Post-Apocalyptic parkrun ☢️ Corgis & Cake 🍰 at Berkeley Green parkrun

Join us on a little adventure to two contrasting — yet equally fascinating — locations in Gloucestershire.

We begin at Berkeley Green, once home to one of Britain’s first commercial nuclear power stations, now deep into its decommissioning process.

For us, it was also the venue for one of the most unusual parkruns we’ve ever done. As you run past dilapidated 60s buildings and deserted car parks, it feels like stepping onto the set of Zombie Apocalypse. But thanks to the upbeat marshals, pumping tunes, and infectious energy, we were definitely among the living!

For Iona, it featured a standout parkrun moment — one of her all-time favourite marshal spots: “Corgi Corner”, where we had to stop (twice, it’s a two lap course!) for a cuddle and a stroke.

Post-run, we tucked into cake from a community café raising funds for the Autism Society, followed by an excellent breakfast at the Berkeley Tea Rooms. We then explored the town and its connection to Edward Jenner, the local doctor who pioneered the smallpox vaccine using cowpox.

Later, we head into the heart of the Cotswolds to visit Snowshill Manor — a 16th-century house transformed by architect and collector Charles Paget Wade. Inside, his unique collection of handcrafted and curious objects is laid out across rooms untouched by modern life. Outside, the terraced gardens — designed in the Arts and Crafts tradition — offer peace, structure, and seasonal colour in every direction as well as an unusual model village modelled on a Cornish coastal town.

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#parkrun #BerkeleyGreen #SnowshillManor #NuclearHistory #Cotswolds #NationalTrust #Decommissioning #TravelUK #BritishHeritage #parkrun #EdwardJenner

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Useful Links
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Berkley Green parkrun
https://www.parkrun.org.uk/berkeleygreen/

Berkley Tea Rooms – Breakfast
https://www.facebook.com/berkeleytrooms/

Snowshill Manor
https://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/visit/gloucestershire-cotswolds/snowshill-manor-and-garden

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About Ian, Iona and Family
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Each week on this channel Ian (Dad) and Iona share our little adventure experiences, often joined by Ewan (Iona’s older brother) and Ruth (Mum) too.

Our weekends often start with parkrun. Iona is on a non-repeat parkrun tourism streak having now visited over 100 different places since she started parkrunning. But we don’t just do parkun and dash home, we love exploring the area and often use bikes and trains for our travels to keep our carbon footprint low and because it adds to the adventure too. When school holidays arrive, longer adventures are possible with Ewan and Iona both being keen cycle tourists and mountain climbers!

So if you like heading outdoors and your idea of a perfect weekend includes parkrun, climbing a mountain or exploring new places on two wheels then we would love to have you join us on our adventures.

We’d love it if you subscribed so you can follow our journey and hopefully be inspired to get out the door and have your own little adventures. Do like and leave comments on our videos too on questions you might have or ideas for places to explore or adventures to go on.

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Standard Filming Kit
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Music from Epidemic Sound: https://www.epidemicsound.com/referral/o3mkb1

