Some years ago I made a short visit from Cornwall back to my former home in Malvern, Worcestershire. It was good to meet up with old friends, and one couple in particular. I took them for a walk on the hills above where I used to live. Though they have lived in Malvern for many years, and are great walkers, they had rarely investigated these paths, which to my mind are more pleasant than the usual haunt of day trippers, the Worcestershire Beacon.

There are many paths to follow, some go up, some down, some skirt the hills keeping reasonably level and some take you over the peaks. It is more exercise going along the ridge, and can be quite windy, however one has wonderful views of both Herefordshire and Worcestershire. The countryside to left and right is quite different. On the Herefordshire side the ground is higher with numerous knolls topped with hats of trees. The long village of Colwall is strung out on the lower slopes and in the distance the Black Mountains in Wales are visible.

The Worcestershire side, in contrast, is much flatter, formed by the flood plain of the Severn river which winds its way from Worcester to Gloucester a few miles south. This in turn was formed during the last ice age when a glacier rumbled between the Malvern Hills and the Cotswolds, which rise up in the distance. Here again there are a number of knolls, Bredon Hill being the most prominent, but the ground is a lot lower and the pattern of fields, villages and small towns can be seen clearly. I remember looking out over the Severn Valley from my sitting room window early on a Summer morning and seeing the morning mist shrouding everything but a few tree capped hillocks. One could imagine looking out over a narrow sea with the Cotswolds forming some far off land.

On this particular occasion with my friends we started with the peak route then came down onto the lower paths skirting round the slopes above the Three Counties Show ground. I thought I knew the way I wanted to go, but either my memory failed me or nature had changed the scenery and in wanting to avoid getting to the road I went up at one junction instead of continuing down. It did not matter too much, except that it lengthened the walk, and eventually we came back down to the intended path. This made me consider how we can easily make mistakes in our Christian path if we rely too much on our own judgement instead of following God's map, the Bible. Looking down from above we could see the way clearly, but in amongst the trees we needed a guide who knew the right path.