First time for me parkrun touring in the county of Leicestershire in the stunning market town of Market Harborough. Welland Park Today’s parkrun event is held at Welland Park that is the largest park in Market Harborough with the river Welland beautifully framing the north side of the park. Park Life Mentions Visually Impaired Support When I can volunteer as a VI guide at my home parkrun at Luton, Wardown and after speaking to Vanessa and her guide Martin it is great to hear the level of VI guide support Market Harborough parkrun provides for their local patrons. Very well-done MH on this ende ..read more

Great to be back touring again inside the M25 with this week visiting Weybridge, Surrey. Brooklands History Brooklands is steeped in both automobile & aviation history boasting the worlds first purpose built motor racing track in 1907 with its famous banking and one of the first aerodromes in the Britain building 18,600 new planes between 1908 and 1987 link here Today’s parkrun is located at 60 acres Brooklands Community Park that opened in 2006 that incorporates part of the old race circuit, aerodrome runway and taxiway. Parklife Mentions First up a big well done to Tara who ran her 200t ..read more

Always a pleasure to be back in Oxfordshire this time to the historic market town of Banbury on the river Cherwell. Today’s Venue Banbury parkrun is located at the beautiful 26 acres Spiceball Country park that has a very interesting beginning, “……It dates back to the 1880s when High Street butcher Thomas Hankinson, who was town mayor in 1894, donated a plot of land so that the ‘poor people of Banbury’ could have a recreation area. Hankinson was renowned for his hand-made meatballs, known throughout town as ‘spiceballs.’ link here Parkrun Cancellations With the very high levels rain we have ha ..read more

Great to be back touring again this time at my NENDY (nearest event not done yet) at Leavesden, Hertfordshire. Leavesden Country Park This event is located at beautiful 57 acres Leavesden Country Park that was built on the site of Leavesden Hospital that closed down in 1995. The park was officially opened in July 2019 with 1.2 million pounds of funding to improve the lives of the local community that includes a Heritage Trail depicting through art sculptures important events in local Leavesden history. Memory Lane Not my first visit to the park as back in November 2019 I was here to help good ..read more

Enjoy my personal review of another fine year of running adventures Virtual challenges I know that I said at the end of 2022 I wouldn’t complete in any new virtual run/walk challenges, but they are a very useful tool in keeping you motivated throughout the year This year I completed the North Coast 516 miles that started & finished in the beautiful city of Inverness. Final virtual challenge I always dreamed of completing the run/walk the length of the Grand Union Canal from Little Venice, London and finishes in Birmingham. On this challenge I had to run the last 5KM on the canal itself a ..read more

It’s great being back in my home county of Bedfordshire at my NENDY (nearest event not done yet) that is Henlow Bridge Lakes About Henlow Bridge Lakes This week’s event is based around family friendly Henlow Bridge Lakes campsite that includes 4 beautiful fishing lakes with the river Hiz flanking one side of the site. Link here Jordans LakeRiver HizHappy Birthday Huge congratulations to Henlow Bridge Lakes parkrun on reaching your second birthday this weekend and I must admit your delicious celebration cakes went down a treat afterwards We also found out during the run briefing 4 of this we ..read more

So today on a mini holiday break I was delighted to visit the beautiful city of Lancaster that is the county town of Lancashire Williamson Park Today’s parkrun was located in 54 acres of stunning parkland at Williamson Park that before 1870 was a disused quarry, but the then local millionaire James Williamson Snr (work carried on by his son set out a plan to transform this area into a public park that was handed given over to the people of Lancaster in 1881 link here Eric Morecambe The main purpose of my holiday was to visit Morecambe the hometown of much-loved legendary comedian John Eric Ba ..read more

After a month away it was great to be touring again with today’s event being held at Coldham’s Common, located in the beautiful city of Cambridge that for the record was number 8 on my lucky dip tourist list History Coldham’s Common is 39.6 hectares in size and stretching around its boundary is Coldham’s Brook. The history of the common goes back as far as the year 1400 depicted on field maps and by 1700 was designated as the green common we all know today. Sadly, between the years 1665-1666 the local residents went down with the plague and the then government gave permission that the com ..read more

So it’s great to be back in my home county of Bedfordshire at the stunningly beautiful location of Dunstable Downs that is just outside the market town of Dunstable where it gets its name from. Dunstable Downs is part of the Chiltern Hills and is the highest point in the East of England. Owned by Central Bedfordshire Council and jointly managed by the National Trust with the best way to describe the Dunstable Downs is a quote taken from the Trust itself. “Look down on a breathtaking landscape, sculpted over time, decorated by nature and enjoyed by generations.” link here Lucky Dip List It was ..read more

Today it was a delightful change to visit Shorne Woods, based at its beautiful Green Flag Country Park and just 5 miles from Gravesend, Kent. Park History Shorne Woods was once part of the medieval estate of the Cobham family and in later years was used for clay extraction and an army camp during the second world war. link In 1982 came into the ownership of Kent County Council and was opened as Shorne Woods Country Park in 1987 for the people of Kent to relax in and enjoy the surrounding nature Top Company Always a great pleasure to be joined by my top running buddy Martin Ball an ..read more