This summit was activated by myself, accompanied by Marianne, Jimmy & Liam on Saturday 31st July 2004.   

 
It was the day to drive home from Shaldon, near Torquay, where we had enjoyed a week's family holiday. We came off the M5 to have a short stop in the lovely village of Upton-on-Severn, where we had a drink, a look in the fantastic "The Map Shop" and bought some pasties, cakes and viennas to take on a walk. We were within striking distance of the Malvens, and I successfully persuaded Marianne that a family walk up the Worcestershire Beacon, with our picnic goodies at the top would be appropriate.

   

We approached Great Malvern from the south on the A449, then took a sharp left to head uphill just before reaching the town centre. As the summit of this road is reached, which is also the coll between two adjacent Malvern Hills, we turned right into road accessing the parking areas. Parking was charged at a flat rate of £2. A land rover track runs all the way to the summit and beyond, although general vehicle access is strictly prohibited.   Alternatively, several paths run parallel, taking in a sequence of "false summits" en route to the top. The best walking route in my opinion is to stick with the vehicle track as it winds its way gently upwards with increasingly fine views. The weather was very hot and sunny, and we looked forward to our liaison with the ice cream van upon our return to the car park!

At the top, I set up in exactly the same place as last year and so took advantage of the bench to sit on while operating. Contacts were plentiful, and pleasingly included several summit-to-summits and Kev and James on their debut activation.

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