Photo: David Howard · CC BY-SA 2.0Cranfield has more footpath per square kilometre than nearly 9 in 10 UK towns
80 km of footpaths run through the town and the kilometre around it, 4.4 for every square kilometre. A park or playing field is within a 5-minute walk for 72% of residents. Parks and playing fields in Cranfield add up to 2.3 ha for every 1,000 residents; the typical UK town has 2.1. Cranfield grades B− for the outdoors: #18 of 33 in Bedfordshire. A character grade: it isn’t part of the overall grade.
Cranfield grades B− for the outdoors
Each chart is every UK town of 1,000 or more on one measure: the green bar is Cranfield, the dashed line the typical town. The number is the share of towns it beats; the five are averaged and the average ranked again.
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Graded, never part of the overall grade (like History and Civic life). It measures what is mapped: OS Open Greenspace leaves out woodland and open-access land that isn’t a park, and OpenStreetMap’s rural paths are more complete in some places than others.
Cranfield is 29th of 60 UK towns its size for the outdoors
The 60 UK towns and cities of 6,700 to 7,400 people with an Outdoors Grade. Hover a dot for its figures; tap one for its page.
Against towns its size, Cranfield stands out most for path per km²: only 8 of the other 59 have more.
Show as a table
| Town | Outdoors | Green space | Near a park | Path per km² | Protected | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Sheringham Norfolk | A+ | 11.6 | 74% | 3.4 | 32% |
| 2 | Acrefair and Cefn-mawr Clwyd | A | 6.5 | 96% | 2.9 | 36% |
| 3 | Stocksbridge South Yorkshire | A | 2.2 | 100% | 4.4 | 30% |
| 4 | Anstey Leicestershire | A | 12.9 | 100% | 4.3 | 0% |
| 5 | Liphook Hampshire | A | 3.1 | 86% | 3.8 | 64% |
| 6 | Bishop's Waltham Hampshire | A | 2.6 | 93% | 3.4 | 55% |
| 7 | Ibstock Leicestershire | A | 8.5 | 96% | 4.6 | 0% |
| 8 | Bourne End Buckinghamshire | A | 2.9 | 87% | 4 | 19% |
| 9 | Gwersyllt Clwyd | A | 14.6 | 96% | 2.5 | 2% |
| 10 | Ashley Heath Dorset | A | 24.2 | 68% | 4 | 15% |
| 11 | Darfield South Yorkshire | A | 4 | 100% | 3.9 | 0% |
| 12 | Easington County Durham | A− | 5 | 94% | 2.2 | 0% |
| 13 | Walton-on-the-Naze Essex | A− | 3.2 | 96% | 2.3 | 0% |
| 14 | Horden County Durham | A− | 2.1 | 82% | 4.8 | 0% |
| 15 | Shiremoor Tyne and Wear | A− | 2.5 | 76% | 5.3 | 0% |
| 16 | Torpoint Cornwall | A− | 2.2 | 84% | 1.6 | 26% |
| 17 | Blackwater Hampshire | B+ | 10.6 | 74% | 4.7 | 0% |
| 18 | Chinnor Oxfordshire | B+ | 1.5 | 88% | 3.7 | 37% |
| 19 | Kiveton Park South Yorkshire | B+ | 2.8 | 100% | 3.2 | 0% |
| 20 | Fence Houses Tyne and Wear | B+ | 3.8 | 81% | 4.7 | 0% |
| 21 | Skelton (Redcar and Cleveland) North Yorkshire | B+ | 1.7 | 82% | 2.2 | 9% |
| 22 | Burley in Wharfedale West Yorkshire | B | 1.6 | 81% | 3.5 | 35% |
| 23 | Malmesbury Wiltshire | B | 2 | 86% | 2.5 | 26% |
| 24 | Wroughton Wiltshire | B | 1.1 | 78% | 3.9 | 52% |
| 25 | Chapel-en-le-Frith Derbyshire | B− | 1 | 75% | 3.8 | 58% |
| 26 | Woodville Derbyshire | B− | 3.7 | 78% | 3.4 | 0% |
| 27 | Barrow upon Soar Leicestershire | B− | 2.7 | 89% | 2.8 | 0% |
| 28 | Balsall Common West Midlands | B− | 3.7 | 81% | 2.6 | 0% |
| 29 | Cranfield Bedfordshire | B− | 2.3 | 72% | 4.4 | 0% |
| 30 | Borrowash Derbyshire | B− | 2.8 | 85% | 2.7 | 0% |
| 31 | Bollington Cheshire | B− | 1.3 | 56% | 4.1 | 31% |
