Sharpham Road Playing Fields parkrun

Chris Jeanes
May 17
6 min read

My 77th parkrun was another South Western course, this time at Sharpham Road Playing Fields, right next door to Cheddar Reservoir (which was looking a little depleted on the morning of our visit way back in August 2025 (again so sorry I am taking sooo long to write these events up). This parkrun was on event number 189 on the morning of our visit, so it first started up back in the summer of 2021 not long after parkrun's extended Covid break. It's been on my radar for some time but I just hadn't got around to running it yet. The parkrun is a mostly out and back route along a footpath converted from an ex-railway line called the Cheddar Valley Line (nicknamed the Strawberry line), which used to run between Yatton (near Weston-super-mare) and Witham Friary (near Frome). The parkrun route is a twice out and back mostly on footpath along the ex railway line but with a deviation onto a grass section on the start and finish and the middle of each lap (or each out and back, depending on how you look at it), more on that in the course notes section. It was a lovely morning and this was a very enjoyable parkrun, finished up with a sausage sandwich in the café.

[I first visited this parkrun on 9th August 2025]

photo of me and my wife next to the Sharpham Road parkrun sign — Make sure you check out the reservoir, it's Huge!

Bit of History

The village of Cheddar in Somerset is famous for being home to the original Cheddar Cheese which was traditionally matured in the caves at Cheddar Gorge a natural land formation to the north of the village, and the largest gorge in the United Kingdom. Cheddar Gorge has been a centre of human settlement since Neolithic times and Britain's oldest complete human skeleton 'Cheddar Man', estimated to be 9,000 years old, was found in Cheddar Gorge in 1903. In more recent times Cheddar was also a centre for strawberry growing and the crop was formerly transported on the Cheddar Valley railway line, which closed in the late 1960s and is now a cycle path and now home to this parkrun.

two marshals on the Strawberry Line — If you have a good imagination you can probably picture trains full of strawberries still rattling down this old line.

Briefings

At the first timer briefing after being welcomed to Cheddar, we learned that 'Sharpham Road Playing Fields' at 36 characters long is one of the longest parkrun names in the country, and that last week they had a record 259 people running the course, and that people often descend on the course at the last minute. We were informed this is a keep left parkrun, which is quite important because it is an out and back route on narrow paths, about 4km of the route is along a path which follows the old railway line, the remaining 1km is on a more open section on grass in the middle of the course (where the start and finish take place). We got quite a good course description during the visitor brief (which I will cover in my course description section). After the course description we were asked where we were all from, I think the winners this morning in terms of distance travelled were visitors from Bradford and Leeds. On the main brief was a celebration of someone doing their 250th parkrun, as well as two individuals doing their first ever parkrun. Shout outs to from all over the place this morning, including visitors from Birmingham, Worcester, Welshpool, Frome, Tiverton, Worcester, Cambridge, Milton Keynes (us), Bradford and Leeds. This is obviously a popular tourist venue. Then we were all asked to thank the heroes in Hi-Viz volunteering this morning. Although course conditions were good this morning Visitors were warned that their is a pinch point on the corner when you first leave the field to head down to the railway path, so please take it easy and please make way for other runners if required. The run director then covered the usual admin messages including the availability of a defib at the end of the parkrun if required and a request for future volunteers, after that we were asked to head to the start.

Event director giving the main briefing — Main Briefing

Course Description

You start on grass and head out towards the reservoir, turning right to running alongside a fence which separates the park from the reservoir. You will soon come to a corner where you take a right, which is where the course becomes narrow for the first time, you will then take a left turn to enter the railway path for the first time, you are now heading North West and you follow the path for about 600m or so, until you come to a marshal at a turnaround point. Once around the cone you head back down the path the way you came remembering to keep left and passing all the runners coming the other way, until you come back to where you first entered the path, keep going along the path for another 500m or so until you come to another turn point, where you are heading back towards the start again. After another 400m or so you will be directed left off of the railway path back into the open field where you started. You head towards the tree line and then turn left until you come to the fence for the reservoir again, where you turn right and repeat the railway path section again. The next time you come to the open field, you will be directed left away from the path to the finish.

Garmin satellite image of the parkrun course including Reservoir — Essentially two laps but largely out and back in terns of the railway path itself.

Difficulty

Very straightforward parkrun course, very easy to follow and quite flat with an ever so slight incline on the railway path but nothing to concern yourself with. I'm going to add 0.5 of a point for it being a bit narrow in places, and for the grass sections, but this is a very easy parkrun on the whole so 1.5 out of 5 I think, the vast majority of this route is on hard standing so road shoes all year round I would have said.

marshal at the southern turnaround point — This is the turn point at the southern end of the course, the ground surface is like this for the majority of the route.

mid parkrun image of me running — Thank you to whichever volunteer took this action shot of me out on course

Elevation

Although my Garmin registered 18m of elevation, it felt flatter than this in reality. There is a very gentle slope on the railway path but it's hardly noticeable when you are running it. I would describe this as one of the flatter parkruns you will encounter, I managed a good time here, but I wouldn't try and do a PB here due to it being quite narrow in places, and you need to may need to give space to runners coming the other direction in a few places.

Parking, Facilities and Coffee

There is a free car park and toilets available in the clubhouse which are open before the start of the event. There is a café in the rugby club house as well which was serving bacon and/or sausage in bread rolls as well as teas and coffees. There is a playground with a skate park if you have brought younger ones with you.

parking at Sharpham Road parkrun — Decent parking at this event.

Rugby club post parkrun cafe — Inside the Rugby Club café, there are picnic benches outside as well, which is where we ended up sitting

Other Points of Interest

The scenery here is stunning with views of the gorge from the field where the start finish area is, and we sat outside at the café to take in the views. It is also worth taking a short walk up to the reservoir itself to take a look out towards the village of Axbridge. Cheddar Gorge itself is a very popular tourist attraction if you are looking to make a day out of your trip, and you can visit the caves as well as take a trip up to the top of the gorge for more views. You can also just park up and do self guided walks around the Gorge if you don't want to pay the entry prices at Cheddar Gorge caves themselves. Either way Cheddar is a great day out if you can spare a few hours to take it all in.

Distant view of Cheddar gorge with playing fields in foreground — Cheddar Gorge as seen from the parkrun course

View out over the Reservoir towards Axbridge

Summary

This is a friendly and welcoming Somerset parkrun, with great scenery and plenty to do after your visit if you want to make a day out of it. The parkrun itself is easy and straightforward and a flattish course along the Strawberry line. We enjoyed our visit and it is probably best visited on a clear sunny day (like on the morning of our visit), where you can make the most of the views while you have your post parkrun coffee and breakfast roll outside in the sun (ice creams are also available).