Ashford parkrun

Ashford is a town which sits in the Borough of Ashford, a local government district in the county of Kent. The district, which covers 284 sq. miles, has a population of around 135,000 people with the town itself being home to around 82,000 of them. The earliest known human activity in the immediate vicinity of the town is thought to date back to the Lower Palaeolithic period. Tools have been found from this period and also from the later Upper Palaeolithic and the Mesolithic periods. During Roman times it is known that iron ore was brought to the area where it was processed. It is thought a small Roman settlement was located in the area immediately north of the current town centre.

The settlement was established in 893AD and first known in Old English as Aescet, indicating a river crossing (a ford) near a clump of ash trees. It was recorded in the Domesday Book as Essetesford and was known as Eshetisford, Esselesford, Asshatisforde and Essheford before eventually settling into its modern-day spelling. From the 13th century Ashford became an important agricultural town and its livestock market charter was granted in 1243. In 1856 Ashford Cattle Market Company Ltd was formed which holds the distinction of being the oldest surviving registered company in England and Wales.

The town's location led to it becoming a strategic defensive position and the British Army had a barracks here from 1797. Many industries have found a home in Ashford over the years. Pottery was a notable industry at one point. In the 20th century it became home to a large printing services company where millions of books were printed and then exported using the town's well-connected transport links. In the 1950's the soup company Batchelors opened a factory in the town. The factory itself is now owned by Premier Foods where it continues to produce Batchelors soups as well as 300 other well-known products including Angel Delight, Bisto, Paxo and Smash. 

The population of Ashford has increased steadily over time, but it has seen its largest increases since the 1960's when the town was identified as being suitable for continued growth. Even to this day more residential, and business areas are being created as the town spreads into the adjacent farmland and consumes nearby villages. It was recognised at the end of the 19th century that green spaces would be required for its residents and the land for the town's main municipal park was purchased from local landowner William Jemmett in 1898. The arable land, pasture and watercress fields were transformed and the following year Victoria Park opened.

The park was originally surrounded by cast iron railings, but these were removed during the second world war and melted down. A major feature of the park is the Grade II Listed Hubert Fountain. This was originally part of the 1862 London International Exhibition of Industry and Art, and was subsequently installed at Olantigh, a country estate in nearby Wye. Following a devastating fire at Olantigh, the fountain was purchased in 1912 and installed in the park. One of the park's former main features was its bandstand and this proved very popular, but it ceased to be used during the war and by the mid-1960's its condition had deteriorated so much that it was finally removed.

The park sits just to the south of the town centre and is bordered on its northern side by the Great Stour, a 50 mile long river which flows through much of north-eastern Kent. In 2013 Victoria Park became home to Ashford parkrun which is a free, weekly, timed 5k event open to all abilities including people who wish to walk. I visited and took part in the very first event on 26 October 2013, and then returned for a revisit on 26 October 2024 (exactly 11 years later). In the years that had passed between my visits the park had undergone a major £5 million refurbishment project which involved upgrading and improving pretty much all areas of the park. The park now features a state-of-the-art children's play area, a pump track for BMXers and skaters, improved piazza around the fountain, a new cafe, a sensory garden, improved natural areas adjacent to the river and the creation of a seasonal wetland area.

Travel options are fairly good as Ashford is a major transport hub. If travelling by car the A20 is the primary road that connects the town to the north-west of Kent and the M25. It is the main route for vehicles heading to mainland Europe via Eurotunnel and Dover ferry services. With that in mind I would advise to check that the Operation Brock traffic management procedure has not been activated, as this may severely affect the journey. Once at the park there are multiple parking options including using the park's free-of-charge car park which can hold around 60 vehicles or by using any of the local restriction-free side roads.

If travelling to the town by train simply head to Ashford International railway station which is served by regular Southeastern trains from London Victoria and Charing Cross. It is connected to London St. Pancras via the High speed 1 (HS1) line which also carries the Eurostar services to and from Lille, Paris and Brussels (note: international services have not stopped at Ashford since Covid restrictions were imposed in 2020). It is also on the Marshlink line which connects to Hastings and the Ashford to Ramsgate line via Canterbury. The onward journey from the station to the park is a half-a-mile walk.

There are bus services that operate in and around Ashford, and the closest bus stops on Jemmett Lane are served by the 967 and the 'A Little and Often' buses. There are of course more bus stops over in the centre of the town which are served by many more services and the walk is even shorter than the one from the station. Travel to the venue by bicycle is possible via the cycling networks which largely use the riverside shared-use paths, and bicycles can be secured at any one of a number of bicycle racks dotted around the park. The most obvious ones being in-between the car park and the basketball courts. If you require an overnight stay there is a Travelodge very close to the park, plus a Hilton near the train station and there are two Premier Inns, one to the north and the other to the south-east of the town centre.

