Malvern College – Parents’ Society Walk

30 Jan 2013

Fourteen of us Malvern College Parents’ Society parents and children gathered at Colwall station, some having to make significant detours to avoid the floods, in aim to walk over the Malvern Hills.

Some less well-known footpaths through Colwall took us by an interesting route through The Downs School, which was alive with the activity of a Sunday tournament. Parts of the miniature railway were under water and water was still streaming off the Hills in places but the lanes and paths were still perfectly passable, the puddles barely noticed amid the myriad conversations.

The climb to the Brewer’s Arms was rewarded by the ‘Best Pub View 2005’ where we had lunch, and our numbers were swelled by others who had not been able to join us earlier.
During our unhurried lunch break the mist had come down, reducing the view as we climbed the Dingle, but it dispersed during our descent towards St Anne’s Well, revealing the extent of flooding from the Severn, and the pupils debated which of the College buildings could be seen, partly obscured by cloud. Descending to the Rose Bank Gardens via the ’99 Steps’ provoked the perennial discussion about how many steps there really were, and we were greeted by the stunning new sculpture of buzzards, installed only a few days earlier. Reluctant to break up the sociable gathering, a sizeable group continued to a tea shop, while others retrieved cars from Colwall, and looked forward to doing another walk together in a few months’ time.

Ruaridh McDonald, parent