Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Photo: Michael FORD · CC BY-SA 2.0Parks and playing fields in Arborfield Garrison add up to 10.4 ha for every 1,000 residents; the typical UK town has 2.1. 95% of residents live within a 5-minute walk of a park or playing field. 45 km of footpaths run through the town and the kilometre around it, 3.3 for every square kilometre. Arborfield Garrison grades A− for the outdoors: #9 of 30 in Berkshire. A character grade: it isn’t part of the overall grade.
Each chart is every UK town of 1,000 or more on one measure: the green bar is Arborfield Garrison, the dashed line the typical town. The number is the share of towns it beats; the five are averaged and the average ranked again.
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.
The 60 UK towns and cities of 4,100 to 4,500 people with an Outdoors Grade. Hover a dot for its figures; tap one for its page.
Against towns its size, Arborfield Garrison stands out most for park space per resident: only 4 of the other 59 have more.
| Town | Outdoors | Green space | Near a park | Path per km² | Protected | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | West Malling Kent | A+ | 8.7 | 100% | 3.4 | 21% |
| 2 | Telscombe Cliffs East Sussex | A+ | 3 | 58% | 5.1 | 42% |
| 3 | Great Denham Bedfordshire | A | 14.7 | 100% | 5.3 | 0% |
| 4 | Aberbargoed Gwent | A | 22.8 | 95% | 5.6 | 0% |
| 5 | Denaby Main South Yorkshire | A | 10.4 | 100% | 3.8 | 0% |
| 6 | Overton Hampshire | A | 3.7 | 92% | 2.5 | 45% |
| 7 | Whittle-le-Woods Lancashire | A− | 7.7 | 91% | 4 | 0% |
| 8 | Loftus North Yorkshire | A− | 1.9 | 90% | 2 | 31% |
| 9 | Exminster Devon | A− | 2.5 | 100% | 2.7 | 0% |
| 10 | Arborfield Garrison Berkshire | A− | 10.4 | 95% | 3.3 | 0% |
| 11 | Stokenchurch Buckinghamshire | A− | 2.3 | 90% | 2.6 | 86% |
| 12 | Hunstanton Norfolk | A− | 3.7 | 71% | 1.4 | 31% |
| 13 | Fairford Gloucestershire | A− | 3.4 | 100% | 1.8 | 17% |
| 14 | Horsford Norfolk | B+ | 6.5 | 97% | 2.8 | 0% |
| 15 | Ratby Leicestershire | B+ | 1.7 | 100% | 4.8 | 0% |
| 16 | Bramley and Wonersh Surrey | B+ | 1.7 | 77% | 3.5 | 59% |
| 17 | Girton Cambridgeshire | B+ | 2.8 | 92% | 3.6 | 0% |
| 18 | Clayton West and Scissett West Yorkshire | B | 1.4 | 100% | 4.2 | 0% |
| 19 | Winchcombe Gloucestershire | B | 2.2 | 60% | 3 | 81% |
| 20 | Penrhyn Bay Clwyd | B− | 0.6 | 68% | 3.3 | 0% |
| 21 | Earby Lancashire | B− | 1.4 | 93% | 4.7 | 0% |
| 22 | Woodford Halse Northamptonshire | B− | 3.6 | 100% | 1.6 | 0% |
| 23 | Topsham Devon | B− | 1.9 | 76% | 2.9 | 0% |
| 24 | Wilton Wiltshire | B− | 1.4 | 94% | 1.6 | 45% |
| 25 | Tibshelf Derbyshire | B− | 1.4 | 94% | 3.8 | 0% |
| 26 | Ferndale Mid Glamorgan | B− | 3.6 | 88% | 2.1 | 0% |
| 27 | Woburn Sands Buckinghamshire | C+ | 1.1 | 94% | 4.1 | 0% |
| 28 | Milford on Sea Hampshire | C+ | 1.2 | 50% | 2.1 | 21% |
| 29 | Kessingland Suffolk | C+ | 0.9 | 70% | 1.9 | 19% |
| 30 | Old Tupton Derbyshire | C+ | 2.3 | 73% | 3.9 | 0% |
| 31 | Eaton Bray and Edlesborough Bedfordshire | C+ | 2.6 | 72% | 1.7 | 29% |
| 32 | Backwell Somerset | C+ | 2.3 | 57% | 4.4 | 0% |
| 33 | Sandwich Kent | C+ | 2.1 | 51% | 2.5 | 0% |
| 34 | Sible Hedingham Essex | C+ | 0.9 | 100% | 2.9 | 0% |
| 35 | Knebworth Hertfordshire | C+ | 1.5 | 81% | 3.8 | 0% |
| 36 | Halfway Houses Kent | C | 1.8 | 71% | 1.8 | 0% |
| 37 | Hope Clwyd | C | 8.5 | 64% | 2 | 0% |
| 38 | Brundall Norfolk | C | 1.6 | 62% | 2.3 | 20% |
| 39 | Meopham Kent | C | 1.3 | 53% | 2.5 | 35% |
| 40 | Uppingham Rutland | C | 2.2 | 89% | 1.6 | 0% |
| 41 | Branston Lincolnshire | C | 2.1 | 86% | 1.8 | 0% |
| 42 | Long Lawford Warwickshire | C | 1.2 | 91% | 2.6 | 0% |
| 43 | Llangennech Dyfed | C | 1.6 | 82% | 1.1 | 0% |
| 44 | Nelson Gwent | C | 2.1 | 88% | 1.5 | 0% |
| 45 | Cuffley Hertfordshire | C− | 13.6 | 19% | 1.9 | 0% |
| 46 | Ellesmere Shropshire | C− | 12.5 | 54% | 1.3 | 0% |
| 47 | Chudleigh Devon | C− | 0.3 | 83% | 1.4 | 15% |
| 48 | Saxilby Lincolnshire | C− | 1.3 | 100% | 0.7 | 0% |
| 49 | Epworth Lincolnshire | C− | 1.6 | 75% | 2.2 | 0% |
| 50 | Doddington and Wimblington Cambridgeshire | C− | 2.5 | 73% | 1.2 | 0% |
| 51 | Great Ayton North Yorkshire | C− | 0.2 | 48% | 2.2 | 31% |
