Nonsuch parkrun

Over a thousand years ago, a village called Codintone (which would later become Cuddington) stood in part of the area which is now Nonsuch Park, Surrey. In the 1086 Domesday Book, the village was recorded as having a total of 28 households. There was also a mansion, a church and farmland. Then along came King Henry VIII, who, in 1538, bought the Manor and demolished the entire village to make way for his brand new royal palace.

The palace was designed to be a celebration of power and it is said that it was the grandest of all of his 55 palaces. In fact it was built to rival France's Francis I's Chateux de Chambord, which is now a UNESCO World Heritage Site. A quote in Old English, attributed to King Henry himself, says 'there is nonsuch place to rival its beauty and magnificence' and so it was named Nonsuch Palace to emphasise just how grand it was. The word Nonsuch is variant of Nonesuch, meaning 'a place or thing without equal'. My understanding is that it should be pronounced 'none such' (nŭn′sŭch′).

King Henry visited the unfinished palace three times before he died, so never got to see it fully completed. It was subsequently sold by the royal family, but returned to the crown a few years later where it remained a royal residence until 1670. Baroness Nonsuch (Barbara Villiers) was the final owner of the palace, but by 1682 the once magnificent palace had been demolished with the fixtures and fittings, stone, and lead roof sold off to pay off her gambling debts.

In 1731 a new house called Nonsuch Mansion was built a few hundred metres to the north-east of where the palace once stood, possibly on the site of an old Keeper's Lodge. From what I hear, the mansion wasn't particularly pleasing to the eye, so in the early 1800s it was rebuilt in a Tudor Gothic style which mimics elements of the King's palace. There is even a stone from Henry's palace built into the north porch. This mansion and the surrounding land was sold to the local authorities in 1937 to protect it from development. The mansion still stands and is now used for events such as weddings and can also be hired for filming and photography shoots.

The surrounding 120 hectares of parkland were officially opened as Nonsuch Park on Wednesday 29 September 1937. Even after this opening, part of the park continued to be used for grazing animals and growing crops. In 1959 excavations of the old palace (Pathe News video) took place and the layout of the building is now marked by three stone obelisks. The modern-day park is rich in wildlife and is managed by the Nonsuch Park Joint Management Committee, which is comprised of both Epsom and Ewell Borough Council, and Sutton Council.

On 17 September 2011, the park became home to Nonsuch parkrun. We first visited this venue on Tuesday 5th June 2012 (event 40) which was actually a special event in celebration of the Queen's Diamond Jubilee. We revisited on 1 July 2023 to take part in event number 539. If travelling by public transport Cheam looks to be the closest train station and this is served by Southern trains. However if travelling on South Western Railways, West Ewell can be used as an alternative. There are also buses that pass close to the venue, options include numbers 293 and 668 which stop to the west of the park, or the 470 which stops near Cheam.

If driving, there are multiple free-of-charge car parks within the grounds that can be used. There are two which are accessed from London Road (A24) and another two which can be accessed from Ewell Road (A232) - all of these are located on the park's boundary. The main point to note regarding car parks is that parkrunners must not park in the main car park in the centre of the park, this is for visitors to the mansion only. It is also worth noting that this venue attracts a high number of parkrunners, so there is quite a high demand for parking spaces. If travelling by bicycle there are permanent bicycle racks located in some of the car parks, and one next to the cafe at the mansion. However, on parkrunday a temporary rack is assembled at the parkrun meeting point.

There are toilets located on the north side of the mansion building. The main assembly point is to the north-west of the mansion. The first timers briefing takes place here (it was done twice during our visit), and the main briefing took place at the start line which is about 200 metres along the path to the south. Nonsuch parkrun has traditionally used its regular 2-lap course during the summer months and a 3-lap course during the winter months. However, as of 27 May 2023 a new course has been introduced, and it is hoped that this will remain in place all year round, negating the need to change during the winter. I have GPS data and Relive videos for all three courses, please see links at the bottom of the page. There is more information regarding the course change on this Nonsuch parkrun News report.

The new course is just under two laps, which are run in a clockwise direction and the terrain is flat. The surface underfoot contains an almost 50-50 split of hard paths and grass/dirt paths. The course is fine for road shoes in the summer, but I'd imagine it would be beneficial to go for trail shoes in the winter. For the record buggy runners are fine on this course. I'll also mention that Nonsuch parkrun has a pacing event on the last Saturday of each month. Plus, and this was even more interesting, they also have monthly Jeffing pacers on the first Saturday of each month. If you haven't heard of it, Jeffing is a technique named after running coach Jeff Galloway, and is essentially a run/walk method of training. Check out this Nonsuch parkrun news article for some detailed info.

The start is on a tarmac path just to the south-west of the mansion. The path itself is just a regular width and it is bordered by strips of short grass followed by longer grass and trees. Nonsuch parkrun is quite regularly the fourth largest attended venue in the UK (sixth largest on the day we visited), with attendance figures generally falling within the 600-800 window. With that in mind, many participants will spread onto the grass either side of the path, so expect some congestion to start off with. This initial path heads south until it reaches the southern border where a right hand turn takes the route onto The Avenue. Once the participants spread out the general rule is to stay to the left and anyone overtaking or lapping can do so on the right-hand-side.

