parkrun Compass Club

After a New Year’s Day visit to Westmill, I’ve now earned the (unofficial) parkrun Compass Club badge. This comes from completing parkrun events that contain the words North, East, South and West. But how many parkrun compass points are there? What’s the actual most Northerly/Easterly/Southerly or Westerly parkrun in the UK? … or in the world? So, with a bit of extra time on my hands before New Year and inspired by a debate on the UK parkrun Tourists group I had to find out.

I update this page whenever I spot a new one pop up and do an annual check. Let me know if I’ve missed any or you spot any errors and I’ll donate £1 per update to parkrun Forever.

To be eligible for the Compass Club badge the event name must have the words north, south, east or west in the title. It counts even if the word is part of the name rather than a compass position (e.g loWESToft). Be careful about the long name as there’s an inconsistency were Henley Wood, OsWESTrey counts but Bangor, NORTHern Ireland doesn’t count. parkrun challenge apps tend to use the short name of the event so if the compass position is in the long name it might not count on the app that you’re using. For the purposes of this page I’ve included all compass positions in both the long and short names.

Local language spellings of the compass positions don’t count to the badge however I have noted them in the links below.

Graphics show parkrun events that are open to the public. Note that Mount Pleasant, the most southerly parkrun event in the world is a closed event on an MOD facility. Similarly, Ayios Nikolaos parkrun on the Sovereign Base Areas of Akrotiri and Dhekelia on the island of Cyprus is the most easterly event in the UK parkrun region but is also a closed event on an MOD facility.

Russian parkrun events were suspended in early 2022 following the invasion of Ukraine. Prior to this Russia was home to the most northerly parkrun event in the world at Vorkuta Borodskoy Park and two events containing “north” in Russian language: Lesopark Severny and Severnoe Tushino.

Global Compass Club

Global East

Excluding UK, Australia and South Africa (scroll down for these):

Global North

Excluding UK, Australia and South Africa (scroll down for these):

Global South

Excluding UK, Australia and South Africa (scroll down for these):

UK Compass Club

Note, Akrotiri is the most easterly event in the UK region (in a British Overseas Territory). It is not shown above as it is not open to the public.

UK East

UK North

UK West

UK South

Australia Compass Club

Australia East

South Africa Compass Club

South Africa East

South Africa North

South Africa West

South Africa South

*compass position is in the long form of the event name. This may not be counted in the Compass Club in some parkrun challenge apps.

More parkrun posts

parkruns are free, weekly, community 5k events all around the world. I started in December 2012 and have been obsessive about it ever since. See my parkrun Collection page for details.

Featured and popular parkrun posts:

Richard gowerRun, parkrun Comments
2018 in Numbers

TOTAL DISTANCE IN 2018

  • Run: 415 miles

  • Cycle: 416 miles

  • Trek: 265 miles

  • Total = 1,096 miles

Trek = recorded hiking & walking events, not general steps.

KEY EVENTS IN 2018

  • 1 Ultra Marathon

  • 8 Half Marathons

  • 42 Total parkruns

  • 33 New parkruns

  • 2 New County Tops (Helvellyn, Old Man of Coniston)

  • 6 New Countries (Jordan, Albania, Macedonia, Kosovo, Montenegro, Mauritius)

2018 Garmin Stats.JPG

Stats from 2010+ .. first year of tracking via Garmin

Richard gowerRun, Cycle, TrekComment
Chiltern Walks: Whiteleaf and Cadsden
IMG_9414.jpg

Start / Finish: Whiteleaf Cross car park, Peters Lane, Monks Risborough, HP27 0LH
Distance: 6.4 km (3.7 miles)
Elevation change: +/- 122m
GPX File: get via Buy Me a Coffee
Other Routes Touched (walk): The Ridgeway, Risborough Purple Route, Outer Aylesbury Ring
Other Routes Touched (cycle): Chilterns Cycleway
Pubs / Cafes on route: The Plough At Cadsden
Map: OS Explorer Map (181) Chiltern Hills North
Links: Whiteleaf, Whiteleaf Hill, Cadsden, Windsor Hill Trig Pillar

We were on a roll with our winter walks this year. For some reason we had got out of our habit of winter walks last year. A quiet Christmas and a need to do some Camino training gave us some extra motivation to get back out. My new obsession about bagging all of the Trig Pillars in the Chilterns also gave us some new targets for the trips. The guidance below will help you navigate but don’t use it as a fully accurate turn-by-turn guide. Always take a map and/or a GPX route and prepare well for the weather and terrain.

This walk was based around finding the Windsor Hill Trig Pillar. We had come very close to it 2 years ago on our Ridgeway walk, but I wasn’t on my Trig mission back then. The pillar can be done in a fairly quick drive-by as its really close to the Whiteleaf Cross car park. You can just about see the pillar from the road but can only get to it by walking south down Peter’s Lane to the field gate. Its not on a right-of-way, but the gate was open and no-one was around so we crossed the misty field to the Pillar. On exiting the field through the same gate, you can cross the road and join the footpath to continue this 6k circular walk.

