Bromley parkrun

Bromley is a town in south east London which sits in the London Borough of Bromley. At 59 square miles, it is the largest borough in the whole of London and has a population of around 332,000 people. The town of Bromley is home to around 88,000 of these. The name was first recorded in the 862 Anglo-Saxon charter where it appeared as Bromleag, which would have signified an open field or heath where Broom (a large deciduous shrub) grows. It also appeared in the Domesday book (it appears to be written as Bronlei) where it, with 56 households, was in the top 20% of settlements in the country at the time.

The Manor of Bromley was created in 862 and in around 1100, the original Bromley Palace (also known as Bishop's Palace) was built. The palace building still exists and stands to the east of what is now a very large central shopping area, where since 1982 it has formed part of Bromley Civic Centre and the main offices for the London Borough of Bromley. Bromley itself prospered over the years by being on the main route between London and Hastings. The arrival of the railway in 1858 provided a further boost to the growth of the town.

Bromley has a large variety of green open spaces, but the one that is of interest for this blog is Norman Park which is located approximately 1 mile to the south of the central shopping area. The land that now forms the park was historically farmland belonging to the Norman family who resided nearby in The Rookery (the site of the house is now the Bromley campus of London South East College). Bromley Council purchased the farmland in 1934 in order to create a park and they named it after the family. It covers an area of 56 acres and is mostly large open grass areas often marked out with a total of 8 (or sometimes 9) football pitches. There are four small brick pavilion buildings dotted around the park, used for storage of equipment and containing changing rooms for the football teams. All of the areas adjacent to the park are either fields or woodland.

The Ravensbourne River meanders through the centre of the park where it is flanked by a selection of large mature trees - the river had previously been culverted but was restored in 2000. The far south-west corner of the park features a children's playground and that is it as far as everyday facilities go. However, the park also has a sports facility, known for many years as Norman Park Athletics Track, but now goes by the name of Norman Park Community Sports Centre. It is run by Blackheath and Bromley Harriers AC. I visited the track in 2015 for a Southern Counties Veterans Athletics Club meet, where I set my all-time 400m and 3,000m personal bests. The write-up for that event can be found here: SCVAC Kent Divisions 2015.

On 29 August 2009, Norman Park became home to a free, weekly, timed 5km event called Bromley parkrun. It is the 19th oldest active parkrun event in the world. The first year or so featured attendances in double figures, but by a year into the event it started to regularly attract over 100 participants each week. As the years went by the attendances continued to grow and in 2019 the event broke the 900 barrier for the first and second times. The current attendance record of 942 was set in August 2019. The attendance figures as of October 2023 tend to regularly be over 500, with some weeks breaking into the 600's. Incidentally, when I first registered for parkrun in 2010 I selected Bromley as my home event.

Despite it initially being my home, my first visit to Bromley parkrun didn't happen until October 2013 (my 112th parkrun the 42nd venue I had visited). In October 2023 I finally got around to making my second visit to the event, so I used the opportunity to put together this updated write-up on the venue.

If travelling to Norman Park in a vehicle, the park has two car parks and both are completely free-of-charge. The smaller of the two holds about 90 vehicles and can be accessed via Hook Farm Road, just of Bromley Common (better known as the A21). The larger car park is accessed from Hayes Lane and can hold around 200 vehicles. Despite this fairly high number of spaces, the car parks do reach full capacity when parkrun takes place. There are some additional options to park on local side streets, with the best selection being around the Hayes Lane area.

For travel by train, the closest stations are Bromley South (1.1 miles) served by Thameslink and Southeastern trains from London Victoria or London Blackfriars, and 'Hayes (Kent)' (1.3 miles) which is only served by Southeastern trains from London Bridge. Depending on your start destination, it may be easier to travel to Bromley North; this is also served by Southeastern trains from London Bridge but on a different branch and is further away from the park (1.8 miles). Buses that pass close to the park are the 119, 146 and 314 which stop on Hayes Lane, or the 61 and 208 which stop on the A21 (Bromley Common). Finally, if cycling there are bike racks adjacent to both car parks.

Once in the park, the parkrun attendees and volunteers initially assemble near the pavilion on the north-east side of the park. For the record, it is known as pavilion number 3. The building is fully accessible to parkrunners and there are toilets inside. Bags and coats can be left inside for the duration of the event. However it is perfectly fine to go straight to the start line, but please be aware that Bromley parkrun has a summer course and a winter course, and they have different starting points. The summer course is usually used from May-October and the winter course from November-May. However, the move to the summer course can happen as late as July. From what I have read, Bromley Council may 'deliberately leave the grass to grow for biodiversity purposes' and this means the courses cannot be switched until the mowers have been out.

The summer course takes place over two-and-a-bit-lap of the park course which is mixed terrain, with the split being almost 50/50 between grass and tarmac. The winter course is 100% on tarmac and is two-and-three-quarter-laps. The park is pancake flat and this lends itself to being good for putting in a good time. Buggy runners are fine on either course, and I would also suspect wheelchair athletes would be fine too, although the winter course looks to be the better option. For shoe choice, given that there are summer and winter courses, road shoes should generally be fine all year round.

