John & Lin's Continuing Adventure in Their Caravan: Blackmore Caravan and Camping Club Site - Days 50

Blackmore Caravan and Camping Club Site - Days 50 - 56 of our Autumn/Winter Tour

Monday 1st November 2021 ⛅⛅⛅⛅🌞 🐇🐰🐇🐰🐇

Today was moving day, and for us we were on our chocks quite early because we'd packed away our awning yesterday! So there we were, all hitched up and in the car ready to go, but as John turned the key in the ignition ....... nothing happened except a few spluttering noises! Whoops it looked like we'd got a flat battery and maybe that was our fault because we'd had the doors open on the car for ages yesterday and this morning and that had resulted in the interior lights being left on for a long period which may have drained the battery power. So, what to do now?? Well, John disconected the van from the car battery (because the fridge and the ATC system were taking power from it) and tried again and 🎉'hip hip hooray' 🎉 , the engine grudgingly came to life and we were on our way!

And I'm quite happy to say that was nearly the end of the day's traumas! We completed our 140 mile journey quite quickly and we were soon pitched up on the CCC's Blackmore Site which sits in the distant shadow of the towering Malvern Hills.

However, as we neared our destination we nearly got 'scammed' and I nearly fell for it! I received a WhatsApp saying 'Hi Mum, just wanted to let you know I've got a new number cos my old contract's ran out' I replied 'who is it? Ben Sarah or Adam' The reply came 'it's Ben' The conversation then went on with generalities about how we were and he was, and at that stage I was convinced I was conversing with my son Ben! However,then he said 'I'm having trouble with my bank because they're off line and I need to pay 2 bills by 6pm. Can you maybe pay them for me and I'll pay you back tomorrow'. And even at that stage no alarm 🔔🔔 rang and I still didn't smell a 🐀 although by now I was chuntering about my darling son to John, and that was when he became suspicious! He asked me if I was sure it was our Ben and I said I was, but to be sure he did no more other than to ring our Ben who knew nothing about the shenanigans! Needless to say the scammer was then given short shift, his number blocked and the whole episode reported to WhatsApp, but it just goes to show how devious these B_____ds can be!

A distant view of the Malvern Hills.

The hills have been designated as an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty and run north-south for about 8 miles between Great Malvern and the village of Colwall passing through the counties of Worcestershire, Herefordshire and a small area of northern Gloucestershire so I'm sure they'll provide lots for us to do. However, we have explored some of the area before when we were here back in June 2019, but on that occasion we were in our Motorhome and only stayed for 3 nights.

Tuesday 2nd November 2021 ❄️🌞🌞🌞☁🌞🌞🌞☁

Today dawned as one of those beautiful crisp bight Autumn mornings and the sunshine lasted for most of the day. Therefore, we certainly weren't going to waste it and we were soon packed up and heading for the Black Hill car park from where we would start today's walk.

Black Hill itself was our first target and to get there we followed a deeply steeply undulating trail along the ridge of the Malverns, and for our efforts we were rewarded with wide ranging vistas that stretched as far away as the Midlands on one side and Wales on the other.

The trail then continued up hill and down dale over Pinnacle Hill, Jubilee Hill and Perseverance Hill, and once our turning point was reached our usual picnic and coffee were consumed before we about turned to take the easier path that runs along just below the ridge and above the old Gardiner's Quarry.

Wednesday 3rd November 2021 ⛅⛅☁☁☁☂⛅⛅⛅

Our plan for today was to make use of our newly acquired National Trust membership and visit Croome Court which has a history that includes being the home of the 6th Earl of Coventry back in 1751, then much later in 1942 it became a secret war time RAF base where radars were developed. In 1948 Croome became a school for disadvantaged boys and in 1979 it was sold to Hare Krishna devotees. In 1984 property developers brought it but the upkeep of the house spiralled out of control so it finally came into the hands of the National Trust in 1996 when both the park and lake were close to complete ruin and lost beneath huge swarths of undergrowth. Since then they have invested over 8 million pounds in restoring some of it to it's former glory but that is still an ongoing project.

