Hale’s biggest
Parsonage Green
Park or garden
0.1 ha (0 acres)
Centralin the middle of Hale
Directionsto the nearest entrance
Photo: Stephen Craven · CC BY-SA 2.0A−Outdoors Grade
Outdoors in Hale · parks, paths & countryside
Hale is on the coast
The sea makes up 28% of the area within 5 km. Parks and playing fields in Hale add up to 4.8 ha for every 1,000 residents; the typical UK town has 2.1. 10 km of footpaths run through the village and the kilometre around it, 1.1 for every square kilometre. Hale grades A− for the outdoors. A character grade: it isn’t part of the overall grade.
Green space
4.8 ha
per 1,000 residents
Typical UK town 2.1
Near a park
100%
of residents within 400 m
Typical UK town 83%
Footpaths
10 km
1.1 km per km², town + 1 km
Typical UK town 3.0 per km²
Protected landscape
0%
of the land within 5 km
The sea
28%
of the area within 5 km
A coastal town
Character
What kind of outdoors village is Hale?
Read from the data: what stands out first, good and bad.
On the coast28% of the area within 5 km is sea; 1 beach mapped.A park on every doorstep100% of residents live within 400 m of a park or playing field.Room to roam4.8 ha of parks and playing fields per 1,000 residents, more than 86% of UK towns.Few mapped footpaths1.1 km of path per km²; the typical UK town has 3.0.
Hale’s strongest suit is the sea, followed by parks close to every home. Where it falls short is footpaths.
Outdoors grade
Hale grades A− for the outdoors
Each chart is every UK town of 1,000 or more on one measure: the green bar is Hale, the dashed line the typical town. The number is the share of towns it beats; the five are averaged and the average ranked again.
A−
Better than 78% of UK towns9th of 60 UK villages its size
Public green space4.8 haper 1,000 residents: parks, gardens, playing fields, play spaces
86out of
100
100
A park within a walk100%of residents within 400 m (a 5-minute walk)
89out of
100
100
National Park or National Landscape0%of the land within 5 km · None within 5 km
31out of
100
100
Footpaths1.1 kmper km², the town and 1 km around it
8out of
100
100
The sea28%of the area within 5 km
92out of
100
100
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.
Villages its size
Hale is 9th of 60 UK villages its size for the outdoors
The 60 UK towns and cities of 1,400 to 1,600 people with an Outdoors Grade. Hover a dot for its figures; tap one for its page.
Outdoors score: the share of UK towns each one beats
Footpath, km per km²
Hale1.1
Villages its size1.9
Cheshire towns2.5
All UK towns3.0
Green space, ha per 1,000 residents
Hale4.8
Villages its size2.0
Cheshire towns1.8
All UK towns2.1
Residents within 400 m of a park
Hale100%
Villages its size80%
Cheshire towns82%
All UK towns83%
Against villages its size, Hale stands out most for park space per resident: only 10 of the other 59 have more. It falls furthest behind on path per km², where 47 of the others do better.
Show as a table
| Town | Outdoors | Green space | Near a park | Path per km² | Protected | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Chambercombe Devon | A+ | 8.7 | 100% | 2.8 | 29% |
| 2 | Ashurst Wood West Sussex | A+ | 4 | 100% | 3.4 | 81% |
| 3 | Heathfield Devon | A+ | 20.4 | 100% | 3 | 30% |
| 4 | Charlton Down Dorset | A | 4 | 100% | 2.3 | 58% |
| 5 | Ewhurst Surrey | A | 4.3 | 76% | 4.6 | 46% |
| 6 | Gargrave North Yorkshire | A | 5.2 | 100% | 1.9 | 41% |
