Thomas loves staying in hotels. So, when I told him we were going away for the weekend, his question was not where are we going, but, are we staying in a hotel? And the answer was yes. After being "home" for nearly 2 years we were finally going off to explore the countryside. Okay, so we have done a couple of day trips to places close by, but we hadn't yet gone much beyond the boundaries of East Anglia. originally the plan for the weekend was to take the Eurostar to Lille in France, but due to passport issues, that excursion will have to wait a while. So, I kind of did a pin in the map thing and ended up choosing Worcester (pronounced Wooster by the way). As it ended up being a last minute thing, and I really didn't have time to trawl through hotel literature, I used a travel agent to book the room after I spotted something I liked on the website of a hotel breaks company. I think we were fortunate we wanted a family/triple room, as once we arrived it was obvious they were pretty full.
So on Friday 9th April, we packed up the car on a beautiful spring day and headed for the motorway. We took the Mapquest route (and most direct/obvious route) via the motorways, and despite not leaving my parents house until midday, and stopping off to eat our previously purchased Subway sandwiches and topping up on Starbucks at a rest stop, we arrived at our hotel in Great Malvern by 3 PM. By 4 PM we were climbing into the hills (seriously I thought I was going to expire just climbing up the steps to reach "the hills"). By 5 PM we were gazing out across the countryside having reached one of the hill peaks - it was a wonderful feeling.
To an eight year old boy who has spent the last 2 years living in the flat landscape of the Fens, these hills were mountains - and he had conquered his first mountain! Evidently to the locals, climbing into the hills is probably as natural as climbing the hills in town to get to the pub/post office/supermarket, but to us it was something special. The good thing about Springtime is that the daylight stays with us longer, so we had plenty of time to trek back down the hill, once again passing the whiff of sulphur at St Ann's Well ( Malvern is known for it's water).
We were past wanting a posh dinner by this point, so we headed for MacDonald's for a quick, if not sustaining meal, grabbed lots of bottles of water and a couple of chocolate bars in preparation for the next day and got back to our room to crash out.
As the next day dawned, we were slightly undecided as to what to do, but as it looked like another lovely day we thought we had better take in another walk whilst the weather held out. So we went down for breakfast, which had you been blessed with camel type properties, could have sustained you all day. Alas, my stomach can only manage one meal at a time (although Kevin would beg to differ on that front later in the day), so I ate well, but did not stuff myself, with the array of sausages, eggs, bacon, beans, hash browns, toast, cereals, fruit, yoghurt etc, all washed down with various juices and the usual coffee and tea. Then is was back to the room to prepare the cameras, water, chocolate, warm layers, and general bits and pieces that needed fitting into the backpacks. The nice people at the Great Malvern tourist office pointed us in the direction of the car park nearest to British Camp (an Iron Age hill fort), and off we went.
The car park was busy, but not yet full (we only had a 4 mile drive to get there), and we were soon climbing up the slope to get into the hills. We decided to leave British Camp until our return trip, so without a real plan just followed some paths and signposts and went exploring. Again, the views were "stunning" (Thomas's words - he's been watching too much "Escape to the Country"). I did have map, but once I realised that the hill I though was Hangman's Hill wasn't, I decided that reading the map was pretty pointless, after all we didn't really have a destination in mind (other than to get back to British Camp and the car park), and the good thing about these hills is that you can (in good weather anyway) see where you are most of the time, and if that fails there are plenty of walkers that would probably point you in the right direction. After about an hour, and with the breeze picking up, we decided it was time to retrace our steps and check out British Camp. Although not the first time I have seen Iron Age earthworks, this was probably the best example I have stood upon.
Returning to the (now jam-packed) car park, and despite only recently scoffing chocolate bars (walking uses up extra energy you know), we decided it was a good time for lunch and grabbed a patio table at the pub over the road. Thomas declared he was not particularly hungry (saving himself in the hopes of an ice-cream), but Kevin and I managed a jacket potato with cheese. The lunch was only slightly spoiled by an increase in the breeze, and the fumes from a nearby smoker. Crossing another road took us to the ice-cream seller/snack shop, which, I realised as we were standing in the queue, was featured in a book I had recently read. So whilst Kevin and Thomas picked the usual strawberry and chocolate, I went for one of the more unusual flavours - gooseberry and elderflower. I was not disappointed, it was possibly the best ice cream I had ever tasted, and it's not even summer yet!
After a quick stop off back at the hotel, we headed towards Worcester city centre. After going around the one way system twice to find parking, it ended up being a short walk to the Cathedral area.
We maybe could have stayed longer in
the Cathedral, but with an eight year old who was within sniffing distance of a town centre that potentially sold Match Attax (football, aka soccer trading cards) we looked around, took some pictures, made a couple of purchases, Thomas lit a candle, and it was time to move on. I did really like the Cathedral. The stained glass windows were lovely and the vibrant colours used inside made it look new rather than ancient. Worth the trip.
To Thomas's delight we did find a shop that sold Match Attax. After a short shopping trip it was time to go back to our hotel for dinner. So, all this extra exercise obviously made me a little bit hungry, as I polished off my poached salmon and courgette risotto, AND had Kevin's vegetables from his grilled chicken, on top of the bread roll, AND managed to demolish a dessert of strawberry and kiwi pavlova (okay, the last 2 mouthfuls were a struggle to manage, but I did it!). Thomas was fighting sleep but managed all but 2 bites of pizza and most of a banana split. Despite the fact it was dark by the time we finished our meal (I am a very slow eater, the wait staff kept hovering around to see if they could clear the plates), we went out for a walk along nearby streets. Unbelievably for early April I didn't even need a coat (possibly I was fueled by all that extra food!).
The Sunday dawned not quite so brightly, and although I could have managed another walk, we decided to leave after breakfast for the scenic route home. As usual this was my bright idea, forgetting how twisty and bumpy the roads in the Cotswolds can be. After getting lost on the back roads we made it to Hidcote Manor with only a few cross words between us! It was well worth the getting lost bit though. As members of the National Trust, we got in for free so that saved us close to 20 pounds, which is always a good thing, and Thomas got a left over Easter egg out of it as he did a garden quiz - bargain! The weather being a bit cooler probably made us hurry through it a bit, and I think later in the year would be a better time to go as despite the spring flowers things were looking a bit bare, but it was a very nice place to break our journey.
Back on the road and we were beginning to reach somewhat familiar territory. You know when you get close enough to home to just be done with the journey (even if it's only been a couple of hours!), well, we were there. A stop off at a family "pub" for dinner was needed as the cupboard was bare at home, and a quick stop for essentials for the next day and petrol, and we fell though our front door ready for bed. Luckily I was not going out to work the next day (although Kevin was), so unpacking got left for later. And so came to an end our first (but hopefully not last) adventure.
