{"id":2551,"date":"2014-07-18T06:58:14","date_gmt":"2014-07-18T06:58:14","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/geopark.org.uk\/pub\/?p=2551"},"modified":"2015-06-19T09:27:07","modified_gmt":"2015-06-19T09:27:07","slug":"geopark-way-visitor-centre-at-the-malvern-hills-geocentre","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/geopark.org.uk\/pub\/2014\/07\/geopark-way-visitor-centre-at-the-malvern-hills-geocentre\/","title":{"rendered":"Geopark Way Visitor Centre at the Malvern Hills GeoCentre"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"logoThe Malvern Hills GeoCentre<\/a>, situated on the western slopes of the Malvern Hills about a hundred meters from the Wyche Cutting is half way along the Geopark Way long distance walking trail.\u00a0 As the trail descends from the Hills at the Cutting, it passes along Walwyn Road towards Colwall, and the Malvern Hills GeoCentre is located on the right hand side as one makes the initial descent.\u00a0 From the car park, there is often a stunning view across Herefordshire towards Hay Bluff and the Black Mountains on the Welsh border.<\/p>\n

The GeoCentre is part of the Wyche Innovation Centre, a business and technology facility serving entrepreneurs and start-ups in the Malvern area.\u00a0 The GeoCentre was officially opened in June 2013 by Chris Darmon as part of GeoFest and is the official visitor information centre for the Geopark Way.<\/p>\n

The Centre makes use of modern technology to disseminate a wealth of information about the Malvern Hills, the associated Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, and the enlarged area of the Geopark.\u00a0 Information is available on iPads h\"\"oused in bespoke wooden \u2018Apple trees\u2019.\u00a0 The content includes information on the local history, geology, hydrology, flora and fauna, and technology heritage.\u00a0 The information is arranged in a web-based format, enabling new information to be added with ease, and allowing the curators to research which pages are of most interest to visitors and hence optimise the content for the future.<\/p>\n

In addition to the iPads, a large video wall projects images, videos and information about the Geopark and local area.\u00a0 These include a set of stunning images compiled by Mike Brooks (BrooksDesigns) that were taken to populate his geological-focused walking tour applications along the Geopark Way.\u00a0 There are also plans to further enhance the content on these screens with information about the local events, and news, making use of state-of-the-art digital signage software.<\/p>\n

\"\"\u00a0The wall maps at the Centre include QR Codes and Near Field Communication (NFC) chips to enable smart phone users to obtain more information about the maps on their own device.\u00a0 This means less information has to be printed on the wall displays, and updating the information by digital means is quicker and less costly.\u00a0 The information is also integrated with the iPad content, so both mediums can be used.<\/p>\n

Despite the limited space, the Centre has some traditional exhibits of rocks and fossils from the local region.\u00a0 These help to bring the local geology to life, as charts and digital content are not ideal for this in all situations.\u00a0 For those wanting more information, a range of printed guides, books, and leaflets are also on sale, including those from the range of Geopark Way publications offered by the Earth Heritage Trust.<\/p>\n

\u00a0Finally, the Centre offers refreshments from Caf\u00e9 H2<\/sub>O; light meals, hot and cold drinks, cakes and snacks.\u00a0 Many of the items on the menu are sourced locally, such as the fruit juices, crisps and ice-creams, and the sandwiches, salads and cakes are all prepared by the caf\u00e9 operators Team Jamboree.\u00a0 This venture is also unusual, as Team Jamboree are a co-operative of adults each with a learning difficulty, managed by Kate Harding and Debbie Probert.\u00a0 The caf\u00e9 provides an opportunity for the individuals to plan activities, prepare food, and serve customers.\u00a0 As a result, the cooperative members share in the profits and success of the social enterprise as well.<\/p>\n

\n

Open Daily (except Wednesdays)*<\/strong>\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 09:30 \u00a0to \u00a016:30<\/p>\n

*<\/strong>They are generally closed to the public on Wednesdays<\/p>\n

GeoCentre \/ Cafe H2O can be contacted at:<\/strong><\/p>\n

Wyche Innovation Centre<\/p>\n

Walwyn Road<\/p>\n

Malvern<\/p>\n

WR13 6PL<\/p>\n

Tel:<\/strong> 01684 252 414<\/p>\n

Email:<\/strong> enquiries@geocentre.co.uk<\/a>
\nWebsite:<\/strong> www.geocentre.co.uk<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Malvern Hills GeoCentre, situated on the western slopes of the Malvern Hills about a hundred meters from the Wyche Cutting is half way along the Geopark Way long distance walking trail. As the trail descends from the Hills at the Cutting, it passes along Walwyn Road towards Colwall, and the Malvern Hills […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/geopark.org.uk\/pub\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2551"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/geopark.org.uk\/pub\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/geopark.org.uk\/pub\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/geopark.org.uk\/pub\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/geopark.org.uk\/pub\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2551"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"http:\/\/geopark.org.uk\/pub\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2551\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2583,"href":"http:\/\/geopark.org.uk\/pub\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2551\/revisions\/2583"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/geopark.org.uk\/pub\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2551"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/geopark.org.uk\/pub\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2551"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/geopark.org.uk\/pub\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2551"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}