A Mansion and Park that were designed by Lancelot 'Capability' Brown

As we'd got the whole day to spend there we planned to explore the full extent of the park land and also have a quick peek inside the grand house itself so the map we were given as we entered proved to be very useful. We started our tour by having a quick look at the ancient church of St Magdalene but quickly moved onto the Ice House which quite took us by surprise! As we entered the door we were met by a metal grid with a light switch at the side, and once illuminated we could peer down into it's depths! Apparently two thirds of it are hidden underground and this was where the ice would be stored for use in the kitchens.

From there we moved onto the Rotunda which was a spherical structure that overlooks parkland and has views up to the Park Seat where we would later have our lunch. Initially, when we got there we thought we were going to get wet because a passing shower nearly caught us out, but as the door was open we nipped in to sip our coffee and admire the beautiful plaster work some of which was mounted on Portland Stone.

The Rotunda

Once the rain had gone we nipped down to the Chinese Bridge, and from there we headed along a muddy track to the far reaches of the park. There we found the Park Seat which was also known as The Owl's Nest, because in times gone by, it was used as a viewing station for most of the park, and that was exactly what we used it for today.

The Chinese Bridge

The Park Seat or The Owl's Nest or our Dining Room

Once fed and watered we followed a different track back towards estates Lake, and as we went we tramped through lots of crunchy fallen leaves and also admired the rich autumnal colours in the towering trees above us.

The Lake itself seemed to be home to a vast number of noisy ducks and on one side it was bordered by 'The Grotto' which was built from 'Tufa' which is a volcanic stone! It was another folly designed by 'Capability' Brown and originally it had crystals, coral and semi precious stones embedded in it's walls. However, today all it had within it's walls was my precious John!

From there we headed back to the house for that quick peek inside, but although it was interesting in the presentation of it's history and artefacts that had been found within it and it's grounds it certainly wasn't on any grade scale with regrade to furnishings. Therefore it wasn't long before we were heading for home and a nice cuppa with a biscuit or two to dunk!

Thursday 4th November 2021 ❄️🌞🌞🌞☁🌞🌞🌞☁❄️

Today found us heading for the hills again and we started our walk from The British Camp care park from where we headed very steeply uphill. British camp is an Iron Age hill fort that is a Scheduled Ancient Monument located at the top of Hertfordshire Beacon, the summit of which rises to 1,109 feet. It's thought that the fort dates back to the 2nd century BC, so as you'd imagine there isn't much left to see other than the extensive concentric earthworks and ditches that are covered in grass, but the near 360 degree far reaching views from the top more than make up for that.

From there we continued to follow the ridge path for a while before turning of to inspect Clutter's Cave.

And then we passed over Hangman's Hill, Millennium Hill, Swinyard Hill and then through a wooded area before we found ourselves beneath Somers Obelisk which is a monument that we visited last summer when we stayed in the grounds of Eastnor Castle.

A Grade 2 listed monument that was constructed in 1812 on the estate
of Eastnor Castle to commemorate John Lords Somers and
other members of his family

A very Distant view of Eastnor Castle

When we got to the obelisk we found we had a big decision to make 😂! Unfortunately there were no benches where we could rest our weary legs while we picnicked, therefore we could either stand while we ate, sit on the muddy grass or walk for about a mile downhill further into Eastnor park to sit by one of the fishing ponds. The later won out, but while it was easy going down it was a bit more challenging when we needed to retrace our steps as we started our homeward journey.

Friday 5th November 2021 ☁️☁️⛅⛅⛅☁️☁️☁️

Today the sunshine was often hiding behind the clouds so we decided to revisit the town of Great Malvern itself (we were there back in June 2019), therefore rather than repeating a lot of stuff about the town I'm just going to put a link on (click here) so you can go back in time and have a look if your interested 🤣. However, I did take some new pics that are better than the old ones so I will pop one or two of them on!

Our first stop was in Rose Bank Gardens where we got to admire the Malvern Buzzards and The Ascending Lark again while we sipped our morning coffee.

