Thurrock parkrun, Orsett Heath

Thurrock is a unitary authority area with borough status within the ceremonial county of Essex, with a population of around 176,000 people. The word 'Thurrock' is either from the Saxon or Middle English word Thurrok (þurruc) and means 'the hold of a ship'. It can also mean a 'dung heap' which is of course a large pile of dung (or the solid waste from animals such as horses or cows). Its use as a local place name can be traced back to an Anglo-Saxon estate called Turroc.

When most people hear the name Thurrock, they would probably associate it with one of two things; its famous shopping centre and retail park Lakeside, which is the eleventh largest shopping centre in the country, or the Dartford-Thurrock River Crossing (commonly known as Dartford Crossing), which forms part of the London orbital road.

The southern border of Thurrock is defined by the path of the River Thames, and this is the most-densely developed part of the borough where its largest town, Grays can be found along with a large number of industrial premises and distribution centres. In fact there are two oil refineries and one of the country's largest refuse disposal sites here. Its proximity to the River Thames and the M25 means the chemicals and products produced here can be easily transported around the country or indeed the world. It is also home to the famous Port of Tilbury which serves as the principal shipping port for London.

Thurrock also has quite a surprising connection to the film industry, with 'Four Weddings and a Funeral', '28 Days Later', 'Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade', 'Batman Begins', and 'Who Framed Roger Rabbit' all having scenes filmed at various locations within the borough. Purfleet, which is in the far west of Thurrock, is where Bram Stoker's Dracula had an estate and was shipped there in 50 boxes of earth from his Transylvanian castle. Its attractions include Tilbury Fort and Coalhouse Fort, which are former artillery forts on the Thames and Grays Beach.

The borough also contains a large amount of green space including parks such as Thameside Nature Park, Langdon Hills Country Park and Belhus Wood Country Park, a few villages and farmland. The villages that are of most interest to this write-up are Orsett Heath and Chadwell St Mary. What are now residential areas were once part of a large area of farmland, heathland and woodland which included Orsett Heath, Chadwell Heath, Hangman's Wood and Terrel's Heath. Parts of Orsett Heath were also used for gravel extraction around the turn of the 20th century.

The land around the villages that has not been developed is largely still in use as farmland, however there is a section of Orsett Heath and Terrel's Heath which is known as Chadwell Recreation Ground. This open grass area with some remaining elements of heathland features a number of different sections which sit nestled between the adjacent sections of housing. Its western border is flanked by the A1089 (Dock Approach Road) trunk road. There are some marked sports pitches, a small unenclosed children's play area and an unenclosed basketball court plus another large flat concrete section which I can only assume is the remains of a c.1960's sports facility.

On 10 October 2015 the recreation ground became home to Thurrock parkrun, Orsett Heath which is a free, weekly, timed 5 kilometre event that takes place on Saturday mornings at 9am and is open to all abilities including those who wish to walk. Like all parkruns it is run entirely by volunteers and as such offers opportunities to lend a hand in a variety of roles on a regular or ad-hoc basis. This write-up is from my second visit to the event which was on 11 January 2025 at a cold and beautifully frosty event 416. My first visit was on 26 March 2016 where I took part in event 24. The original write-up felt a little dated, so this one supersedes it.

When visiting to take part in the parkrun you need to head towards the northern section of the recreation ground which is just off Heath Road. The best marker to look out for is the building with the pyramid-shaped roof which is known as The Pyramid Centre or The Pyramid Resource Centre and Scrap Store, it is home to and run by the Thurrock Play Network. There is a free-of-charge car park adjacent to the building which I estimate can hold around 80-100 vehicles. Marshals are present within the car park before the event and they ensure vehicles are parked in the most efficient manner.

For those travelling via public transport the closest National Rail station is Grays which is about 2.8 miles away. The station is served by c2c trains on the London to Tilbury and Southend line. It looks like the easiest way to complete the journey would be by taking the 83 bus to Heath Lane (alighting at the Loewen Road stop) and this leaves a 0.3 mile walk to reach the parkrun meeting point. Other bus services that stop nearby are the 100, 200 and 475 but these stop further away and will require a longer walk of around 0.6 miles. I didn't see any proper bicycle racks but there is a small metal fence around the car park which you could secure a bike to.

Should an overnight stay be required there are some hotels dotted around the local vicinity. If you fancy a treat there is the 4-star Orsett Hall Boutique Spa Hotel which is approximately 2.5 miles away by road. The original Orsett Hall was completely destroyed by a fire in 2007 and replaced with an almost identical replica in 2009. There are of course a few other independent local options. Those who prefer the familiar setting of the chain hotels have a few nearby options. The closest cluster can be found in Thurrock near Lakeside Shopping Centre. This is home to two Premier Inns, two Travelodges, a Best Western and an Ibis.