Once on The Avenue, the course continues on a hard surface path, but is within a line of trees so provides shade on hot days. Along this section of the course are two drain covers on the right hand side of the path which are raised to a significant height out of the ground, so care must be taken to avoid tripping on these. At the south-west corner of the course, the route follows the natural bend around to the right and the course passes right through the centre of where Nonsuch Palace (and before it Cuddington Church) would have stood. On the right hand side are three stone obelisks which mark where the walls would have been, including those of the Inner Gatehouse and Outer Gatehouse. Just after the last of the obelisks a marshal marks the spot where the course leaves the hard path and the surface changes to grass.

The grass section follows well trodden walkways. To the sides the landscape is open, containing longer grasses and various rows and copses of trees. There are one or two marshals in place to guide the way so navigating shouldn't be a problem. A feature of the new course is a section which doubles back on itself and passes around a feature called round pond, which you probably won't even notice as it is surrounded by trees. At around this point there is a big tree in the middle of the path - on the first lap the participants pass to the left and continue until reaching the hard path, which meanders around to the start of the second lap. At the end of the second lap everyone keeps to the right, and this leads onwards to the finish line which is located on the grass in the same location as the meeting point.

Being a large event, once crossing the finish line there is a very long, winding finish funnel to assist with keeping everything under control. The finishing tokens are given out at the very end of the funnel and the barcode scanners can be found lined up on the adjacent grass. The post-parkrun refreshments are in the park's cafe which is located back over at the mansion. The cafe has some indoor seating but the majority of seats are outside. The food options are largely based around sweet pastries, cakes and sausage rolls (meat and vegan), and they had the usual selection of cafe drinks available.

I had recorded the course using my Garmin and the data can be viewed on my Strava account. I also made a Relive course fly-by video from the GPS data which can be viewed on YouTube. The results were published shortly after and 652 people took part in event 539. This was towards the lower end of the current expected number of attendees, which as mentioned above is usually between 600 and 800.

Post event we spent some time exploring the formal garden area of the park which is very nice. Inside the mansion is a model of King Henry's palace, but sadly it is only open for viewing on Sundays, so we didn't get to see it (there are some photos on the Friends of Nonsuch website). Once we had finished looking around the garden, it was time to head home. Revisiting Nonsuch parkrun had been a great experience, so a big thanks goes to all those involved in putting it on.

Related Links:

My GPS data for the new 2023 regular course (2023)

Fly-by Video for the new 2023 regular course (2023)

GPS data of the winter course (2023)

Fly-by Video of the winter course (2023)

My GPS data for the original regular course (2012 data) No longer used

Fly-by Video of the original regular course (made using 2012 data) No longer used

The London parkrun venues (blog7t page)

The Surrey parkrun venues (blog7t page)

Blog from my first visit in 2012

Pathe News video of the 1959 excavations

Broadwater parkrun

Please note: As of 12 August 2023, the meeting point and the course will be different. Please check the official Broadwater parkrun webpage and/or social media channels for the latest information.

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In the county of Surrey is the picturesque, historic market town of Godalming. It is thought to have been inhabited since saxon times and subsequently appeared in the Domesday book as Godelminge. It is positioned on the main route between London and Portsmouth where it became a popular stop for stagecoaches, and this lead, in part, to its prosperity. The town's major industries have changed over the years, woolen cloth was an early one, but as the times changed, leatherwork and then papermaking become popular.

In 1881 it became the first town in the world to install a public electricity supply and this powered the street lighting. However due to various issues, the lighting reverted to gas after a few years. There is also a bizarre story from 1723 where a lady called Mary Toft fooled the town and doctors into believing she had given birth to rabbits. Her Wikipedia page contains a detailed account of it. I think I'll leave it at that.

Just over a kilometre from the town centre is the settlement of Farncombe. It has a link to the Titanic in that one of the senior wireless operators was born here. He died on-board the ship in 1912, and he is remembered in a number of memorials around the town. After the ship struck the iceberg, he is credited with raising the alarm which lead to many lives being saved. However his Wikipedia page suggests that he was actually partly to blame for the collision by not passing crucial information to the captain. Worth having a read.

In Farncombe you will find the former grounds of Broadwater House, which was comprised of the house, parkland, a lake, stables and farm buildings. The house existed from the 1840s until the 1960s and was initially home to the Marshall family and subsequently the Price family. It has a strong historical link to cricket and part of the estate has been used for matches for centuries.

In 1936 the cricket playing field was purchased and gifted to the town. Putting two and two together, it appears that this has some connection with the King George's Field Foundation. Hundreds of open spaces across the country were renamed 'King George's Field' as a memorial to King George V following his death that same year. The 471 playing  fields in the scheme are legally protected and now fall under the guardianship of the charity 'Fields in Trust' (formerly known as the National Playing Fields Association [NPFA]). You can still see the original bronze plaque (or plaques, there should be two, but I only noticed one) on a wooden post at the entrance to the cricket field.

The modern-day park features the usual amenities such as a children's playground, tennis courts, basketball courts and toilets. Also within the park, you will find Godalming Leisure Centre which contains a gym, fitness studio and the town's swimming pool. There are two listed buildings within the park. The first is a 'crinkle crankle' wall which now surrounds Godalming Community Centre (see photo in collage 1). This type of wall features alternating convex and concave curves and is also known as a Serpentine Wall or Wavy Wall. They are typically designed to capture heat from the sun to assist in growing fruit. The second is the former dairy building.

The park is a central point for many of the town's sports activities and teams. Farncombe Cricket Club is based here, as are Guildford Rugby Club and Godalming Lawn Tennis Club. Godalming Town Football Club have a ground at the southern tip of the park. You will also find a building used as a rehearsal room for the local brass band 'Godalming Band'.