The parkrun meeting point is located on the main central tree-lined avenue that runs between the cafe and the fountain and this is where the two briefings take place. Some of the regulars seem to head straight to the start area which is adjacent to the park's historic gates, just opposite Christchurch Road. However, bear in mind that doing this will result in not hearing the briefing which may contain important safety advice. Should you require the facilities, the park has toilets situated right next to Harper's Cafe, which is in the modern building opened in 2023 as part of the refurbishment works. The toilets' opening times are tied to the cafe's opening hours, which are 8am - 6pm.

Ashford parkrun takes place over a two-lap anti-clockwise course which includes an out-and-back section. The surface underfoot is 100% tarmac and road shoes are suitable all year round. In the winter the grass areas around the meeting point get a little waterlogged, so best to avoid cutting across pre-event. It is almost entirely flat apart from a short section towards the end of each lap where there is a slight rise in elevation (the decline is at the beginning of the lap and is so slight that it is not really noticeable). Participants in wheelchairs or pushing buggies should find this course absolutely fine. I will note the slight incline may need a bit of extra arm strength if using a wheelchair. The park also has permanent parkrun posts which mark the start, finish and kilometre points.

The start is next to the park's historic gates and the participants head off in a north-easterly direction along the meandering path which heads to the park's eastern edge where it curves around the outer border of the fountain. At this point the local cycle path joins the park's path and this remains a feature throughout almost the entire course. This particular corner of the park can gain an unofficial water feature after significant rain, which has been called the 'Ashford Puddle' or the 'Big Puddle'. This has led to the introduction of a B course which can be brought into action when required. The path itself continues around to the northern side of the fountain and then has a really fun feature of a sweeping chicane which crosses a channel of the river.

Now at the northern boundary of the park, the course continues westwards alongside the river. There are a few differences here since I last visited; the first being the new residential buildings facing onto the park, and the second being the river itself, which received some attention during the the recent refurbishments. The course continues along this path, where it is divided by a painted line into people and cyclist sections. Initially, participants can remain in the people section, but the width of the path is reduced greatly a bit further along. The second half of this path is an out-and-back section, so inevitably the parkrunners heading out stay on the right hand side, which is the cycle lane, and those coming back stick to the other half, which is the people lane.

The far western end of the course features a large triangular-shaped anti-clockwise turnaround point, which is very easy to navigate. The only point to note is that one of the corners is very sharp, however there is a marshal here to ensure everything goes to plan. The out-and-back section itself is a lot of fun to run as it meanders left and right all the way along. The return section has a turnoff point where parkrunners make their way back towards the main part of the park and for a moment feels like a bit of a no-man's-land, the path has road markings including a mini-roundabout with no apparent reason. There is also the remains of a basketball court which the course goes through. On my last visit in 2013 this was a full basketball court.

The course crosses back into the main section of the park and this is where the small incline (hill) can be found. The incline is named 'Becca's Mountain', and this is in reference to the event's former event director. To the right hand side is the park's sensory garden and the playground is to the left. Following the natural path, the course heads past the car park and then across the car park's entrance - this spot was marshalled by two volunteers who stopped approaching vehicles to allow the parkrunners to pass unhindered. After one final sweeping bend, the course returns to the start area and the lap is complete. The second lap is identical to the first.

At the end of lap 2 the participants are directed off of the main loop where the last section of the course follows a small path before turning onto the main central path and into the finish funnel. Barcode scanning takes place right after the finish and the post-event refreshments take place in Harper's Cafe, which really feels like the centre of the park's community. I bought a kids' hot chocolate and a peppermint tea which cost me £5.

The results were processed shortly after and there were 369 finishers at event 488, which was of course Ashford parkrun's 11th anniversary. This number was very representative in terms of expected attendees which tend to hover in the mid-300's with occasional dips into the high 200's. At time of writing there had been two occasions that reached into the low 400's, both in 2024. The attendance record of 417 was set on 17 August 2024.

I recorded the course with my Garmin and the resulting GPS data can be viewed on Strava. That data was also used to create a fly-by video using the Relive app. The latter stages of the current course are slightly different to the original and this is due to the new cafe and playground area which has been built across the old route. For information purposes the GPS data for the original 2013 course is on my Strava account. Should the B course be in use, this cuts out the section around the fountain, but please note that the start area for this course is at the top of the incline, to the west of the car park, playground and cafe.

If you are looking for something to do post-parkrun, the town centre is only a short walk away. It's a fairly typical British high street with the addition of a couple of historic buildings - there were once many more but sadly most were destroyed during the construction of the ring road. There is a 13th century church just off the high street and sits tightly nestled in between the small buildings that sit around its churchyard. The Ashford Museum is located here and is free-of-charge to enter. There is also a statue of Queen Marie of Romania, who was born just outside the town at Eastwell Manor. The town is now quite well-known for the Ashford Designer Outlet where you can find 120 different designer brands. The outlet is also home to Europe's largest living wall which covers 25,000 square feet.

Just outside the town is the village of Pluckley which reportedly has 12 ghosts, gaining it a place in the 1989 Guinness Book of Records as the most haunted village in Britain. I'll also note that Ashford is not too far from Port Lympne Safari Park, which is a lovely spot for a day out. After our walk around the town centre we returned to the park where we spent some more time around the brilliant playground, finishing off with a nice smoothie from the cafe. The day out had been lovely and I really also enjoyed having the chance to chat to some of Ashford parkrun's legendary people. A huge thank you goes to the whole team that put the event on and went out of their way to make us feel so welcome.