| 7 | Denham Buckinghamshire | A− | 5.7 | 100% | 3.1 | 0% |
| 8 | Knowle Hampshire | A− | 2 | 100% | 3.1 | 7% |
| 9 | Hale Cheshire | A− | 4.8 | 100% | 1.1 | 0% |
| 10 | Littleton Hampshire | A− | 7.8 | 100% | 1.1 | 10% |
| 11 | Twyford Hampshire | A− | 6.8 | 49% | 3.3 | 44% |
| 12 | Temple Cloud Somerset | B+ | 2.6 | 77% | 3.9 | 15% |
| 13 | Caer-went Gwent | B+ | 1.8 | 100% | 0.8 | 8% |
| 14 | Great Bowden Leicestershire | B+ | 6.1 | 100% | 2.1 | 0% |
| 15 | Offenham Worcestershire | B+ | 2.4 | 100% | 3.1 | 0% |
| 16 | Kensworth Bedfordshire | B | 1.8 | 79% | 3 | 59% |
| 17 | Burford Oxfordshire | B | 3.5 | 84% | 1.2 | 53% |
| 18 | Sturminster Marshall Dorset | B | 2 | 100% | 1.4 | 30% |
| 19 | Pont Rhyd-y-cyff Mid Glamorgan | B | 4.9 | 100% | 1.6 | 0% |
| 20 | South Godstone Surrey | B | 2 | 100% | 1.8 | 5% |
| 21 | Houghton Cumbria | B | 1.7 | 100% | 2.2 | 0% |
| 22 | Wingrave Buckinghamshire | B− | 3.7 | 100% | 1.7 | 0% |
| 23 | Kingstone Herefordshire | B− | 3.1 | 100% | 1.9 | 0% |
| 24 | Kibblesworth Tyne and Wear | B− | 2.5 | 100% | 2.1 | 0% |
| 25 | Collingtree and Milton Malsor Northamptonshire | B− | 4.9 | 83% | 2.3 | 0% |
| 26 | Carharrack Cornwall | C+ | 0.7 | 80% | 4.2 | 2% |
| 27 | Trinant Gwent | C+ | 2.5 | 100% | 1.5 | 0% |
| 28 | Nether Stowey Somerset | C+ | 1.9 | 18% | 3 | 39% |
| 29 | Langley Vale Surrey | C+ | 0.8 | 53% | 5.5 | 7% |
| 30 | Gretton Northamptonshire | C+ | 2.3 | 100% | 1.3 | 0% |
| 31 | Nether Heyford Northamptonshire | C+ | 1.4 | 100% | 2.3 | 0% |
| 32 | Bassingham Lincolnshire | C+ | 2.2 | 100% | 1.2 | 0% |
| 33 | Sibsey Lincolnshire | C | 2.4 | 100% | 0.2 | 0% |
| 34 | Connor Downs Cornwall | C | 0.5 | 79% | 0.7 | 8% |
| 35 | Geddington Northamptonshire | C | 3 | 82% | 1.5 | 0% |
| 36 | Barton Lancashire | C | 2.6 | 47% | 2.1 | 0% |
| 37 | Eythorne Kent | C | 0.5 | 79% | 2.5 | 9% |
| 38 | Horndon on the Hill Essex | C | 3.5 | 81% | 1.1 | 0% |
| 39 | Freeland Oxfordshire | C | 1.4 | 53% | 2.6 | 17% |
| 40 | Waresley Worcestershire | C | 1.7 | 100% | 1 | 0% |
| 41 | Brabourne Lees Kent | C | 0.9 | 0% | 3.2 | 34% |
| 42 | Alveley Shropshire | C− | 5.4 | 51% | 1.6 | 0% |
| 43 | Hartwell Northamptonshire | C− | 1.2 | 59% | 3.9 | 0% |
| 44 | Silverton Devon | C− | 1 | 100% | 1.3 | 0% |
| 45 | Denbury Devon | C− | 2.8 | 24% | 0.7 | 3% |
| 46 | Greens Norton Northamptonshire | C− | 1.2 | 66% | 3.1 | 0% |
| 47 | Pontyberem Dyfed | C− | 4.7 | 58% | 0.4 | 0% |
| 48 | North Somercotes Lincolnshire | D | 1.7 | 44% | 0.7 | 0% |
| 49 | Cawood North Yorkshire | D | 1.9 | 60% | 2.1 | 0% |
| 50 | Braunston Northamptonshire | D | 1.8 | 50% | 2.4 | 0% |
| 51 | Croft Cheshire | D | 1.1 | 79% | 1.9 | 0% |
| 52 | Oakington Cambridgeshire | D | 2.1 | 52% | 1.6 | 0% |
| 53 | Stockton Warwickshire | D | 1.5 | 44% | 2.3 | 0% |
| 54 | Newton-with-Scales Lancashire | D | 1.4 | 76% | 1.3 | 0% |
| 55 | Badersfield Norfolk | D− | 0.3 | 53% | 1 | 2% |
| 56 | Gayton Norfolk | D− | 1.6 | 62% | 0.8 | 0% |
| 57 | Sturton by Stow Lincolnshire | D− | 1.7 | 41% | 1 | 0% |
| 58 | Tilney St Lawrence Norfolk | D− | 1.5 | 53% | 0.3 | 0% |
| 59 | South Broomhill Northumberland | D− | 0 | 0% | 0.5 | 0% |
| 60 | Great Bricett Suffolk | D− | 1.2 | 0% | 1.4 | 0% |
The map
Parks, footpaths & countryside
Tap a number to zoom to a park. Tap a layer to hide it. The dashed line is Hale’s built-up area.
