight full of porridge. As I followed the river out of town I fell into conversation with a lady dog walker. Among the topics we discussed was her recent trip to Iceland. She was the second person to urge me to visit that cold country. Maybe...
Not being totally sure of my destination tonight I headed roughly in the direction of Ledbury, and hoped to reach Malvern. During the later part of the morning the local footpaths and I fell out. Clearly marked on my map, the paths were either non existent or rarely used and overgrown. I ended up crawling through hedges, tackling barbed wire, diverting around huge fields of crops, and, at one point, tramping through someone's front garden. By lunchtime, and Ledbury, I was bloodied but undefeated.
Ledbury is the most attractive town I've seen so far on this walk. All black and white buildings, narrow lanes, a beautiful church, and one of those buildings on stilts:
"The Market House, erected in 1653 by the celebrated John Abel, styled the "Kings carpenter", is a dominating structure of brick and timber supported on 16 massive posts of either Spanish chestnut or English oak. Legend has it that the supporting pillars were once part of the Spanish Armada, but it is more likely that they were obtained from the Malvern "Chase"
The Market House was originally constructed as a grain store, but now serves the purpose of a Council chamber."
Sitting drinking a bottle of pop under the market house, I can smell something cooking. Behind me sausages are sizzling and smelling delicious. I try to buy a sausage bap, but the owner of the stall is absent and the neighbouring stall holder refuses to sell me food. She says it's not allowed, as she's not trained. We are having a heated but good natured discussion during which I try to persuade her to rebel, when the sausage lady returns. She serves me a delicious and tasty snack, and explains that she's a farmer and that she makes the bangers herself. The two women ask me where I'm headed, and promise to look at this lowly journal. I do hope you have seen this, both of you. In a further act of kindness Mrs Sausage wraps some bangers in foil to sustain me during the afternoon.
Great Malvern sits to the East of the Malvern Hills. My afternoon takes in some woodland trails, then a slog to the top of the afore mentioned hills. At the top, a sign tells me I'm leaving Herefordshire and entering Worcestershire. Another county. There are stunning views to the East, and I sit near the priory Googling for a room.