The start of the summer course is on the grass at the south-west corner of the park, next to the playground. The start of the winter course is on the south side path, but further to the east, not too far from the Hook Farm entrance and quite close to pavilion 4. The briefings take place at the respective start point. Both courses are negotiated in a clockwise direction and both finish in the same place (outside pavilion 3). The winter course is the easiest to describe, as it simply just follows the tarmac path right around the perimeter of the park - there's simply no way that anyone can get lost or take a wrong turn, because it is one single path which loops round almost like a running track with a slight kink where it passes around the Hook Farm car park.

The summer course uses the same tarmac path for part of its route, but has a section that cuts onto the central part of the grass and follows the course of the Ravensbourne to the south and the returns on the opposite side of the river heading back to the north. The route remains on the grass while passing the parkrun pavilion, until eventually rejoining the main path near the Hook Farm car park. In order to remain on-course it is important to keep an eye out for the cones and to keep these to your right - if they are on your left, you may be cutting a corner and could inadvertently encroach on the football pitches. After two-and-a-bit laps have been completed, the final section avoids the Ravensbourne bit and continues straight on into the finish funnel. When I first visited this venue, the barcode scanning took place inside the pavilion building where odd numbered tokens were scanned inside one doorway and even numbered token were scanned inside another. In 2023 the scanning took place outside.

The post-parkrun refreshments arrangement is that hot drinks are available at the pavilion free-of-charge to parkrunners and the volunteers after the event. If you are lucky there may even be something sweet to nibble on. If something a little more substantial is required, the team may then head over to Taste Bud on Chatterton Road (not far from the Hook Farm entrance). If that's not quite your cup of tea, Norman Park Community Sports Centre also has a cafe/bar. We didn't go in so can't give any further information regarding the range of options offered. Their website did not have a menu at time of writing this post, but it was noted that one will be added soon.

Throughout the year, the parkrun can be subject to cancellations, both planned and last minute. Notably during the summer months there can be other events, such as the Bromley Pageant of Motoring (usually in June) using the park. Then there is often a fireworks display and funfair in early November (although not in 2023). The park is also subject to quite severe flooding and this inevitably leads to cancellations - of course this can happen at any time of year, but the winter is when the risk is highest. Given that the winter course is all on tarmac, snow and/or ice are both likely to lead to a cancellation.

The results for Bromley parkrun event 642 were processed and uploaded a short while later, and the attendance figure was 564. So that was very representative of the current expected number of attendees as of October 2023.

I have a selection of GPS readings and Relive course fly-by videos for the courses - the links to those can all be found at the bottom of this page. I will note that when I took part way back in 2013, the tarmac path was still under construction so the old 2013 GPS data is ever-so-slightly different to the 2023 version as that course was almost entirely grass. The last thing to add is that the volunteers were all brilliant and the vibe here was really good. Thank you very much for having us.

Related Links:

• My 2023 GPS data (October 2023 / Summer route)
• The Relive course fly-by Video (October 2023 / Summer route)

• GPS data (December 2022 / Winter route / original data not mine)
• The Relive course fly-by Video (December 2022 / Winter course / original data not mine)

• My 2013 GPS data (October 2013 / old summer route during the tarmac path construction)
• The Relive course fly-by Video (2013 / old summer route during the tarmac path construction)

• The London parkrun venues (blog7t)

• My original Bromley parkrun write-up (October 2013)

London Borough of Bromley parkrun write-ups:

• Bethlem Royal Hospital parkrun (2019)
• Bromley parkrun (2023)
• Crystal Palace parkrun (2019)
• Hoblingwell parkrun (2017 with 2024 update)
• Orpington parkrun (2018 with 2021 update)

Beckenham Place parkrun

Beckenham is a town located in South East London. It was historically part of Kent but became part of the London Borough of Bromley in 1965. The population of Beckenham is around 46,000 people. Its name was first recorded in the Saxon charter of 862 where it appeared as Biohhahema mearc. It was subsequently recorded in the Domesday Book as Bacheham and in the Textus Roffensis as Becceham. Beckenham Manor had been held by various people throughout time, but in 1773 was acquired by John Cator. He had already previously purchased the adjacent land where he built a fine mansion called Beckenham Place, complete with various outbuildings such as a stable block. The grounds of the mansion were landscaped and featured many exotic trees, a pleasure garden, and a lake.

The mansion and its grounds remained under the ownership of the Cator family for over 150 years. They eventually no longer resided there, but it was used for a number of purposes including a boys school and a sanatorium. A golf course was established within the grounds in 1907. The estate was purchased by London County Council in 1927 and opened as a Beckenham Place Park in 1929. At the same time, the golf course became the first municipally-owned golf course in England. During the Second World War a prisoner of war camp was set up and anti-aircraft measures were installed.

Beckenham and its park have a link to David Bowie, who lived in multiple houses in the vicinity of the park in the 1960's and 1970's. There is an information board in the park that gives some further details, but it does note that one of the houses had a secret gate at its rear which led directly into the park. He was known to have used it to avoid crowds of fans gathered at the front, he was then picked up by his driver at the Beckenham Place Park gate. The information board also notes that he was known to have used the park to rehearse scenes from Lord of the Rings, which he would later perform at the Beckenham Arts Lab.