There are toilets located in the Pyramid Centre which are available to those attending the parkrun and they were open well in advance of the parkrun start time. They are fairly basic, and although they (the gents, at least) had sinks with soap, the only hand drying facilities were some towels which I couldn't bring myself to touch. The meeting point along with a tarpaulin bag drop and the start/finish area are all located next to the car park immediately adjacent to the main road. The briefings take place here shortly before the event gets underway.

The parkrun takes place over a two-lap clockwise course and the surface underfoot is 100% off-road with the majority being grass. Trail shoes are my preferred footwear at this venue, but road shoes will suffice during the drier times of year. It's a flat course, but be aware that the ground is a little bumpy in a few places. The course is essentially flat and my 2025 GPS data recorded just 9 metres of elevation gain over the 5 kilometre course. Participants with buggies should be absolutely fine here, but I'd say it's not the ideal course for wheelchair users. The recreation ground is quite exposed and offers little to no respite during poor weather conditions.

The course is very easy to follow as it largely sticks to the perimeter of the recreation ground and I can't imagine any point where you could take a wrong turn or get lost. From the start the course heads in a southwesterly direction where it passes over some slightly bumpy ground on the way to the first corner where it turns to head directly south. Up ahead is a brick building which marks the next corner and upon reaching it the course turns to head east. The basketball court can be seen to the right and a random scattering of children's play facilities follows shortly after. The only point where the course leaves the perimeter is when it cuts across the grass field and heads across to the opposite side.

Through the trees it is possible to see St Mary's Cemetery which is notable for containing 36 War Graves Commission graves from the Second World War and the grave of a local resident who died in the 9/11 terrorist attack on the Twin Towers in New York. The course runs alongside the cemetery and then continues heading to the west as it passes the back gardens of the adjacent houses. Turning to head northwards, the general theme of the course changes as it heads through a passageway between outcrops of trees and then through another bumpy section which feels more like heathland.

The points where the course changes direction are generally marked with small colourful saucer cones and there are marshals strategically positioned on some of the corners. You may also notice that the route has permanent direction signs. They were installed by Thurrock Council and feature the Active Thurrock branding. One of the signs has a map of the course and a link to the parkrun website. Very handy for anyone planning to complete a freedom run/walk on the course.

The final part of the lap follows the natural dirt and grass path alongside the adjacent Farm Road and then Heath Road which is lined with evenly spaced trees. This leads back towards the start area which completes the lap and this is followed by a second, identical lap. At the end of the second one the finish line can be crossed. Barcode scanning takes place at the meeting point and finish tokens are then placed in the event's bespoke wooden token holder. The Pyramid Centre is the location for the post-event refreshments. Options are limited but the prices are extremely reasonable and any money spent here goes towards the Thurrock Play Network's community work.

The results for event 416 were published later that morning and 180 people took part, with approximately 10% of the finishers (including us) having largely walked the course. 20 people were recorded as having volunteered in some capacity. The weekly attendances are usually in the region of around 150 participants, but that figure appears to be on the rise as, at the time of writing, the top four most-attended weeks had all occurred within the last few months. The attendance record stands at 195 and this was set in October 2024. I recorded the course using my Garmin and the GPS data can be viewed on Strava. The same data was used to create a course fly-by video using the Relive app. For the record the course is identical to the one used during my first visit in 2016.

As far as cancellations are concerned, the event tends to be fairly hardy. The off-road surface means that frosty and icy conditions do not tend to cause the same problems as they would for a tarmac course. There are very few trees so the risk of one falling during stormy conditions and causing a problem is minimal. I can only find one occasion where the event has been cancelled and this was 3 March 2018, which was during the Beast from the East snowstorm where the temperatures were -11 and the lying snow made it difficult to judge the ground beneath, especially on those bumpy sections. So overall it is a pretty safe bet during extreme weather conditions.

Thurrock parkrun is one of those events where a no-frills venue comes to life thanks to the efforts of the local community. There's a wonderful close-knit community feel and everyone we spoke to was extremely welcoming. It's an off-the-radar kind of event, but it's certainly one worth visiting. I'd like to end by adding my thanks to all of the volunteers that made the event possible.