Related Links:

• Ashford parkrun standard course GPS data (26 October 2024)
• The Relive standard course fly-by video (26 October 2024)

• Ashford parkrun B course GPS data (original GPS trace from 2 March 2024 - not my data)
• The Relive B course fly-by video (original data from 2 March 2024)

• Original course GPS data (26 October 2013 - no longer in use)

• My original Ashford parkrun write-up (2013)

• The Kent parkrun venues (blog7t)

Fulham Palace parkrun

Fulham is a predominantly residential area in the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham, West London. It has a population of around 87,000 people with the wider borough being home to 186,000 people. There are a few theories as to the origin of the name. The first theory is that the name comes from the personal name 'Fulla' and the Old English word 'Hamm' meaning land hemmed in by water, marsh or higher ground. So it would have been an area of hemmed-in land belonging to someone called Fulla. However, other theories suggest that the name could come from the abundance of birds, largely water-fowl, residing in the area, which led to the Saxon name of Fullenhame or Foulenham. A third theory suggests the name comes from Fullanham or Foulham, and reflects the 'dirtiness of the place'. It was recorded as Fuleham in the Domesday book.

Archeological evidence suggests the land has been occupied on-and-off since Neolithic times, about 5,000 years ago. Like many areas in London, it was once agricultural, providing food for the people of London. It subsequently became home to many industries including weaving, ceramics, brewing, stained-glass, and pottery. The area even has a link to aviation thanks to aviation pioneer, Geoffrey de Havilland who built his first aeroplane in Fulham. It was also home to the Lillie Bridge maintenance depot, which looked after the maintenance of rolling stock on the Metropolitan and District underground lines for well over 100 years. There are two major football clubs based in the area, Chelsea and Fulham. Other sporting facilities include The Queen's Club tennis club which was the world's first multi-purpose sports complex, and the Hurlingham Club which one of the world's finest private members' clubs and regarded as the birthplace of modern-day polo.

Fulham covers only a very small part of what was historically The Manor of Fulham which covered most of Hammersmith, Acton, Ealing and Finchley. The manor itself was acquired by the Bishops of London in either 694 or 704 AD. The manor house is called Fulham Palace and sits adjacent to the River Thames in the south of Fulham. For 1,300 years it remained the official residence of the Bishop of London until 1973 when Deans Court in the City of London took over. The palace and grounds were subsequently leased from the Church of England by the local council. The manor house and its gardens once sat within a 1.4km long moat, making it the largest domestic moated site in medieval England.

The current land occupied by the house and gardens is now considerably smaller than it once was. In 1918 part of the grounds was converted to allotments for producing food during the first world war and later sold to the council, while the palace formed part of the Fulham Military Hospital. The allotments are still being used to this day. Before that, in 1893, a section of the grounds alongside the River Thames was given to the Fulham District Board of Works on condition that it be made into a public recreation area. It was then opened as Bishops Park. By 1900 further land had been added and the park was expanded.

Bishops Park is nestled into a relatively narrow piece of land that sits between Putney Bridge and Fulham Football Club's stadium, Craven Cottage. The park is now Grade II Listed and contains a few distinct areas such as Bishop's Meadow, West Lawn and Fielder's Meadow. It has a number of children's play areas, a sculpture garden, rose garden, an ornamental lake and even an urban beach. Sports facilities include an outdoor gym, a basketball court, bowling green, table tennis and the Rocks Lane tennis facility. The park and the adjacent All Saints Church were immortalised in movie history when they were used as locations in the 1976 horror film, The Omen. If you are unfamiliar with the film or need a refresher, you can watch the scenes on YouTube. 

On Saturday mornings Bishops Park is home to a free, weekly, timed, 5k event called Fulham Palace parkrun. It is open to all abilities including those who wish to walk the course. The event is primarily a community event and relies on volunteers, meaning that there are plenty of opportunities for those unable or uninterested in completing the course to become involved. The inaugural Fulham Palace parkrun was held on 19 October 2013 and that was when I first took part in the event. I revisited with the kids and my brother on 19 October 2024 and took part in the 11 year anniversary event. This write-up is from that second visit.

The most sensible way to travel to the park is by using public transport, and the closest station is Putney Bridge underground which is served by the Wimbledon branch of the District Line. Alternatively, if travelling exclusively on national rail trains, the best station to head for is Putney which is on the opposite side of the river, at the far end of Putney High Street. It is served by South Western Trains running between London Waterloo and Kingston, Windsor or Weybridge. Being in London there are a large number of bus services that pass close-by. The closest bus stops are on Fulham Palace Road and Putney Bridge Road, and are served by the 14, 22, 39, 74. 85, 93, 265, 378, 424 and 430 London bus services. This is not an exclusive list and there will be other services that also stop within a reasonable walking distance.