The boundaries of ownership on the land the park sits on has been quite complex over its entire history, and the theme continues right up to the modern day. Historically much of the land of the park was part of the adjacent Foxgrove Manor rather than in Beckenham itself. In more recent times the boundaries of the London boroughs of Bromley and Lewisham ran through the park (boundary markers can still be found if you know where to look). In 1995 the borders changed meaning that the park now sits wholly within the London Borough of Lewisham.

Like many public parks, there wasn't much investment towards the end of the 20th century and this led to both the mansion and the grounds falling into a poor state of repair. The mansion and other historic buildings were noted as being in a serious state of disrepair, and the lake had dried up. In 2016 Lewisham Council was awarded a grant of £4.7m for the purpose of regenerating the park and its historic features. At time of writing, the projects are still in progress, with the old stable block having been remodelled into a cafe and education centre, and the lake reinstated. Further works including a full redesign of the eastern side of the park are also planned.

At 98 hectares, the modern-day park is the largest green space in the London Borough of Lewisham. Its landscape is quite natural and features open grass meadows along with various plantings of trees as well as large areas of ancient woodland, plus the Ravensbourne River runs along the park's eastern edge. A train line constructed near the end of the 18th century passes directly through the park, effectively cutting it into east and west sections. Facilities for kids are located in the far northeast corner of the park where there is a playground and a BMX track, and there is also a fairly new play area near the mansion. A big change has been the closure of the golf course in 2017 and this has allowed the park to become more accessible to the public. Some of the formal pleasure garden areas have also been reinstated.

In November 2016 the park became home to its very own free, weekly, timed 5 kilometre community event called Beckenham Place parkrun. It is open to all abilities including those who wish to walk the course. The original route, which was in use when I first visited in December 2016, exclusively used the western side of the park and featured a two lap course, however while parkrun had its enforced closure during 2020 and 2021, the course was completely changed. In fact since I last visited, absolutely everything, from the start and finish areas, best parking location, cafe, and the course, is totally different. It is like visiting a brand new parkrun venue. If you are interested you can read the original blog7t write-up, but remember that this updated version supersedes it. I revisited the event on 21 October 2023 and took part in event number 293. 

An important thing to note before travelling to the venue is that the park is large and some of the entrances are a long way from the parkrun meeting point, which is at the mansion. If travelling by public transport there are numerous bus stops in the vicinity of the park, however the best one to alight at is the Highland Croft bus stop which is served by the 54 bus. Other bus services that stop further away are the 354, 208, 320, 135, 181, 336 and 354 (all listed on the official course page). If travelling by train the closest station is Beckenham Hill which is served by Thameslink trains and the ongoing walk to the meeting point is about 700 metres. Cyclists can secure their bikes at the bike racks located next to the mansion or at other racks located near the Homestead Cafe.

If travelling by vehicle the park has a car park which can hold 108 vehicles - the car park can only be accessed from the vehicle entrance on Beckenham Hill Road. Lewisham Council have introduced a new payment system for all of their car parks, one that I have not encountered before. The fee for parking your vehicle is determined not only by the length of stay, but also by the vehicle's emissions. The cost ranges from £1.50 to £4 per hour depending on which emissions category the vehicle falls within.

All payments must be made through a cashless system using either the PayByPhone app or website, or via a phone call. Payment by cash or card at a machine is not possible, however there may be an option to pay in local shops (check the information board or Lewisham Council's webpage). Blue badge holders can park for free for up to four hours. There is also some free on-street parking on some streets outside the park, the closest of which seems to be Foxgrove Road, but Crab Hill, Westgate Road and Bromley Road are the recommended options.

The toilets are located within the old stable buildings called The Homestead which can be found opposite the car park - they are right under the clock tower. As mentioned above, the parkrun meeting point is outside the mansion which features a large portico and is just a little further along the park's internal road. The briefings take place here and at 9am the event gets underway. There are some marshals around the course, but the route itself is marked with bespoke parkrun markers. If when taking part you lose contact with other parkrunners, you will need to rely on these for much of the navigation around the course.

The course is usually described as being a one lap route, but a more accurate description would be to say it is a point-to-point course as the finish is in a different place to the start. If you have any items such as a jacket that you don't wish to run with, you can put it in the wagon which is taken over to the finish area by the volunteers. The course covers almost the entire park, including a section that uses part of the original course and can be described as undulating. The surface underfoot is a mixture of tarmac, gravel, grass, woodland paths, with some sections featuring uneven sections and tree roots. I'd describe it as being best suited to trail shoes. Participants with running buggies are of course welcome, but the style of course does not seem to be suited to wheelchair athletes.

From the start the route heads along the tarmac road where the elevation drops steadily. The condition of the road is not great and there are some old speed bumps that are in a very poor state of repair, so watch your footing. The initial section features open grass fields to the sides with views across the former golf course. The path itself changes to a light gravel as it gently meanders from left to right before starting to rise ever-so-slightly as it heads into Summerhouse Hill Wood.

