Paragliders, above Worcestershire Beacon, Malvern Hills

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During a walk on the Malvern Hills we came upon some paragliders on Worcestershire Beacon taking advantage of the weather to enjoy their hobby. The wind was a light to moderate easterly and visibility was good. Consequently the wind blew across the Severn Valley then up the Worcestershire side of the Malverns allowing the pilots to step into the wind and soar above the slopes and summit with ease. At the maximum there were nineteen paragliders aloft at once, initially clustered then gradually separating by height and location. When they were "en masse" we speculated on what would happen following a collision between two craft. My mind's-eye image of such an event made me think that paragliding wasn't the hobby for me!

photo © T. Boughen     Camera: Nikon Z 5

The Malvern Hills toposcope

Go to any notable viewpoint and you're quite likely to find a toposcope. You may know it by a different name: perhaps topograph or orientation table. Whatever you call it the device will probably be circular, show the points of the compass (or just North), and will have pointers and labels for nearby visible features (hills, rivers, settlements, buildings etc). Sometimes, much less helpfully, it will show the direction of towns and cities over the horizon or even in a different country or continent. Today's photograph shows the toposcope at the summit of the Malvern Hills (Worcestershire Beacon), and the view to the west, across Herefordshire, to the county's high point and  boundary with Wales at the Black Mountain.

photo © T. Boughen     Camera: Lumix FZ1000 2

January silhouettes

The promise of sun found us hauling ourselves up Worcestershire Beacon in the Malvern Hills. As is often the case, the forecast was more optimistic than the reality which included a fair amount of cloud and a sprinkling of rain. However, a low winter sun offers the prospect of silhouettes and my wife was a helpful subject in this regard. Here is the first of three silhouettes, in this instance also incorporating the triangulation pillar at the summit.

photo © T. Boughen     Camera: Lumix FZ1000 2