I was searching for a view within Herefordshire and I noticed this very intense cluster of contour lines on the OS Map.. It was a place called British Camp.
It turns out it was basically one of the hills within the Malvern Hills—it's almost at the southern end of the range. I wasn't really sure and couldn't quite work out what it was, or why it was called British Camp, but I did a bit of research and realised that it was actually an Iron Age hill fort. The name still feels to me like it should have been a military installation
Even then, I still couldn't really picture it in my mind. I turned up at about five or six o'clock on a June evening. It was midweek, the sun was just setting, and my God, it was beautiful. I had the most fantastic view. As we got a bit closer, I realised it was going to be quite a steep climb, and then I saw why it was an Iron Age hill fort. It was peppered with historic earthworks. History says that it was medieval, and they talk about the fact that there used to be a temporary village that went up there and would then be taken down over the winter because it was just too exposed. Apparently, there might even have been a medieval castle built on it at one point, but there's nothing like that up there now
It was quite a hike, but I had one of those really fantastic experiences. Like I said, it was early evening on a lovely day, and I had one of those "My God, I'm lucky I'm retired" moments because I was the only one up there. I had this most fantastic view; if it had been a bank holiday in summer, it would have been absolutely rammed.
Regardless, it was a fantastic place with an incredible view. The sight looking right along the Malvern Hills was just stunning.
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