Malvern Hills
The Malvern Hills on the Worcestershire-Herefordshire border are one of the finest ridge walks in England, a narrow range of Pre-Cambrian rocks rising to over 400 metres above the surrounding Midland plain in a wall of hills extending approximately fifteen kilometres, providing panoramic views of extraordinary extent from their accessible summit ridge. The hills give their name to the Victorian spa town of Great Malvern below, whose spa tradition was based on the pure spring water emerging from these ancient rocks.
The ridge walk from the Worcestershire Beacon provides the finest continuous walking, views expanding east over the Midland Plain and west over the Herefordshire and Welsh border countryside in a panorama of great pastoral richness. The Pre-Cambrian rocks of the Malverns are approximately 680 million years old and quite different in character and origin from the rocks of any surrounding region.
Edward Elgar, born and raised in Worcestershire, drew on the Malvern Hills landscape throughout his creative life, and the hills have been associated with his music since his lifetime. The combination of the walking, the spa heritage and the Elgar connection creates a destination of considerable cultural and natural depth.