Related Links:

• My Thurrock parkrun GPS data (11 January 2025 / Event 416)
• The Relive course fly-by video (11 January 2025 / Event 416)

• The Essex parkrun venues

• My original 2016 Thurrock parkrun write-up

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)

Harlow parkrun

Harlow is a town in the county of Essex with a population of around 82,000 people. The original village of Harlow pre-dates the Domesday Book of 1086, but by how long is not known. In the book, it appears as Herlaua. There was once a medieval manor, established as an abbey, called Harlowbury (Herlaue Abbitas) located in what is now the east of Harlow. The manor changed to private ownership following the dissolution of the abbeys in 1539. Harlowbury Chapel, dating back to 1180, is the oldest remaining building in the town. Nearby lies the site of an Iron Age settlement and a Roman building, possibly a temple or a villa.

Harlow remained a village for many hundreds of years, until 1947 when it became one of the first places to be designated as a New Town following the passing of the New Towns Act 1946. In fact, it was the first place in Essex to receive this designation. The act was put in place following the Abercrombie Plan for London which recommended eight new towns on the outskirts of the capital, with the majority of the new residents relocating from the worst-hit areas following bombing during the Second World War.

The village was initially earmarked to become the centre of the new town, but the plans were altered as doing so would have meant the loss of some of its historic elements. The original Harlow is now called Old Harlow and is one of eleven wards of the modern-day Harlow New Town, whose town centre is situated a couple of kilometres to the west. The master plan for Harlow New Town was drawn up by Sir Frederick Gibberd with many of the original buildings designed by the leading architects of the time. He also wanted to have the finest works of art on display and this has led to Harlow currently having over 90 sculptures. In 2009 the local council voted to make Harlow the world's first 'Sculpture Town'.

In 1902 a company based in Old Harlow invented the world's first cricket scoreboard to feature revolving figures. The centre of the new town features Britain's first-ever pedestrianised precinct, and in 1951 Harlow became home to Britain's first residential tower block, called The Lawn. The building has nine residential floors, so is small compared to modern residential buildings, but it would have been quite impressive in its day. The town was once home to a company called Standard Telecommunications Laboratories which is recognised as the birthplace of fibre optic communications.

Gibberd's masterplan factored in many green spaces and as a result, one third of the town is parkland or fields. Many of these open spaces are referred to as 'Green Wedges' which were designed to separate the different areas of the town and of course to give residents access to natural spaces. The wedges are protected against further 'inappropriate' development through Harlow Council's 'Local Plan'. It is also well-known for its extensive cycle network (segregated and shared use) which connects all areas of the town, and of course provides residents with a viable alternative to driving.

The town's main green space is Harlow Town Park which was designed by Sir Frederick Gibberd and landscape architect Dame Sylvia Crowe. It is centred on Netteswell Cross which is a crossroads where the historic country lanes created a junction. While it is no longer a major thoroughfare, the roads themselves still exist as access for residents of the houses that line the road and for visitors to the park and The Greyhound pub which sits on the junction itself. This means the park is divided into compartments with the pre-war village houses and the pub effectively sitting within the boundaries of the park. Creating the park around the existing houses and pub was a purposeful design decision made by Sir Frederick.

The park was opened in 1957 and features a blend of formal gardens and natural spaces which have been landscaped into the beautifully undulating parkland. In total it now covers an area of 164 acres of former farmland and gravel pits, with much of it being land that was previously part of Spurriers House and Farm. Spurriers House still stands within the park and the ground floor is home to Spurriers House Cafe. Next to the house is a petting zoo called Pets Corner. Opened in 1966 it is home to traditional farm animals as well as alpacas, llamas, reindeer and some rare breed pigs. It is open to the public daily and is free-of-charge to enter. The park also contains a bandstand, adventure playground, outdoor gym, paddling pool, skate park and a footgolf course.

Elsewhere in the park there is a water garden, also known as Watercress Beds. This is made up of 3 cascading ponds, is home to much wildlife and features a Pisces sculpture. There are further garden areas dotted around the park, such as the walled garden, sensory garden, and the Miyawaki Forest (inspired by Japanese botanist Dr Akira Miyawaki and features a special planting method which is said to increase density and carbon dioxide absorption). There is also the Newfoundland garden - this was created to mark Harlow New Town's 50th anniversary and also Newfoundland's 500th anniversary. The two are twinned. The park is a multiple recipient of the green flag award which I hear it won 7 years in a row. It is also Grade II Listed which makes it one of only a handful of post-war parks to be granted this status.

In November 2014 the park became home to a free, weekly, timed 5km event called Harlow parkrun. It is open to all abilities and despite the name, there is no requirement to run - walking is a perfectly acceptable way to be part of the fun, as is taking part in a wheelchair, pushing a buggy or volunteering. I first visited this venue on Christmas Day 2015 with my daughter where we took part in event 61 with her in the running buggy. The write-up from that day can be found here: Harlow parkrun write-up 2015. We revisited on 20 July 2024 and took part in event 441. As the old write-up is a bit lacking in detail, I also took the opportunity to write this brand new one.

