Eighteen - Staffordshire - Cheeks Hill (Axe Edge) (520m)

First of two highest points reached today. A fairly short uninspiring slog across boggy marshland (wet feet within three minutes of setting off) - but at least its another county-high crossed off! Misty and grey, but dry. For the first time ever, Taffy our Border Terrier wasn't with us, which as it happens was lucky - as dogs aren't allowed across the heathland due to ground-nesting birds.

Start of footpath across the bog -
("No dogs allowed").

The high point for Staffordshire is against the county border with Derbyshire at the north-western edge of the Peak District. Featureless with exception of dry-stone walls, the intersection of which forms a sheep fold at the highest point in Staffs.

Highest point - a sheep fold - where the
county boundary walls intersect.

Seventeen - Gloucestershire - Cleeve Hill (330m)

Pringle sweater in waiting! Slightly
 surreal golf course with grazing sheep.

Well this was a slightly weird one. Called in on the way back from visiting family in Norfolk, and Cleeve Common is a lovely spot, with views down into Cheltenham with its racecourse, and across to the Malvern Hills. We parked next to the golf club and as we ascended we negotiated a golf course, sheep, park benches and mushrooms. The hill is also known as Cleeve Cloud.



Lifting heavy rain clouds. The view across
the Vale of Evesham to the Malverns

However, to get to the summit (330m), you bear south west, away from the views and across a somewhat scrubby looking plateau, past a car park and some transmitters and then to the rather hollow prize of a nondescript looking trig point. Having done this, we cut straight back in the direction of the golf club (lots more scenery and sunshine now), and back to the car.

Transmitters near the summit

Trig pillar by barb wire fence. Bit of an anti-
climax after such good views on the climb up

Sixteen - Somerset - Dunkery Beacon - Exmoor (519m)

National trust sign -
Start of climb up to the beacon

This was a pretty easy walk – not really “on our way” home from our trip to Devon, but we decided to fit it in anyway. At 519m, the views from the top are amazing, and the walk up there doesn’t prepare you for the fact that the Beacon overlooks the Bristol Channel and that most of the south coast of Wales can be seen sparkling (or smouldering , in the case of Port Talbot) in the distance.

Well defined path to the large
stone mound at the top

Plaque at the beacon

At the summit is a large and sturdy cairn, perfect for climbing, with a memorial plaque commemorating the donation of the Beacon to the National Trust in 1932.

View from the top across the Bristol
 Channel to the South Wales Coast

Fifteen - Cornwall - Brown Willy (420m)

Showery Tor

The day before had been tumultuous rain and we’d had to resort to skulking in coffee shops and pubs in between dragging the dog (who seemed to have soaked up his entire body weight in water) around a variety of quaint Cornish villages. This was okay as far as it went, but one day was plenty, and we were pleased to get out in the sunshine and climb up to Rough (pronounced “Row”) Tor, via the sculptural Showery Tor and Little Rough Tor.

Little Rough Tor

It’s an excellent walk, dipping down from there and then up and onwards to glorious Brown Willy (420m), which is privately owned with permitted access. The farm and land have just been sold, and the Daily Mail in April were speculating that its new owner could be Prince Charles (so it must be true...)

Rough Tor

WWII memorial on Rough Tor



Trig pillar on Brown Willy
(although not highest point)

Large precarious cairn marks
highest point

We cut straight back to the car park via Showery Tor again and various groups of wild ponies. We got a bit sunburned on the way down, not having expected quite so much sunshine.

Wild ponies on Bodmin Moor

(In the afternoon we also walked from Tintagel to Trebarwith Strand for a pint at the Port William, and then back along the coast path, (making about 11 miles in total for the day),followed by a barbeque on the top decking at “our” cottage. Perfect.)

Fourteen - Devon - High Willhays - Dartmoor (621m)

This was the first of 3 peaks climbed as part of a quick –ish break in the South West of England based in the excellent Tavistock Holiday Cottage.
 We’d probably never have done any of them if we hadn’t been finding county peaks, and all were fantastic walks, although this first one was embarked upon in soggy wet cloud at the start.

Thirteen - Worcestershire - Worcestershire Beacon / Malverns (425m)



Paragliders over Worcestershire Beacon

Two nights in Worcester to celebrate W’s birthday – a lovely city with the wonderful Malvern Hills on its doorstep. The Hills themselves run along the Hereford / Worcestershire border. On a bright Sunday at the beginning of half term it was busy up there and we never completely lost the crowds but most people seemed to stick to the Beacon itself. So we spent a happy couple of hours wandering about on the warren of footpaths and eating our sandwiches on a bench overlooking Great Malvern.

Preparing to launch

Towards the end of our walk we joined the throng of people watching Malvern Paragliding club hurling themselves off the edge of the Beacon and soaring in circular formations on the thermals. I’m reminded of Icarus, but they look happy enough.

Here goes ......

The Worcester Beacon itself is a tiny bit further up, at 425m, and the photo of J below includes Queen Victoria’s Diamond Jubilee “toposcope” showing the high points which can be seen from the summit. Back down in Great Malvern it’s a very hot day, and we hole up on the convivial back terrace of the Foley Arms Hotel for a pint of something cold and admire the view over the Severn Valley.

Joolz at the top of the beacon

Twelve - Herefordshire - The Black Mountain (703m)

This one starts at the little car park beneath Hay Bluff . We weren’t expecting it to be quite so windy and cold, and despite hats and gloves the westerly wind had gathered up a hell of a chill by the time it hit us. We followed the Offa’s Dyke path which ascends to the highest point on Black Mountain.


Start of the walk, following
Offa's Dyke.

Hay Bluff - the start of the ridge
 along Black Mountain

As we walked along the wide ridge towards where the highest point, we could see two people walking ahead of us, who appeared to stop somewhere on the featureless landscape about where the high spot would be, and after a few minutes turn around and start heading back towards us. Ten minutes or so later when we crossed with them on the path, W enquired, "Are you hill-bagging by any chance"? The reply was that they were, and that they reckoned that they had pretty much found the top as the altimeter on their smartphone recorded within 1 metre of the stated height. This was our first encounter with fellow hill-baggers, and made us realise that trying to get to the highest point in each county, no matter how featureless or unassuming is a fairly peculiar endeavour!

Offa's Dyke path.

The summit (640 m) is known as Black Hill, or Crib y Gath, but the locals call it the Cat’s back, as from the Hereford side it looks like a cat, waiting to pounce. The cairn up there looked decidedly squashed so I did make a half hearted attempt to resurrect it. However, we didn’t hang about up there as the wind was picking up even more and W had to pick his path quite gingerly due to a bruised toe.


Small cairn (of sorts)
 at the highest point.

We’d rented a cottage, Ty-Bychan in Hay on Wye , and it was truly wonderful to arrive there and find the heating on and logs and coal stacked up next to the stove. On Sunday we had planned to hike up to Chwarel Y Fan from Llanthony but the weather if anything was worse, and we decided to save a beautiful walk for a more beautiful day and explored underground instead at the Big Pit mining museum at Blaenafon.