Summerhouse Hill Wood is an area of ancient woodland where some of the trees may be up to 400 years old. The surface underfoot changes to woodland paths that weave around and eventually the course reaches its highest point which is just outside the southern end of the wood. It may get a little splashy and muddy here in the winter, but it wasn't too bad when we visited in October 2023. Continuing back into the woodland, the elevation now drops down until exiting the wood next to the restored lake. This is 'Carol's Corner' and it marks the 2 kilometre point.

From this point onwards the route is almost entirely flat. The third kilometre begins with almost a full loop around the lake, which is used by open water swimmers and there's also a boat hire available. After the loop of the lake, and a very sharp turn, there is a man-made mound - this feature is a fairly recent addition to the park and forms part of one of the park's new garden areas. Those who climb the mound are apparently rewarded with views across the park. The parkrun course doesn't climb the mound, instead it simply passes by before crossing the bridge across the railway line and entering the east side of the park. Anybody that visited this venue before the lockdown may recognise this section as it was part of the original course.

After a 1.5km loop around the northeast corner, where the course follows the clearly defined dirt path, hoggin path, a tarmac path, and then a final dirt path, the course returns to the west side via the same footbridge over the railway line. Another interesting point to note is that the Meridian Line passes just past the eastern border of the park. At this point there are only 500 metres left of the course, and this is simply a case of following the path until reaching the finish area. There is a slight sting in the tail as the last 200 metres feature one last incline. It's not super steep, but being at the very end means you'll certainly feel it.

Barcode scanning takes place right next to the finish area, and the post-event social is held in either the park's Homestead Cafe or in the new cafe in the basement of the mansion. We grabbed a couple of treats from the Homestead Cafe, where there is also some covered outdoor seating in the courtyard. From what I hear, the cafe in the mansion itself has fewer options. The gardens and the new playground are in this vicinity, so are easy to find if they are to be part of your visit. On this occasion, autumn had started to set in and we were a little too late to see the garden at its best.

There are plans to totally re-landscape the eastern side of the park, and once complete will feature new pathways, bridges, wetlands and a new play area. These works commenced a couple of days after this write-up was published.

Update: From 28 October 2023, there will be a revised course in place which avoids the eastern side of the park. The revised and temporary course map has been published on the event's Facebook page: Beckenham Place parkrun revised course notification post. I have also obtained some GPS data for the temporary course: Beckenham Place 2023-2024 temporary course. It features a two-lap section in the woods, so this version of the course works out as being more undulating than the standard course.

The results for event 293 were published later that morning and there were 221 participants, which was slightly lower than average due to the early morning rain. The current expected weekly attendance figure in good conditions is somewhere around the 300 mark. If you'd like to see the GPS data of the course please feel free to have a look at my Strava data which I recorded with my Garmin. For another view of the course, I also made that data into a course fly-by video using the Relive app on my phone; this can be viewed on YouTube. The course appears to be fairly resilient to cancellations, but watch out for the occasional summer cancellation when the park hosts a festival during August.

It was nice to re-visit the park and try out the new course. As well as previously visiting Beckenham Place Park for parkrun, I have also taken part in the Beckenham Trail 10k and the Beckenham Team Relay, so I recognised some areas of the park during the new route. The new parkrun course is definitely an improvement on the original 5k route, and as it is an entirely different route, it is like taking part in a brand new event. With that in mind, I would definitely recommend a re-visit to anybody that has not taken part on the new course.

Lastly, I'd like to thank all of the volunteers who enabled the event to go ahead.

Related Links:

The course GPS data (October 2023)

The Relive course fly-by (October 2023)

Winter 2023-2024 Temporary Course Map (Beckenham Place parkrun's Facebook page)

2023-2024 Temporary course GPS data (From 4 November 2023 - original data not mine)

The original course GPS data (December 2013)

The London parkrun venues (blog7t page)

Beckenham Trail 10k 2013 (blog7t)

Beckenham Team Relay 2015 (blog7t)

The Meridian Line parkruns (blog7t)

Somerdale Pavilion parkrun

About halfway between the City of Bristol and City of Bath lies the town of Keynsham. The site of the town has been occupied since prehistoric times and has a current population of approximately 20,000 people. The earliest written record of the town is from c.980 when it was recorded as Cægineshamme. It was subsequently recorded in the Domesday book as Cainesham and the modern town retains the same pronunciation. The original source of the name is not certain, but the most popular theory seems to be that it takes its name from Saint Keyne (or Keyna) who apparently lived locally in, what was then, an uninhabitable serpent infested area. Her prayers are said to have turned the serpents to stone, thus making the area habitable.

A settlement existed here during Roman times and it is thought to be the site of the lost Roman town of Trajectus. This theory is supported by the large number of Roman houses and artifacts found in the town. One of the most significant is a villa on the site of Keynsham Cemetery which is thought to be one of the grandest Roman villas in Britain. The foundations of a Roman building can be viewed near the town's train station, however this is not the original site of the house, they were excavated during the construction of a factory in the 1920's and relocated here for display. Also, the town's library has displays of Roman pottery and some of the mosaic floors that were removed during excavations. A further 15 buildings and a Roman road were discovered in 2012.

