Might be on the move,so as the title says what’s it like
thanks

Cracking

HTH

Living, are you over 60yrs old? If the answer is yes, you will feel comfortable there.
Worcester isn’t too far away, at least that’s a close approximation to civilisation 😉

pfftf.

Its a nice town. Some great pubs, couple of nice restaurants, pretty fair range of shops. Dont read the letters page of the local rag though, it’ll only annoy you, but you get that everywhere.

Riding is brilliant, but night riding is to be recommended. Summer weekends is a waste of time unless you go out before 8am – too many walkers and out of town riders upsetting the trippers. Winter riding is better when theres fewer people about, and the trails generally drain very well (hence malvern spring water) so winter riding isnt a clay-clag slog.

Back on track bikes is a good shop for emergency purchases and nearly enough discounting for regular buyers to use as a day to day shop. Good workshop though.

Good access to cwmcarn and the black mountains/beacons too for days out.

No, nothing to see, so little riding available, dreadful views,grumpy locals, definitely not worth going there, pass on by.

Seriously, though, Stoner is spot on with his comments,I never get tired of the constantly changing views as the seasons change. Plenty of quieter (legal!)trails off the ridge if you want a change or it’s busy up top. The greatest advantage I have found of living right by the hills is that I can go out at short notice even if it is for only 1/2 hour to get away from work stress etc. without the phaff of putting bike into car etc.

Other trail centres such as Cannock Chase and Sherwood Pines are also not too distant as well as the ones he mentioned, and the Forest of Dean is less than an hour away

I lived there before I rode MTBs. Depends what you want – its quiet; people are friendly enough; all very middle England twin set and pearls. There is certainly a strange eccentricity about it – but that was part of the appeal for me.

Malvern is a pretty big town these days, it’s got a small retail village (if this kind of thing is important to you), and all sorts of other “big town” things… You don’t need to stray over to us heathens in Worcester if you don’t feel like it, that’s for certain!

Obviously there’s some Mountain Biking to be done there though… It’s all very steep though, as you may imagine, you can lose a LOT of altitude very quickly if you get carried away, leaving yourself with a massive climb back to where you need to be. There are plenty of people I know who refuse to ride on the Malverns (most of them singlespeeders) cos you really can spend a lot of your time winching up long steep climbs. But there’s also some more sedate routes that maintain a fairly regular altitude too should you desire. I find that riding on the Malverns gets better the more I know the hills. I didn’t used to like it that much, but now I know more of what to expect, and the climbs don’t take me quite so much by surprise, I actually quite like it now. VERY cold up the top in winter though, be prepared!

Oh, and as has been said above already, Malvern is pretty well to do (or thinks it is) in general. Malvern Girls College has a bit of a rep (or at least it did when I was younger) for posh birds with typically rebellious attitudes and parents with more money than sense. It’s a fairly well off town, in a nice area, so you can get some of the small minded attitudes on life that go with the territory… Sometimes…

As mentioned prviously – pretty nice place to live, some good pubs and restaurants (Best Indian Zam-Zam’s), cracking riding.

Just don’t live to low down, plenty of chav’s / druggies down here.

I live between the Malverns and the FoD. Both ace for riding but entirely different. Malverns good all year round, but ace in winter and for night riding. Proper steep tho, first time I rode there I thought I had died. Second time I wished I had!

Bike shop is fine, decent pubs serving proper beer. Don’t know the town well, but ride through it on the way home from work and not been mugged yet 😉

decent pubs serving proper beer

Expensive beer, mind…

I can be of no help whatsoever but thanks for making me think of the old Malverns festival/race/thingy esp the infamous bombhole & an epic water fight in 95. Ah, when I was young 🙂

Expensive beer, mind…

I didn’t think £2.80 was that expensive, if you want expensive go Croyde, £1 a pint dearer than Braunton which is 3 miles away!! 😯

There’ll be a ChavWetherspoons opening soon.

The last pint of Landlord I had in the Nag’s was £3!

There are plenty of people I know who refuse to ride on the Malverns (most of them singlespeeders)

No surprises there – I wouldn’t consider getting a singlespeed living here (though some use them – Stoner?) For similar reasons it’s also a bit rubbish with a crosser, as they’re more suited to rolling stuff IMHO, though I do occasionally take mine up. Am also really struggling to come up with easy routes to take mini-aracer out on (either on his own bike or on the back of the tandem).

SS was OK when I lived 600′ up the hill as I had a route from one end to the pub at t’other without any serious climbing involved. Once you’re up theres a few Lazyarse routes that dont change altitude too much.

Now I live down in the murky vale I shall be using them new-fangled gears to get me up to the pub.

Most pints of real ale I have cost around £2.50-£2.80 not too bad given I pay £4.00 for a pint of Tribute in London Town every tuesday lunchtime.

Moved to Malvern about six years ago (from oop north).
Love it tbh, good schools, a few nice restaurants and pubs, quality theatre and ace riding…as long as you don’t mind a bit of climbing!

And Mayhem is on the doorstep too 😉

nice place, locals are well dodgy though 😉

Hi mate,
I live in Malvern and ride the hills every week (night time too) and have done, on and off, for the last 20 odd years. There’s literally miles of tracks but some go nowhere and don’t link up or, as said above, get you down very quickly. If you want a bit of a guided tour, I’d be happy to show you around. There’s some great routes that can cover a good distance and combine some tough climbs and some great rolling downhills too.

Here’s a few, rather poor, video’s I’ve filmed on the hills to whet your appetite…

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8EBYLU-9_zg
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xBUkBBl2F7I
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sL38711lk-I

and for a bit more of a professional feel…

filmed by a visiting Ozzie mate of mine…

PM me if you want some info or to go for a ride.

Steve steve_dees@hotmail.com

There are plenty of people I know who refuse to ride on the Malverns (most of them singlespeeders)

SSing’s great on the Malvern’s, by the time I’ve ridden up from the Link I’m nicely warmed up and shedding layers. Most the climbs I can clear depending on how I’m feeling at the time.

Main reason alot of people refuse to ride on the hills are the misinformed tourists/visitors who are downright rude/ignorant regarding the rights-of-way.

I remember those MGC girls well (I went to the boy’s college) 😀

Nice riding there (talking about bikes now), but I’d agree that the hills get super busy with walkers and wayward canines a lot of the time. Some parts of the hills are great for intervals…up down up down up down (still talking about bikes 😉 )

Nice riding there (talking about bikes now), but I’d agree that the hills get super busy with walkers and wayward canines a lot of the time.

Watch out for the wayward canine’s with MTBer’s!! They’ll be next on the hit-list for the hatemail in the local rag.

Malverns great.

good riding

full of hippy/arty farty types

Great bike shop.

Ledbury is a bit inbred, as is worcester, but at least you have good hills and the FoD on your doorstep.

😉

Lived and ridden here for 8 years now and love it. Still finding new bits of trail too.

To avoid walkers I’d stay clear of the northern section at weekends (North Hill & Worcestershire beacon) when the weather’s good. No problem if it’s rainy or at night though.

To get away from the crowds head over beyond british camp. Great tracks down to and above Gullets quary