Chasing our sheep, waving a machete, shouting "Meat"
The second stage of the Cakes and Ales book takes me across Castlemorton Common. A name that will be of significance to ravers, hippies and New Age Travellers of a certain age.
Castlemorton Common in Worcestershire became the unlikely epicentre of Britain’s early-1990s free-party movement when an estimated 20,000–40,000 people descended on the common over the late May Bank Holiday in 1992, following the police disruption of the Avon Free Festival. For almost a week, sound systems including Spiral Tribe and DiY provided a huge, largely uncontrolled outdoor rave of techno, acid house and free-party culture. The sheer scale of the event—and the intense media coverage and political alarm it generated—turned Castlemorton into a symbol of a supposedly lawless youth counterculture. It was not the sole cause of the government's subsequent crackdown, but it provided the perfect political pretext: the Criminal Justice and Public Order Act 1994 gave police extensive new powers against unlicensed raves and trespass, most notoriously defining a rave in terms of gatherings of 20 or more people where music was characterised by a “succession of repetitive beats”. The Act also strengthened trespass laws and targeted New Age Travellers, squatters and other forms of protest and direct action.
Last week, I watched a documentary film - Free Party:A Folk History. Ironically, paying a tax dodging, American multinational £4.49 for the pleasure. I am unsure this is what the creators would have wanted. It all came flooding back. The youth tribes that no longer exist or indeed have been replaced by anything new. Whereas we had distinct subcultures - which drugs and repetitive beats brought nicely together - today we have insular, morose kids that if they do go out, it is wearing massive headphones. Lost in both their and to our worlds.
The moral outrage seems rather quaint too. I can remember the nightly news updates. I can remember the politicians and the press in a tizz. And for personal impact, you cannot help but feel sorry for the lady in the above video at 3:15 minutes in. No one wants their livestock bothered by machete wielding carnivores.
The Walk
The guide book ambitiously demands that you walk 15 miles, including five miles on the ups and downs of the Malvern Hills from Worcester Beacon to British Camp. This needs to be curtailed. A) I have walked it many times and B) there is a hard stop on the last bus home from Upton-on-Severn. A combination of buses and uber gets me to the British Camp Car Park for a compromise.
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| British Camp reservoir under grey skies |
The hills are lost after Hangman's Hill, dropping down to the east and the rave site of the common. Castlemorton village providing a break from the bleak and sheep but even then, little to explore. The doors to the church firmly "doors locked". They may have had trouble in the past from dreadlocked crusties in paratrooper boots.
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| Barred from St Gregory's |
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| I'll entertain myself with a Tump |
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| The Tump |
Flatlands - that saw plenty of Civil War action - through the grounds of Eastington Hall and before long, into Upton-upon-Severn.
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| Looking back across Castlemorton to the Malverns |
There is plenty to admire from this small, yet historically important town. They run many and varied festivals over weekends - with a Country and Western event added in 2026 to the more established folk, blues and pop weekends that took place earlier in the year.
There are enough pubs - 8 - that I have had it down as a potential pub crawl location. This might need addressing - as the Kings Arms and the Star Inn offered no cask ale.
Ye Olde Anchor Inn - the single Good Beer Guide recommendation - becomes a two pint stop.
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| Proper Job at the best pub in Upton |
Walk Details
Distance - 11 miles
Geocaches - 7
Walk Inspiration - Stage 2 of the Worcester Cakes and Ales Trail
Previous Stages:
