A Hill through four seasons: Summer

Bredon Hill -

Some trails change very little throughout the year. Yes, the colour of the leaves may change (or not) effecting how we experience the landscape but the trail itself is can remain fairly consistent. The Twrch trail at Cwm Carn is a good example of this. The rocky terrain makes it consistent in both wet and dry conditions and the banks of, evergreen, pine forests mean the seasons have limited impact on the colour palette.

My local trails, by contrast, change with every season. With it they bring fresh challenges and enjoyments (or horror stories). It keeps things interesting and prevents monotony. The Hill? My local, Bredon Hill; located in the southwest of Worcestershire, near to the Gloucestershire border with Teweksbury to the west and Evesham to the east.  Geographically, it is part of the Cotswolds and does lie within the Cotswold AONB but it sits in isolation from the main Cotswold escarpment, accommodating only a small area in the Vale of Evesham. It is quite a punchy hill, with a spot height of 299m. As such, the climbs are steep (in places) and the descents are sweet (in places).



Bredon Hill is a well serviced hill, with a decent network of Bridleways providing plenty of route configurations. It also means there’s often something to ride in all seasons. It does not cover a particularly wide area and yet it contains a wide array of trail types from wide rocky outcrops on the southern side and more earthy trails on its northern escarpment. In between, the trails tend to be grassy and open. There’s not a whole lot of woodland but, where the trails do head under canopy, they tend to be root infested.

So, everything one needs to hone bike handling skills and something rideable all year, come snow, rain, wind or shine.

During Summer, all trails are open. Quite often one has to wait until May or even June until some of the north side trails are genuinely plausible as routes. With several streams crossing the Bridleways, sections where the topography levels off tend to get quite boggy. In fact, it all gets quite boggy so, I just keep away. Plus, gates tend to be closed during spring anyway to keep in the herds of Sheep and Cattle.

With the arrival of summer, however, the livestock tend to be moved to other pasture and the gates are opened. They remain so for much of the summer and in to Autumn. Top to bottom runs become practicable and the hill far more fun to ride down as a result. The North side is quite open, offering plenty of visibility and, as such, an opportunity to avoid (or engage in, if you’re so inclined) conflict with other trail users (I.e. time to slow down).
 
One place the livestock do get moved to is the common area up at the hill, surrounding the  tower otherwise known as Parson's Folly and the adjacent Bambury Stone. One of the advantages of such a potent hill is that the top tends to be narrow and, thus, views panoramic. I’ve wasted many an afternoon sat up here against the base of the tower watching the planes go by and mint sauce munch on the grass; looking out towards the Malvern Hill’s about 10 miles due west with the Brecon Beacons and Black mountains in greyscale beyond. It is a great view and one I never tire of. It brings to mind the many versions of the 'This Is Why' sketch in MBUK’s long running comic strip, Mint Sauce.

After a quick break, I often take the fantastic descent down in to Westmancote. Being on the Bredon (southwest) side, other than the wooded section near the top (which does deteriorate in to winter), this descent rides well all year and offers really fast, rocky and, in places, technical riding. From here, there follows a really pleasant section of trail to climb back up. 

The stony trail, cut deep in to the bedrock, passes through a wildflower meadow that really comes alive in spring and flowers all through the summer.

Thick with Poppy (red), Scabious (purple), Foxgloves and Cow Parsley lining the steep sides of the track, all set against the beautiful mellow ochre colour of the dry stone walls glowing golden in the intense sunlight, this section of trail comes alive both visually and literally. The vibrant colours of the flowers the cinematic film reel set to a soundtrack of nature remixed with the mechanical buzz of my rear hub freewheel. With bees working tirelessly collecting their payloads and the swallows finally arriving from their African adventures, the noise can be intense, whilst altogether calming and serene. It’s hard not to take a break here too quite frankly.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Baked Hard:

After the year we have had, resting became rather more poignant. Thankfully, there are plenty of places that provide the perfect place for a li'l ol' rest.

Sun and heat is a rare treat for Britain and, like bees at a honey pot, I was out buzzing around on my local trails much like everyone else as soon as the sun came out. Shades on, legs out.

However, 8 straight weeks of it (or however long it was) came as quite a surprise. It was not expected and actually quite wearisome in itself.

That basic instinct within all mountain bikers to get out there while its sunny and warm became a strange catch 22 as the summer wore on. The need to rest became increasingly necessary but, well, you know, it’s sunny. I’ve gotta go ride my bike in case its raining tomorrow; I’ll rest then. But it didn’t rain, for about 10 weeks.

Fields near my house started spontaneously combusting they were so dry. The trees started dropping their leaves through lack of water and our parks, fields and pastures resembled the Maasai Mara in dry season.

My local trails went through a strange evolution of initially drying out hard as concrete before blowing out to the point it felt like riding through a sand pit. Bredon Hill started to look like a big yellow dusty globe.

It sounds perverse to say this but, thankfully, there came some rain. Not much, we were spared the kind of rain that would have seen Noah running for his wood shop but it did help to pull the trails back in to check and put some green back on the trees.


The summer we've had wasn't exceptional to The Vale of Evesham;

A propensity to grey weather tends to enshrine the entire British Isles. I'm sure you've all seen it at some point or another; like yesterday, for example. Bredon Hill is only really fully open for business between the hours of Mid May to Mid September.

With strength in the sun, the ground conditions remain mitigated from the 'odd' sprinkling of rain. The south side remains fairly accessible all year round, being more rocky an all, but the north is generally more soft round the edges. More muddy and, once that strength wains, it can become a slog. Two Bridges descent and the climb from Elmley Castle both become quite laborious from Late September through to May, typically.

Riding in the summer is great, while it lasts. You can ride with profligacy, safe in the knowledge that the trails will still be open tomorrow. But, as we reach later in to season that feeling that it might be the last becomes all encompassing. I can often end up riding the same few routes repeatedly, concerned that it might be the last of the year.