Around 1166, the Earl of Gloucester founded the monastic Keynsham Abbey, in the town. It operated until 1539 when King Henry VIII's Dissolution of the Monasteries saw it closed and slowly stripped of all of its materials. Many of the stones were reused in buildings, bridges and walls around the town. A small section of the ruins of the abbey remains. What little there is left is now Grade I Listed and a Scheduled Ancient Monument. The town is situated at the confluence of the River Avon and the River Chew, and this historically led to regular floods. While this problem has largely been resolved, the northern part of the town, called Keynsham Hams, is still a flood plain.

In the 1920s, the Fry's chocolate company (J.S Fry & Sons), which had recently merged with Cadbury's, built a factory (the one mentioned above), housing, a social club, and sports facilities in the Keynsham Hams part of town. Following a national competition, the development was named Somerdale Garden City. Somerdale Factory initially produced Fry's chocolate products such as Fry's Chocolate Cream, which was the world's first mass-produced chocolate bar. During the Second World War, chocolate production was reduced due to rationing and, according to Wikipedia, part of the factory was used by Rolls-Royce to manufacture their Merlin engines. These were used in many famous war aircraft including the Spitfire and the Hurricane.

Somerdale Factory went on to produce many of Cadbury's most well-known and loved chocolate products including Dairy Milk, Crunchie, Buttons, Creme Eggs, Cadbury's Fudge, Double Decker, and most importantly for the subject of this write-up, the Curly Wurly. It continued to produce chocolate until it was closed down in 2011. The site has since been redeveloped with many new homes, but importantly, the area still retains the same ethos that was installed previously with social facilities and community at its heart. Some of the original chocolate factory buildings have been refurbished and, together with some newly built blocks, are called The Chocolate Quarter retirement village. This comprises assisted-living apartments, cafes, restaurants, bars, entertainment facilities, community garden and workshops. Many of these facilities are open to the wider community.

There is also a brand new sports, health and leisure centre called Somerdale Pavilion. Keynsham Hams (also now known as Somerfield Meadows) is nestled into an area adjacent to the River Avon and is now the location of many sports including golf, rugby, football and baseball. Adjacent to the sports fields is the volunteer run ShamXcross cyclo-cross track. By kind permission, their track is used on Saturday mornings for the town's free, weekly, timed 5k community event called Somerdale Pavilion parkrun which had its inaugural event in November 2018. Like ShamXcross it is also run by volunteers and is open to all abilities including those who wish to walk. We visited the town to take part in the parkrun on 7 October 2023 which was their event number 154.

As this venue is quite far away from home for us, we stayed overnight in a Premier Inn. The closest one is Bristol South (7 miles away), but as they had run out of family rooms, we stayed in the Bristol East Premier Inn (Emersons Green). Although further away (8 miles) it was actually a quicker drive due to the nature of the roads used. Once in Keynsham there are a few parking options. The option recommended on the parkrun's course page, is to park in Somerdale Pavilion's Lower Car Park. The current (2023) fee for the car park is 60p per hour and payment can be made by cash or by using the RingGo app.

The main Somerdale Pavilion car park has the same payment arrangement, but it is requested that parkrunners do not use it unless the lower car park fills up. I would add that if paying by RingGo the two car parks have separate location codes, so make sure you use the one that matches the car park you are in. The letters on some of the spaces indicate areas that are reserved for permit holders between Monday and Friday only. Some people may prefer to park for free, and this can be achieved by using the train station's overspill car park, leaving a 900 metre walk to the pavilion via a footpath which follows the route of the Chocolate factory's former branch line. Visitors to the parkrun should refrain from using any free on-street parking within the new housing development as this is likely to result in complaints to the parkrun volunteer team.

Anybody arriving by public transport from outside the town can use the train and alight at Keynsham station which is served by Great Western Railway trains from Bristol to the north-west and from Bath to the South-east. If travelling by train from London there is no direct train, but you can easily change at Bath Spa. Similarly anyone arriving by bus would alight at the bus stop outside the station (some buses may go a bit closer and stop outside the Chocolate Quarter buildings). The onward walk to the pavilion is about 750 metres. For cyclists, there is a bike rack just outside the pavilion, next to the main car park.

Should toilet facilities be required, the pavilion has some and these are advertised as being open from 8.30am, I wouldn't expect to have access before that time as the building was locked completely locked until the first member of staff turned up at about 8.25am. The actual start area for the parkrun is a further 300 metres to the north of the pavilion, just follow the grass along the side of the main enclosed football pitch. The briefings take place over at the start area.

The Somerdale Pavilion parkrun course is wholly within the cyclo-cross track area, which is private land and not accessible to parkrunners outside of the agreed Saturday morning arrangement - this means that you can not turn up and freedom run the course at other times. Also, the sports ground and cyclo-cross area do not allow dogs, and that rule extends to parkrun. To be clear, it's a no dogs on-site policy, so best leave any four-legged friends elsewhere.

The parkrun takes place on a flat, two-and-a-bit lap course. This is a 100% off-road course and underfoot is grass, which can get quite muddy during the winter. Please note that the area is a flood plain and can easily become waterlogged (see this news post for some photos). If planning a visit during the winter or any other time where groundwater levels could be high, keep a very close eye on the event's social media pages as cancellations are likely. The highest cancellation risk appears to be during December, January and February. As of October 2024 there is a B course (for info see links at the bottom of the page), so this may help avoid some cancellations.

