We’re currently in the Malvern Hills, marketed by the local council as ‘Elgar Country’. According to Brian Micklethwaite, writing on the Icons of England website “The Malvern Hills epitomise England’s ‘green and pleasant land’. They are not an icon solely devoted to London but represent all England, especially when associated with the quintessentially English music of Sir Edward Elgar.”

We were in Malvern visiting some old friends of ours, Margarette Rolle and her partner Vassily Savenko. Margarette is the promoter of the Boyan Ensemble of Kiev (I spent a month on tour with the Ensemble in 1997 producing one of my first photo essays after graduating). Vassily is an acclaimed bass baritone.

During our stay I spotted a poster in a local shop window advertising a sponsored walk across the Malvern Hills in aid of St. Richard’s Hospice. I went along this morning to watch as a few hundred people walked across this stunning landscape to raise money for the hospice, which cares for patients and families in Worcestershire who are living with cancer and other life-threatening illnesses. As Judy Hughes, one of the walkers I met, said to me “In my opinion spending your leisure time helping others is one of the most rewarding and enjoyable things to do”.

It’s only right to leave you with a link to the Malvern Hills and Elgar.

This entry was posted on Saturday, May 17th, 2008 at 3:00 pm and is filed under EVENTS & PASTIMES. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.