Skip to main content

Littleport parkrun

I was originally planning on continuing to visit events in Essex this week, however, I decided to change pace an visit a Cambridgeshire event after a change of plans for my festive parkrunning. I ultmately decided to visit Littleport parkrun this week having looked at previous results, and seeing that there are often a good number of walkers, as I intended to continue walking while recovering from an injury.

The area

Littleport lies in the fens, in Cambridgeshire. The fens is a vast expanse of former marsh land which was drained and reclaimed from 1626 through the construction of a series of canals to drain the land. These canals still shape much of the modern infrastructure in the area today, with many particlarly straight roads and canals to be found in the area.

The village of Littleport was reportedly founded when drunk monks turned away King Canut when he sought shelter. The village is predominantly residential, but played a role in the Peasants Revolt, as well as being one of the main reasons for Vagrancy laws being formed.

Littleport Recreation Ground

The course

Littleport parkrun follows just over 2 laps of a figure-8 course around the grounds of the leisure centre playing fields, and the adjacent recreation grounds, using a path to connect the two.

Free parking, toilets, and a cafe are all available at the leisure centre.

The run

It was a frosty start to the morning today, and so with the course being two-thirds on grass, I decided today was a day for trail shoes - something I was thanknful for as the run passed!

Littleport Leisure Centre

The event reminded me of neighbouring Mildenhall Hub parkrun, being a mixture of paths and grass, using a leisure centre as the base for operations.

Thank you to all of the volunteer team for such a welcoming event!

After the run

After the run, I decided to head westwards towards the Old Bedford River - an artificial river constructed in the 1600s, and used as to drain the fens of Cambridgeshire to create vast amounts of new land.

The view north towards Downham Market

The river runs for approximately 19 miles in a straight line, meeting The Wash, and ultimately the North Sea at King's Lynn.

The view south, with the rail bridge to Manea in the distance

While there are specific waterways, rain in recent weeks meant the drainage system was definitely being used for its intended purpose.

Water in the drainage system

Links: Run Report | Results | Strava

Labels:
Location: Littleport Leisure, Camel Rd, Littleport, Ely CB6 1EW, UK

Popular posts from this blog

Mildenhall Hub parkrun

This week I decided to make some more progress on the Fibonacci Sequence challenge by attending event number 5 of the new Mildenhall Hub parkrun! The area Mildenhall is a small market town located between Cambridge and Bury St Edmunds. The modern town's population is heavily influenced by the two airforce bases located on the outskirts of the town, with up to a third of the town's residents being born in USA! The town is also where the Mildenhall Treasure was discovered - a collection of Roman silverwar considered to be perhaps the most important and valuable Roman treasure find in Britain. Owing to its importance and value, the treasure is now on permanent display at the British Museum. To the west of the town lies Mildenhall Hub, a newly built community centre, and host of this week's parkrun event! The course One lap of the course follows an initial out-and-back section, followed a lap of the adjoining meadow, with runners following the route two and a hal
Read more

Markshall Estate parkrun

Having spent a number of weeks focussed on events in the north of the East of England, I decided that this week I would pay some attention to the south of the region and visit Markshall Estate parkrun while still in the best time of the year to visit an arboretum. The area The Markshall Estate (interchangably the "Marks Hall" Estate) is the remains of a former country estate located in Coggeshall, between Colchester and Braintree. The hall itself was demolished in 1950, leaving its grounds to be converted into an arboretum, featuring trees from around the world. Coggeshall has been a settled area since at least the Saxon area, and was later served by Stane Street; a Roman road stretching from modern day Colchester to near St Albans. The course The route follows just under two laps of the arboretum, starting at the top of a hill, and finishing at the bottom, meaning this is a net down-hill course. The course is run on a mixture of tarmac, concrete, gravel, trail an
Read more

Ally Pally parkrun

Now that I have completed the UK Alphabet, my focus has turned towards the East of England region. As there are so many events to choose from, I'm going to start by working through events in alphabetical order again, with an emphasis on working east to west, which for me, effectively orders events furthest to nearest. During my initial exploration of the challenge, I did make a mistake however, which I only realised after running this event - I didn't realise that Aldenham parkrun was in the region, and so I started this phase of parkrunning by running Ally Pally parkrun instead! The area Ally Pally, or Alexandra Palace, is a purpose built community centre in Haringey, North London. Unlike other palaces in the UK, Ally Pally has no royal connection, and instead has been entirely community oriented since its conception. The palace houses a theatre, concert hall, a convention centre, an ice rink, and has facilitated BBC broadcasts an
Read more