For much of the walk we had the route to ourselves. The weather probably didn’t help but I suspect that most walkers round here will stick to the Ridgeway. After a misty / spooky walk through Sargeants Wood, Cross Copice and Ninn Wood, we found civilisation again at The Plough at Cadsden. The pub is at the intersection of The Ridgeway and a couple of other paths making it very popular with walkers. Its a friendly place with good food … ideally for a stop before the climb back up to Whiteleaf Cross.

On a clearer day its worth checking out the Cross from the Ridgeway. As it was we could see bugger all from the top through the mist.

Richard gowerTrek, Chilterns, Buckinghamshire, Trig Pillar, EnglandComment
Thames Path & Jubilee River Walk - Eton and Datchet
View across the Thames from Home Park to the confluence with the Jubilee River

View across the Thames from Home Park to the confluence with the Jubilee River

Start / Finish: Car park at the Jubilee River Riverside Centre, Slough Road, SL1 2BP
Distance: 7.4 km (4.6 miles)
Elevation change: +-/ 22m
GPX File: get via Buy Me a Coffee
Other Routes Touched (walk): Thames Path, Jubilee River Path
Other Routes Touched (cycle): NCN 4, 61
Pubs / Cafes on route: Many either side of Eton Bridge
Map: OS Explorer 160 Windsor, Weybridge & Bracknell
Links: Jubilee River, Windsor, Eton, Eton College, Datchet

The Jubilee River is a man-made channel built in the late 1990s and early 2000s to take overflow from the River Thames to prevent flooding around Maidenhead, Windsor, and Eton. The path along side it passes through wildlife and woodland making a easy, pleasant walk or cycle. It also runs parallel and close to the Thames, allowing for several combinations of short trips that take in both.

This is the fourth of a series of 4 circular walks of roughly 10 km that take in sections of both the Jubilee River and Thames Path. This one starts at the small car park at the Riverside Centre on the Jubilee River north of Eton.

The first 1 km from the car-park follows NCN Route 61 before it diverts north toward the Grand Union. Here, keep on the Jubilee River heading south-east after the footbridge, crossing over Eton Road, under the railway line and into Datchet Golf Club. The confluence with the Thames is hidden from the path by high hedges that border the golf course. When you cross the bridge on King Edward II Avenue look back along the east bank and you can see the junction of the rivers.

On the bridge you’ll also get a great view of Windsor Castle and, to the south, the private areas of the Castle estate. Immediately after bridge, turn right onto Home Park and follow the Thames Path as it bends round towards Eton Bridge. After crossing under the railway line for a second time the path crosses a light industrial area containing a boat repair yard and Romney Lock. Despite living near Windsor for most of my life I didn’t even know there was a lock there as you can easily miss it. After the lock the path follows the edge of the Railway Station car-park and opens out to Windsor Riverside.

Here's a good point in the trip to take a break and there’s loads of choice on either side of Eton Bridge. The route continues back on the Eton side of the bridge with a couple of options. The short option would be to follow Eton High Street / B3022 as it will take you directly back to the start. A longer but more interesting alternative is to take a left turn off Eton High Street through Church Close. This takes you on paths round the back of the college buildings and playing fields, then along the Slough/Windsor railway spur leading back to the Jubilee River west of the car park.

The Complete Route: Thames Path & Jubilee River Walks

Left to right: Maidenhead to Datchet in 4 sections. Map base: ESRI Topo via Ride With GPS

Yellow = Maidenhead & Bray, Red = Dorney & Eton Wick, Blue = Eton Wick and Eton, Greet = Eton and Datchet

Richard gowerTrek, Chilterns, Windsor, Thames, Berkshire, EnglandComment
Completing all parkruns inside the M25

Having completed Londone , my next mission was to complete “all inside the M25” by year-end 2018. Just squeezed it in on December 29th. There’s been a few more since then with Leavesden Country being the most recent, starting October 2022.

Event (County, Region) - Finish Time on Date Completed

parkrun LonDone Tracker

If you would like a PDF version of my manual LonDone tracker, please BuyMeACoffee and let me know on the Contact Page. It’s a table of all current Greater London parkrun events, plus all events inside the M25, with space for future new events. You can track your date completed and finish time. It’s simple and you could easily make one yourself, but let me know if you want a copy of mine. 20% of each virtual coffee goes to parkrun Forever and the rest goes toward the running of this website.

More parkrun posts

parkruns are free, weekly, community 5k events all around the world. I started in December 2012 and have been obsessive about it ever since. See my parkrun Collection page for details.