In 2021 the park became home to Broadwater parkrun. It is a free, timed, 5km event which takes place on Saturday mornings at 9am. Although the initiative originated through the running community, the parkrun events themselves are community events and open to all abilities so there is no need to even consider running if that's not your cup of tea.

If you drive to the venue, the parkrun parking arrangements are that Guildford Rugby Club (entry off of the A3100 roughly opposite the Citroen dealership) have agreed to let parkrunners use their car park for the duration of the event, but please bear in mind that the car park has a gate which will eventually be locked (it was still open at 11.15am when we were there), so if you are planning to hang around for significant amount of time post event, you may prefer to seek alternative parking, such as the Meadrow pay and display car park. The local side streets are free of parking restrictions, however it is requested that parkrunners do not use this option.

For cyclists, there is a large bank of covered cycle racks outside the leisure centre within the park. The town is on the main train line between London Waterloo and Portsmouth and the closest train station is Farncombe which is only a short (5-10 mins) walk away. However not all trains stop at Farncombe, so if you happen to alight at Godalming Station you'll have a longer walk of around 25 minutes.

There are public toilets within the park and these are positioned right next to the parkrun meeting area adjacent to the playground, however the sign on the outside says they officially open at 9am. Saying that, they were already open when we arrived at 8.30am, but it may be worth exploring the possibility of a toilet stop en-route if you need a guarantee.

Just before the start of the event, first-timers and general briefings are held, and after that the participants line up next to the Walter Bailey chainsaw carving of a figure. It was carved from a dead Oak tree in 2000. From here the participants are sent on their 5km journey around the park. The course consists of a clockwise loop of the cricket field followed by two full anti-clockwise laps around the park. Underfoot you will find a mixture of grass, dirt paths, and tarmac.

We had the running buggy with us and it was fine, but there are a few bumpy sections and also some exposed tree roots in places. As far as footwear is concerned, its ok in road shoes in the summer, but I went for my trail shoes because it was autumn and some mud was starting to appear. It is largely flat, but there are a few short, sharp ups and downs as you go around the course. Please also note that at time of writing they do not allow dogs at this venue, although it was noted in the briefing that this policy is under review.

After the initial clockwise loop of the cricket pitch (King George's Field), you head back through the start line, but in the opposite direction and off around the park following an anti-clockwise course. You will soon find yourself alongside the lake (Broad Water) which provides home to various species of birds and fish.

The course switches back and forth between grass, tarmac and sections on dirt/mud - the overall split is roughly 2.4km on grass, 1.5km on tarmac, and 1.1km on dirt paths. I found the course to be very well marked and there were marshals in all the right places. Also, look out for the Giant Sequoia tree which is on the route - it seems quite unusual to see these, so it was a fantastic sight! (I hear there are three of them in the park).

Upon returning to the main meeting area towards the end of the first full lap, you complete the loop of the cricket field, but now in an anti-clockwise direction. This is followed by an identical second full lap. Once back at the end you continue on the grass right into the finish funnel which runs parallel to the playground fence and zip line. Finish tokens are handed out at the end of the finish funnel and barcodes are scanned straight after.

At time of writing, there wasn't an official post-event refreshments venue listed on the main Broadwater parkrun page, but I understand there is a cafe in the leisure centre. However, we, along with some other parkrunners, went over to the car park near the rugby club where you should find a vintage Citroen Type-H van (built in 1960) which is home to Waffles and Stuff. You can get some light refreshments here including a nice selection of hot drinks and, of course, waffles. They even have a vegan waffle option.

After that, we explored the rest of the park, found the crinkle crankle wall, went to the playground (again), and also popped over the road to check out the level crossing which is just to the west of the park. By that time, the results for event 6 had been processed and we had received our results text messages. 251 people had taken part which was a new attendance record.

Given that my course description may be a little confusing, I would recommend having a look at my GPS data and the course fly-by video for a better visual on the course. Lastly the event couldn't happen without its fantastic volunteers, so a massive thank you for looking after us and making us feel so welcome.

Related:

My GPS data on Strava

The Relive course fly-by video

The Surrey parkrun venues

Brooklands parkrun

Please note: The course has changed since I wrote this blog. If I revisit, I will update this page.

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The country estate of the Locke King family once dominated a large part of the southern area of Weybridge, Surrey. Its centrepiece was the family mansion, which was built in 1861 by Peter Locke King. Interestingly, the estate was formerly owned by Prince Frederick, Duke of York and Albany - this is THE grand old Duke of York, yes, the one from the nursery rhyme. Upon Peter's death in 1885, the estate was inherited by his son, Hugh Locke King.

Hugh had a passion for automobiles and came to the conclusion that Britain should have its own motor testing track in order to assist the motor industry to develop, and to keep up with the progress the European motor car producers were making. So he went ahead and built a 2.75 mile (4.43km) oval-shaped racing track with banked sides within the grounds of his estate. This was the first purpose-built racing tack in the world. It's name was Brooklands.

brooklands

In 1909 an aerodrome was added and Brooklands became the centre of the British automotive (motorsports) and aeronautical industries. All the big names of the day had their own warehouses, workshops and offices here. Tyre companies found the track especially useful as cars could be driven at top speed continuously for however long was required. Malcolm Campbell, famous for setting the land and water speed records in his Blue Bird vehicles during the 1920 and 1930s also had a workshop here.