If driving to the venue, parking is extremely restricted, as is quite common for London. All of the local roads are covered by some kind of parking restriction, and many of these only allow residential parking at all times. However, just outside the park there are two roads, Bishop's Avenue and Bishop's Park Road which have a better system in place for non-residents. The main thing to remember is that the restrictions vary depending on whether Fulham Football Club are playing at home on the day. If it is a non-match day, you can park on one of these streets and pay for your desired time period. If it is a match day, parking on these roads is limited to a maximum of 1 hour, even at 9am in the morning. Payment can be made at a payment machine or by using the RingGo app.

Should you happen to be visiting on a match day and require more than 1 hour of parking or just looking for an alternative location to park, the following places may help. Firstly, next to Putney Bridge tube station there is a Premier Inn which has a public car park. There only seems to be one price point for parking and that seems to be £22 for 24 hours which isn't too bad if you are staying at the Premier Inn. For everybody else, even if you were only parked for an hour it would still cost £22, so it's a bit pricey for a short stay. However, my preferred option would be to park in the Putney Exchange shopping centre on Putney High Street. It is open from 8am on Saturday mornings and the current charges can be found on their website. Finally there are several bicycle racks dotted around the park, the best positioned for the parkrun are on Bishop's Avenue, outside the entrance to Fulham Palace or the park's racks adjacent to the toilets which are next to the Bishops Park Road entrance.

The meeting point for the parkrun is in the large circular area in the very centre of the park and this is where the briefings take place. This area was home to a bandstand from 1894 until 1960, and an open-air theatre after that. It was redesigned during the park's 2011 restoration and now features family-friendly recreation zones (playgrounds).

The parkrun's standard course takes place over an almost-three-lap anti-clockwise course, but at the time of writing (October 2024) there is a temporary course in use which is just over three laps. The good news is that both courses are completely flat and almost identical. The temporary course configuration is being used because a section of the far north end of the park had been closed off (since 2018, I believe) to store building materials while Fulham football club redevelop their riverside stand.

The surfaces underfoot are tarmac and light gravel so standard road shoes are the best option at all times of year. Participants pushing buggies are totally fine on this course, as are wheelchair users. The main consideration is the sheer popularity of this event which can attract around 600 participants, which is quite a large number for this three lap course to cope with. The result of this is that there is a lot of lapping and we were advised to keep to the left and let those lapping us pass on the right. As of 2024 the course didn't have any signage, but all of the turning points were marshalled and the route is very easy to follow. 

The standard start area of the parkrun is on the park's northeastern path which is adjacent to Stevenage Road. However the temporary course starts on the outer south-western side of the large circular area where it simply follows the curve and joins the parkrun's main loop near the Fulham Palace main entrance. From here the course heads north-west towards Craven Cottage where the route simply follows the tarmac path as it turns left at the end, following the temporary tarmac path that crosses Fielders Meadow. Once Fulham Football Club has finished the redevelopment, the closed-off section of the park will be restored (and I imagine the parkrun will revert to its standard course). My understanding is that it was due to be returned in mid-2025, but I've read the football club may be requesting an extension. The parkrun course then takes another left-hand turn onto the path that runs along the riverside.

The riverside path is officially part of the 185.2 mile long Thames Path National Trail which runs from the source of the Thames in the Cotswolds through to Woolwich in South East London (an extension of the path, but not part of the national trail, continues through to Crayford). The embankment which houses the path was completed in 1893 and was built by Joseph Mears, who was the father of Joseph and Gus Mears, the brothers who founded Chelsea Football Club. The path has trees and bushes to its left and railings to its right, and from here there is a view over the Thames and as the route progresses Putney Bridge comes into view. An interesting fact about Putney Bridge is that it is the only bridge in the Britain to be flanked by churches at both ends. I would also note that there is a bit of a chicane in the path as it passes around an old set of steps leading down to the water.

The course leaves the Thames Path via a shallow left turning which is then followed by a sharp left turn and the course then works its way along the opposite side of Bishop's Meadow heading back towards the original meeting area. This particular path is very popular with cyclists, so you do need to stay aware. Once at the end of this path, the course swings to the right and then immediately to the left where it joins the northeastern path and the lap is then complete. The finish is located at the end of the Bishop's Meadow path so at the end of the third lap the funnel can be entered. Barcodes and finish tokens are scanned within the large circular area and once this has taken place, participants can place their token on its respective hook on the bespoke finish token board.

I recorded the course used on 19 October 2024 using my Garmin and the resulting GPS data can be viewed on my Strava account. I also have my original GPS data from my visit to event 1 on 19 October 2013. However the actual standard course is slightly different, so I have acquired that GPS data too. There are also Relive course fly-by videos for all three and they can be found on my YouTube account - links are below. The results were processed and published online later that morning and there were 429 finishers at event 469. This is on the lower side of the normal range of attendees, and I suspect the lower turnout was caused by a combination of the rainy weather and some curious locals venturing to Battersea parkrun's second event. There seem to be a few other events that mean the parkrun has to cancel, such as the annual boat race, the Action Challenge charity event and the Guy Fawkes night fireworks display / lightshow (not taking place in 2024). So be sure to check before visiting.

