It is difficult to imagine how anyone would discover this 109 mile walk from Bridgenorth to Gloucester focussed upon the geological aspects without being interested in geology. To be honest although it has been defined as a walk it lacks any real what I term landscape synergy except for those particularly interested in geology. Devised by the Herefordshire and Worcestershire Earth Heritage Trust linked to Worcester University. In my view it would benefit from re-branding as the Abberley, Malvern and May Hills Way reducing both its geological focus and its walking distance accordingly. Geologically it could then be focussed upon the Silurian Marine Rocks which have resulted in an intermittent mountain like landscape with a line running southward from Abberley through the Malverns and then to May Hill. From a walker’s perspective this would cover the ranges of hills that offer such splendid mountain like views. Although for the non long distance walkers this also supports better those arriving by car looking to undertake shorter circular walks at specific locations.
So
how did I discover this Geopark Way? In driving north west along the A448 from
Redditch to Bromsgrove I always mistook a set of hills I could see on my left
side as being the Malvern Hills since they had a similar profile but I was
aware they were too far north. Upon investigating I realised they were the
Abberley Hills. Then similarly driving down south on the M5 I could see a set
of hills beyond where the Malverns ended. This was May Hill leading into the
Forest of Dean. The epiphany moment was realising that geologically their peaks
were made of the same rock type resulting in them resisting erosion and forming
what I term a “mountain like landscape” in a normally “rolling hills” type landscape.
Having visited all three locations, Abberley Hills, Malvern Hills and May Hill,
they all offer an outstanding experience although the Malvern Hills offers the most
exceptional visual views experience.
I
have included a free link to The Geopark Way Guide to really advertise this
walk. It is a First Edition dated 2008 and I would encourage you to go to the
Shop on their website below to buy an up to date Second Edition copy for £15. They
also sell other useful local printed resources. You do get the impression that the
activity level on publicising this particular Geopark Way walk is low (2024)
with efforts going into other geological projects like Birmingham Erratic
Boulders project. Although this is symptomatic of the whole geographical,
historical and geological activities in the United Kingdom as funding becomes
more difficult and the dependence on volunteers increases. With both Central Government,
Local Council and University funding all being cut back all I can say is thanks
to Lottery Funding some movement is still being financed. These initiatives are
becoming more dependant on charitable donations and volunteers doing the work.
In my small way this is about me encouraging you the reader into locating an interest
you would like to support.
Link
to a free copy of The Geopark Way Guide subject to defined Copyright Rules
below.
If
you have little time to spend exploring the Geopark Way I recommend three must
visit locations below.
Section
7 Abberley to Martley Page 60 Viewpoint 26
Section
10 North Malvern to Colwall Page 82 Viewpoint 51
Section
15 Newent to Huntley Page
114 Viewpoint 69
Link
to the Earth Heritage Trust
Publisher Copyright of "The Geopark Way" is acknowledged as the Herefordshire & Worcestershire Earth Heritage Trust. DMB Publishing the Digital Publisher of this digitised copy operates on a strictly non for profit basis, whilst it is shared here strictly under a Creative Commons 4.0 Licence defined by a CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 Deed. The Copyright owner is acknowledged and if there is any objection to this digitised copy the content will be immediately removed from the internet. The sole objective of its publication on the internet is to raise public awareness of the existence of The Geopark Way and to encourage readers to purchase the latest The Geopark Way Edition 2 from the Herefordshire & Worcestershire Earth Heritage Trust website listed above. .