| 32 | Blackheath West Midlands | C+ | 2.5 | 57% | 4.9 | 0% |
| 33 | Allerton Bywater West Yorkshire | C+ | 2.1 | 78% | 3.9 | 0% |
| 34 | North Baddesley Hampshire | C+ | 1.7 | 91% | 3.3 | 0% |
| 35 | Chipping Norton Oxfordshire | C+ | 1.5 | 67% | 2.4 | 73% |
| 36 | Wrecclesham Surrey | C+ | 1.2 | 50% | 3.8 | 37% |
| 37 | Poringland Norfolk | C+ | 1.3 | 91% | 2.1 | 5% |
| 38 | Pelton and Ouston County Durham | C+ | 2 | 64% | 4.7 | 0% |
| 39 | Murton County Durham | C+ | 2.1 | 54% | 2.6 | 0% |
| 40 | West Mersea Essex | C+ | 1.9 | 69% | 2 | 0% |
| 41 | Thrapston Northamptonshire | C | 1.2 | 100% | 2.4 | 0% |
| 42 | Horncastle Lincolnshire | C | 0.6 | 60% | 3.9 | 10% |
| 43 | Radcliffe on Trent Nottinghamshire | C | 2.5 | 76% | 2.6 | 0% |
| 44 | Hattersley Greater Manchester | C | 0.9 | 52% | 3.9 | 7% |
| 45 | Sawston Cambridgeshire | C | 1.4 | 97% | 2.3 | 0% |
| 46 | Waddington Lincolnshire | C | 2.3 | 87% | 1.7 | 0% |
| 47 | Hagley Worcestershire | C | 1.7 | 90% | 2.2 | 0% |
| 48 | Crewkerne Somerset | C | 0.5 | 66% | 2.8 | 21% |
| 49 | Aylsham Norfolk | C | 2.6 | 74% | 2 | 0% |
| 50 | Hethersett Norfolk | C | 2.1 | 65% | 2.9 | 0% |
| 51 | Market Warsop Nottinghamshire | C | 2.1 | 67% | 2.8 | 0% |
| 52 | Hollywood Worcestershire | C− | 2.4 | 54% | 2.5 | 0% |
| 53 | Pickering North Yorkshire | C− | 1.7 | 39% | 1.7 | 19% |
| 54 | Shefford Bedfordshire | D | 1.1 | 67% | 3 | 0% |
| 55 | Wellesbourne Warwickshire | D | 1.1 | 88% | 1.4 | 0% |
| 56 | Deeping St James Lincolnshire | D | 0.5 | 73% | 2.4 | 0% |
| 57 | Keyworth Nottinghamshire | D− | 1.3 | 58% | 1.7 | 0% |
| 58 | Blythe Bridge and Forsbrook Staffordshire | D− | 1.6 | 49% | 1.1 | 0% |
| 59 | Featherstone Staffordshire | D− | 1.2 | 52% | 1.5 | 0% |
| 60 | Albrighton Shropshire | D− | 0.8 | 32% | 1 | 0% |
Parks, footpaths & countryside
Tap a number to zoom to a park. Tap a layer to hide it. The dashed line is Cranfield’s built-up area.
7 in 10 Cranfield residents live within a 5-minute walk of a park
Each square is 1 in 100 residents: green lives within 400 m of a public park, garden or playing field (Census 2021 output areas against OS Open Greenspace).
About 2,000 people live further than that. Playing fields count, so a park within reach isn’t always one with paths or trees; 17 playgrounds are mapped in and around the town, about one for every 415 residents.
The Chilterns National Landscape is 8.4 mi away
Protected landscapes within 30 km, by direction and distance from the edge of the built-up area; circle size shows each one’s area. National Landscapes were called Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty until 2023.
4 waymarked walks pass through or near Cranfield
80 km of footpaths, bridleways and rights of way are mapped in Cranfield and the kilometre around it, 4.4 km for every square kilometre (the typical UK town has 3.0). Bars show each route’s kilometres within 2 km of the town.
Close to home, the Clay Way has 8 km of local walk within 2 km of the town. 2 regional routes pass through, including the Milton Keynes Boundary Walk and John Bunyan Trail.
Waymarked walks are OpenStreetMap walking routes. Public rights of way are only as complete as the map in each area.
The best walking months in Cranfield: May to September
The town’s 1991–2020 averages (Met Office HadUK-Grid) and the daylight at its latitude. Outlined months have 12½+ hours of daylight, highs of 15 °C or more and little rain for the town.