Featured and popular parkrun posts:

Richard gowerRun, parkrun, London, Hertfordshire, Surrey, Kent, Essex, Middlesex, EnglandComment
Chiltern Walks: Hedgerley Circular
IMG_9337.jpg

Start / Finish: The White Horse, Hedgerley, Village Lane, Hedgerley, Slough SL2 3UY
Distance: 9.1 km (5.6 miles)
Elevation Change: +/- 86 m
GPX File: get via Buy Me a Coffee
Other Routes Touched: None
Other Pubs / Cafes on route: None
Map: OS Explorer Map (172) Chiltern Hills East
Links: Hedgerley

This one’s not technically in the Chiltern Hills AONB, but its close enough and fits into my own “Greater Chilterns” region. Hedgerley is not a place you’ll find by accident and most people speed past it on the way to London on the M40. Its worth hunting out though as this is a nice, quiet (in most places) walk with a great pub at its centre. The guidance below will help you navigate but don’t use it as a fully accurate turn-by-turn guide. Always take a map and/or a GPX route and prepare well for the weather and terrain.

The whole route is a bow-tie shape with the White Horse pub in the centre. We’re locals and, with the wife feeling a bit ill, we decided to do it as 2 shorter walks on Christmas Day and Boxing day. This also gave us the opportunity for a selfie by the Christmas Lane sign 1.5m into the first part.

The western section is longer at ~6 km with the eastern section at just under 3.5km. Both are pleasant and relatively easy with only minor inclines. Watch out for a half-mile section on Parish Lane on the western section which has no footpath but lots of fast cars heading toward the motorway from Stoke Poges. Once past this you’ll be rewarded with a loop of Egypt Wood, a quiet woodland next to Burnham Beeches. The eastern section suffers from the noise of the M40 that runs really close to it. Don’t let that put you off though as it includes a pleasant walk through Hedgerley Green.

Richard gowerTrek, Chilterns, Buckinghamshire, EnglandComment
Walking The Icknield Way Part 2 - Chalk Hill to Pirton

including: Walking The Chiltern Way Part 3: Chalk Hill to Streatley

Deacon Hill

Deacon Hill

Start: White Lion Pub Watling Street, Houghton Regis, Dunstable, LU6 1RS
Finish: The Motte & Bailey, 1 Great Green, Pirton, Hitchin, SG5 3QD
Distance: 31 km (19.4 Miles)
Elevation: +435m / -470m. Net -35m
GPX File: get via Buy Me a Coffee
Other Routes Touched (walk): Chiltern Way, John Bunyan Trail, Walk on the Wild Side
Other Routes Touched (cycle): Chilterns Cycleway, Icknield Way Trail (cycle route)
Map: OS Explorer Map (193) Luton and Stevenage
Guidebook: The Icknield Way Path: A Walkers' Guide
OS Trig Pillars: TP6734 - Warden Hill and TP2743 - Deacon Hill
Links: Icknield Way Wikipedia entry, www.icknieldwaytrail.org.uk, www.icknieldwaypath.co.uk
- National Trails page on the Icknield Way Trail (Rider's Route and Walker's Route)

It had been 2 years since I’d started the Icknield Way and I was eager to get back to it. Other adventures had got in the way, but I had a new motivation for it once I’d decided to explore the “North Chilterns Exclave”. This is the north-eastern part of the Chiltern Hills Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB) that’s cut off from the rest of it. The Chilterns’ rolling chalk hills stop abruptly after Dunstable Downs followed by a flat gap featuring Dunstable, Luton, the A5 and the M1. I’d have to get through this section before the pleasant parts start again near Sundon. So, when I was looking for this year’s Winter Solstice long walk, the next section of the Icknield Way was the obvious choice.

In a change to my previous Solstice walks, I wasn’t alone as my friend Brian came too. It was great to have a buddy this time and there was an added logistical advantage by being able to leave a car at each end. After a bit of parking logistics we set off from the White Lion pub as the sun rose over the newly built distribution centres. We were already firmly in logistics country: a corridor of fields along the M1 that are being gradually replaced by huge warehouses. Within a mile of our start we were already on a diversion of the trail as it skirted round a building site that would soon be a new growth on Dunstable.

At Wingfield we were back on course and in pleasant countryside again. The next 5k was fairly unremarkable as the trail crossed the gap between the 2 parts of the AONB, crossing the River Flit, M1 and mainline railway. Immediately after rail bridge, the trail ascends 60m reaching Upper Sundon and the border back into the Chilterns. This next section before lunch was lovely with great views for miles to the North and a pleasant route along the John Bunyan Trail and into Sharpenhoe National Trust land.

Streatley is a great stopping point a little over half-way into the route. It also had the only pub that we found on the trail and it conveniently opened for lunch shortly after we arrived. After a pretty large Surf-and-Turf and an hour of warming up we headed South back on the trail. The route briefly dips out of the AONB as it skirts the Northern edge of Luton before a steep climb up through South Beds Golf Club to the top of Warden Hill. Here we took a minor diversion from the trail to bag our first Trig Pillar of the day. From the Trig you can see right across Luton, which sits right in the middle of the gap in the Chilterns, and Dunstable Downs in the distance.

The final few miles was on a straight path heading North-East and keeping on high ground. We took another diversion up Deacon Hill to bag the 2nd Trig Pilar of the day. By now it was getting dark and misty so we quickly returned to the trail and start the final descent to Pirton. My energy was noticeably depleted after Deacon Hill and the final mile seemed to go on for ever. The end point at the Motte and Bailey was a very welcome sight, as was the table by the fireplace to warm up next to before the drive home.