On both visits we travelled by car. The venue has a number of car parks, but the one that is closest to the parkrun meeting area is School Lane car park. However, please note that I have seen it referred to as The Greyhound Car Park and as Netteswell Cross Car Park. The sign at the entrance calls it the Town Park - School Lane Car Park. Parking at weekends is free for up-to two hours, but you must obtain a ticket from the onsite machine upon arrival. If staying for over two hours the fee as of July 2024 is a flat rate of £1.30. This can be paid at the machine, by text message or by using the MiPermit app. Should the car park(s) be full you may be able to find some on-street parking on some of the residential roads to the south of the park.

If travelling by train, the closest station is Harlow Town and this is conveniently located to the north of the park, just across the road. It is served by Greater Anglia services running out of London from Liverpool Street and Stratford, or in the other direction from Cambridge North, Bishop's Stortford and Stanstead Airport. The town also has plenty of bus services that stop alongside the park or at the train station. For anybody taking advantage of the town's cycling infrastructure, the only proper bicycle racks I spotted are located outside the cafe building. It looks like most people secure their bikes to a tree near the start.

The toilets can be found adjacent to the Pets Corner Playground, which is located in the north-west section of the park, but still quite central. When we visited they were open well in advance of the parkrun start time, but the exact opening times weren't on display or on the park's website. The only information given was a sign that read 'seasonal opening periods only to be advised'. The meeting point for the parkrun is located immediately to the southeast of the School Lane car park, which is in the southeastern section of the park, but again is quite central. If walking between the toilets and the start, there is a brief section walking along Park Lane and School Lane where you can walk through the car park to reach the meeting point.

The parkrun takes place over a 3 lap anti-clockwise course which takes place entirely in the northeast section of the park. The first two are full laps with each being 2.1 kilometres in length, while the third lap is much smaller at just 600 metres. The remaining 2 x 100 metres can be found during the start and finish leg. Underfoot is almost entirely tarmac paths with the exception of an extremely short sandy path that cuts across the grass about halfway through each of the two full laps. The course that was in use during my first visit was a little different and featured a lot more grass, but that one has now been retired in favour of the current course, which I understand was first introduced as the winter course. I'd say that choice of footwear is pretty easy with regular road shoes being the first choice all year round. While the course is largely flat, it does undulate a little and my GPS data reported an elevation gain of 42 metres.

With the first timers' and the main briefings complete, the participants line up on the main central path facing northwards. The start area is on a medium-width path which has no over-spill area, so once the parkrun is underway it can take 20-30 seconds or so for everyone to get moving. The opening 200 metres are also on a slightly uphill path, which meanders around into the northeast section. There is a section of the opening path that clearly feels like a country lane and this is the original Netteswell Road which has now been incorporated into the park. This heads eastwards where the immediate vicinity has an open grass area to the left.

The next part of the course is the beginning of what is effectively an out-and-back section which starts with a swooping down-then-up section which goes through an underpass and into the adjacent area known as Glebelands Wood. On the way out there is a sharp right hand turn onto what could be described as an uphill zig-zag and at the top the course continues to head further into the wood. The far end of this section is marked by not a U-turn, but a V-turn. The route then heads back via a slightly different path before swooping back through the underpass and returning into the main part of the park. The very short non-tarmac path is found here as the course transfers onto the opposite side of the open grass field and the returns to tarmac.

This path naturally leads around past the outdoor gym and then past the park's adventure playground (not the same one that I mentioned earlier). The remaining section of the lap has a slight incline as it passes alongside the Harlow Town Footgolf course which opened in April 2024. Once past the Footgolf, there is a bridge to cross called 'Brooks Bridge'. This has a very strong link to the parkrun as it has been named after a man called Spencer Brooks who sadly passed away in early 2020. He was a popular and well respected parkrunner and member of the wider local running community. In fact, at time of writing, the event that was held in his honour on 8 February 2020 still holds the record as Harlow parkrun's largest turnout with 416 finishers.

Once across the bridge there is a short, but narrow, uphill path which completes the lap. The second lap is identical to the first and the third lap starts the same but swings to the left at the very beginning of the open grass field where it joins the last section of the course at the outdoor gym, past the adventure playground, footgolf course and across the bridge. Once all three laps have been completed, the route turns right after the bridge and all that's left is the final 100 slightly downhill metres back around to the original meeting area where the finish can be found. Barcode scanning takes place on the path immediately after the finish line. I recorded the course using my Garmin and the GPS data can be viewed via my Strava account. This data was also used to create a Relive course fly-by video and that can be viewed on my YouTube channel.