There are two on-site options for post-parkrun refreshments. Firstly there is the park's cafe called The Tea House, which is located right next to the finish area - we had some tea and hot chocolate here, which was very nice indeed. Alternatively you can head into Fulham Palace (entry is free) where there is also a cafe within the palace itself. Both options have indoor and outdoor seating. While we didn't sample the refreshments in the palace, we did pop in and explored the palace and its gardens which contain a walled garden and a 500 year-old oak, which were very pleasant and worth a visit.

Despite the rain, we had a really nice day out in the park and the palace, which we would never have visited if it hadn't been for the parkrun. A huge thank to all of the volunteers that looked after us during our visit.

Related Links:

• Fulham Palace parkrun GPS data (Standard course)
• Relive course fly-by video (Standard course)

• Fulham Palace parkrun GPS data (Temporary course as of 2024) (Current course)
• Relive course fly-by video (Temporary course as of 2024) (Current course)

• Fulham Palace parkrun GPS data (Original course 2013)
• Relive course fly-by video (Original course 2013)

• The London parkruns (blog7t)
• Fulham Palace parkrun 2013 write-up (blog7t)

Sittingbourne parkrun

Sittingbourne is a town in the county of Kent with a population of around 62,000 people. Throughout its history the town's name has been recorded as Sedingbourne, Saedingburga and Sydingeburga, meaning a hamlet by the bourne or stream. The settlement sits directly on the route of the Roman Watling Street and this was directly responsible for some of the town's growth, notably from the 12th century when it became a popular location for inns and hostels catering to people making their pilgrimage to Canterbury Cathedral following the murder of the Arch Bishop of Canterbury, Thomas Becket.

The growth of modern-day Sittingbourne started around the time of the industrial revolution when paper mills, brickyards and barge building industries were established locally. An interesting fact is that the London Bridge - Greenwich railway viaduct, the first elevated railway line in the world, was constructed from bricks made in Sittingbourne. As Sittingbourne grew, it consumed some of the adjacent settlements which are now suburbs of Sittingbourne. However, before the 18th century one of these suburbs, Milton Regis, previously known as the Manor of Middleton Regis, was in fact the largest and most powerful manor in the local area, and Sittingbourne was one of its hamlets.

Milton Regis was recorded in the Domesday Book as Middleton Terra Regis. It was known as a port of wealth, which is probably why William the Conqueror claimed it as his own. The area's use as a settlement may go back to the Mesolithic age. It is certainly known that there was a Roman presence here as artefacts and foundations of their buildings, possibly a fort, have been found. A Roman villa once existed next to what is now Holy Trinity Church, which was founded shortly after the 597 arrival of St Augustine. This makes it one of the oldest churches in Kent. Some of the villa's Roman bricks were used in its construction.

Milton Regis sits next to Milton Creek, which is an arm of The Swale (the stretch of water that separates the Isle of Sheppey from the mainland) and much of the area is marshland. The area to the south and east of the church was historically known as Church Marshes and was also home to Church Farm. It was also home to some of the area's brickworks which took advantage of the naturally available materials such as clay and chalk. The holes that were created by the clay and gravel extraction were back-filled with the domestic waste from London which was brought back on the barges that delivered the bricks into the city. The landfill site was eventually closed in 1973.

By the time the new millennium came around, the decision had been made to transform the former landfill site into a country park. Work began on decontaminating the site in 2001, and this included capping the filled areas. It was initially opened as Church Marshes Country Park, but was later renamed Milton Creek Country Park. It features many different areas including open grass, rough grass, scattered trees, woodland, an orchard, scrubland, ponds and marshland. The majority of the park has a country feel, but the far western section has more of a structured layout, and also contains a children's play area. In February 2016 the park became home to a free, weekly, timed 5k event called Sittingbourne parkrun.

The parkrun is open to all abilities including people who wish to walk the course. It is of course primarily a community event and is a great place for locals to meet and become part of the volunteering team, even if they have no interest in walking or running the course. I first visited in March 2016 where I took part in event number 3, I then revisited with the rest of the family in October 2024, where we took part in event number 376. It is this later visit that this write-up is from. In the years that have passed the park's flora has really become more established and I found most areas unrecognisable from what I remembered from my first visit.

There is a free-of-charge on-site car park which can be accessed from Saffron Way / Mill Way (B2005). Should alternative parking be required, there is an Asda with a large car park just a short walk away. There are also some residential roads which appear to be free of restrictions. If using sat nav or an app for directions, I found that entering Milton Creek Country Park resulted in directions being given to the opposite side of the park, so I set my Google maps planner to head for the new Greggs Drive-thru which was constructed right outside the car park entrance in 2022. Incidentally, the construction of the building also included an upgrade to the car park entrance and this resulted in a change of the parkrun route.

Travel by public transport is possible by using Southeastern National Rail services and alighting at the main Sittingbourne station which is in the centre of the town. The station is on the Chatham Main Line with services running between London Victoria and Dover Priory / Ramsgate. It is also on the High Speed 1 (HS1) route which runs between London St Pancras International and Ashford International. Lastly it is on the Sheerness Line which is a branch line connecting Sheerness to the main line at Sittingbourne. The onward walk from the train station is approximately 1.1 miles. If you happened to be on the Sheerness Line, you could alight at Kemsley and the onward walk is just under a mile.

If using the buses, the 347 service stops not far from the park's north-west tip. In addition to this the parkrun course page says that the 344 bus stops nearby, but I cannot find any information on this particular service, so it may be that it has been discontinued since the page was last updated. If visiting from afar, there are few large chain hotels present in the town, notably a Holiday Inn, a Travelodge and a Wetherspoons all located on Sittingbourne High Street. There is also a Premier Inn, but this is located just outside the western boundary of the town. Finally, cyclists can find a bank of cycle racks within the car park.

Once at the park, the place to head for is the open grass area at the western end of the park. It is located to the immediate north-west of the car park. I found that there was a split of people gathering - some had congregated near the finish area with most of the volunteers while others had gathered near the start area which is on the path which faces the Holy Trinity Church - both areas are in line of sight of each other. The park has toilets and these are located just behind a cluster of trees in-between the parkrun finish area and the children's playground. Their advertised opening time is 8am. Should you happen to pop into the Greggs for a pre-parkrun snack or drink (it opens at 6am), there is a customer-only toilet available here too.

The first timers' briefing and the main briefing are both held at the start area. As of my October 2024 visit, the parkrun takes place over a lollipop-style course with two clockwise laps around the sweet part. However in no way, shape or form does the actual shape of the course resemble a lollipop! As I noted above, the course was changed in 2022 and although the new one uses many of the same paths as the original, the configuration is quite different.

Although the course features the ocassional minor change in gradient, this remains a flat course and my 2024 GPS data reported the elevation change as zero. The surfaces underfoot are a combination of hard-standing paths, dirt tracks, some grass and some gravelly sections, quite possibly a hoggin path. It is worth bearing in mind that the local area is historically marshy, and it doesn't take much rain for the ground to become wet and muddy. So unless it is the height of summer I would strongly lean towards wearing trail shoes here. People participating with buggies are more than welcome, but do take note regarding possible splashy and muddy conditions. For wheelchair users, I'd say this is not the ideal course, but it should be possible to navigate with a heavy leaning towards avoiding the winter months.

The start area is on the park's most westerly path and begins with the participants heading directly towards the church. The course very quickly turns and follows the northern border heading towards the east. The surface underfoot gradually changes to a track-way as the path curves around the adjacent housing. Take note that just to the left of the path the ground drops away quite steeply underneath the line of bushes, so stick to the path. At around 800 metres into the parkrun, the route turns off of the northern border and goes deeper into the park. All the turns are well-marshalled and signed, and to be honest they need to be, because the park features a network of intersecting paths and the course would be difficult to navigate without them.

The opening stick part of our lollipop course lasts 1.2 kilometres, and at this point the course joins the loop. The two laps of the loop are themselves also 1.2 kilometres each in length. The surface remains largely a light gravel most of the way around. It passes an additional children's play area with brightly coloured posts, and every now and then various picturesque views present themselves - quite often with the tower of the Holy Trinity Church in the distance. There are plenty of turns to negotiate which keeps the course interesting to navigate around. I was pleased to see the carved tree trunk dragon called Gladys is still on the route, however it is not quite in as good condition as it was on my previous visit.

If you happen to notice a weird, foul smell in the air, it is likely that this is coming from the local recycling plant or the local sewage treatment facility. News reports suggest it is common for sewage to be released into Milton Creek at high tide and this may be the source of the unpleasant smell wafting through the air. 

When the loop has been negotiated twice, the course rejoins the stick section where it follows the exact same paths all the way back to the original start point. If you've done your maths properly, you will note that the total so far is only 4.8 kilometres, and that means that there are another two hundred metres to go before reaching the finish. So when reaching the start area, the course simply follows the park's main path around the edge of a circular landscaped feature and then heads along the path adjacent to the car park before reaching the finish line.

Barcode scanning takes place immediately after the finish line and when the event has finished the team head off to 'a local cafe', which just so happens to be the Greggs just outside the car park entrance. It really is perfectly placed for the post-parkrun refreshments and has plenty of indoor and outdoor seating. The results were published a short while later and on this visit there were 216 finishers while 21 people were credited with a volunteering role. The number of attendees is usually in the high one-hundreds or low two-hundreds so event 376 was quite representative. I recorded the course using my Garmin and the course GPS data can be found on Strava. There is also an accompanying Relive course fly-by video which can be viewed on YouTube.

If you are looking for something to do after the parkrun, Sittingbourne isn't a particularly tourist oriented location as it is largely residential and industrial. A notable exception is the Sittingbourne and Kemsley Light Railway which is a narrow gauge heritage railway, first constructed to move materials between the early 20th century Kemsley Mill and Ridham Dock on the Swale. It now operates on quite a restricted timetable, generally running over the summer or for special events, and not very often on Saturdays. A section of the railway line crosses the Milton Regis Viaduct which is believed to be the longest concrete viaduct in the UK. The line also passes along the southern border of Milton Creek Country Park.

Overall it is a nice event with a very friendly and welcoming team of volunteers, I was surprised at how much the country park had changed since I was last there. I made sure to thank the day's run director before leaving, but would also like to add a wider thanks to all of the volunteers who made us feel welcome during our visit.

Related Links:

• The course GPS data (12 October 2024)
• The course fly-by video (12 October 2024)

• The original course GPS data (12 March 2016 - course no longer in use)
• The original course fly-by video (12 March 2016 - course no longer in use)

• My original Sittingbourne parkrun write-up

• The Kent parkrun venues (blog7t)

Southend parkrun

Up until 2021, Southend-on-Sea, in the ceremonial county of Essex, was a town. For many years the area's long-standing MP, Sir David Amess, had campaigned for it to be granted city status. In October 2021 following the fatal stabbing of Sir David at his constituency surgery, Queen Elizabeth II agreed to grant Southend-on-Sea with city status as a memorial to him and this was made official in early 2022. The city covers just over 16 square miles and has a population of around 180,000 people. It was first recorded in the 14th century as Stratende when it was a small piece of land in the manor of Milton.

The development of the town started in the late 18th century when seaside health resorts were becoming popular places for people to escape the crowded and dirty cities. Its growth was initially quite slow due to poor transport links from London. This was partly remedied by the passing of the Southend Pier Act 1829, and the subsequent construction of Southend Pier, which at 2.1 kilometres in length was and remains the longest pleasure pier in the world. To make transfer to and from the shore easier, the UK's first pier railway line was installed.

The city is also a borough in its own right and a Unitary Authority where the Southend-on-Sea City Council is made up of 17 wards. One of these wards is Shoeburyness and it is this area which is the focus of this write-up. Shoeburyness sits 3 miles to the east of Southend city centre and was a separate town until it was absorbed by its larger neighbour in 1933. The name goes back to Saxon times where the town was originally called Schoebirig before evolving into Shoebury, and later became the separate settlements of North Shoebury and South Shoebury.

Archaeological finds show the area has had human inhabitants since the Mesolithic era, with a later Iron Age settlement also having been discovered. It is known that the Romans built a fort here called Essobira, which is said to have been attacked during the Boudican Revolt. However, no firm evidence of its exact location has been found. The mid-nineteenth century saw the first real expansion of South Shoebury's population, and this was as a result of the opening of a brickfield and the arrival of the military. The brickfield produced bricks which were largely transported along the River Thames into the heart of London.

The Board of Ordnance purchased land in South Shoebury in 1849 where an artillery testing and practice range was established, replacing the outdated ranges in Plumstead and Woolwich in south east London. This range went on to become the Royal Artillery School of Gunnery, The Coast Artillery School and has also been known as Shoebury Fort and Shoebury Garrison. It was also a key defensive position during the Second World War. There is still a munitions testing facility here, currently under the name of MOD Shoeburyness, but this is centred on the site's New Ranges which are located further to the east and north covering the islands of Foulness and Havengore. The original site, known as The Old Ranges was closed in 1998 with the land and buildings sold for development into a new neighbourhood.

Part of the land adjacent to the Thames Estuary is now called Gunners Park and Shoebury Ranges, which together form a 25 hectare nature reserve managed by the Essex Wildlife Trust. The park and the local area contain many of the garrison's listed buildings, some of which have been repurposed into residential dwellings alongside some new builds which have been designed to subtly blend in with the old. The are also various memorials and nods to the area's past dotted around. A notable feature just outside the park is The Garrison Clock Tower. The park itself contains many different habitats including dense scrubland, scattered trees, ancient sand dunes and coastal grassland as well as a lake, and it is a haven for birds and other wildlife which even includes some rare species.

Dotted around the park are facilities for leisure such as tennis courts, cricket pitch, a basketball court, a skatepark, a couple of playgrounds and a cafe housed within the Grade II Listed 'Cart and Wagon Shed', which is an early military prefabricated building dating from around 1860. There are a number of other historical buildings and installations around the park such as the Old Barge Pier, the Heavy Quick-Firing Battery, the Searchlight Emplacement, the Boat House and the Powder Magazine. Since December 2012 the park has also been home to a free, weekly, timed 5 kilometre event called Southend parkrun. It takes place at 9am on Saturday mornings and is open to all abilities including people who wish to walk or take part in a wheelchair.

I first visited the park in January 2014 and took part in event number 69. Ten-and-a-half years later I revisited the park and took part in event number 561 and it is that latter event from which this write-up was created. Travel-wise, I used the car to reach the venue on both occasions and parked in the free on-site car park, accessible from New Barge Pier Road, which can hold approximately 100 vehicles including disabled bays. Should the car park be full there is a second, much smaller, car park located next to the cafe which is accessible from Warrior Square. At first sight, the adjacent residential roads appear to be completely free of restrictions however there are signs advising that the roads are private and that there is no right of parking. For cyclists, there is a segregated cycle route all the way along the seafront and there are bicycle racks located within both of the car parks.

For travel via public transport, the best railway station to head for is Shoeburyness which is the terminus for c2c trains running from London Fenchurch Street, stopping at stations in east London and along the southern part of Essex such as Upminster, Basildon, Chalkwell and Southend. There are only a few trains that run early enough on a Saturday morning to make it in time for parkrun, so be sure to check the timetable beforehand. The 9, 9A and 14 buses seem to be the options for bus services to the local area. For an overnight stay, Shoeburyness itself doesn't have much to offer, but there is a wide selection of hotels just along the coast in Southend itself, including three Premier Inns. 

The park does not have any public toilets, however there are a couple of options nearby. The first option is just to the west of the park where the toilets can be found in the Shoebury Common Beach car park (1km from the parkrun meeting area). Another option I spotted on the way was just to the north of the park where toilets can be found on Campfield Road just next to the junction where it meets the A13 / Ness Road (900 metres away). The Southend-on-Sea City Council website lists both of these toilets as being open from 8am 365 days per year. We travelled into Southend on the A127 and saw a few McDonalds where a pit stop could also be made en-route.

Once in the park the meeting point for the parkrun is in a small clearing on the north side of the lake, directly to the south of the main car park. It is in this clearing that the briefings take place before everybody relocates to the start area which is at the junction about 100 metres to the east. Southend parkrun takes place over a three-lap anti-clockwise course with the finish being off the loop, back at the main meeting area. Underfoot is almost entirely tarmac paths, with a very short section on gravel and just a few metres of dirt each lap. My GPS data registered the total elevation change over the 5 kilometres at 9 metres, so this can only be described as a flat course. It is perfectly fine for anyone that wishes to take part with a buggy and for wheelchair users.

From the start the course heads towards the north west along the gently curved tarmac path. It is a fixed width and largely bordered with bushes and other natural features, so if you start out-of-position it may take a while to filter through as there are not a great number of opportunities to leave the path to overtake. The first corner is at the far north-west point of the course, just after passing the skate park. After turning the corner, the next section follows the perfectly straight path historically called Barge Pier Road where you get a lovely view across the lake. This was once the route of a tramway which led to The Old Barge Pier. There's an ever-so-gentle incline at the end of this path where it gently climbs and the route then proceeds a few metres from the sea wall.

The arrangement is that parkrunners should generally stick to the left hand side of the path, and anyone overtaking should do so by passing on the right hand side. I will also note that the course was very well marked out and there were marshals present at all the key points of the course. The park is popular with local dog walkers and some of the paths are part of the local cycle routes, so keep an eye out for bicycles. I'm not sure if he is a regular feature, but look out for the guy with the Union Jack flag cheering everyone on. Now heading generally to the east, this path gives a different view across the lake which is very picturesque, especially on a crisp sunny morning. If it is a windy day, this is the section where you may feel the effects of it - whether that's good or bad depends on the direction of the wind, of course.

Although the course runs alongside the Thames Estuary you don't really see the water until the latter parts of this path where it moves directly alongside the sea wall. From here it is possible to see what remains of the Shoeburyness Boom which extends out into the estuary and was used to prevent submarines gaining access to the Thames during the Cold War. This part of the park features the Heavy Quick-Firing Battery, which I heard locals refer to as The Castle. Immediately after this is where the surface underfoot changes to gravel followed by a few metres of dirt/mud, where the course has a gentle u-turn and returns to tarmac for the last section of the lap which meanders back around to the start point.

Once three laps have been completed, the course turns to the left and heads back towards the meeting point where you will find the finish funnel. The barcode scanners are positioned on the grass clearing and once scanned, you can pop your finishing token into the slot in one of the yellow buckets. I recorded the course using my Garmin and the GPS data can be viewed on my Strava account. That data was also used to create a course fly-by video using the Relive app. For the record, the course in 2024 was identical to the one used in 2014. The results were published a short while later and there were 259 participants at event 561 which is pretty much spot-on the expected number for this venue.

The post-parkrun refreshments are listed as being at The Shorehouse Harvester, on Ness Road. There are of course other options such as the Serendipity Cafe located in the Cart and Wagon shed. This cafe is in the same building as the Shoeburyness Heritage Centre. If you have time it is worth having a little look around the local area where you may spot some of the area's historic buildings and features. Another obvious post-parkrun option would be to head into the centre of Southend and have a day out at the seaside. We had planned to do that and walk to the end of the pier, but sadly ran out of time. Nevertheless we had a lovely morning out in Gunners Park and Shoeburyness. Finally, a huge thanks goes to all of the volunteers that helped put the parkrun on.

Related Links:

• Southend parkrun GPS data (28 September 2024)
• The course Relive video (28 September 2024)

• The Essex parkrun venues (blog7t)

• My 2014 Southend parkrun write-up (blog7t)

• Chalkwell Beach parkrun write-up (blog7t)