Walking The Chiltern Way Part 3: Chalk Hill to Streatley

When we did this section of the Icknield Way the trail followed the same route as the Chiltern Way from Chalk Hill to Streatley. A few years later when we decided to walk the Chiltern Way, we finished part 2 at Chalk Hill. Not feeling the need to retrace these 16 km, we picked up again at Streatley.

Looking back at the map when writing the Chiltern Way posts it looks like the Chiltern Way between Chalk Hill and Streatley now takes a different route to the Icknield Way. Presumably this was due to the development of housing and distribution warehouses around the A5/M1 corridor.

Details for this 3rd section of the Chiltern Way are:
Start: White Lion Pub Watling Street, Houghton Regis, Dunstable, LU6 1RS
Finish: The Chequers, 171 Sharpenhoe Road, Streatley, Luton, LU3 3PS
Distance: 16.4 km (10.2 Miles)
Elevation: +184m / -149m. Net +35m
GPX File: get via Buy Me a Coffee
Other Routes Touched (walk): Icknield Way, Chalgrave Heritage Trail, John Bunyan Trail
Other Routes Touched (cycle): Chilterns Cycleway, Icknield Way Trail (cycle route)
Map: OS Explorer Map (193) Luton and Stevenage

Richard gowerTrek, Trig Pillar, Chilterns, Bedfordshire, Hertfordshire, EnglandComment
Chiltern Walks: Hambleden & Rotten Row
View from the east of Hambleden

View from the east of Hambleden

Start / Finish: Car park next to the Stag and Huntsman, Hambleden, Henley-on-Thames RG9 6RP
Distance: 6km (3.7 miles)
Elevation change: +/- 113m
GPX File: get via Buy Me a Coffee
Other Routes Touched (walk): Chiltern Way, Shakespeare’s Way
Other Routes Touched (cycle): Chilterns Cycleway
OS Trig Pillar: TP4092 - Huttons Farm
Pubs / Cafes on route: The Stag and Huntsman at the start and finish
Map: OS Explorer 171: Chiltern Hills West, Henley-on-Thames and Wallingford
Links: Hambleden

This is part of a series of short circular walks in the Chilterns. The guidance below will help you navigate but don’t use it as a fully accurate turn-by-turn guide. Always take a map and/or a GPX route and prepare well for the weather and terrain.

Hambleden is a great choice for a Chiltern walk with several options for routes and ample free parking at the Stag and Huntsman. This one starts at the pub with a short walk through the village before turning right onto the first road off Pheasants Hill, Frieth Road. You’ll see a sign for Huttons Farm and some retractable entry bollards. It's a public right of way so continue on up the hill. At the top of the hill take a right, then a left at the path junctions as the route goes round the well-kept Huttons Farm estate.

The Trig Pillar that I based the walk on is buried in the hedge on the North side of the road before the East entrance to the estate. It was easy to spot on this mid-winter’s day but likely harder to find in the Summer. After the Trig Pillar, continue on for about ~0.5 km before taking a right hand turn following a path into the woods. Continue in the same North-Easterly direction to an obvious junction and follow the fence into a clearing in the trees. In ~0.5 km you’ll meet the Chiltern Way. Take the right-hand / Southerly direction up a steep bank to the road. From here follow the Chiltern Way / Shakespeare’s Way signs for 2 km through Rotten Row back to Hambleden.

The North-east Hambleden Circular route is a longer version of this walk but doesn’t include the Trig Pillar.

Richard gowerTrek, Chilterns, Trig Pillar, Buckinghamshire, EnglandComment
Chiltern parkruns

There’s only 4 parkrun events in the Chiltern Hills Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, but the Chilterns covers a much larger area. I’ve not seen a common definition, so I’ve decided to select the boundaries marked by the rivers Thames, Colne and Lea. Most of the rivers and streams that start in the Chiltern Hills eventually flow into these 3 rivers, so it feels like the best boundary. One could argue that the area could also include everything south of the Lea before it reaches the Thames at Limehouse Basin, but that would include most of North London too.

So, the Greater Chilterns area, a beautiful and adventure-filled region, contains 16 parkrun events so far. It also includes my home event, Black Park and 2 of my hilliest favourites, Church Mead and Wendover Woods. Here’s the links:

Actual course outlines for the parkrun events in the greater Chilterns area.

parkrun events within the Chilterns Hills AONB

parkrun events within the greater Chilterns AREA

More parkrun posts

parkruns are free, weekly, community 5k events all around the world. I started in December 2012 and have been obsessive about it ever since. See my parkrun Collection page for details.

Featured and popular parkrun posts:


Richard gowerRun, parkrun, Chilterns, Buckinghamshire, Berkshire, Oxfordshire, Hertfordshire, Bedfordshire, EnglandComment
3 Hours in Old San Juan, Puerto Rico
IMG_E9009.JPG

Puerto Rico is an unlikely place to go to if you live in the UK. There’s no direct flights and the connections via the US are a pain in the arse. If you want to go to the Caribbean there’s many other places to go to first. I was fortunate enough to have a work trip there. It may have taken more time travelling than I spent there but the work was good and it gave me a very small glimpse of the Capital.