The course is very well marked out with cones and arrows in all the right places. There are also plenty of marshals stationed at various points around the course. Some of the paths are on the narrow side, so if you are lapping or being lapped just remember to keep an eye out for each other. It can be quite a squeeze at times. As far as attendance figures are concerned, Harlow parkrun generally attracts an average of around 280 participants in good conditions, with occasional weeks surpassing the 300 mark. When we visited on 20 July 2024 the attendance figure was 258 with 25 people credited in various volunteer roles. The results were published later that morning.

The post-parkrun refreshments are held over at Spurriers House in the park's cafe where you will find all the usual cafe-style options and plenty of indoor and outdoor seating. It is worth bearing in mind that the parkrun course only covers one section of the park, and I would recommend taking a bit of time to explore the other areas as there are some really lovely spots to find. Sadly we didn't have enough spare time to go into the petting zoo, but I'm putting it at the top of my list for next time. A huge thank you goes to all the volunteers who made the event possible and made us feel very welcome.

Related Links:

• My Harlow parkrun GPS data (20 July 2024)
• The Relive course fly-by video (20 July 2024)

• My Harlow parkrun GPS data (25 December 2015) (old course)

• My original 2015 Harlow parkrun write-up (blog7t)

• The Essex parkrun venues (blog7t)

Basildon parkrun

Basildon is a town and a borough in the county of Essex. The name is thought to be derived from an Anglo-Saxon settlement called Boerthals Hill. The earliest written record of Basildon is from the Domesday Book in 1086 where it was recorded as Belesduna or Behoter. Throughout the following centuries it was subsequently recorded as Berdlesdon, Bretlesden, Batlesdon, Batlesden, Bassendon and Basseldon. For over 850 years it was a village with its population remaining less than 200 well into the 19th century. By the beginning of the 1930's it had increased to 1,159 mostly due to the availability of cheap plots of land, however there was not much infrastructure and around three-quarters of the homes were not connected to the sewers.

In 1949 the modern-day town was formed from the amalgamation of four small villages - Pitsea, Laindon, Basildon, and Vange. The new town took the name of Basildon as it was the most central of the four. It was created following the passing of the New Towns Act 1964 which was put in place to establish new settlements for those who had been bombed out of their homes during the second world war. The designated New Towns were removed from local authority control and placed under the authority of a development corporation. Basildon was part of the first wave of 10 New Towns, with 8 of these being located just beyond London's green belt. As of the 2021 census the population was 115,955 with many having roots back to London's east end.

A couple of interesting records that Basildon has held over the years are; The town's main shopping centre, 'Eastgate Shopping Centre' which has 750,000 sq. ft of retail space, was the largest covered shopping centre in Europe when it was completed in 1985. The second is that in 2017 Coasta Coffee constructed a roastery in the town and this is noted as being the largest coffee roastery in Europe (although Costa themselves note it is being 'one of the largest'). It can produce 45,000 tonnes of coffee per year. I also couldn't write this blog without giving Basildon's famous Hollywood-style sign a mention - It was installed at the side of the A127 in 2010 at a cost of £90,000 and has faced ridicule over the years. However, it is kind of quirky and I like it.

Basildon's most famous exports are from the entertainment world. Firstly the synth-pop, electronic rock, dark wave, band Depeche Mode. Secondly Alison Moyet. who was half of the synth-pop duo Yazoo, incidentally with Depeche Mode's former drummer Vince Clarke who then went on to form Erasure. A mention should also go to Perry Bamonte from the Cure and Keith Chapman, creator of the Bob the Builder and PAW Patrol children's shows, who also both went to school in the town. The incredible thing is that Alison, Perry, and DM's Martin and Andy were all in the same class together!

Much of the land used to develop the town was formerly farmland and one farm in particular is of interest to this write-up. Felmores Farm in the former village of Pitsea was once around 60 acres in size, and it survived the initial development. However, in the 1970s the expansion of the town finally came knocking on the farm's door. Most of the former farmland was developed into homes and was named Felmores Estate. When developing the area, part of the land was landscaped into a park which is called Northlands Park. In more recent times the local council has re-branded the area as the Northlands Park Neighbourhood, but most locals still refer to it as Felmores.