Green space: parks, gardens, playing fields and play spaces, named or not.© OpenStreetMap contributors · Contains OS data © Crown copyright · Natural England / NRW
Places to walk
Parks to walk in, in and around Hale
The biggest is Parsonage Green, 0.1 ha (0 acres). Directions go to the park’s nearest public entrance where Ordnance Survey maps one.
The Green
Park or garden
0.0 ha (0 acres)
Centralin the middle of Hale
Directionsto the nearest entrance
Close to home
Everyone in Hale lives 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).
Within 400 m (100%)Further (0%)
Hale100%
Villages its size80%
Cheshire towns82%
All UK towns83%
Playing fields count, so a park within reach isn’t always one with paths or trees; 5 playgrounds are mapped in and around the village, about one for every 300 residents.
Footpaths & waymarked walks
2 waymarked walks pass through or near Hale
10 km of footpaths, bridleways and rights of way are mapped in Hale and the kilometre around it, 1.1 km for every square kilometre (the typical UK town has 3.0). Bars show each route’s kilometres within 2 km of the village.
RegionalLocal
Mersey Way10.4 km
Trans-Pennine Trail (Liverpool to Warrington)8.2 km
Close to home, the Mersey Way has 10 km of local walk within 2 km of the village. The regional route here is the Trans-Pennine Trail (Liverpool to Warrington).
Waymarked walks are OpenStreetMap walking routes. Public rights of way are only as complete as the map in each area.
When to get out
The best walking months in Hale: May to July and September
The village’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) | 8.0 | 9.7 | 11.7 | 13.9 | 15.8 | 17.0 | 16.5 | 14.8 | 12.6 | 10.4 | 8.5 | 7.5 |
| High (°C) | 8 | 9 | 11 | 14 | 17 | 20 | 21 | 21 | 18 | 15 | 11 | 8 |
| Rain (mm) | 67 | 55 | 52 | 54 | 56 | 69 | 68 | 80 | 77 | 87 | 81 | 86 |
March is the driest month (52 mm) and July the warmest (highs of 21 °C). Winter days are short, about 8 hours of daylight in December, and 87 mm of rain falls in October, the wettest month. Frost comes on about 30 nights a year. The climate in Hale →
The coast
The coast and beaches near Hale
28% of the area within 5 km of Hale is sea. 1 beach is mapped within 5 km, 0 with a name.
Sea: the area outside the ONS coastline (mean high water). Bathing water quality is published by the Environment Agency (England) and Natural Resources Wales; check it before swimming.
Things to do
5 playgrounds
Mapped within 2 km of the village in OpenStreetMap, against the typical UK village its size per resident. Named places are listed with directions; unnamed ones are only counted.
Every named place, with directions
Playgrounds 5
Plus 5 playgrounds without a name on the map.
Next door
The outdoors in nearby towns
The nearest towns of 1,000+ within 12 miles. Tap a town for its outdoors page.
Hale BankWidnesCrontonRuncornFrodshamEltonHale
ABCDOutdoors Grade
Runcorn, 4.1 miles away, grades A, the best next door: 87% of its residents live within 400 m of a park. None of the neighbours has a protected landscape within 5 km either.
Questions about the outdoors in Hale
What is the biggest park in Hale?
Parsonage Green, 0.1 ha (0 acres). The Green (0.0 ha) is second. 2 named parks, gardens and playing fields are in the village or within 400 m of it.
Is Hale near a National Park?
No National Park or National Landscape is within 30 km (about 19 miles) of Hale.
What are the best walks near Hale?
2 waymarked walking routes pass within 2 km of the village, including the Mersey Way and Trans-Pennine Trail (Liverpool to Warrington).
How many people in Hale live near a park?
100% 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 Hale?
May to July and September: the longest days, the warmest afternoons and the least rain of the year, from the Met Office 1991–2020 averages.
Is Hale good for walking?
Paths are thinner than most towns: 1.1 km of footpath and right of way per square kilometre, more than 8% of UK towns. For park space per person it beats 86% (4.8 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 Hale’s overall grade.
Sources
Where Hale’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.