I arrived a day before the meeting with a spinning head full of jet lag and work thoughts. I needed a break and headed out to see the Old Town. I was staying at La Concha, a hotel on Condado over the bridge from Isleta de San Juan. Checking out the route on Google Maps I assumed it would be a pleasant walk from the hotel to the Old Town. I’m not sure about pleasant but it was certainly interesting.

The first stop over the bridge was San Geronimo Fort. It appeared abandoned but the gates were open so I wandered in. A couple of minutes later a man came out of a hut and spoke to me in Spanish. I assumed he was a security guard shooing me away but he turned out to be quite welcoming. He just wanted me to be careful as it was raining and slippery. In many other islands this would have been a well kept tourist attraction. This was my first experience of a city very much feeling the impact of economic decline and the devastating effects of the 2017 hurricane.

Moving on towards the Old Town, the hurricane’s effects became even clearer as I reached Parque del Tercer Milenio. In what should have been a busy recreational spot, there was literally no one around for a full 10 minutes. It had a real 28 Days Later feel about it. Loads of cars were parked up but no people. Buildings that should have been busy were abandoned and decaying.

The first person I saw was a homeless guy coming out of a beach changing hut. He started staggering in my general direction. This didn’t help with the zombie movie feel and I had a minor internal freak out so started walking more quickly. After a couple more similar encounters I moved off the beach path and onto the sidewalk next to the main road. Here there was another homeless guy walking towards me down the middle of the busy road.

Despite the ever-increasing feeling that I should have taken a taxi to the Old Town, I was glad I walked there. It gave me a very real view of a city struggling to get back on its feet. The homeless guys weren’t dangerous, just out of options.

By the time I reached Castillo de San Cristóbal I’d crossed a line into the Old Town and into a very different feeling. This was the boundary of the Spanish-era city walls and the furthest point that most cruise tourists visit. This was UNESCO-town with all the investment in repairs to keep the tourists coming back.

After waiting 10 mins for a dithering group of tourists to work out how to count themselves I decided to leave the Castillo and come back later. Instead I continued West along to the top of the fortifications. I passed La Perla community, some great street art and Santa María Magdalena de Pazzi cemetery along the way. Having a tour guide or at least a book would have been great. This was a whistle-stop lone walkabout so I had to make do with great views but no historical context.

Castillo San Felipe del Morro San Juan is at the end of the island. With no dithering cruise groups to block my entrance, I had a look around. By now time was ticking on and I needed to start heading back. My final hour was a meander through the beautiful streets of the Old Town with a couple of diversions to Puerta De San Juan and Iglesia San José, finally returning to Castillo de San Cristóbal. By now the cruisers had sorted themselves out and I had a clear run at getting in.

Both Castillos are managed by the US National Park Service and are well maintained with interesting information panels. They also both have great views of the city from the tops of the fortifications. By the time I got to the top of San Cristobal my jet-lag kicked in and all I could think about was getting a taxi back to the hotel.

I would have loved more time in the city and even more to explore the island. I'd checked out Cerro de Punta, the Island High Point, but that would have been a whole day trip. Its tough to be disappointed though as a unexpected trip to San Juan was still a great experience. My main memory is having talked to some of the locals about their experience of living through the after effects of the storm. They're a hardy and friendly bunch and I'm glad to have met a few of them.

 
Richard gowerTrek, Coast, Puerto Rico, USAComment
Cycling The Maidenhead Boundary
IMG_8913.jpg

Start/Finish: Ockwells Park, Maidenhead SL6 3YX
Distance: 23.3 km (14.5 miles)
Elevation Change: +/- 209m
GPX File: get via Buy Me a Coffee
Other Routes Touched (Cycle): NCN 4, 50
Other Routes Touched (Walk): Thames Path, Chiltern Way Berkshire Loop, Green Way West,
Map: OS Explorer Map (172) Chiltern Hills East and OS Explorer Map (160) Windsor, Weybridge & Bracknell
Links: http://boundarywalk.org.uk/, Boundary Walk Route PDF with detailed instructions
- National Trust Maidenhead & Cookham Commons, National Trust Brick and Tile Works

The Maidenhead Boundary Walk is a well signposted route around my hometown. In my not-so-adventurous days growing up there I remember the annual charity walk passing near my home and thinking “why would anyone want to walk all that way?”. Nowadays 15 miles is well within “Short micro-adventure” territory and I was keen to cycle it as soon as I saw the route mapped on RideWithGPS.

Although its obviously designed as a walk, its very cycle-friendly with only 1 section on the Thames Path that’s not for cycling (see below). The rest is mostly quiet roads and bridleways with a few kissing gates thrown in, but large enough to get your bike through. The off-road parts can get muddy so take a Mountain Bike.

