Another parkrun to add to my West of England collection, this was my 49th different course, and is another parkrun on the Bristol Channel coast, to add to Marine parade and Burnham and Highbridge parkruns which I have already run. It was also a nice opportunity to meet up with Laura who moved away from Milton Keynes back to her home town of Bristol a couple of years back. This parkrun is two/three laps, mostly flat, entirely on hard surface, and starts and finishes in Salthouse Fields park, taking in the sea wall and has great views out over the Bristol Channel and the Welsh Coastline.
[I first visited this parkrun on 30th July 2022]
Bit of History
I was a bit intrigued by the name of the parkrun, so I did a bit of research. Turns out Clevedon Salthouse Fields is built on land which was originally used for Salt Panning starting in 1689 originally on a seven year lease. The salt panning operation included buildings, furnaces and retaining walls for the making of salt, which was done by letting sea water into depressions in the fields and letting evaporation take it’s course, the remaining moisture was then boiled off in furnaces. Two cottages first used by the salt workers were later converted into a fine private house by Mr Ferdinand Beeston, a timber merchant in the early 1830’s. The Salthouse was a private house until the Keesey family opened it as a hotel in 1928. Soon afterwards, they built Salthouse Pavillion at the side of the old servants cottages and here dancing and entertainment was held. The gardens and woods surrounding the house were acquired by Clevedon Urban District Council, and opened to the public, along with Salthouse Field. Today the Salthouse is a pub, and is a listed building of great historical interest. It has also been a filming location for Broadchurch and other TV dramas. In the Salthouse field park today, as well as the skate park, there are extensive children's play areas, tennis courts, a bowls club and Clevedon's very own model railway – that runs round the field. For more info see the Discover Clevedon website.
Briefings
Both briefs took place next to a basketball court, with a PA system. It was a bit of a struggle to hear the visitor and first timer briefing (partly because people were talking over the young lad giving the briefing), but the main briefing was much clearer and easier to hear (also quite humorous in places), and I'm fairly certain the main brief covered most of what was in the visitor brief anyway. The main brief included a plea for volunteers to come forward for the next few weeks (very important to volunteer if you can, without volunteers parkruns cannot take place). The normal parkrun rules included the usual reminders we are not the only users of the park, as well as buggy, dog and junior parkrunner guidelines. The briefs included a good description of the course, in brief one lap of the park, then two laps including the sea wall. Visitors today included runners from Poland and Pontypridd. I have included a recording both briefings in my YouTube Video link further down the page.
The Course
You start with one complete clockwise lap of the park, mostly on path but with a small section of grass to cross the model railway line. After the complete lap of the park, you go round the park again, but when you reach the sea front for the second time you turn left and head down towards the sea, passing Clevedon Marine Lake on your right, and the Salthouse pub on the left. the path curves off to the right following the Lake, and you'll head down towards the Marine Lake before doing a 180 and heading back past the lake now on your left on a lower level path which now follows the shore line on your left, at the end of the lake, you are directed up to re-join the main coastal path.
You now run North up the coastal path which takes you all the way up to Clevedon Bay you'll get great views out across the Channel and towards Wales if you remember to look left. On your right you will pass a Green King Pub, some parkland, and a weather shelter... after a while you will come to a bandstand, which you run past and then the path splits into two, you'll be directed left and down towards a sailing club and a marshal with a bollard. Around the bollard and then back up the incline towards the coastal path, passing other runners on your right (keep left on this course when passing slower runners please). You will now run all the way back the coastal path until you get to the Skatepark, where you turn left and then you do another 3/4 of a clockwise lap of the Salthouse Fields park, and again when you get back to the seafront, you take a left and repeat the coastal path section from the previous lap. So down to the lower path, back up to the Upper Path, past the Bandstand, down to the sailing club, round the bollard, back up to the coastal path and then back to the Skatepark, when you reach the Skatepark this time, run straight on and into the finish funnel.
Difficulty
Flat and Fast with a few sharp turns. This is one of the easier courses, with not much to worry about except perhaps on a windy day. It's almost entirely on hard surface, and there are no major inclines to speak of. So I'm going to rate it as 1 out of 5. I would say good times are possible here, although I don't think I connected with the course as well as I could have.
Elevation
Not sure how but according to Garmin there is 24m of elevation on this course. According to Garmin it looks like it is mostly a very gentle incline as you go North along the Sea Wall. I wasn't really aware of it while running the course.
Parking, Facilities and Coffee
The nearest pay and display car parks are Salthouse Fields, BS21 7TR or the Hawthorns, BS21 7EH. Parking at the Salthouse pub is free until 10am. There is some on-street free parking along Elton Road, Old Church Road and the Seafront near the Pier. There are also many side streets available for parking. I parked on Elton Road close to the start. If you look on the Facebook page for this parkrun you will find a sign you can print off to ‘buy one hour, get one hour free (until 10:30am Saturday morning)’ for the Salthouse Fields pay & display carpark. Public toilets are available between the bandstand and the marine lake for 20p. A good children’s play park is adjacent to the Salthouse Park. There are many cafes and catering vans along the seafront. We stopped for a coffee and roll at the catering hut close to the playground.
Other Points of Interest
There are decent playgrounds, a skatepark, basketball and tennis courts, and a model railway. Plus the usual seafront attractions, including plenty of cafes, restaurants, catering vans, etc.
Summary
Another enjoyable Sea Front parkrun, with great views out over the channel, an interesting course, plenty to see and do after the parkrun has finished, and it is also a park and associated buildings with a very interesting history. I didn't visit the pub but definitely plan to on a future visit because it is all part of the Salthouse Fields story and it sounds like an interesting building in it's own right. Well worth a visit if you are in the area and looking for a parkrun to do.
Links
Link to official parkrun site for this course: https://www.parkrun.org.uk/clevedonsalthousefields/
My YouTube Video Review of this parkrun:
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