The aerodrome was one of Britain's first airfields and within a few years had become home to numerous flying schools. With the onset of World War One, the facility was requisitioned by the War Office and the Vickers Aviation Ltd set up a factory where military aircraft were constructed and tested. In 1920 motor racing was resumed at Brooklands and the first and second British Grand Prix were held here in 1926 and 1927 respectively.

members banking

The Hawker Hurricane fighter aircraft was assembled and tested at Brooklands in the years leading up to the Second World War, and when war broke out, Brooklands once again became a military site with the Hawker and Vickers factories producing wartime planes such as the Wellington and Warwick. The famous bouncing bomb used by the Dambusters was designed here by Barnes Wallis. Bombing raids by the Luftwaffe took place in 1940 and by the time the war ended, the track was in such poor condition that motor racing was never resumed here - the last race having been held in August 1939.

The post-war years saw aircraft production increase with the Vickers-Armstrongs conglomerate purchasing the site and produced military and commercial planes. In 1960 the company was merged with three other aircraft companies which together became the British Aircraft Corporation (BAC) and Brooklands was heavily involved in the production of Concorde. In total well over 18,000 aircraft were produced at Brooklands between 1908 and its closure in the late 1980s.

briefing etc...

Some sections of the original track became lost to various developments, but around two-thirds of it are still largely intact, albeit somewhat overgrown in places. This is mostly thanks to a 1975 preservation order which granted the remaining sections of track, buildings and structures protection under the law. The Brooklands Museum Trust was set up to manage and preserve the area and the museum itself opened in 1991. In 2009 Brooklands was featured in an episode of James May's Toy Stories where he and around 300 locals successfully created a Scalextric track which followed the line of the original track. With a total length of 2.953 miles, this set a new, and at time of writing still current, world record for the longest slot car track.

The south-eastern corner of the site is now Brooklands Community Park which was created as part of the Mercedes-Benz World and the Brooklands hotel project (more about these later). Opened in the mid 00s, the 60 acre park contains a mixture of features including part of the former runway, the 'Byfleet Banking' section of the race track, woodland, children's playground, and a path alongside the River Wey. If you look closely you will find a selection of historic traces of the past like the 'Bayliss' iron railings which marked the original site boundary line. In November 2018 the park became home to a free, 5k walking/running event called Brooklands parkrun.

start line etc...

Parking is available in the free-of-charge Brooklands Community Park car park (height restriction of 2.1m) which is at the southern end of the park just off Sopwith Drive. There are no toilets within the park itself but the local Tesco which is just across the road does have some (on the right next to the main entrance, plus more upstairs in the cafe). Tesco's car park also serves as a secondary option in case the main car park has filled up. For anyone travelling by train, you'd be looking at alighting at Byfleet and New Haw station which is just over a kilometre walk away.

The meeting point for the event is at the shelter next to the basketball court right in the middle of the former runway, just a couple of minutes walk from the car park. If you happened to have cycled to the event, the shelter has some bicycle racks but if these were unavailable you could always secure it to the playground fencing. The run briefing takes place here, before the whole field relocates to the northern end of the park, which is in sight of the 40% scale model of Concorde which acts as a Gate Guardian for the Brooklands Museum complex.

woodland section (1)

The two-and-a-bit lap anticlockwise course contains a mixture of hard surface (tarmac/concrete) and a softer dirt path for a section through woodland (the split overall is roughly 3.5km / 1.5km). The course itself is entirely flat with the exception of a short, sharp slope within the woodland area. It's absolutely fine for buggy runners here, but you could end up with slightly muddy wheels during the wetter months.

With that in mind, if conditions have been particularly wet you may find a light-ish trail shoe would assist at points, but keep in mind that the majority of the course is road shoe territory (For the record, I wore my light trail shoes to be on the safe side, but it had been quite a dry spring and I would have been fine in my road shoes).

woodland section (2)

The route itself starts on the former runway and heads south before crossing the Byfleet Banking section of the race track. Now entering the wooded area, this is where the surface changes underfoot to dirt/mud. It's peaceful in here and I felt quite relaxed as I plodded along with my son in the running buggy and my daughter chatting away to my side. We even spotted some bluebells growing under the trees. The path meanders gently until it eventually reaches a small wooden bridge that crosses a brook.

Look out for the historic iron Bayliss iron railings around here - if you look closely you can see where the trees have grown and consumed parts of them. After short section alongside the River Wey the course emerges from the woodland, the surface changes back to concrete/tarmac and participants now cross back across the race track - don't forget to have a sideways glance where you can admire the historic Byfleet Banking. The course heads alongside the track and in between two more brooks (you now get an idea why this area is called Brooklands) for the next 500 metres.

byfleet banking

Heading back onto the runway, the course heads north along the eastern side of the tarmac and after a short diversion around some cones, heads back around to the start. You'll get a decent view of the Concorde model when the trees are bare, but when in full bloom it may be difficult to spot.

The second lap is identical to the first, and the finish line is just a couple of hundred metres further along the tarmac. It's worth noting that the runway area is, as you'd expect, quite exposed, so you're likely to feel the effects of any wind.

back towards the runway

Barcode scanning is taken care of at the finish line and the team currently head over to Tesco's Cafe for post-event refreshments. The event has been pretty popular from day one and after only 21 events, the average number of attendees is 272.

The results were processed in due course and 282 people took part. I, as always, had recorded the course using my Garmin and you can view the course in further detail on my Strava page. You can also watch the Relive video of the course which was created from the GPS data.

runway / finish

With the parkrun done and dusted, we continued onto the next part of our day out at the track where we visited Mercedes-Benz World. As I touched on above, this was a project in the early-mid 00s and Mercedes offer a selection of driving experiences at various prices, the most expensive is about £1,200. However there were other, more affordable options. However, even of you are not a paying customer, you can go in and view a selection of new and historic Mercedes-Benz cars. The highlight for me was seeing the three Formula 1 cars on display up on the second floor.