The charity walk starts at Boulters Lock, however I chose Ockwells Park as a better start and end point. This has easy access from the M4, free parking and a cafe with toilets. Its also the mid-point of the Southern section of the route. From here head West following small roads and a path to the Shire Horse pub at the A4.

The western section heads North through National Trust land, passing through Maidenhead Thicket, Pinkneys Green and the old Brick and Tile Works. This is the highest point on the route at 85m. From here the route descends toward the Thames with views of Cliveden to the East and Windsor Castle to the South-East. The whole of the Eastern section follows the Thames Path, crossing over from the West Bank to the East Bank at the A4 Maidenhead Road Crossing. You’ll cross back over the Thames on the noisy M4 crossing at Dorney Reach.

Back on the Southern section, the route passes through Bray, Braywick and Maidenhead Golf Course before crossing over the A404M footbridge and returning to Ockwells Park.

This was a really pleasant couple of hours cycling for an Autumn Sunday afternoon

Below: location of the recommended start point at Ockwells Park

Cycle Diversion

The only section that doesn’t allow cycling was at KM 14 where Islet Road becomes a footpath to the Thames. I got off and pushed, however if you want to stay on your bike, just keep on the A4094 Lower Cookham Road and don’t take the left turn onto Islet Road. I recommend sticking to the route and taking the short walk along the Thames for some nice views.

Take lower Cookham Road to avoid cycle ban on Thames Path

Richard gowerCycle, NCN, Thames, National Trust, Berkshire, EnglandComment
Completing all Surrey parkruns
Surrey parkrun banner.JPG

There are currently 12 parkrun events in present-day Surrey. The first was Banstead Woods which started on June 16th 2007 and the newest is Broadwater which started on September 18th 2021.

The Historic County of Surrey has a further 16 events, totaling 28. These 16 are now part of Greater London. Hazelwood is the interesting one having been in both Historic Surrey and Middlesex and is within the M25 but outside Greater London. Part of the Riddlesdown course, including the finish is in Surrey, although the start is in Greater London, so it’s classified as a LonDone event.

I first completed the county on November 10th 2018 at Cranleigh.

Surrey parkrun Venn.JPG

The interactive maps below take you to the approximate location for the course, typically the centre of the park. See the course instructions in the parkrun page for each event for specific directions to the start. Course maps show the route at the time that I ran it and may have changed since then.

parkruns in present-day County of Surrey

Banstead Woods

  • Completed: January 9th 2016

  • Time: 25:56

  • Other routes touched (walk): N/A, but the Eastern edge runs close to a parallel to the Banstead Countryside Walk

  • http://www.parkrun.org.uk/banstead

  • This event is also part of M25 parkrun

  • Inaugural: June 16th 2007

 

Broadwater

 

Brooklands

 

Cranleigh

  • Completed: November 10th 2018

  • Time: 26:45

  • Other routes touched (cycle): N/A, although NCN 223 passes by the car-park

  • http://www.parkrun.org.uk/cranleigh

  • Inaugural: October 4th 2014

 

Frimley Lodge

 

Note that the course has changed since I completed it.

Guildford

 

Hazelwood

 

Homewood

 

Mole Valley

 

Nonsuch

 

Reigate Priory

 

(alternative winter course)

BONUS: Riddlesdown

See the LonDone post for location map, elevation, finish time and link

This one’s in the Greater London parkrun region and the Historic county of Surrey but also touches on the present-day county of Surrey. The start is just on the London side of the border with the finish in Surrey

Woking

 

Actual course outlines for the parkrun events in present-day Surrey.

parkruns in Historic County of Surrey but now IN Greater London

See the LonDone blog post for maps and stats for these:

* The Bethlem Royal Hospital course is half in Historic Surrey and half in Historic Kent

More parkrun posts

parkruns are free, weekly, community 5k events all around the world. I started in December 2012 and have been obsessive about it ever since. See my parkrun Collection page for details.

Featured and popular parkrun posts:

Richard gowerRun, parkrun, Surrey, EnglandComment
Predator Seabreacher Adventure

This was my birthday present from The Wife: a trip round and under Victoria Dock, London in a metal killer whale. As I was strapping myself into it the guy looked at my voucher and told us that they don’t sell the 30 minute version any more as too many people were throwing up inside. I was fine as we’d already bought it but I just wished that he’d told me after. Don’t do this if you’re remotely sea-sick, claustrophobic or hung-over (they also have a long list of other conditions on their risk assessment). For anyone else, its awesome. Check out the video and imagine half an hour of the same.

 
Richard gowerThames, London, EnglandComment
Walking in South Mauritius

I was preparing to get bored on Mauritius. It was our big holiday and this time it was Timi's choice as I had chosen Peru last year. Timi wanted a more relaxing beachy holiday and Mauritius ended up top of the list. It looked lovely in the brochure but it didn't look like there would be a lot of adventure to be had. I was wrong.

The island is well known as a honeymoon destination but there's loads to keep the adventurous busy. After the first week of relaxing and driving around the North-Western part we had worked out what to do for week 2.