Next came a bit of uninteresting shopping, but then more interesting was lunch at the The Foley Arms (another good old spoonies) where John cleared up a huge mixed grill and I hovered up fish and chips 😋 all washed down by 🍻 a little bevy!

And after that we indulged in a walk around the town which allowed us to admire some of it's intricate and beautiful old buildings.

The Abbey Hotel

And the Priory which the Worcester Monastic Annals says dates back to 1085
when it was built for thirty monks and was much smaller than it is now!

The Churches old Bell Clappers

Then finally we wandered back through Priory Park where we found a Tree Nymph, a pretty lake and lots more Autumn colours.

Saturday 6th November 2021 ☁️☁️⛅⛅⛅☁️☁️☁️ and as the day wore on a strong breeze emerged!

For today we'd decided to have a lazy one 😴 but that was before John decided he wanted to go and get his Covid Booster Jab. The BBC News was full of inviting people for Boosters after 5 months, but John had already waited 6 so when he found that the 3 Counties Show Ground (which is only a couple of miles from where we are) was running a 'Walk In' clinic he decided today was the day!

However, rather than going in the car we thought the exercise of the 6 mile round trip would do us good so we walked! And it was a very pleasant walk from our site, down through the pretty village of Hanley Swan then onto the far reaches of the Show Ground. But when we arrived it was to be met with disappointment because the 'Walk In' clinic had been overwhelmed with customers and it would be at least 2 hours before John could be jabbed💉 . Additionally, there was no room to wait inside - all the other people were waiting in their cars and we would just of had to join the queue and wait behind them!

Therefore, on this occasion, we gave it up as a bad job thinking John would easily be able to book a proper appointment nearby but when he looked there was nothing available😠. So it looks like we'll need to head back to the Show Ground on Monday for another go as a 'Walk In' but this time we'll take the car along with coffee and snacks so if we have to wait a while it'll be much more acceptable.

Sunday 7th November 2021⛅⛅⛅⛅⛅⛅⛅⛅ another extremely breezy day!

Today we were going for a bit of deja vu in that we were going to repeat a hill walk that we'd already experienced back in June 2019. Our target was the Worcestershire Beacon and to facilitate our walk we headed for a carpark on Wyche Road, and although we'd driven uphill for quite a long way to get there we still had 'a huge mountain to climb'⛰😨! So it was one foot in front of the other in 'crawler' gear as we plodded up through a terraced old quarry to the quaintly named Gold Mine which was a way marker that I thought was near the top of the hill ...... and although it's not very often that I'm wrong, I certainly was this time😂

The arrow that we needed to follow pointed ever upwards taking us over Summer Hill and onwards until we eventually we reached our target which was the Viewfinder Toposcope that identified many of the surrounding visible features. However, it was quite difficult to stand admiring it because at that point the wind was definitely trying to blow us away - John nearly lost his cap😂

The Toposcope sits at 1,394 feet and was originally erected in 1897 to celebrate Queen Victoria's Diamond Jubilee, but apparently, it was stolen in 2000 but then quickly replaced by Malvern Hills Conservators. However, the original was later returned (2001) but I would suspect that the one we saw today was still the replacement because it looked relatively new! And an additional claim to fame for the area was the filming of Dr Who - The Krotons - back in 1968. That was when the 2nd Doctor, Patrick Troughton and the Daleks were still about!

Our windy walk then continued past Sugarloaf Hill and around North Hill and Table Hill along Lady Howard De Waldern Drive and it was along there, near Ivy Scar Rock that a perfect picnic spot presented itself for lunch. While we gobbled our sarnies we had the pleasure of overlooking the town centre of Great Malvern in the foreground and Worcester much more distantly.

However, it was too cold to linger for long so we were soon up and walking again as we circumnavigated the Hills before starting our return journey by climbing steeply back up to The Beacon and then following a slightly lower trail back to the car park. But on the way we happened upon a sight that we didn't really want to see 😱! It was the Three Counties Show Ground jam packed with cars for people seeking their Booster Jabs - I really hope it's not quite so busy tomorrow!