| 52 | West Kingsdown Kent | D | 0.8 | 28% | 1.6 | 52% |
| 53 | North Weald Bassett Essex | D | 1.4 | 67% | 2.4 | 0% |
| 54 | Shepperton Green Surrey | D | 1.4 | 73% | 1.7 | 0% |
| 55 | Blidworth Nottinghamshire | D | 0.5 | 23% | 3.2 | 0% |
| 56 | Kegworth Leicestershire | D | 0.4 | 54% | 2.6 | 0% |
| 57 | Llantrisant Mid Glamorgan | D− | 0.6 | 42% | 2.3 | 0% |
| 58 | Wheatley Oxfordshire | D− | 0.2 | 34% | 2.4 | 0% |
| 59 | Warboys Cambridgeshire | D− | 0.4 | 67% | 1 | 0% |
| 60 | Pinchbeck Lincolnshire | D− | 1 | 49% | 1 | 0% |
Tap a number to zoom to a park. Tap a layer to hide it. The dashed line is Arborfield Garrison’s built-up area.
The biggest is California Country Park, 43 ha (106 acres). Directions go to the park’s nearest public entrance where Ordnance Survey maps one.
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 200 people live further than that. Playing fields count, so a park within reach isn’t always one with paths or trees; 16 playgrounds are mapped in and around the town, about one for every 269 residents.
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.
South Downs National Park covers 1,653 km² and has been a National Park since 2010.
45 km of footpaths, bridleways and rights of way are mapped in Arborfield Garrison and the kilometre around it, 3.3 km for every square kilometre (the typical UK town has 3.0). Bars show each route’s kilometres within 2 km of the town.
2 regional routes pass through, including the The Wokingham Way and Blackwater Valley Path.
Waymarked walks are OpenStreetMap walking routes. Public rights of way are only as complete as the map in each area.
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) | 8.3 | 9.9 | 11.7 | 13.8 | 15.6 | 16.6 | 16.2 | 14.6 | 12.5 | 10.6 | 8.8 | 7.9 |
| High (°C) | 8 | 8 | 11 | 14 | 17 | 20 | 23 | 22 | 19 | 15 | 11 | 8 |
| Rain (mm) | 68 | 49 | 43 | 49 | 46 | 50 | 50 | 55 | 51 | 72 | 76 | 67 |
March is the driest month (43 mm) and July the warmest (highs of 23 °C). Winter days are short, about 8 hours of daylight in December, and 76 mm of rain falls in November, the wettest month. Frost comes on about 51 nights a year. The climate in Arborfield Garrison →
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.
Arborfield Garrison 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.
Plus 1 picnic site without a name on the map.
Plus 11 playgrounds without a name on the map.
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Arborfield Garrison | A− | 10.4 | 95% | 0% |
| Shinfield 2.6 mi | B | 1.6 | 100% | 0% |
| Wokingham 3.0 mi | B | 4.0 | 84% | 0% |
| Spencers Wood and Three Mile Cross 3.1 mi | D | 0.7 | 78% | 0% |
| Winnersh 3.5 mi | B+ | 9.6 | 80% | 0% |
| Yateley 4.4 mi | A− | 14.9 | 85% | 0% |
| Crowthorne 4.5 mi | B | 4.7 | 60% | 0% |
Yateley, 4.4 miles away, grades A−, the best next door: 85% of its residents live within 400 m of a park. None of the neighbours has a protected landscape within 5 km either.
California Country Park, 43 ha (106 acres), with 6.4 km of path, just outside the built-up area. 1 named park, garden or playing field is in the town or within 400 m of it.
Yes. South Downs National Park begins 13 mi south of the town’s edge. It covers 1,653 km² and has been a National Park since 2010. The nearest protected landscape of any kind is the Chilterns National Landscape, 6.9 mi away.
4 waymarked walking routes pass within 2 km of the town, including the The Wokingham Way, Blackwater Valley Path and Coombes Circular Walk. California Country Park alone has 6.4 km of path.
Penguin Beach, 13 mi from the edge of the town, then Amity Beach (16 mi). Arborfield Garrison itself is inland.
95% 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%.
May to September: the longest days, the warmest afternoons and the least rain of the year, from the Met Office 1991–2020 averages.
For paths, yes: 3.3 km of footpath and right of way per square kilometre, more than 67% of UK towns. For park space per person it beats 96% (10.4 ha per 1,000 residents).
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 Arborfield Garrison’s overall grade.
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.