As far as footwear choice is concerned, trail shoes would be my preference all year round. Despite there being virtually no rain for at least the last week, the ground had still held onto some water, and I found my feet were completely soaked through before the parkrun had even started. I'd read beforehand that the surface underfoot is quite bumpy, but I wouldn't describe it as being any more bumpy than any other grass course. Buggy runners are welcome, and while I'm sure wheelchair users would also be welcome, the event's stats seem to suggest that there has never been a wheelchair athlete participating here.

At 9am the event gets underway when the participants are sent on their way around one of parkrun's most incredibly bonkers courses! I'd usually attempt to give a more detailed course description at this point in a write-up, but with this particular venue, it would be impossible for me to do so. It really needs to be experienced! The course starts near the track's main entrance and weaves and curves around all over the place, very little time is spent moving in a straight line. The cyclo-cross paths are mown grass and the non-path grasses are usually left to grow a little longer, so it is easy to see where the paths are. There are plenty of arrows, cones, stanchions and marshals around the course to make sure everyone follows the right route through the maze of mown cyclo-cross paths.

The highlight of the course is the now-very-famous section called the Curly Wurly. For anyone not familiar with it, it is a spiral which you enter going in a clockwise direction and at the centre you switch and come back out in an anti-clockwise direction. The Curly Wurly is negotiated three times throughout the five kilometre course, so you get to enjoy it multiple times. For some it may feel a bit dizzying, but seeing a couple of hundred people going round it at the same time is an incredible sight. The Curly Wurly name, although specific to this particular section of the course, is also a very good description of the entire 5k route, as well as tying in nicely with the area's chocolate-making heritage.

The rest of the course, while not quite as tight and twisty as its famous spiral, turns from left to right, right to left, has 180-degree turns, weaves in and out, and round and round, but never crosses itself. To the non-parkrunning bystanders, the sight of two-hundred-or-so people running all over the place in different directions must look totally barmy. To the initiated, it is simply a wonderful experience on a totally unique course where it is difficult to not spend the whole time smiling. I can say without doubt that it is one of the most memorable and fun parkruns out there.

The finish is found just after the third time around the Curly Wurly, where you can simply head across the line, collect a finish token and have it scanned, along with your personal barcode, right after the finish line. I recorded the course using my Garmin and you can view the course GPS data on the Strava website. That same data was used to create a Relive course fly-by video that can be viewed on YouTube. I will note that the current course is negotiated in a clockwise direction, whereas the original course was anti-clockwise. There are a couple of minor differences with the exact paths used, but the underlying essence of the course remains the same. Please also see the bottom of this page where there are links to the GPS data and fly-by video of the B course, introduced in October 2024.

The results for event 154 were processed and published online a short while later, and 155 people took part. The number of attendees tends to hover in the mid-high 100's, occasionally breaking into the 200's, during good conditions, and generally falls down to the low 100's during the winter. Even when the course is not flooded, it can still have a wetness about it, so I would recommend having a spare pair of shoes and socks to change into post parkrun. Talking about post-parkrun, the official social refreshments venue is the Somerdale Pavilion Sports Bar, which we visited. It's pretty nice, and they do ask that muddy shoes are not worn inside (there is a shoe cleaning station outside). They serve all kinds of breakfast options from cereals to full English breakfasts, including the largest selection of vegetarian and vegan options (breakfast and lunch) I've ever seen in a regular cafe.

After the parkrun, we explored the town a little where we found some of the Roman history noted above, as well as finding the remains of Keynsham Abbey. We also found the War Memorial, Joseph Fry memorial statue and a statue of Peter Pan, which was presented to the factory owners by the employees in 1928 to mark the company's bicentenary. We also had a wander around Keynsham Memorial Park and saw the Roman mosaic floor in the town's library. We left the town around midday and started our journey back home to Kent via Stonehenge where we added another 7km to the day's activities.

It had been a great morning at Somerdale Pavilion and I was happy to have visited another one of parkrun's famous venues. It really is so unique, and I would add it to your must-do list. A huge thank you goes to all the volunteers that helped to make the event happen.

Related links:

• My GPS course data (7 October 2023)
• The Relive course fly-by (7 October 2023)

• The B course GPS data (26 October 2024) (original data not mine)
• The B course Relive fly-by video (26 October 2024) (original data not mine)

Dover Waterfront parkrun

Dover is a town on the south east coast of the English county of Kent, with a population of just over 30,000 people. It famously sits at the point of England that is closest to mainland Europe, however, the location was once joined to France by a chalk ridge which separated the English Channel from the North Sea. It is thought that this land bridge was first breached around 450,000 years ago, possibly due to melting ice from the North Sea. A second, larger, breach is thought to have occurred about 200,000 years ago and by 100,000 years ago, the North Sea and English Channel were fully joined, as they remain to this day. The boundary between the two is now known as the Strait of Dover, which is the busiest shipping lane in the whole world.

