Back to Malvern

Back in June we went with out friends Bea and Steve to the Three Counties Agricultural Show in Great Malvern. We thoroughly enjoyed the show and the place we stayed. So when we discovered that there was also an autumn show focussing on garden produce and food things we decided to go and check it out.

Steve and Bea picked us up on Saturday morning and we headed down to Malvern. We were extremely lucky with the traffic, the roads and even the weather.

We saw gigantic vegetables, dead straight runner beans, weird parsnips. We looked at show rabbits and show poultry. We did not, however, indulge in rabbit pie, nor even chicken pie. I think we would have got into lots of trouble if we had fricasseed one of the fluffy bunnies, even one of the very peculiar ones with the floppy fringes.

We ambled in the food hall and dallied in the clothes stalls. We investigated the garden stalls and pottered around the flower arrangements (briefly).

We watched the dog breed demonstration. The Builder wouldn't let me take any of the dogs home with me, not even the dachshund which belonged to the compère. He didn't deserve it. He walked on it. It would have been much happier with me ;-(

We admired vintage cars and old farm machinery. There was a collection of vintage caravans which was extremely interesting. It was a bit like a village horticultural society show (only gigantic) married to a vintage vehicle show.

There was a surprising lack of cakes!

We walked for miles, gazed down upon by the Malvern Hills which provide a spectacular backdrop to the showgrounds. It was a great afternoon.

We went back to Bant's Hotel in Upton Snodbury where we stayed last time. The evening was warm and sunny enough for us to sit outside in the beer garden until dinner time. The dinner was wonderful. My rack of lamb was meltingly delicious.

I probably didn't need three courses.

Or quite so much wine.

Or, indeed, a three egg omelette with enormous mushrooms and bacon for breakfast.

We needed exercise to walk it all off.

Way back when, when The Builder and I were quite new, we had occasion to visit the Malvern Hills on a weekend dedicated to stalking Elgar. While we were there, I bought from the hotel we were staying in a collection of leaflets of walks in the hills. Nearly killed The Builder (who had an uncorrected hernia at the time) and Ross (who was quite unwell at the time but who had yearned to stalk Elgar but was certainly not fit enough to drive himself around, which is why we were there) by storming up the British Camp Iron Age Hill Fort, following the instructions on one of the leaflets and not noticing that they were seriously struggling to keep up.

I had brought the leaflets with me in case a walk was required.

Fortunately, on this occasion everyone was in fine health, Bea was the one with the leaflet in hand, and the Worcestershire Beacon is not a hill fort (at least, I don't think it is) and we were not galloping in a straight line to the top. It was, in fact, a very pleasant, quite gentle walk. The beacon is the highest point in the Malvern Hills but we had driven quite some way up the hillside to the car park and our route was not a direct stomp to the top. In fact, we didn't ever get to the top. But high enough for some magnificent views. Where on Saturday we had been at the show, looking up at the hills, on Sunday we were up on the hills gazing down on the showgrounds. The cars absolutely glistened in the light. And the showgrounds are huge. No wonder it took so long to get round them.

We lost our trail at one point. We could see where we should have been, but physically getting there was going to prove difficult. So we just kept going, nearly to the top, and eventually got back to where we had started. So no pleasant walk through a wooded hillside for us. But a lovely tramp along open scrubland higher up, admiring the magnificent views. I took some pictures - but they don't even come close to doing the views justice.

We had lunch in the Wyche Inn, in Wyche, near Malvern. Wasn't bad at all. Reasonable pub roast beef.

Then we came home.

Marlo was quite pleased to see us.

Mind you - he nearly got run over this morning. I didn't come in till later, but was stood at the gate, seeing Oscar out. Marlo jumped up on the wall and walked towards the gate. I must admit - I expected him to stop. But he didn't. He jumped down and walked behind Oscar, who was reversing, and practically under the wheels. Fortunately, when I thumped on the car, The Builder stopped immediately! I picked Marlo up and held him securely until Oscar was heading off down the road!!! He spent most of the rest of the day (Marlo, not Oscar) sleeping slap bang in the middle of our bed. Made it quite hard to change the sheet and pillow cases, which had been my plan.

I noticed that there is a spring show in Malvern in May. I considered getting tickets, so we could say we had done the complete calendar. But a bit of investigation suggested that it is really a flowery gardening show. Not really into flowers in a big way. Might not bother. Could easily be persuaded to go to the agricultural show again next year, though.

Ian is in London. Again