Pints & Parkruns: Silksworth

There aren’t many British parkruns in the shadow of a ski slope. But when Silksworth colliery closed down in 1971, the regeneration of the site saw a former hive of industry transformed into a leisure complex. That meant finding a new role for the enormous spoil tip, and the man-made hill proved ideal for an artificial ski slope.

In an era long before today's indoor snowdomes, the dry ski slope inspired unlikely dreams: a primary school classmate of mine was a devoted fan, to the point that during the 1986 World Cup, when the rest of us wrote about Bryan Robson or Gary Lineker as our heroes, Daniel improbably picked out Austrian slalom ace Franz Klammer.

Back down to earth, the rest of the old colliery was landscaped. Pit ponds repurposed as lakes for anglers, railway lines converted into cycle lanes heading behind Tunstall Hills and beyond to the coast. A running track, tennis complex and collection of sports pitches complete the picture.

When parkrun came to Sunderland, Silksworth was the obvious starting point. The local athletics club was already on site and there was comfortably enough space to set up an out-and-back course. Mercifully, the route doesn’t drag runners up to the top of that ski slope; a ski lift takes you to the peak of a vertiginous 165m slope that commands impressive views but would likely frighten many in the usual Saturday morning crowd.

Instead, it’s a blissful start. A long, steady downhill tempts all but the most disciplined runner into setting off at a gallop. Then comes an undulating straight before two laps around the pond have us trotting past the morning’s fishermen – feathered or otherwise. For about 4km, it all feels suspiciously easy.

But there’s a reason why it’s worth maintaining a bit of discipline at the start. According to the first law of parkrun, what goes down must come back up again. And according to the second law of parkrun, it’s better to torment runners with a climb at the end. “Heartbreak hill” is a feature of several courses, and Silksworth is no exception. The final kilometre or so involves a steady climb back to the base of the ski slope. It’s not immensely steep, nor is there enormous elevation gain – my Strava reckons 38m for the whole course. But it punishes anyone who burned through too much energy looking for a fast start and, as the lungs start screaming, it’s not hard to imagine the mournful sound of PBs receding into the distance.

Practicalities: the route is all on paved paths and there are few obstacles beyond an angler or two beside the lake. The sports complex has extensive free parking but be aware that you’ll be sharing with Saturday morning ski classes and, from time to time, kids’ football tournaments. So yes, it does get busy.

The pint

For decades, Vaux was Sunderland’s brewery. Anyone of a certain vintage will recall dray horses taking barrels of ale to pubs around the city, while the whiff of hops can spark an almost Proustian response, even when in distant Poland.

By the turn of the century, though, a quintessential Sunderland business was caught up in a nationwide hospitality consortium and fell victim to the kind of corporate rationalization that makes perfect sense on the balance sheet but none at all in the local community. The brewery was closed and for years the city was left with a void between the river and the High Street.

The beers themselves lived on, with most of the old Vaux recipes taken over by the Maxim Brewery (see Herrington parkrun). Then, in 2019 the Vaux name made its comeback as part of the on-going craft revolution. 21st Century Vaux doesn’t rely on the familiar mass market offerings of brown ales and session bitters. Instead, head brewer Les Stoker and his team are exploring a wider range of contemporary craft brews, available at the brewery tap just over the road from the Stadium of Light.

First run: June 2022. PB 25:15

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