Woolly says – Burpdays are always the best, even when it’s not mine as Jo is happy to share her day, presents and cake with me…..

I should point out that Jo doesn’t get a say in the sharing!

Woolly says – ….. Of course she does, especially when I smile sweetly at her.  With the sun shining bright and a lot to get through we took to the open road and the delights of the Malvern Hills. The hills range across the counties of Worcestershire, Herefordshire and a small area of northern Gloucestershire, dominating the surrounding countryside and the towns and villages of the district of Malvern. The highest summit of the hills gives a panoramic view of the Severn Valley with the hills of Herefordshire and the Welsh mountains, parts of thirteen counties, the Bristol Channel, and the cathedrals of Worcester, Gloucester and Hereford, so quite a lot to gaze upon.

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The area is known for its spring water, initially made famous by the region’s many holy wells, and later through the development of the 19th-century spa town of Great Malvern, a process which culminated in the production of the modern bottled drinking water.

Today they were full of people enjoying the lovely weather with dogs racing round and humans huffing and puffing to get to the top, Alfie the Dog sped off as soon as his lead was undone to join in the frolics as Jo, Zoe and I climbed slowly behind him.

The views really were as good as expected and as we reached the summit all we could see where miles and miles of fields, trees and distant towns and villages.

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Our descent was far quicker and easier on the lungs and as we headed into the town of Great Malvern, I was particularly looking forward to the cake element that was to come. Having parked up we wandered through the town park and towards the beautiful church. The town developed around its 11th-century priory, a Benedictine monastery, which recorded having 30 monks by 1135, the remains of which make up some of the early parts of Great Malvern Priory which is now the large parish church.

It was a beautiful with its detailed exterior which looked extremely well maintained, sadly we weren’t able to go inside to admire the stained glass but with a handy tea shop we sat ourselves down and continued to admire it, whilst also admiring the delicious cake that was placed in front of me.

Chocolate and beetroot cake is a winner and having wiped my small companion down and removed some crumbs from his tail he happily told us a little more about the town.

Woolly says – Best known for its spa’s and hydrotherapy centres it was also a place that was frequented by the famous writers C. S. Lewis and J. R. R. Tolkien. Legend states that, after drinking in a Malvern pub one winter evening, they were walking home when it started to snow. They saw a lamp post shining out through the snow and Lewis turned to his friends and said “that would make a very nice opening line to a book”. The novel The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe by Lewis later used that image as the characters enter the realm of Narnia.

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With our snack finished we admired the closed museum building and the leafy delights of the town hotel before heading off to our last destination for the day.

Hartlebury Castle is a Grade I listed building near Worcester, built in the mid-13th century as a fortified manor house, on manorial land earlier given to the Bishop of Worcester by King Burgred of Mercia, it was the residence of the Bishop of Worcester until 2007. During 1646 the building retained some damage from the Civil War but this was repaired although sadly the moats were filled up in 1890 it has changed remarkably little since it’s conception.

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The first thing I noticed as I raced towards the entrance was that it really did look like a manor house and nothing at all like a castle. Leaving the women to sort out payment I set off to have a look round the ‘moat walk’, although leafy and green it gave very few views of the building itself.

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Inside however lay the museum and the only word to describe that was as impressive.  The former kitchen and scullery were fully equipped and I could almost see Jo baking bread in the oven as Zoe toiled away at the wooden sink.

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Two flights of stairs led us into the old nursery which was set out for tea and had a huge amount of display cases showing an impressive collection of toys from the Victorian era.

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Down a flight of stairs and we found information and items all linked to local farming and the history of the area.

One room was dedicated to the 20’s with a wonderful collection of dresses from the time, I’d always rather fancied being a flapper.

Woolly says – It would suit her well being known to flap when I make a mess!

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The ground floor took us much further back in time, having admired some ceramics from local excavations I suddenly found myself in front of a huge mammoth bone and a tusk which had been discovered nearby in 2016 which proves that my relatives would have been making merry in the area around 50,000 years ago, I wonder if they had had chocolate cake to enjoy!

A well set out school room led us outside and into the orchard area where things got even better.

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It is a rare site to see original gypsy caravans but here was a whole collection in pristine shape and with their interiors intact.  Jo and I took great delight at looking at each and every one in detail, I could just image living a life on the road in any one of them, all we would need was a horse or maybe Alfie the Dog could pull us along.

With even Alfie the Dog’s paws now tired it was time to head back for more cake and movies for the evening and the possibility of Jo sharing her burpday chocolates, life doesn’t get much better now does it.