Squerryes Winery parkrun (#115)

I have been tempted to visit Squerryes Winery parkrun for a while: the idea to run in a vineyard appealed to me and when I visited Mole Valley a year ago I had lots of fun, regardless of the very painful hills.

I nearly deferred my visit again this week after seeing a bit of rain and uncertain weather forecasts, with the alternative plan of diverting to Sutcliffe, but in the end I stuck to my original plans and I am glad I did. Squerryes parkrun is a lovely little event in a pretty unique setting.

I had no parkrun challenges chasing ulterior motives today, we are back the the good old habit of picking an interest venue that I am curious about in an area I have not visited before. The purest driver of parkrun tourism :).

Living at the opposite side of London, this was also my first venue in Kent. I am sure it will act as a springboard to slowly start covering the area as well, but before I need to finish London and Surrey. Squerryes is already pretty far from Upton Court where I was last week and it is the Westernmost parkrun venue in Kent.

But let’s dive into some more info about Squerryes parkrun: I came for the vineyard, you found a (tiny) vineyard but a large, gorgeous estate around it with fields, cafe, deli, brewery and even a restaurant. I guess that’s why it’s called winery rather than vineyard.

Trip to Squerryes Winery parkrun and parking

Not the easiest to get to with public transport, since it’s located just south of the M25 in between villages. According to the official course page, the closest train stations are Oxted and Sevenoaks, both roughly 5 miles from the venue. If going by bus, the closest station is Westerham Green. If I look at Citymapper, from where I live, it would have taken me roughly 2 hours, including 20 minutes walk at the end.

Unsuprisingly, I choose to drive, which took me 45 minutes. It seems that’s the magic number to reach parkrun locations on the edge of London from where I live.

From Wimbledon, I expected it to be mostly motorway, going south to the M25 junction and then briefly on it. Instead, Waze surprised me, saying that give traffic, it would be faster to drive threw town via Croydon. And it worked, I guess. I was there at 8:30 as planned.

Getting there is part of the venue experience. When you approach Squerryes Winery of a small country lane, there are parkrun banners where you have to enter the estate. I had never seen it before and it was a nice surprise. Then immediately after turning, you are greeted by cows grazing lazily on your left: dear Londoner, you have reached the countryside 🙂 🐮 Kind of.

You get straight into the parking, which is pretty large and it also has an overflow area on grass just past the main area. I saw quite a few people going there directly even if the main area was still virtually empty, so I assume that’s locals being particularly kind to clueless tourists. Thanks for that. The parking is also free, which helps the mood.

Around the parking, there are several buildings hosting the winery, cafe, deli, restaurant and brewery. It is a pretty well laid out location with a modern but rustic look, with a distinct and interesting look. Somehow, I expected it to be much smaller and less developed, but it is an interesting place. Worth another visit, I think.

Squerryes Winery parkrun: start and briefings

You will not have to walk around a lot to get to the runners’ meeting point, so if you want to, feel free to indulge in a bit of exploration around the various buildings that surround the parking.

The parkrunners’ meeting point is just around the corner from the wine cellar building, which also houses the cafe and the deli. From your car, you will probably be able to see an outside sitting area with people chatting and chilling: go there, turn the corner and it will suddenly be much busier.

That’s also where you will find the toilets. Word of caution: there is only one unisex toilet. I tried to use it, but it always had a pretty long queue before 9am, so if you needed it, come with plenty of time to spare.

New Runners and main briefing seem to be a pretty simple and quick affair here, or at least they were on the day I visited. I guess the gist is: if we try to explain the course, it will sound way too complicated. Follow the person in front of you. Which makes sense… and don’t turn left at the North side, running on the M25 is not fun. Which again, makes good sense. 🙂

After the main briefing, which was held facing the brewery building, you turn 90 degrees, take 5 steps (or 9 if you are fast and want to be at the front) and you are perfectly lined up in the start pen. Efficient. 😀

Squerryes Winery parkrun course review – star ratings

Squerryes parkrun course review – route highlights

There were around 199 parkrunners on the day I visited: a fairly well attended, established venue with a large showing of tourists. The start line is well organised and not congested, with ‘expected pace’ markers and a wide grass area to spread out. It quickly gets narrower, but more than manageable for about 300 metres. Then after 300 metres it does get pretty narrow, so if you are in the middle of the pack, you might have problems overtaking. This happens alongside the vines and in several other spots across the fields. In the latter case, you can overtake, but you. will need to leave the path and step over the sown area. Which is not great.

