Lydiard parkrun

Chris Jeanes
2 days ago
6 min read

Updated: 2 days ago

My 76th parkrun was part of a stopover on a trip down from Milton Keynes to Taunton to visit family. Approximately half way is the town of Swindon so as part of my long term goal of connecting my Milton Keynes cluster of parkruns to my Taunton cluster, we decided to start filling in the gaps between the two locations, and visit Lydiard parkrun (formerly known as Swindon parkrun). One of the earliest parkruns dating right back to March 2010, Lydiard were on event number 693 on the morning of our visit on the 2nd August. The parkrun takes place in Lydiard Country park about 3 miles west of Swindon Town centre. It is a two lap (almost entirely on compacted gravel paths) triangular course around some fairly open countryside to the west of Swindon, which makes up Lydiard park. Its an uncomplicated and easy to follow route, with plenty of parking and the usual facilities you would expect at a country park. It was a warm and sunny morning on our visit in the height of summer, and the course was very dry and runnable. This course will probably be suitable for road shoes all year round.

[I first visited this parkrun on 2nd August 2025]

Bit of History

Swindon dates back to at least the Doomsday Book where it was recorded as Suindune, as indeed does the settlement of Lediar which is now known as the modern day village of Lydiard Tregose, where Lydiard Country park is based. Swindon is probably most famous as a railway town, and grew significantly when it became home of the engine works of the Great Western Railway. It is well worth making a trip to 'Steam' a museum dedicated to the ex Railway Works, and the neighbouring Designer Shopping Outlet also housed in ex Railway buildings. Lydiard Tregose once a village in it's own right, largely disappeared to become the grounds of Lydiard Manor which had become an important country house. The church of St Mary's which used to serve the village survived the loss of the village itself and can still be visited today. The modern Lydiard Country park, was formed out of the previous grounds of Lydiard Manor, and is a great venue for a parkrun.

Lydiard House, not on the course, but it's not too far from the finish area.

Briefings

At the Visitor and First Timer briefing were a surprising amount of International visitors including from Chicago, Hungary, and France. As well as more local tourists including Barry Island, Swansea, Newcastle, Southampton, Northampton, Reading, Oxford, Battersea Park, and us from Milton Keynes (apparently we are used to going round in circles). We were advised they have pacers this morning so to stay with them if we want to do those times, because it can be a bit of a slow start. We then had a decent course description which I will go into more detail on later. We then had a brief description of the token system and barcode scanning, we were also informed to show our barcode at the cafe for a discount if we were sticking around. The main briefing was conducted from the top of a picnic table outside the cafe with the assistance of a very loud PA system, so we heard every word (which is not always the case at every parkrun). There was a shout out for all the tourist locations, and a shout out for the volunteers as well as a request for more volunteers for the next few weeks, both at this parkrun and the local juniors parkrun. Shout outs for milestones included an 150th volunteering, a 100th run, a 250th run and two 300th runs. We were advised to watch our step this morning because the path is uneven in places. Our attention was also drawn to the Great British Food festival which was taking place at the park this morning starting at 10am (quite a few runners seemed to stick around for this after the parkrun itself). There was also notice of a cancellation of this parkrun on the 16th of August, but that's not going to affect any of you readers (as it has taken me soooo long to type up this review). We were then advised that this is a run on the right and overtake on the left course, with two laps. We were asked if joining the funnel to stay in the funnel and take a token and not duck out of the funnel before taking a token as this will affect the results. Usual Dog and under 11 instructions as is customary, and a reminder that any incidents should be notified to the nearest Marshal who can provide assistance.

Course Description

Essentially a large triangle that you do twice. Although there is a compacted gravel footpath all the way around, it does feel like you are running through open countryside, with wide views across the surrounding landscape. There is a short section close the the start and the transition between laps 1 and 2 which is in the woods and under the tree line, but this is a short section and you don't spend long under the trees. There is one gentle upwards incline towards the end of each lap, which adds a bit of interest to the course. This is definitely one of the more straightforward courses and you can't really go wrong on this one.

Difficulty

With a straightforward layout on gravel paths and only really one incline to deal with I think I’m going to give this a 1.5 out of 5. I gather from some other bloggers the path gets puddly in the damper months of the year, but judging by photos nothing which would require full trail shoes.

Finish straight, typical of the type of paths you will be running on at this event.

Elevation

With 32m of elevation, this is not the flattest parkrun but also not particularly hilly either. Most of the elevation is on gentle long upwards sections with a bit of a steeper section at the end of each lap.

gradual long slopes rather than major hills

Parking, Facilities and Coffee

There is a large car park serving this parkrun with overflow parking on the grass in summer. Parking charge was £2.50 for two hours (as of Aug 2025). Toilets and Cafe close to the start and a good playground as well. Cafe looked reasonable but we went back to the hotel for an all you can eat buffet breakfast.

Other Points of Interest

As we had booked a hotel for the night before we arrived at Swindon on the Friday afternoon before parkrun, because Swindon is home to Steam the museum of the GWR railway works. We took the opportunity of visiting the museum and the neighbouring outlet shopping centre which is built in some of the old factory buildings. The museum was a really interesting tour of what life was like for the factory workers and their families at the height of the GWR engine building days. The shopping centre was also a very sympathetic use of the old factory buildings and had some great shops. It is well worth a visit if you have time to stick around in Swindon before or after your parkrun.

I've always been a sucker for the GWR King Class Loco!

Summary

Very similar to some of the Country Park parkruns, this venue had ample parking, toilets open before and after, a cafe, playgrounds and some interesting grounds to walk around afterwards if you have time. The course itself is definitely one of the easier ones out there all on hard surfaced paths and not too much elevation and is road shoe all year round course. When you are out on the course it really does feel like you are running out in the countryside, even though there is a hard surfaced path under your feet. I really enjoyed this one!