[Music] You are under surveillance. You are under surveillance. You are under surveillance. You are under surveillance. We are under surveillance. You are under surveillance. Where are we under surveillance at uh Berkeley Heath Place thingy? Berkeley power station. and Buckley Green is the actual name of the power station. So, we apparently are running around a car park. Apparently, apparently it does look like some people rave about this park run. Others are not so sure. We’re going to find out for ourselves. But first of all, we need to go and find the start which is just over there. Yeah, just right there. Right there. So, let’s go run By Power Station. And we have Gerald. And Gerald with us as well. Is it today? An extra runner with us. He hasn’t got a barcode. You can use mine. You can use yours. Okay, let’s get off to the start then. On the eastern bank of the river 7, Barkley was Britain’s first commercial magnating electricity from 1962 until its final shutdown in ‘ 89. Today, under the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority, all nuclear fuel was removed by 92. Turbine halls and cooling ponders demolished in 2001 and reactors placed in safe store in 2010. Active waste retrieval is now underway. The former labs and grounds have been transformed into the Glosters Science and Technology Park, home to a university technical college and emerging as a clean energy research supercluster and home of today’s park run. The start line is just around the corner by the security gate house and the finish line is just over here. Follow me around to the start. Um, and we’ll get going. [Music] Three, two, one. [Music] [Applause] [Music] Go on then. So Aya and I are off on Baku Pass Station Park Run and Aya thinks that we’ve already seen the finish line. I’m not so sure that we can finish just yet. Excellent job. Enjoy your marty green park run today. Been told about this park run that what makes it amazing is the support on the way around. And we’re already experiencing that, aren’t we? Area we’re in right now, which used to be a nuclear research area is now a green energy research area. So, and digital and tech. So, a bit of a change. Quite cool to see. Quite interesting. Lucky buildings as well. [Music] Good morning. Thank you, Marshall. And we’ve just passed a police training center. So, it’s not the police. Wait, what? Far College, but that’s a police center thing there. Okay. Don’t get yourself into trouble, daddy. Yeah. So, does this whole site feel a little bit post-apocalyptic to you, Iona? What does that even mean? So, you know, if there’s been a big, you know, zombie apocalypse or something like that happened, it just feels a bit strange, doesn’t it? And all abandoned and slightly dilapidated buildings. It’s quite cool. [Music] Hello. Hello. Can I show a cat? [Music] Corgi. How about that? Then I was this worst part worth coming to now. Corgi. Got to see a corgi. We never seen corgi before. No. Cuz you cuz the only time I’ve seen a corgi is on TV of Queen of the Queen’s um Queen Elizabeth who used to have her two corgi. Look at all these buildings. Does it look really This is very abandoned. Yeah. Thank you, Marshall. Where do that? [Music] Go on, Euan. Well done. [Music] Thank you. as if it just come over Is it [Music] going? [Music] Yeah. Great running. [Music] So, you do have to keep your wits about you to keep an eye on. We’re not going that road. I don’t think we’re going that way. So, make sure you keep a close eye on where you’re going. We’re running out along here now. [Music] So, we’re out on the out and back section on the first lap. Faster guys already coming back through on their second lap. We’re about to turn around and the pumping music station. [Music] Thank you. Lots of barbed wire and fences to keep us out of the actual nuclear power station itself. And no drone flying. So I did make sure I kept my drone the other side of the fence when I was flying it. How dare you? I had just realized a major travesty has occurred. I forgot to give her a sweet mile. So, we’re having it a mile and a half. That means I’m having two. Two? Yeah. Okay, that’s fair. That’s fair. Is it one big one? Truly should be one and a half. No. Look. Fair enough. Well, we’ve passed the finish line. Time to do it all again. [Music] Need more cooking. [Music] So, what’s the best bit of this park run? Corgi corner. Do you like that? Do you? Yes. Do you think there should be a corgi quarter with every park? Yeah. Or just a doggy corner? a doggy corner of any dog. I will just sit there and stroke it and stroke it. Sounds good to me. We’ve done two miles. Does that mean you want another Haribo? No. Are you still okay eating the ones you had at mile and a half? Right, it’s the out and back section. I think these are going to fall off. We are on the last out of deck section. Ean has already finished and has come back to join us. Didn’t quite get sub 30. I don’t think you but not much over [Music] youngest ever probably compete of Parkland at just 4 days old and her mom was running Parkland last weekend as well. So that’s commitment if ever there was. Park run enjoyed plenty of post park run faf with by Iona playing with Phoebe the corgi and we enjoyed some cake from the cake charity cake store there raising money for um national autism society. Now it’s time to find some breakfast. So goodbye to the power station and head back into Barkley Village. Breakfast enjoyed. We’re off to explore Barkley or Berkeley or Berkeley. We’re not quite sure exactly how to pronounce it a bit. But how first of all, how was breakfast? Tasty. Tasty. Delicious slab of white bread for me. And you had a very big bat, didn’t you? So, rating five. Five. Actually, no. Four and a half. Why? cuz I usually I squeeze it just to make sure like it’s flat enough for me to like eat cuz like you know how sometimes they can be like really thick. Um but then it just went I don’t think you can blame that in the breakfast venue. I think that’s entirely on you. So I’m going to give it five personal. So we do bit of a science day today. We’ve been to the nuclear power station and into the green technology area that we’re running through. And now we are outside Dr. Jenner’s house and garden who is famous for his work on vaccines in particular the smallox vaccine using cowpox. [Music] just exploring the church here in Barkley. It is near the castle and so it’s deliberately built in a way that you couldn’t really try and attack the castle from the church. Though in actual fact during the Civil War when the Roundheads captured it, they did actually try mounting um ordinance on top of the church tower to start attacking the castle. But fortunately, well, don’t know which way you want to look at it, the person in charge of the manor decided um enough was enough. It was time to surrender at that point. Obviously, it was a bit too bit too close for comfort. But yeah, beautiful church with some really interesting sort of painted freeze work on some of the stone work here and some as ever beautiful stained glass windows. [Music] making this thing a bit. Well, we explored the church, but we haven’t been able to explore the castle. It’s all closed up. I don’t really want to pay out for a castle visit. So, heading back down the castle drive, having just explored some of the gardens that there are here, and back up to the car, and we’ll see what we get up to next in our post park run faf. [Music] We’ve stopped off on our journey back and we’re visiting Snow’s Hill Manor and you’ve got six places that you can get a stamp. So on your way out today, you go into the shop and they will stamp that. Next time you go to a National Trust property and they stamp there, you get the green crown. [Music] Snow’s Hill Manor in the Cotswwells is a 16th century house best known for its 20th century owner Charles Padet Wade, an architect and collector with a passion for craftsmanship. Rather than live in the manor itself, Wade used it to house his extensive collection of objects from across the world, carefully arranged by theme. From musical instruments to tools and textiles, each room offers a glimpse into his eclectic vision. Outside, the arts and crafts inspired garden is laid out in a series of terrace rooms mixing formal structure with seasonal planting and quiet corners for reflection. It includes a model village based on a typical Cornish fishing village which Wade called Wolf’s Cove. [Music] Cheers. We have been exploring Snow’s Hill Manor and the amazing collection of stuff that he has in there. Did he have a lot of bits and pieces? Uh yeah. Yeah. I think he likes boats. You think he like quite a lot of modern boats, Samurai Warriors? But all sorts of bits and pieces in there from his travels and collections. What’s your favorite bit? Putting on a mask. Putting on a mask. wearing and using the typewriter and using the typewriter. Uh, and the gardens are my favorite bit as ever. And I love the little model garden that there was in there, too. But of course, you couldn’t come to a National Trust property without enjoying a scone. Cheese scone for you. And I’ve got a raspberry and ginger one. Big different. Few facts and figures for you about eating at the cafes at National Trust. Last year they said 2.6 6 million scon and 13.6 million cups of tea and coffee. That’s a fair few thirsty people wondering around National Trust properties. Hope you’ve enjoyed today’s little adventure. Stay tuned for another adventure soon as Iona and I head from London to Paris on our bicycles in a week’s time. Bye. [Music]