The park itself was created in the 1970s and features two lakes in its north-west corner which were designed to catch floodwater, preventing the newly created neighbourhoods from flooding. The picturesque lakes provide home to a range of wildlife including water birds and insects such as dragonflies, and are also used for fishing. The northern part of the park also contains other facilities such as a playground, skate park, sports court, and a cafe. The southern half of the park is made up of gently undulating naturally landscaped areas packed full of trees, grassy fields and meandering pathways. In April 2014 Northlands Park became home to a free, weekly, timed 5 kilometre event called Basildon parkrun. The event is open to all abilities including those who wish to walk the course.

I first visited the event in May 2014 where I took part in event number 7, the write-up from that event can be found here: Basildon parkrun 2014. I returned in June 2024 and this is where this new, and hopefully improved, write-up dates from. On both occasions I drove to the venue and parked in the free-of-charge onsite car park which is at the north of the park and accessed from the roundabout on the road called Felmores. Should an alternative be required you could probably find a bit of on-street parking in the residential streets to the north-east of the park. Incidentally there is a Premier Inn just opposite the car park, which makes this a great option for anybody looking for a parkrun within walking distance of a purple palace.

If travelling to the venue by public transport, there are two train stations to choose from, both served by c2c trains on the London Fenchurch Street to Shoeburyness line. Firstly, the closest station is Pitsea where the connecting journey on foot is around 2.5 kilometres. It may be possible to pick up the B3 Basildon Shuttlebus from Pitsea High Street which then stops near the Northlands Park car park. The other option is alighting at Basildon station, but it is further away with the connecting walk being 3.8 kilometres. The connecting bus services seem to be number 25 or the B3 Basildon Shuttlebus. There may also be other buses that stop near the park such as the 1A, 49, 50 and the X10 Airlink service which connects Basildon to Stanstead Airport. When I first visited there were no proper bicycle racks in the park, but there is now a small bank of racks set within a shelter in-between the car park and the playground.

The meeting point for the parkrun is just outside the Two Lakes Cafe building which is next to the playground and faces towards the lakes. The park's toilets are located at the rear of the cafe building and when I visited they were open well in advance of the parkrun start time. There are two briefings that take place before the event starts, a detailed more intimate one for first-timers and then a large briefing for everybody - both of these take place outside the cafe and once complete the participants move across to the start line which is on the grass next to the skate park.

When I first visited in 2014 the parkrun used an almost-three-lap anti-clockwise course, but this has now been changed to a clockwise course, and it still uses an almost-three-lap configuration. While most of the route is fairly flat, there are some sections in the southern half that feature some ups and downs. Overall I wouldn't describe the course as being hilly, just gently undulating and my GPS data recorded a total elevation change of 26 metres. Underfoot is mixed terrain, so expect to find a nice varied selection of grass, tarmac, stones and dirt. In the winter, trail shoes may be helpful as it can become muddy in the southern half of the park, but in the summer road shoes are perfectly fine.

The opening section on grass is only used at the start and after about 100 metres it joins the main loop at Ian and Shane's Corner, the first of three named corners on the course. The path gently meanders around as it heads to the south. The next significant turn is at the south-east corner of the course where there is a sharp right-hand turn onto a stony path at Anne's Corner. The course begins to rise at this point and it follows the natural path through the southern section of the park. There's another short section on grass where the course then merges onto another path that dips downhill. The surface underfoot is quite uneven here, and when I visited some sections had been highlighted with small cones.

Passing through a section of woodland via a sweeping dip in the terrain, the course then emerges at Derek's Corner, and this marks the beginning of the north-west corner of the park where the route circumnavigates the two lakes. This section has a tarmac path underfoot and is flat. As the course reaches the north-east side of the lakes, the playground and the cafe building come back into view and the course passes both before a final left hand turn then leads back along to Ian and Shane's Corner and this completes the full lap. It is repeated in full one more time, and then when reaching the cafe at the end of the third lap, the finish funnel can be entered.

Barcode scanning takes place just after exiting the finish funnel and the parkrunners and volunteers have their post-event refreshments at the Two Lakes Cafe. There's a bit of outdoor seating which gives a lovely scenic viewpoint across the lakes. If you have children with you, it's also a very convenient spot for letting them play in the playground. I had recorded the course using my Garmin and the GPS data can be viewed on my Strava account. You can also view a Relive course fly-by video of the course on my YouTube channel. For anybody interested in the original 2014 anti-clockwise course, my original GPS data can also be viewed on Strava.

The results were published a little later that morning and 228 people had participated at event 469. This was a little higher than the average which tends to be in the 160-180 range. The attendance figure seems to be in the low 100's during the winter and can even drop into double figures when conditions are particularly harsh.

It's a really lovely park and definitely worth a visit. I really enjoyed chatting to some of the locals and to the volunteers, who I'd like to thank for making us feel welcome and for putting on the event on the day we visited.

Related Links:

• Basildon parkrun GPS data (June 2024)
• Basildon parkrun Relive course fly-by video (June 2024)

• Basildon parkrun original course data (May 2014)

• The Essex parkrun venues (blog7t page)

The Borough of Basildon parkrun write-ups:

• Basildon parkrun
• Billericay parkrun
• Wickford Memorial parkrun

Gunpowder parkrun

Waltham Abbey lies at the western end of Essex, just near the borders with Hertfordshire and London. The town's recorded history dates back to the 11th century. It was originally the ancient parish of Waltham Holy Cross where it took its name from its former abbey. The abbey itself is notable for being the last to be dissolved following King Henry VIII's Dissolution of Monasteries. In fact, King Henry VIII is known to have been a frequent visitor to the town and stayed on multiple occasions. The abbey is one of a number of possible burial places of King Harold II, who was the last Anglo-Saxon King of England.

waltham abbey

One of the early industries at Waltham Abbey was fulling, used for cloth production. This was possible due to the supply of water from the Millhead Stream which is a man-made water course supplied by water from the River Lea. The mills also went on to produce vegetable oils. During the 17th century, shortages in gunpowder required for the Second Dutch War resulted in the mills turning their attention to producing gunpowder. The mills were privately owned until, in 1787, they were purchased by The Crown, thus ensuring the security and high quality of this highly valuable commodity. It was known as The Waltham Abbey Royal Gunpowder Mills and was one of three such sites in the UK.

Over the years, demand for gunpowder for military use grew during periods of conflict, such as Napoleonic Wars (which included The Battle of Waterloo), the Crimean War and the Boer War. Large quantities of gunpowder would have been taken south to the Royal Arsenal in Woolwich (now home to Thames Path parkrun, Woolwich) via canal. Demand was traditionally lower during times of peace but during the industrial revolution demand for gunpowder from commercial companies such as those in the mining, construction and tunnel building industries kept the mills busy. Then of course, World War I started, and production soared to a new high where the Royal Gunpowder Mills' employees doubled from 3,000 to over 6,000 people. It was notable that most of the additional workers were women, and this marked quite a significant point in social history.

gunpowder park

The mills, associated buildings and munitions testing grounds were spread across two adjacent sites, typically known as the North site and the South site. Advances in technology meant that newer explosive technologies became favoured. The mills were involved in producing TNT and also RDX - two of the components which make up Torpex, and this was the explosive used in the famous Bouncing Bomb (Dambusters) during the Second World War. In 1945 The Waltham Abbey Royal Gunpowder Mills closed. Almost immediately the site re-opened as The Explosives Research and Development Establishment, and in 1977 it became the Propellants, Explosives and Rocket Motor Establishment where they worked on the Skylark project who produced research rockets.

By 1991 both sites had closed. The North site is now largely covered by Waltham Abbey Site of Special Scientific Interest, and it also still contains many of The Royal Gunpowder Mills buildings. It is run as a heritage centre where visitors can learn all about the fascinating history of this very significant place. The South site was decontaminated and sold for development. It is now a combination of supermarket distribution centre, housing, and the remaining 255 acres are called Gunpowder Park. It is part of the Lea Valley Regional Park, and its main focal points are wildlife, science and the arts. At 9am on Saturday mornings it plays host to a 5km event called Gunpowder parkrun.

parkrun briefing / start

I previously visited Gunpowder parkrun back in December 2012, and on that occasion, I travelled from central London using a combination of the London Underground followed by a Greater Anglia train where I alighted at Enfield Lock (there is of course a Waltham Abbey station, but this is further away from the park). From Enfield Lock it is possible to walk in an easterly direction and enter the park via a small footbridge that crosses the River Lea - at this location, the river forms the border between London and Essex. The parkrun meeting point is over on the east side of the park, so it's about a 2km walk in total. Cycle racks are available and they are located in the main car park.

If travelling by car, the main and obvious place to park is the main Gunpowder Park visitor's car park. This on the east side of the park and is accessed from Sewardstone Road (the A112). The car park has a fee which rises depending on the duration of your stay. As things stand (November 2022), payment needs to be made just before you exit and the machine will calculate the cost based on the time the ANPR camera recorded your entry. The on-site payment machine is debit/credit card only (no cash). The signage in the car park also suggests that payment can be made by telephone or by registering with the 'good2go' website. Please also note that, according to my quick count, the car park only has 45 regular spaces, plus a further 5 disabled parking spaces. If the car park fills up, the noted alternatives are all in the town centre. You can complete the rest of the journey (1-2km depending on where in the town centre you park) on foot or by taking the 505 bus which stops close to the main entrance on Sewardstone Road. There may also be some on-street parking available locally, but if you do go for this please be respectful of local residents.

around the course

The parkrun meeting point is on the eastern side of the park just near the main entrance, car park and the toilets - I'm not sure of the official opening time of the toilets, but they were definitely open at 8.30am on the day we visited. A first-timers briefing takes place and this is followed by a full briefing. The whole crowd is then led around to the start. At 9am the participants are sent on their way around the park. The course here at Gunpowder parkrun is two-and-a-bit laps which on this visit was on a clockwise course. However from 14 June 2025 the course is negotiated anti-clockwise with a different starting point. Underfoot is a compact gravel surface, so road shoes are fine on this course, it is also fine for buggy runners. Overall it's reasonably flat but there are a couple of gentle inclines during the first half of each lap.

The park is divided into four bioregions. Firstly, there's the Cob Fields (The Shock Wave Galleries) - This zone consists of bands of trees and shrubs which have been designed to represent the shock waves sent out during an explosion, with the blast centre located fairly close to the parkrun meeting area. The second zone is Cob Meadow (Blast Mound Plateau) which provides ideal nesting grounds for Skylarks. The third is Osier Marsh (The Salix) which is an area of wet woodland which provides a great environment for wildlife to thrive. As I understand it, Osier is the name of a certain type of Willow, which grows in abundance in this area and is part of the Salix genus. Lastly there is the Cob Fields (The Energy Fields) this area features some arable farmland and contains a viewpoint at the top of an incline.

around the course

At this venue the course is not marshalled (this was noted in the briefing), but instead relies on direction arrows to help parkrunners navigate the course. Fortunately, it's quite an easy route to follow. Being a clockwise course, it features mostly right-hand turns, but there's also a single left turn as well (note that from 14 June 2025 the anti-clockwise course is mostly left-hand turns). A fact that I find quite interesting about Waltham Abbey is that the Meridian Line passes right through the centre of the town, and it also goes straight through Gunpowder Park, meaning this is currently the UK's only 5k parkrun whose course actively crosses the line (the participants cross it four, or possibly five, times). There's a bit more info in my Meridian Line parkruns post.

Once the two-and-a-bit laps have been completed, there's a finish funnel set up on an offshoot of the main path. Barcode scanning takes place at a table over at the main meeting point, There isn't an on-site cafe for the post-parkrun social, but I understand they have a community cafe once a month (possibly the second Saturday). I recorded the course with my Garmin and uploaded the data to Strava where I spotted a few witty gunpowder-themed segment names. I used that data to create a course fly-by video using the Relive app on my phone. I was actually quite relieved that the GPS worked as when I visited in 2012 all of my GPX files ended up being corrupt. Please remember that the course changed on 14 June 2025.

around the course

In terms of expected numbers of participants, as of 2022, Gunpowder parkrun generally has around 150 taking part each week. However, we visited on 5 November 2022 which of course tied in perfectly with Guy Fawkes Night and the Gunpowder plot of 1605. On this particular day 479 people participated in the parkrun which broke their previous attendance record by a whopping 150. It was of course a huge undertaking for the team of volunteers who had to cope with three times as many participants as they would usually expect.

With such a high number of finishers, towards the end the finish tokens ran out, so the last 29 people (us included) received their finishing position either in writing on their hand or as a hand written number on a piece of paper. It didn't help that it was raining, which then caused problems with scanning and writing down barcodes! I'm sure there was a little stress behind the smiles, but they coped magnificently and I can only offer my sincere thanks to each and every one of the volunteer team for making sure everything went as smoothly as possible. I think they'll be relieved that the next time 5 November falls on a Saturday is in 2033!

the finish / barcode scanning

You may notice our green cuddly toy in some of my photos. This is a Creeper, and it is found in the Minecraft video game. Its significance at this venue is that, firstly, the way the Creeper attacks the player is by silently creeping up and then exploding. Also, if you manage to kill a Creeper, the item it drops is gunpowder. So, if anyone was to pursue a Minecraft parkrun challenge, this venue would be on that list!

Related links:

• My GPS data (5 November 2022) (A new course is in use from 14 June 2025)
• The Relive course fly-by video (5 November 2022) (A new course is in use from 14 June 2025)
• The Essex parkrun venues
• The London parkrun venues
• My original Gunpowder parkrun blog
• The Meridian Line parkruns (blog7t)
• Thames Path parkrun, Woolwich (blog7t)