We already knew that our hotel for the 2nd week was close to the island's highest mountain. We just didn't know how easy it would be to get there. One interesting blog post about it had a link to one of the big travel companies there. On enquiring about the trip it would be 60 Euro per person plus another 60 for transport from the hotel.

It was a lot of money and we asked our travel rep at the hotel if they had options for the same trip. A couple overheard us and came over after to give us some advice. They had been up the peak the day before without a guide and found it very easy. They had also seen many other walkers on the route without guides.

I wrote back to the travel company to let them know that we didn't need their services. Then followed an amusing e-mail chain where the company rep's attitude quickly changed from pleasant to threatening. They said that it was dangerous and illegal to trek in Mauritius without a guide. When I asked for them to point me towards evidence of this they told me to "Google myself". So I did. One connection was to a guy who wrote a great blog on Mauritian treks. He explained that there was no law about local guides. Many of the routes are not dangerous but some go through private land. The advantage of a guide would be to steer you in the right direction. Other than that, there's little advantage if you're an experienced walker.

I also found the contact details for the Mauritius Office of Tourism. Nothing on their website referenced the need to use a guide. I e-mailed them to explain the situation but no reply came. So, we we pretty sure that we didn't need a guide but not 100% so we took a risk and did it ourselves anyway.

Piton de la Petite Rivière Noire

Significance: Highest peak in Mauritius
Elevation: 828m
Date climbed: 11th October 2018
Coordinates: 20° 24' 32'' S, 57° 24' 29'' E
Route Start / End: out and back from lay-by on Plaine Champagne Road, just west of Gorges Viewpoint Parking
Route Distance: 6.7 km (4.3 miles)
Route Elevation Change: +/- 241m
GPX File: get via Buy Me a Coffee

Piton de la Riveire Petite Noire is the highest mountain in the country. There was an option of walking there from our hotel, approaching from the South-West. Instead, taking advantage of our rental car, we drove to the more popular start near the Black River Gorges Car Park. The best option is to park in the lay-by West of the Car Park, starting you much closer to the trail.

The trail is very easy to follow and very little chance of going wrong. Much of it cuts through dense trees with a few gaps to see the view. For most of the route its not particularly steep either. The main hazard is the combination of mud and tree roots. We went on a dry day following a few days of rain and it was fine. It would be a lot trickier under much wetter conditions.

The final 10 minutes is much steeper although there are ropes in places to help you up. One rope was tied to a tree that had fallen over and I wasn't completely confident that it was anchored properly. It held fine and we were up to the top in no time. This would only part where you would need a guide for safety reasons. Even so, compared with the trickier parts of many UK mountains, it's pretty straight-forward.

The summit rewards you with amazing 360° views over the South of the island. Le Morne Mountain to the South-East is particularly enticing from the angle. It was here that we decided to climb that one too a few days later.

On the descent, following the same route, we counted up how many people we had passed on the trail. For the full walk there were 25 people in 10 groups of which only 3 groups had a guide. Having tested the route for myself I can't see any reason to use a guide unless you're really inexperienced or the guide has amazing stories to tell along the way.

map below: Trailhead at Gorges Viewpoint Parking

 

Le Morne Mountain

Elevation: 556m
Date climbed: 13th October 2018
Coordinates: 20° 27' 10 S, 57° 18' 60 E
Route Start / End: out and back from parking at Le Morne Trail Entrance on the south of the peninsula
Route Distance: 7.3 km (4.5 miles)
Route Elevation Change: +/- 560m
GPX File: get via Buy Me a Coffee

Inspired by our easy conquest of the country high-point, we set off for Morne Mountain 2 days later. This was the walk where most articles suggested that having a guide was either mandatory or highly recommended. The 2 reasons for this are the steepness of some sections and that some of the route goes through private property. Taking the advice of the couple we'd met in the hotel earlier in the week we decided to try it ourselves.

Parking for the walk is easy to find on the South Side of the Morne Peninsular. You need to sign in at the control booth by the gate. There were a couple of employees in the booth but neither seemed bothered about either checking or helping people.

From the trail-head the first 3 km is a gradual easy ascent on wide paths. This takes you to a fence and a gate which marks the entrance to the private area. I'd read stories of people either being turned away or charged an entrance fee for going past this point. On the day we went the gate was open and no-one was around so we passed straight through. This is a good point to make a decision whether to attempt the full climb or call it a day. From here you can see the steep part and several people we spoke to had decided they weren't fit or brave enough to go further.

A few minutes past the gate you'll reach the Chimney. This is a steep high-sided section that's the hardest part of the route. Normally there's ropes on either side but these had been removed for maintenance. There's lots of rocks and routes to hold on to though and we found it easy to help each other up. I definitely would not have attempted this on a wet day as the descent through it would be treacherous.

Even if it wasn’t for the sharp edges, this is not a route to rush through. There’s an amazing view out of every angle. On a clear day like the one we had you can see for miles and get a great perspective on the underwater waterfall next to the peninsula.