The Brooklands Hotel is just next door and has design features that reflect the area's past, it also pays homage to the Solomon Straight (part of the Campbell Circuit, not the main loop, and apparently named after a goat) which runs straight through the main lobby in the form of a line permanently set into the floor. Something I've spotted which I can find absolutely no evidence to support online is that from above the building looks like the shape of a V8 (or V10 or V12) engine, which are typically found in high-end sports cars, The cylinders are arranged in the V shape in order to fit more of them in the available space, this means more power can be produced (anyway, something like that. I'm not an expert).

brooklands museum: mp4/14 / concorde / harrier

Following that we went into the Brooklands Museum where the entry fees are £16 for an adult and £9 for a child. Many highlights here including seeing the Concorde (a family friend's grandad worked at Brooklands and was involved in producing the parts), the Napier-Railton (which holds the fastest lap record at Brooklands), sitting in the cockpit of a Harrier (Jump Jet), and seeing more Formula 1 cars.

The museum staff allow children to sit in one of the F1 cars (it's children only as the steering wheel does not come out to give adults the space to climb in), so my daughter got to sit in Mika Häkkinen's World Championship winning McLaren MP4/14 (Being on F1 fan, I may be slightly envious!). By the end of the day we were totally shattered, but we'd all had a fantastic time at Brooklands and have it in mind to go back and do it all over again sometime in the future!


Related links:

• Brooklands parkrun event 21 results
• Brooklands parkrun course on Strava (this version of the course is no longer in use)
• Brooklands parkrun Relive course video (this version of the course is no longer in use)
• The Surrey parkrun venues

Mole Valley parkrun

Mole Valley is the name of a local government district in Surrey. It was formed in 1974 and takes its name from the River Mole. The district contains two towns, Leatherhead and Dorking, plus many villages and settlements. The area sits on the North Downs and also includes some of the Surrey Hills Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. I had visited the area to take part in Mole Valley parkrun, which takes place just outside Dorking in the grounds of the Denbies Wine Estate.

The estate takes its name from John Denby who was the first owner of the estate in the mid-16th century where he built a modest farmhouse. The next owner, Jonathan Tyers, transformed the grounds into a gloomy, gothic, garden. It's theme was 'reminder of death' (memento mori) and featured macabre statues including coffins and skulls as well as a clock that chimed every minute. The grounds were known as 'The Valley of the Shadow of Death' at this time.

Subsequent owners built grand mansions, this included the Denison family (wealthy bankers) who redesigned the grounds and removed the macabre theme. Finally the last grand building was built by Thomas Cubitt c.1854 and featured 100 rooms. In the 20th century small pieces of land gradually began to be sold off, and the mansion was used as the Home Guard headquarters before its demolition in 1953.

Parts of land were given to the National Trust (some via the treasury in lieu of unpaid taxes) and in the 1980s the remaining land was sold to a water-treatment company, Biwater. The chairman of the company, Adrian White, established the Denbies Wine Estate. With 268 acres currently under vines, Denbies is the largest vineyard in England and it's vines represent around 10% of the total amount in the whole of the UK. Outdoor activities are available, where visitors can tour the estate on the train tour (not on tracks), or enjoy a Vine and Dine grape picking experience. There are also indoor options which includes a selection of wine tasting experiences.

Denbies doesn't only produce award winning wine - they do weddings, civil ceremonies, dinners and private parties, as well as corporate events like exhibitions, conferences and product launches, plus seasonal family events around easter and halloween etc. The site is also home to the Denbies Vineyard Hotel, so there is the option of an onsite overnight stay.

The grounds were used as a location for James May's Toy Stories where he built a full sized Lego house in 2009, it was dismantled soon after as the area was required for vines and the house did not have planning permission. They are also no stranger to hosting running events - The biggest of these is the Bacchus Marathon and Half Marathon which includes six wine tasting stations per lap. The Surrey Cross-Country League and various other races are also held here.

Mole Valley District Council had been searching for a suitable venue to host a parkrun for around two years before Denbies finally came forward. The one thing Denbies lacked was enough suitable car parking space to host the event. A planning application and a bit of groundwork later, the car park was complete and the event was ready to go.

Like all parkruns in England, this event takes place at 9am on Saturday mornings, is free, and open to all running abilities and to walkers. Upon arrival by car, participants can head straight into the aforementioned onsite parkrun car park or continue into the main car park, which is where I ended up parking. Cyclists can use the bespoke bicycle racks provided onsite just outside the visitor centre.

If travelling by public transport, Dorking train station is the closest, but there are two others in the town, Dorking Deepdene and Dorking West. Buses 21 and 465 stop just outside the venue.

Toilet facilities are officially available from 9am in the main visitor building (When I visited in 2018, they were available from 8.30am, the change of opening time is an economic decision made by Denbies - please see this post on the Mole Valley parkrun Facebook page which also lists some nearby alternatives). To summarise here, the suggestions are; either of the nearby Esso petrol stations on the A24, Waitrose, and St Martin's Walk Shopping Centre. I've also seen there is a Sainsbury's and a Lidl in Dorking town centre which both supposedly have customer toilets.

The parkrun itself starts adjacent to the main Denbies visitor centre and takes place over a single lap course around the vineyard on a mixture of gravelly paths, grass and dirt. Being an off-road course you may find trail shoes useful here, especially in the winter when it gets very muddy and splashy underfoot. My personal preference would be to go with trail shoes all year round as they may help with negotiating the uneven surfaces.

