A Post About Posts

This week's post takes us away from railways briefly to investigate something I found while looking for a panoramic view of the Ashchurch-Malvern line. Dotted around West Malvern and Malvern Wells are several old iron posts which I think were once used as gas vents for sewers running under the hills (but I am happy to be corrected on this!). I found four in West Malvern and two above Malvern Wells, and know of one more near Holywell Road which I have yet to find. If anyone knows the whereabouts of the full set and their exact purpose, please get in touch!

West Malvern

The four West Malvern vents can be found at these locations:

The West Malvern posts are very tall and thin, and each features a decorative crown adorned with four compass points on top. I was lucky enough to take these pictures on an unbelievably sunny day in early February, but only had my 5 megapixel mobile phone camera to hand, so could not zoom in on the more distant posts.

Post #1 sits on Westminster Bank, where the sky is this blue, all the time.

Post #1 from slightly further back.

Post #2 sits behind a house on West Malvern Road and can best be seen from the hill path above.

The view east from the plateau between North Hill and Worcestershire Beacon.

A distant glimpse of Post #3 which sits on the southern slope of Sugarloaf Hill.

The final post we found,which sits next to the junction of West Malvern Rd and Brockhill Rd.

Malvern Wells

The next two posts are of a different style and sit on the eastern slope of the hills. Featuring a small brazier on top, these posts are shorter and more remote than their counterparts in West Malvern.

These posts sit above the Wells, so first we have to walk through the Wyche Cutting and back into the homeland...

The Wyche Cutting. The posts lie along the footpath running southwards from the cutting along the eastern face of Perseverance Hill.

The first post sits next to a house right by the cutting. The Wyche Inn is visible behind.

A closer look at the first post, and more azure sky!

The view eastwards from the footpath. The tree line running away from the hill to the right of the large shed in the middle distance is the old Malvern-Ashchurch branch crossing the Shuttlefast Lane site.

This dramatic picture shows the second post, which sits to the south of the first, about thirty feet above the footpath.

The view directly down from Post #2. The horizontal tree line flanking the golf course is the Ashchurch-Malvern branch.

The base of the second post.