CDWA-1010

"The Malvern Hills"

£12.99

...including postage & taxes!

Walking in the Malverns has always been a very special experience and in this packed Audio CD, Ashley Cavers, Peter Nash and Tommy Pearson guide you through some of the best walks in the Malvern Hills.

This teeming double-CD contains six main walks on the hills recorded over a complete year and four unique audio tours to famous places associated with the Hills: The Elgar Birthplace Museum, Eastnor Castle, Morgan Cars (including exclusive interview with Charles Morgan himself) and Malvern Water. There is also an accompanying booklet with pictures, routes, maps and reviews of places to eat, stay and visit.

The special design of the CD allows you to either listen to the walks in their entirety, or simply go to specific points of interest on the routes such as Malvern's water features, pubs or points of historical interest - all fully documented on the CD cover and illustrated inlays. 

  CD 1 Contents (total 67 tracks):

CD 2 Contents (total 69 tracks):

The Town

At the beginning of this CD, Ashley meets Angela Harford, tourism manager for The Malvern Hills Tourist Information Office, who gives us a little insight to the town . . .

Music and water, two issues that have always been at the forefront of the various towns around the Malvern Hills and particularly so in the main town, Great Malvern itself. Sir Edward Elgar, one of Britain's most famous composers wrote much of his repertoire on the hills and a statue to the great man stands proudly at the top of the main street in the centre of the town. Nowadays, Malvern is still graced by musicians - Nigel Kennedy lives here, and the town is home to the English Symphony Orchestra. The ESO's Elgar interpretations are used throughout the CDs and is also available separately from Nimbus Records.

From the spectacular Winter Gardens and the world-famous Malvern Theatres to the beautiful Malvern Priory, there are so many treats in store for the visitor and/or walker to Great Malvern.  This CD is packed with information about this, as well as pointers as to where to go to get more.

Angela points Ashley to St Ann's Well, a favourite stopping point for walkers serving coffee & buns, where she has an appointment with a very special guide...

Walk 1: The Hills - Worcestershire Beacon to British Camp

Having refreshed at St Anne's Well, Ashley meets up with Dr Ron Paul, a consultant neurologist who came to the area seven years ago and walks daily on the Hills with his beautiful dog, Eva. From the Well, they walk up to the breath-taking Worcestershire Beacon, some 1,260ft above sea level and along the ridge of the Malverns towards British Camp.  

At various points along the walk, Ashley meets up with other walkers - some from outside the area who are here on walking vacations. Lunch at the Chase Inn...

Don't forget the CD's index points allow you you follow the walk or go directly to the water features visited around the Hills!

At British Camp, an ancient Iron-Age fort overlooking a number of English counties, Ashley discovers some fascinating stories and legends about the Hills, and the majesty of the place is conjured up through the music of Elgar, whose 'Dream of Gerontius' was inspired by this very spot.

Dr Ron tells tales of giants . . .

Visit 1: The Morgan Car Factory

A real treat . . .

Ashley meets the man himself, Mr Charles Morgan, owner of Morgan cars. Charles is grandson of the original owner who designed the first Morgan back in 1909. This tour of the Morgan factory reveals an amazing story of a company who uses the very latest technology to produce cars that are individually made for each customer. Mixed with this latest technology is true craftsmanship, we enter the part of the factory where the Ash cock-pits are made. There are no robots here!

Charles also dispels a few myths about the car and shows Ashley the inside, and out, of the new Aero 8 - a truly spectacular car.

Walk 2: Gullet Quarry - The South End of the Malvern Hills

Sue Adeny and Carl Atwood take Ashley on a magical tour of little-known walk at the southern end of the Malvern Hills. But first they have to get there from British Camp, and what better way to travel than in a Morgan - a real extravagance!

Joined by Sue's dog, Bell, the walk starts at the spectacular Gullet Quarry with its lake stocked with the enormous, and hungry, Carp! Spectacular views of Eastnor Castle, another Victorian Folly, precede wonderful pictures of the entire hills from the southern end. The discovery of another (and much less known the British Camp) Iron-Age earthworks make this a most unusual walk and endearing walk. Having heard this walk on the CD, you will almost certainly feel obliged to walk it yourself!

Breakfast at the Abbey Hotel!

Having stayed at the Abbey Hotel, the best and certainly grandest in town, Ashley meets the general manager Patrick Jones, for a hearty breakfast before a long walk ahead as well as a visit to the Malvern Water bottling plant in Colwall. 

Walk 3: Part of The Martin Brent Walk.

Courtesy of Malvern Hills Area Of Outstanding Natural Beauty

The Malvern Hills, and much of the surrounding area, lies within a designated 'Area Of Outstanding Natural Beauty' or AONB. On this walk Ashley is joined by three members of the Malvern Hills AONB association for a circular walk that begins and ends in the beautiful village of Colwall. One of a published series of walks within the AONB, this is part of the 'Martin Brent Walk'. Dr James Ferguson, Amanda McCleerly and David Armitage are the guests.

We start at one of the Malverns' most renowned pubs, The Yew Tree Inn on Colwall Green.

The walk for the CD is only about a quarter of the whole Martin Brent walk and took about an hour and a half. If you want t do the whole walk, then you should put aside the best part of a day.  Also get hold of a copy of the leaflet produced by the AONB which is a brilliantly written guide to the walk and what you can expect to see on it. Details, along with photos and much more, are in the accompanying booklet.

Visit 2: The Coca-Cola/Schweppes 'Malvern Water' Plant

Malvern has made its name around the world because of its water and we get the chance to visit the Malvern Water Factory, owned by Coca-Cola/Schweppes. As most people who live in Malvern will tell you, the secret to Malvern Water is that - well, there's nothing in it! It is so pure, having been filtered by the natural granite rock of the Hills, that it contains nothing but water. This fact is not lost on Coca-Cola who have invested in some extremely high-tech bottling equipment to make sure the water you drink from their bottles is as pure as can be!

Although not open to the public yet, Malvern Water are planning to convert one of the plant's old Victorian buildings into a visitor centre. However, we are privileged, thanks to Coca-Cola to get an insight and Ashley meets Nick Turvey, the general manager, for this very unique tour . . .

All the music on the CDs is crafted to illustrate appropriate specific moments. For example the English Symphony Orchestra's version of Elgar's 'Nimrod' and other Elgar pieces feature on the Malvern Hills CD. (The ESO is based in Malvern and Elgar spent much of his time being inspired by his walks in the Malverns). 

The music, courtesy of Nimbus Records, is well documented and can be obtained from all good music stores.

CDWA-1010 - "The Malvern Hills"