There is a note on the main webpage that says that this course is not suitable for buggies, and to be honest, that is a fair statement. However, buggies have not been banned so if you fancy a challenge, you are free to go ahead. Also if you bring a dog, it must be kept on a lead at all times and it must not be allowed roam amongst the vines. There are signs to this effect and I saw a lot of people (not all of them linked to parkrun) ignoring this.

The vineyard has been planted on the south-facing slope of the North Downs which receives more sunlight and heat than northern facing slopes, and this is perfect for growing the grapes. The run also takes place on these slopes, so don't expect this venue to be a walk in the park. In fact, while I was doing my research for this blog I came across a few online comments along the lines of 'beautiful scenery, but I had to walk up the hills', 'the hills were traumatic but I loved the course', and lastly the very simple 'never again!'. However the event attracts around 300 people every week so it can't be that bad... right?

So after the main briefing, the participants are sent on their way, but before entering the tracks through the vines there is a quick loop of the grass field - this helps to spread the field before entering the narrower tracks. The tracks themselves aren't actually that narrow, in fact they are wide enough for the farm vehicles to move along. However the grass can be a bit lumpy in places at the edges so the prime route is along the single file well-trodden paths.

The route works its way up along the northern border of the vineyard until levelling out at about 1.3kms into the course. It's worth noting that this opening section reduced quite a number of people to walking pace, and if it does the same to you, you certainly won't be alone. After a short downhill section which dips down into the valley, the course hits the 2km mark and again starts to head uphill - my GPS briefly picked up an incline of 25% here.

At 2.8km into the run, the course finally reaches its highest point and the good news is that the final 2.2kms are either downhill or flat. Up to this point the course has been mainly grass and dirt underfoot, but it now changes to a dusty, gravelly, stony track for a while. The views across the vineyard are constantly changing, but stunning from all over the course, so don't forget to take a good look around every now and then.

With 700 metres left to go the course goes back onto the dirt/grass tracks and the route enters its final stage. It rejoins the northern border and heads back along it to the start line which is now the finish line. Barcodes are scanned right next to the finish line. Please note that the venue does have a b-course, which can be used if the start-finish area is unavailable. The map of both courses can be found on this Facebook post. However it seems the b-course still takes in the majority of the same used for the regular course.

Participants can now head into the Conservatory Restaurant for breakfast and a cup of tea. I picked a selection of vegetarian options from the hot food counter and paid £4 which I thought was pretty reasonable - however I forgot to show my parkrun barcode, if I had done I would have received a 10% discount. I Revisited in March 2023 and the breakfast options were reduced in comparison to my first visit. If you eat meat then you'd be able to have a bacon or sausage bap. Apart from that, all I saw was beans and fried eggs. They did have a good selection of cakes. There's also an outdoor kiosk for refreshments.

While sitting in the restaurant with fellow tourist Tim, who I know from my former home parkrun at Riddlesdown, I uploaded my GPS data to Strava and set the Relive app to create a course flyby video of the course. I also received my result and saw that 284 people had taken part in event 10. Once we had had a good ol' chinwag I headed back towards the car via the onsite shop which sells all the wines they produce as well as lots of other bits and pieces. I was almost tempted to buy some wine, but then I remembered that I don't really drink alcohol, so I went home empty handed.

If you are interested in wine, it would definitely make sense to spend the entire day here taking part in some of the activities listed above, or if you are more of a beer drinker you may find a tour of the on-site Surrey Hills Brewery is more to your liking. Whatever you do, there can be no doubt that the place would have left an impression on you. For me, the highlight was the beautiful scenery and the tough, hilly course. The changing seasons as the year progresses will make this course a real treat for those local enough to call this home. It's a great venue and us parkrunners are very lucky to get to run here. Every week. For free.

Related links:

• Official results for event 10
• The course GPS data
• Relive course flyby video
• The surrey parkrun venues
• Squerryes Winery parkrun blog (also takes place in a vineyard)

Banstead Woods parkrun

The village of Banstead is nestled on the north downs and is bordered by large areas of land with Metropolitan Green Belt status. It sits the county of Surrey just a couple of miles from the border with London. The first recorded mention of it was in 967 AD, and it appeared in the 1087 Domesday Book as Benestede. Banstead currently has a population of around 16,000 people.

To the south east of the main village area is Banstead Woods. The woods cover 250 acres and are classified as ancient woodland which means the area has been continuously wooded since at least 1600 AD. Many hundreds of years ago, the woods were owned by the Crown and were enclosed as a royal deer park under the name Banstead Park Estate. The last Queen to own the woods was Henry the VIII's first wife, Catherine of Aragon.

banstead woods

In 1841, while under the ownership of the Spencer family, the estate was renamed Banstead Wood. Later on the woods came into the Baring family (founders of the now collapsed Barings Bank) who built a large house within the woods. The building subsequently became The Queen Elizabeth Hospital for Sick Children and has now been converted into flats.

In 1939, during the Second World War, the woods came under to control of the War Department and was used as a camp for the Canadian military. Later on in the war, the woods were used as a prisoner of war camp called 'Westonacres Camp No.239'. In present times, the area is known as 'Banstead Woods and Chipstead Downs Local Nature Reserve' (LNR), and is also a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI).

around the course

I was of course here for Banstead Woods parkrun, which is one of the grand old parkruns - in fact when it had its inaugural run back in 2007 there were only two other venues, Bushy and Wimbledon. It was set up by Chris Phelan and back then would have been known as Banstead Woods Time Trial. At time of writing, it has the longest-standing (male) course record which was set on 7 June 2008.