Most of the course is on paths either on the edge of fields or vineyards. The paths are fairly well pressed, but they do have some grass on it and on their sides. When I visited (August) road shoes were ok, but even on that (relatively) dry morning, some of my steps felt slippery during the first 10 minutes. I think trail shoes are probably a safe bet here.

Elevation-wise, this course is flat(-ish). With a fairly mild ‘ish’: there is a short, mild climb shortly after exiting the vineyard section, while the rest is mostly flat with a fast, fun descent straight. As far as out-of-town trail runs go, this is as flat as a wine-flavoured pancake.

Roughly 1.5 laps, with quirks. The first lap covers both fields, the second laps covers only the right field with the added bonus of one straight in the middle of the vineyards with (in late summer/autumn) ripe grapes tempting you on both sides.

A quick Relive route plot is on my YouTube Channel, with longer video highlights embedded below.

As said, you start on a relatively wide grass area, which quickly narrows to a path siding the west side of the vineyard. It is still comfortable at the beginning, probably 3/4 people can run next to each other here. However, you quickly turn left and essentially do a U turn to run on the other side of the vineyard. The East side is narrower and here you have room for 2 people at most. You will run this section 3 times and the first time it is definitely congested.

When you get to the end of this straight, you turn right and leave Bacchus’ nectar behind you, taking in wide, beautiful fields with open views on the Kent hills. The first part is a mild climb that continues after you turn left to start going around the East field on the map.

When you have left the climb behind you, and completed 2 sides of the field, you will turn right to take in the long side. And this is fun, mildly descending and fast, you dont get stuck behind someone. You can overtake, but you need to leave the trail and I felt bad doing that since someone had clearly sowed some crops recently.

When you get to the bottom of the mini-hill, you turn right again for another long straight (with tiny wiggle in the middle, see Relive link). Here you will cross into the second field and run its short side as well. Nice views, but in terms of running conditions, it is fairly plain.

When you get to the second field, guess what you need to do? Yup, run around its 4 sides until you back up nearly to the ‘wiggle’ mentioned before. At a certain point, you will do nearly another U turn that will get you back to the narrow path on the side of the vineyard.

Here you are starting your second lap, which will only cover the first field up to the connection of the two fields at ‘wiggle point’. The second time you don’t turn left here, but keep going straight. And going straight will lead you to the other recurring orienteering feature of this course: the narrow path on the East side of the vineyard.

Once you get to the end of it for the third time, this time your world will be rocked: turn left, not right. And it’s a very tight U turn that leads just one file of vines further in from the previous path. And back you go, in the middle of the vines until you reach the end, turn right and repeat the first short section you ran at the start. A few seconds and the finish funnel will be in sight..

If you still have some energy, let it go and reach the end: massive sweets will be available at the cafe to replenish your energy stores.

Facilities at Squerryes Winery parkrun

Plenty of things to visit, see and do here it seems. Spread around 3 large buildings, you have several different takes on food and booze. I have not explored a lot, but I am curious to come back again, maybe for lunch.

The toilet is by the start as written above, but it is only one and it will be difficult to get into before the start. I had no problem using it after finishing my run and before scanning. All done during the 2 minutes my Garmin watch takes to track HR recovery after the run.

The cafe is at the far corner of the cellar building and the part that serves drinks and sweet pasties to parkrunners is a small cabin near the sitting area. Good quality, long queues if you want a warm drink.

As a competitor to the McDonald’s index, I am continuing to collect data for the parkbreakfast index: how much is breakfast at each location? At Squerryes Winery parkrun, I ordered a single espresso, a Diet Coke and a massive cinnamon roll, which set me off £7.5. Bang in line with the top quartile of central London parkrun cafes.

Squerryes Winery parkrun: Video Highlights

As usual, I’ve taken a few video snippets during the run to give an idea of the course. If you like it, please subscribe, it’s a fun past time for me 🙂

The other parkrun videos on my YouTube channel are all linked on the course review and video highlights summary page.

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Achievements and performance

Conclusions

I really enjoyed Squerryes parkrun. It is different and, even if it is relatively simple it its design, it has enough quirks to keep it interesting. The views are beautiful and the final back and forth through the vineyard is a fun ‘surprise’. I guess in winter it probably becomes a mud feast, but that could even add to the fun.

It is pretty far from me, but I would not rule out coming back one day.

Thank you, Squerryes Winery parkrun team for your hospitality!