Dover has historically been the point where people and goods from the continent have entered England, and this goes as far back as the Stone Age when it is thought people would have crossed the land bridge. It is often referred to as 'The Gateway to England'. During Julius Caesar's first attempt at invading Britain, he had initially tried to land his ships at Dover, however, the location was heavily defended and he had to abandon the plan. Once the Romans eventually conquered Britain 100 years later, the area became known as Portus Dubris - named after 'Dubras' the British word meaning 'the waters'. It would also have been a base for Classis Britannica, the Roman naval fleet that patrolled the channel.

Over 50 Roman structures have been discovered in the town by archaeologists, a notable one is known as the Roman Painted House - noted to be the finest Roman house on display in Britain (currently closed for repairs). Another significant Roman structure is the lighthouse, called a 'pharos', which is one of only three remaining Roman lighthouses in the world. It is said to be the most complete standing Roman structure in England. The town did have a second pharos on another hill, but that is no longer standing. Dover also has a river called the River Dour, it is an extremely rare 'chalk stream', of which there are only just over 200 in the entire world. 

As well as being a prime spot for goods, visitors and immigrants to enter the country, it was also at risk from invasion or attack. Fortunately the hills on either side of the harbour made great spots for defensive structures. The west side of the harbour is home to a hilltop fortification, The Western Heights of Dover. Built throughout the 18th and 19th centuries, this site contains The Citadel, The Drop Redoubt, and The Grand Shaft, which has a unique-to-Britain triple spiral staircase. It was built to allow easy movement of troops between the fort and the harbour. The entire complex is noted as being one of the most impressive fortifications in Britain.

Sitting on the opposite side of the harbour, atop the east cliff, is the famous Dover Castle. It was founded in the 11th Century, and may possibly be on the site of an older defensive fort. The castle was always intended to be a defensive structure rather than a residence, and has been modified many times over the years. The site covers 30 acres and, if measured by this metric, makes Dover the largest castle in the country. It is Grade I Listed. The grounds are also home to the Secret Wartime Tunnels which have been carved into the chalk rock, and the remaining Roman pharos. Further over to the east lie the famous White Cliffs of Dover.

The seafront is dominated by the Port of Dover, one of the world's busiest maritime passenger ports. There is also a marina, a cargo terminal and a cruise terminal. Somehow amongst all of that, there remains enough space for a rather pleasant esplanade area with a beach and even a sea sports centre. In fact the whole section of waterfront here has an ongoing regeneration project taking place, and part of this has seen a brand new pier installed. On 9 September 2023 the waterfront area became home to its very own free, weekly, timed 5k event called Dover Waterfront parkrun. It is open to all abilities including wheelchair users and those who wish to walk. The parkrun meeting point is just outside the Dover Sea Sports Centre, on the Esplanade.

We visited Dover Waterfront parkrun on 30 September to take part in event 4. We could have just driven down on the morning of the event as it is only an hour away from home, but we decided to make it an extended trip and we stayed overnight in the Premier Inn which is right on the sea front with free guest parking. On the morning of the parkrun, we simply rolled out of bed and walked 800 metres or so to the meeting point. The seafront walkway was opened in 1960 to 'commemorate the tercentenary of the landing at Dover of King Charles II on the occasion of the restoration of the monarchy'. 

If we had arrived on Saturday morning, there is parking all along the Esplanade for which a fee needs to be paid via RingGo, cash or card (I subsequently heard that they are RingGo only, but haven't verified this). The Dover District Council website has a page showing information for all of their car parks including the available payment methods. The official parkrun course page mentions Union Street car park, but this car park has seasonal restrictions. Only Dover Harbour Board Permit Holders can use it between 1 April and 31 October. The next closest car park is Harbour House car park - this also has restrictions, but according to the Dover District Council website, members of the public can use it at certain times - again a fee applies. If looking for free parking, a couple of options seem to be; the St James Retail and Leisure Park car park which allows free parking for the first hour of your stay (a ticket is still required). I've also heard that the town centre Morrisons has a car park which is free for three hours.

If arriving by public transport, the closest train station is Dover Priory, which is built on the grounds of, you guessed it, Dover Priory. From the station the walk is about 1.5km. The closest bus stop looks to be served by the 64 bus service, but if travelling from outside of Dover, I'd imagine any bus that stops in the town centre area would be close enough. Again the onward walk would be no longer than about 1.5km. If arriving by bicycle there are four bicycle racks near the start, but also plenty of metal balustrade around the start area. I'm pleased to report that once at the meeting point there are public toilets and these are advertised as being open from 7am all year round (just pop across the marina bridge and they are on your left).

The briefings take place at the meeting point and at 9am the parkrun gets underway. The Dover Waterfront parkrun course configuration is quite unique and can be described in a few ways. You could say it has two different out-and-back (OAB) sections, with a total of three out-and-backs needed to complete the five kilometres. The course goes - OAB1, then OAB2, then OAB1 again. Another way to look at it would be to divide the course into two 2.5km sections where the second 2.5km is a mirror image of the first 2.5km section. Underfoot is 100% tarmac, so road shoes are perfectly fine here all year round. It is a flat course, but considering it is on the seafront, I expect it'll suffer from wind coming off the sea at times. Being flat and tarmac, it is of course perfectly fine for buggy runners and wheelchair users. However please note that dogs are not permitted at this event.