Banstead holds a special place in my own parkrun history as it was the location of my first (and second) ever parkrun back in May 2011, and for a while I had it officially set as my home venue. I also ran here as part of my New Year's Day double (unofficially a triple) in 2014. Back in 2011 my blog posts weren't quite as detailed as they are now, so when, in February 2018, I had a nearby afternoon cross-country race, I thought it would be nice to go back, see some familiar faces and update the blog.

around the course

For my first four visits, I drove and parked in the Holly Lane Car park which is free-of-charge. However the main event car park is at Park Farm, which is just a little further along Holly Lane (and closer to the start). I finally used the Park Farm car park for the first time on my 5th visit, in 2023. The Holly Lane car park has 100 spaces and the Park Farm car park has 50. Out of the two options, my preference is to use Holly Lane. There are some cycle racks located within the Holly Lane car park.

If travelling by train it is best to head for Chipstead Train Station, which is the closest. The onward walk is not far (roughly 400 metres to reach the Holly Lane car park, and just under a kilometre to reach the meeting area). However, please note there is a section of country lane to walk along which does not have a pavement. For the record there is a train station in Banstead, but this is significantly further away. 

Upon arrival, you may need to follow other participants in order to find the meeting point, but don't worry, there'll be plenty of people heading in the right direction. By the way, there are no toilet facilities at this venue. As an alternative, there are some located within a public car park just off Banstead High Street, I personally checked these out on my 5th visit (26 Aug 2023) and can confirm they were open when I popped in at just after 8am. The start of the parkrun is located in a slightly different location to the finish, so leave a few extra minutes to walk around to the start area, which is half-way up a hill.

around the course

Once the first timers' and main briefings have taken place, the participants are sent off on their Saturday morning 5k run or walk. The course is just under two anti-clockwise laps of the woods. Underfoot is woodland trail paths with some tree roots and stones mixed in, so that means dirt when it's dry and mud when it's wet. On this occasion, I ran in a mixture of the two which wasn't too bad, but I have run here in very challenging, splashy, muddy conditions. Trail shoes are my preferred option on this course at all times of year, but road shoes are absolutely fine when it's dry.

The beginning can be a little congested as the path immediately narrows down a little after a few metres. However the path soon opens back up which gives plenty of space for participants to settle into the appropriate position in the field. As far as features to look out for around the course go, the last surviving pond in the woods is located next to the second corner (the southern tip of the course) - it was restored in 2011. There were once seven ponds, dug in medieval times to provide drinking water for the hunted animals (deer).

part of the narnia trail

On the subject of features, Banstead Woods is very well known for its bluebells and people specifically come here in spring to see them. It's also worth noting another recent feature installed in the woods - The Narnia Trail is a series of wooden carvings from C.S Lewis' books, so you'll get to come face-to-face with the lion, the witch and the wardrobe (and Lucy)! Lastly, the woods are home to the Roman Snail, which has a white-ish shell and is protected under the Wildlife and Species Act 1981. However, they are edible and people are known to illegally collect these for use in restaurants.

Anyway, back to the parkrun....

The paths are mostly pretty straight lines and even on the narrower sections are still wide enough to accommodate a couple of participants side-by-side. The course is shaped almost like a rectangle, but it might be better described as an irregular quadrilateral, trapezium or possibly even a parallelogram. However, I'm not an expert in geometry so I'll leave it at that. The corners (4 of them, of course) are all very clearly marked with large arrows, and occasionally you'll see a marshal too.

the uneven uphill path

The hill profile caught me out on one of my earlier visits because with the event starting over half-way up the hill, it's easy to forget that there is one to climb. So after passing the finish area towards the end of the first lap and turning the corner, it can be a bit of a shock to the system. The climb is easily the trickiest part of the course, so along with having to drag yourself up, the surface underfoot is very uneven with all sorts of rocks, flint and bricks protruding. In fact I wouldn't be surprised if this is the remains of an old road of some kind (I can't find anything to confirm this, but maybe one of the locals will be able to shed some light on it).

The course does give back what it took going up the hill and most of the final kilometre is downhill (also most of the 2nd kilometre). In fact the configuration means that this is a 'net downhill' course - however you still have to get up the hill so I wouldn't necessarily expect to run any quicker because of this fact.

thanks to all of the volunteers

So with the almost-two-lap course complete, the fabulous finish funnel team will be awaiting your arrival with encouragement and smiles. Barcode scanning takes place at the original meeting point and you get a little clue that this is one of the grand old parkruns as the scanning points are still fondly known as 'registration'.

The official post-parkrun refreshments take place at The Mint pub, and the results are also processed here. It's a short drive to get there but very worth it. I was also pleased to hear the call of 'RESULTS!' once they had been processed, it's only a small detail, but it's something that I found really nostalgic. The general attendances at Banstead Woods are usually just under 200, and it is important that it stays that way as there is an informal agreement in place to not exceed 160 participants.

registration and the mint

I had recorded my run using my Garmin and you can see the course route and profile via my Strava account. I also used the data to create a course fly-by video using the Relive app on my phone. As always, a massive thanks goes to all the volunteers.

Links:

• My GPS data (2018)
• Relive course fly-by video (2018)

• The Surrey parkrun venues

• My first parkrun blog
• My second parkrun blog
• My New Year's Day 2017 blog

Homewood parkrun (Homewood Park)

Please note: Homewood parkrun is no longer based at Homewood Park - The venue has changed to Ottershaw Memorial Fields which is about 1 mile away from Homewood Park. A post covering the new venue can be found here - Homewood parkrun (Ottershaw Memorial Fields).

