The Walkovers group started walking in the spring of 2024 and has a ‘hard core’ of about 9 regulars. We
share the walk-leading and venture further afield and tackle trickier terrain, quicker with a smaller
group. We started walking on a Friday morning, but soon switched to 1st and 3rd Wednesdays to
accommodate the majority of the group, who were also Wednesday Walkers (2nd and 4th Wednesdays).
The first walk in April took us over Bredon Hill from Kemerton, with cherry blossom and bluebells and rape in flower and was a good 7.5 mile trek.
This set the scene for the coming month, with bluebells (and rickety stiles) in Grafton Wood and wild garlic on Dumbleton Hill, which also still has fine remnants of ridge and furrow farming from hundreds of years before and views of Dumbleton Hall.
We had several walks along the Avon and took in the various locks and Weirs at Strensham, Nafford and Fladbury and were blessed with good weather and lovely hill and river views. A lost water bottle on the Eckington circular was left for us at the Swan by a kind walker going in the other direction.
We completed 2 walks north of Pershore in April and June, taking in the churches of Upton Snodsbury, Flyford Flavell, North Piddle and Grafton Flyford. There were larks rising in the wheatfields and we think we may have seen our first brown hairstreak butterfly. Grafton Wood in April was covered in fragrant bluebells and will be worth a revisit in the spring of 2025, rickety stile permitting.
And I took my very first selfie on this one!
Bredon Hill is of course a perennial favourite with lots of walking options, and a shorter car journey. But, we only walked on Bredon Hill 3 times this year, as travelling a little further away to walk is part of the group’s ethos.
But we don’t always manage to get the good weather, even in July. Probably why Heather is scowling. The selfie still needs some practice.
Our first canal walk was a 7 miler around Hanbury in August, with fabulous weather and a photo-bombing gnome at the lock. We were treated to coffee and biscuits in Hanbury Church at the top of the walk plus a bagful of damsons from the tree in the car park.
Belas Knap was attempted 3 times during the year – twice successfully in July and November, and the other attempt was abandoned in favour of Clive’s coffee shop at Cropthorne, our go-to wet weather venue.
The snow on Belas Knap in November made it one of the most picturesque walks of the year. The coffee afterwards at the Deli in Winchcombe is highly recommended. And we welcomed Mo as a new member.
Our first trip to the Malverns was a great success with a walk over Worcestershire Beacon. Lovely weather and views across to the Welsh Hills, although we nearly lost Prisca en route
The walk took us down Lady Howard de Walden’s carriage drive, giving us a grandstand view of where we’d been.
It took 2 attempts to reach the top of the hill in Abberley in September, but we recovered quickly with a super lunch at the Manor in Abberley Village. Top notch food!
We had the biggest turnout of the year in October with 9 of us meeting at Hanley Swan, including a new member, John. Welcome!
We ventured down to Winchcombe again in November to have a lovely undulating ramble around Langley Hill, where footpaths were an option. We welcomed another new member Elizabeth, to the group. There was also a spot of bodysurfing on the grass from Daina, finding a way to get to the coffee shop more quickly.
Our last walk of 2024 was out at Hailes Abbey the week before Christmas. The weather was grey but dry and and not overly cold, and we followed the Cotswold Way to the monument at the top of the hill, where Thomas Cromwell is supposed to have sat and watched the destruction of the abbey.
The milestone pictured right is on the side of the road at Stumps Cross. Keir Starmer had just announced his new milestones, so I wondered if he’d lost one.
The Walkovers currently has 14 members, so we have achieved the aim of going out in a smallish group every fortnight and all have volunteered to lead a walk. We have had 9 months of very varied walking this year including canals, rivers, hills, wonderful views, mud, wind and snow underfoot plus great coffee and cake and good company, with everyone unfailingly cheerful despite the occasional unexpected extra mile!
We will carry on going a little further afield to try new walking areas in 2025, whilst also revisiting favourites from 2024.