From the start, the parkrunners head to the north along the esplanade with the stunning sight of Dover Castle sitting proudly atop the cliffs. The immediate section of path has a small pinch-point where some steps and a ramp are positioned, but it opens up after that. To the right is Dover Harbour which should mostly be quite still as it is protected by the Dover Breakwater about a kilometre-or-so beyond the shore. Dover Beach is also to the right hand side, incidentally it is the name of a poem by Matthew Arnold, said to be the third great Victorian poet. To the left is Waterloo Crescent, which is a conservation area. The late 19th century buildings are Graded II Listed and consist mainly of hotels. There is also a Marco Pierre White fish & chip shop / restaurant. I understand he is a famous chef. The path along the seafront is very well appointed, containing nicely landscaped grass and bushes. There is also a Dunkirk memorial stone here - the evacuation of Dunkirk had its control centre in Dover Castle's grounds.

As the course progresses along the esplanade there are three bronze statues, these are of Jamie Clark who brought the Olympic torch to Dover in the run up to the 2012 Olympics, and Ian Fleming most famous for writing the James Bond novels, who lived locally. The final one is of Dame Vera Lynn, who of course sang 'The White Cliffs of Dover' and was most well-known for her musical performances, and helping keep up morale, during the Second World War. Next to the statues is quite a discreet installation, a start/finish line set into the ground - it marks the beginning/end of The North Downs Way. The two portland stone blocks are called 'On The Crest of a Wave' and commemorate those who have swum across the English Channel. Looking out across the channel on a clear day, the coast of France is clearly visible on the horizon.

At the end of Waterloo Crescent the grassy landscaped waterfront marina area finishes and the seafront takes on a harsher feel. The beach disappears and so does the grass. Across the road are many more statues and memorial stones. There is one of Charles Stewart Rolls, co-founder of Rolls-Royce. He is commemorated here as he was the first person to cross the channel and return in a single flight. Incidentally, he was the first Briton to be killed in an aeronautical accident with a powered aircraft. There is also one of Captain Andrew Webb, first person to swim across the English Channel. The course continues and soon passes the Premier Inn where the white cliffs now dominate the immediate skyline. The turn-around point at the end of the first out-and-back is found here right next to the traffic crossing.

The course now simply follows the waterfront path back to the start area. The second of the out-and-backs is, I think, unique for an English parkrun, as it takes place on the pier. It is approximately 500 metres each way with a loop around the shelter at the end, and is a brilliant feature of the course. The pier (Dover Marina Pier) was opened to the public in 2019, being constructed as part of the redevelopment of the marina area. The views from the end are great, but you may need to wander back across after the parkrun to enjoy them fully. Once back at the start area, the last thing to do is repeat the first out-and-back again. The finish line is found right back at the original start area. Barcode scanning takes place right after the finish line. I recorded the course with my Garmin and you can see the data/map on Strava. I also imported the data into the Relive app and created a course fly-by which can be viewed on YouTube.

Should the pier be closed, there is an alternative course, and because I like to be helpful, I ran it the night before, so I have the GPS data and a Relive video of that too. The alternative course is a double out-and-back on the waterfront path, but it continues for an extra 250 metres before reaching its turnaround point, which is right at the very end of the path, next to the ferry port. You'll know when you have reached the turnaround point because the path is a dead end, with the only options being to turn around or go down the small steps onto the concrete sea defences below. So you just do this twice and the 5 kilometres are complete.

The results were processed and uploaded a short while later and 218 people took part in event 4. This was roughly in line with the current expected attendances. I would imagine there are still quite a high percentage of tourists within those figures, so the actual long-term weekly average is still unknown. The post-event refreshments are listed as being at the Pedlar on the Port cafe, which is within the clock tower building just next to the start/finish area. It's not the only refreshments option, at time of writing, another outlet called Rebels Coffee was offering a special deal to parkrunners. Plus if you are hanging around longer and fancy some vegetarian or vegan food for lunch, there is a vegan place called Planet Earth Kitchen at the marina.

While in Dover, we visited Dover Castle (it's quite expensive for a one-off visit, but we entered for free with our English Heritage Membership Cards), had a wander around the town centre, and visited Dover Museum and Bronze Age Boat Gallery (free entry). The boat gallery is home to the remains of the oldest known sea-faring boat in the world, which is thought to be around 3,500 years old. We didn't visit the Western Heights, as The Drop Redoubt and The Grand Shaft are only open on select days throughout the year, so we didn't get to explore these. If these are important to your visit, then check the Western Heights Preservation Society webpage where open days are listed. 

Our brief visit to Dover had left us pretty worn out, so we hit the road back home at about midday. From a historical point of view, Dover is a great place to visit as it is full of wonderful historic links, and the addition of the parkrun is of course an added bonus. The view of the castle and the section along the pier were definitely the highlights for me.  Thank you so much to all the volunteers for making it happen and for the very warm welcome!

Related Links:

Dover Waterfront parkrun GPS data (September 2023)

Dover Waterfront parkrun course fly-by video (September 2023)

Dover Waterfront parkrun B course GPS data (September 2023)

Dover Waterfront parkrun B course Fly-by Video (September 2023)

The Kent parkrun Venues (blog7t page)