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Just over a mile to the south west of Chertsey town centre, you will find the stunning, grade II* listed, Palladian style building that is Botleys Mansion. It was built in the 1760s on an elevated site where it is thought a 14th century manor house once stood. The architect, Kenton Couse, was also responsible for the remodelling of 10 Downing Street between 1776 and 1775.

homewood park

The estate was known as Botleys Park and its ownership passed through many hands over the years. By the 1930s, the mansion and grounds had been sold to either London or Surrey County Council (conflicting info exists) and become a central part of the 'The Botleys Park Colony for Mental Defectives', which covered 334 acres (135 hectares) and eventually became known as the Botleys Park Hospital.

The mansion is now owned by a company called Bijou and is used primarily as a venue for weddings. Most of the original grounds have been consumed by the adjacent St. Peter's Hospital and some office blocks. The remaining parkland now covers just 23 hectares and is a public space managed by Runnymede Borough Council called Homewood Park, which is where Homewood parkrun takes place.

run briefing / start

I wasn't feeling particularly touristy on the day I visited, but I dragged myself out of bed and soon found myself 'Homewood bound'. I visited the venue on a frosty November morning to take part in event number 6. I parked the car in the car park just off of Stonehill Road where parking is free for up to 3 hours, but you must obtain and display a ticket from the machine to cover your time there (just press the green button and it will dispense a ticket).

If you were to look on the Homewood parkrun webpage, you would see that the recommended car park is the St Peter's Hospital Woodland Car Park, which costs 80p per hour. However, I would imagine that the majority of people will use the closer, free option above. There seemed to be plenty of space to accommodate the day's 98 runners plus volunteers and still leave space for other park users.

first section of lap

The closest train station is Chertsey, which is right in the middle of the town centre (as mentioned above, just over a mile away from the park). I didn't spot any cycle racks in the park, but there are a few places where a bicycle could be secured.

Toilet facilities are available just next to the Stonehill Car Park, which is also right next to the parkrun meeting area. It's worth noting that the local council's webpage states that the toilets are open from April to September, however the parkrun event team hold the keys so they should be open for parkrunners all year round.

far end of the course

The grounds here are gently undulating and very scenic. They consist of areas of open, roughly mown grassland, a few small wooded patches and the odd outcrop of trees. The mansion stands proud at the highest point of the park and is an impressive sight from any angle. As I waited for the run briefing there was a friendly chatter in the air which made the event feel much more established than I would have expected for such a young event.

The run itself takes place over three, gently undulating, clockwise laps of the park (in fact, it's almost an out-and-back course). Underfoot you'll find a combination of stony, slightly gravelly paths, tarmac and grass. I imagine the preferred footwear will vary throughout the year as conditions change. I opted for my light trail shoes and these worked out just fine as there were only a few small patches of mud, but during the summer, I suspect road shoes will be the better option.

the way back

As for a little description of the lap, here goes - the runners start on a gravelly, bridle path and follow this as it weaves around and changes elevation on its way towards the far end of the park. I'll make a special note of a short, sharp incline early on which leads into a sheltered, wooden section (lots of leaves underfoot in autumn).

The path continues to weave along the northern border of the park until reaching the eastern tip where there is a small footbridge to cross which is followed by a very tight right-hand turn. The runners now run along a stretch of pavement which follows Hillswood Drive for around 200m. Another sharp right hand turn over a second footbridge returns the runners to the main body of the park.

the final section of the lap

The path here is gravelly to start with and it leads the runners through another small, twisty wooded section and underfoot changes to a narrow, heavily cambered tarmac path which leads back towards the start line and past the meeting point (expect lots of cheers here - thanks marshals!). A u-turn around a large tree followed by another short wooded section completes the lap.

At the end of the third lap, the runners continue past the u-turn point and head onto the grass where they have the opportunity to use up the last of their energy before entering the finish funnel, collecting a finish token and taking a well-earned breather. You can see my full GPS course data here: Strava - Homewood parkrun.

the finish

During my visit, barcode scanning took place in between the finish and the meeting area where I gave the scanner a choice of my UK wristband or my brand new Polish wristband to scan. After a few tries at scanning the deteriorating barcode on my UK band, the barcode scannerer promptly moved onto the Polish one which scanned straight away. Info on barcode options can be found here.

As it was cold and I didn't want to stand still for too long, I headed off around the park for a cool down and to take some photos, where I bumped into fellow parkrunner, twitterer and core team member Stephanie the Magpie, who, according to The parkrun Show, is not actually a real magpie (if this makes no sense, just go and listen to the entire back-catalogue of The parkrun Show). Also interesting was the cryptic teaser that I might want to revisit this venue again in early 2017...

... Update: A few weeks later an official announcement was published which solved the mystery and as of January 2017, Homewood parkrun will be based at a new venue. Please see the official Homewood parkrun news page for more information. I will of course visit the new venue, Ottershaw Memorial Fields, and write a new blog post (I'll add the link here once I have visited).

post-run

I was asked if I would like to join the team for some post-run refreshments at The Old School Cafe, but sadly, I had to decline as I was due back over in Dartford before midday. Now 'Homeward Bound' I reflected on a very pleasant morning at this fab new Surrey parkrun venue, which also marked the occasion of me re-completing the set of parkruns in Surrey. A huge thanks, as always, goes to the team of volunteers who made it all possible.