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Daylight (h) | 8.2 | 9.8 | 11.7 | 13.8 | 15.7 | 16.7 | 16.3 | 14.6 | 12.6 | 10.5 | 8.7 | 7.8 |
| High (°C) | 7 | 8 | 11 | 14 | 17 | 20 | 22 | 22 | 19 | 15 | 10 | 8 |
| Rain (mm) | 57 | 44 | 42 | 47 | 60 | 57 | 48 | 51 | 59 | 67 | 61 | 56 |
March is the driest month (42 mm) and July the warmest (highs of 22 °C). Winter days are short, about 8 hours of daylight in December, and 67 mm of rain falls in October, the wettest month. Frost comes on about 48 nights a year. The climate in Cranfield →
17 playgrounds and the nearest beaches
Mapped within 2 km of the town in OpenStreetMap, against the typical UK town its size per resident. Named places are listed with directions; unnamed ones are only counted.
The nearest beaches
Cranfield is inland. These are the nearest named beaches, measured from the edge of the town.
Check the water before you swim. The Environment Agency tests designated bathing waters from May to September and publishes a rating for each beach.
Every named place, with directions
Viewpoints 1
Plus 1 viewpoint without a name on the map.
Picnic sites 16
Plus 16 picnic sites without a name on the map.
Campsites 1
The outdoors in nearby towns
The nearest towns of 1,000+ within 12 miles. Tap a town for its outdoors page.
| Town | Outdoors | Green space, ha per 1,000 | Near a park | Protected within 5 km |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cranfield | B− | 2.3 | 72% | 0% |
| Marston Moretaine 2.5 mi | A− | 17.4 | 88% | 0% |
| Lidlington 3.0 mi | B | 1.9 | 100% | 0% |
| Wootton 3.8 mi | B− | 2.5 | 79% | 0% |
| Woburn Sands 4.3 mi | C+ | 1.1 | 94% | 0% |
| Stewartby 4.3 mi | A− | 21.0 | 100% | 0% |
| Aspley Guise 4.4 mi | B− | 2.2 | 69% | 0% |
Marston Moretaine, 2.5 miles away, grades A−, the best next door: 88% of its residents live within 400 m of a park. Marston Moretaine and Stewartby have at least twice Cranfield’s green space per resident. None of the neighbours has a protected landscape within 5 km either.
Questions about the outdoors in Cranfield
Is Cranfield near a National Park?
The nearest protected landscape is the Chilterns National Landscape, 8.4 mi south-east of the town’s edge. It covers 838 km² and was designated in 1990.
What are the best walks near Cranfield?
4 waymarked walking routes pass within 2 km of the town, including the Milton Keynes Boundary Walk, Clay Way and John Bunyan Trail.
What is the nearest beach to Cranfield?
The Beach, 4.0 mi from the edge of the town. Cranfield itself is inland.
How many people in Cranfield live near a park?
72% of residents live within 400 m, about a 5-minute walk, of a public park, garden or playing field (Census 2021 output areas against OS Open Greenspace). The typical UK town is 83%.
When is the best time of year for walking in Cranfield?
May to September: the longest days, the warmest afternoons and the least rain of the year, from the Met Office 1991–2020 averages.
Is Cranfield good for walking?
For paths, yes: 4.4 km of footpath and right of way per square kilometre, more than 87% of UK towns. For park space per person it beats 53% (2.3 ha per 1,000 residents).
How is the Outdoors Grade worked out?
From five measures, each placed among UK towns of 1,000 or more: public green space per resident, the share living near a park, National Park or National Landscape within 5 km, footpaths per square kilometre, and the sea within 5 km. It is a character grade and isn’t part of Cranfield’s overall grade.
Where Cranfield’s outdoors figures come from
- Parks and green space: Ordnance Survey OS Open Greenspace (parks and gardens, playing fields, play spaces, and their access points). Contains OS data © Crown copyright and database right 2026, Open Government Licence v3.0.
- National Parks and National Landscapes: Natural England and Natural Resources Wales boundaries, areas and designation dates, Open Government Licence v3.0.
- Footpaths, walking routes, beaches and things to do: © OpenStreetMap contributors, Open Database License (ODbL), via Geofabrik, 16 October 2026.
- Historic parks, listed buildings and monuments: Historic England, National Heritage List for England, Open Government Licence v3.0.
- Rain and temperature: Met Office HadUK-Grid 1991–2020 averages for the town; daylight calculated from its latitude.
- The sea: ONS Countries (December 2024) boundaries clipped to mean high water. Residents near a park: ONS Census 2021 output areas.
- Grade: TownRatings’ Outdoors Grade, ranked against UK towns only.
Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Contains HM Land Registry data © Crown copyright and database right 2026. Contains OS data © Crown copyright and database right 2026 (ONS boundaries). Northern Ireland: Source: NISRA; contains Land & Property Services data and Ordnance Survey of Northern Ireland information, © Crown copyright, licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Scotland: contains National Records of Scotland data, Registers of Scotland data and SEPA data, © Crown copyright / © SEPA 2025, licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.