CHRISTMAS is a time for feasting and afterwards you will probably feel like losing a few pounds.

Our Victorian ancestors in Malvern were prescribed the water cure for their over-indulgence so it is appropriate that Cora Weaver and Bruce Osborne, historians and archivists of Malvern's spa past, have produced The Great Malvern Water Trail.

This guide to the water features around the town centre can be used as the basis of a healthy walk, which is just the thing to work off festive fayre.

"This is a great opportunity to over-indulge in fresh air and exercise, learn more about your town and lose a few unwanted pounds," said Cora.

It takes in 20 sites in and around the town centre, from the famous, such as St Ann's Well, to the relatively obscure, like the almost-hidden Hay Wells Spring.

In time, they range from mementoes of Malvern's first heyday in the 19th Century to modern creations, such as the Elgar memorial and Malvhina spring on Belle Vue island, and the Rose Gully water feature, created when Waitrose was built.

The guide takes the form of a folded sheet which bears on one side a map of Great Malvern, surrounded by photos of all the sites.

On the other side are informative descriptions of the sites, interspersed with 19th Century illustrations.

The text draws on the fund of knowledge that the authors have built up over the years in their production of books such as Aquae Malvernensis and Springs, Spouts, Fountains and Holy Wells of the Malvern Hills.

The Great Malvern Water Trail, priced £1.95, is available from Beacon Books, Worcester Road, Lady Foley's Tea Room at Great Malvern station, First Paige, Abbey Road, and the Map Shop in Upton.