The walking route ends by a big metal cross. The actual summit can only be accessed with climbing gear and proper experience. We had neither but it’s hard to be disappointed with a finish as spectacular as this. The Cross was rammed with people queuing for the best selfie positions. We found a quiet rock, waited patiently for our turn whilst taking a breather, then started our descent.

We took our time on the way down as we negotiated the tricky parts of the chimney. We were thankful that we didn’t take a guide so that we could have the walk to ourselves. Observing some of the other trekkers on the way up though, it was clear that some people should have taken a guide. Some were clearly not fit enough, others poorly dressed, one was carrying a baby and some had no water with them. If all a guide did was tell them to be better prepared, then there’s definitely a reason to use them.

 

Don’t get me wrong, I’m not certainly against guides in general. They play an important part of the local travel economy, especially in developing countries. I had some amazing experiences with guides on Kilimanjaro, the Inca Trail and the Balkans. In these trips the guides kept us safe, informed us on local history and were great ambassadors for their countries. My problem is with companies, like the one I battled with in Mauritius. They try to exploit tourists with “mandatory" guides for simple trips like Piton de la Riveire Petite Noire. We were happy to save the money this time and spend it on bigger tips for locals who really deserved it.

Far from being just a honeymoon destination, I discovered a wonderfully diverse, fun and adventurous island that would be high on my list of places to return to.

More on the web:

Richard gowerTrek, Mountain, Coast, Mauritius, Country High Points, Island High PointsComment
Tough 10, Epping Forest

When: October 21st 2018
Where: Epping Forest, London
Course: Single lap hilly trail race starting on Chingford Plain and snaking through the hills of Epping Forest.
Other Trails touched (walk): London Loop, Greenwich Meridian Trail 
Other Trails touched (cycle):
Finish time: 1 hour 2 minutes

They weren’t joking when they called it Tough 10! This was never going to be a PB and a week of 3 long haul flights and epic jet lag didn’t help either. Great course though and I even managed to bag a new Trig Point at Pole Hill, 7k in.

 
Richard gowerRun, 10k, London, Trig PillarComment
Fort Reno, Washington DC High Point

Significance: Highest Point in Washington DC
Parent Peak: Montgomery County High Point
Elevation: 414m
Date “climbed”: 17th December 2018
Coordinates: 38° 57' 6'' N, 77° 4' 33'' W
Links: Wikipedia / Peakbagger

This was my second US State(ish) High Point of the year. Similar to High Point, New Jersey earlier in the year it was a convenient evening excursion whilst working in the area. This one is a pretty underwhelming “peak” in a fairly flat city. At 125m the highest point isn’t even higher than the Washington Monument. Even so, its easy to get to and there’s decent nearby parking so it’s a worthwhile trip for any High Point geek already in the DC area.

You can get to the high point by walking up to the gates of the Department Of Transportation salt depot. There’s a large brick tower behind the gates so you can’t miss it. There’s also a USGS-style survey marker at the highest natural point in the park. I spent half an hour searching for it but then gave up as my jetlag was kicking in and finding a solution for that became more interesting than finding the plaque.

 
Richard gowerUS State High Point, USAComment
Wills Neck: Quantock Hills AONB High Point
Wills Neck Trig Pillar

Wills Neck Trig Pillar

Significance: Highest peak in the Quantock Hills AONB
Member of: Marilyn, Hardy
Parent Peak: Dunkery Beacon
Elevation: 263m
Date climbed: September 15th 2018
Coordinates: 51.1096° N, 3.1937° W
Route Start / End: Out and back from the car-park next to the Forest Office on Cockercombe Road. Follow the track up to the T-junction, then its a ~4k circular walk taking in the high-point.
Route Distance: 8.5 km (5.3 miles)
Route Elevation Change: +/- 217m
Subsidiary tops on route: none
GPX File: get via Buy Me a Coffee
Other routes touched: None
Map: OS Explorer Map (140) Quantock Hills and Bridgwater
Links: Will's Neck (Wikipedia), Bagborough Trig Pillar, Quantocks AONB, National Trust Quantock Hills

Richard gowerTrek, Trig Pillar, National Trust, Quantock Hills AONB, Somerset, EnglandComment
Surrey Bacchus Wine Half Marathon

When: September 9th 2018
Where: Denbies Wine Estate, Surrey, UK
Course: Single lap hilly trail race that looks like a waving alien on its side. Starts and ends in Denbies Wine Estate, Dorking and passes through National Trust land, Dorking Wood and Ashcombe Wood.
Other routes touched (walk): North Downs Way, Ranmore SCC, Prospects of Polesden SCC, Mole Gap Trail
Other routes touched (cycle): None
Finish time: 2 hours 11 minutes

Half Marathon #46 of 50 and my favourite so far. There were 5 wine stops along the route with wines from the Denbies Wine estate, plus pizza, cake and music. Basically, a big party with a bit of running in between.

 
Richard gowerRun, Half Marathon, National Trust, Surrey, Surrey Hills AONB, EnglandComment