Wilmslow’s biggest
Lindow Common
Park or garden
18 ha (44 acres)5.4 km of path
1 h 10 minto walk all 5.4 km of path
25 pitchesfootball pitches would fit
0.6 mi westfrom the centre
Directionsto the nearest entrance
Photo: David Wilmot from Wimbledon, United Kingdom · CC BY 2.0A−Outdoors Grade
Outdoors in Wilmslow · parks, paths & countryside
Wilmslow has more park space per resident than 8 in 10 UK towns
Parks and playing fields in Wilmslow add up to 4.4 ha for every 1,000 residents; the typical UK town has 2.1. The Peak District National Park begins 4.5 mi from the town’s edge. 125 km of footpaths run through the town and the kilometre around it, 4.0 for every square kilometre. Wilmslow grades A− for the outdoors: #6 of 46 in Cheshire. A character grade: it isn’t part of the overall grade.
Green space
4.4 ha
per 1,000 residents
Typical UK town 2.1
Near a park
90%
of residents within 400 m
Typical UK town 83%
Footpaths
125 km
4.0 km per km², town + 1 km
Typical UK town 3.0 per km²
Protected landscape
0%
of the land within 5 km
Peak District starts 4.5 mi out, past the 5 km
Character
What kind of outdoors town is Wilmslow?
Read from the data: what stands out first, good and bad.
Room to roam4.4 ha of parks and playing fields per 1,000 residents, more than 84% of UK towns.A town of footpaths4.0 km of path per km², more than 80% of UK towns. The typical town has 3.0.Hills with a view5 mapped viewpoints, about 5× as many per resident as the typical town its size.Countryside close byThe Peak District National Park starts 4.5 mi east.
Wilmslow’s strongest suit is plenty of park space, followed by dense footpaths.
Outdoors grade
Wilmslow grades A− for the outdoors
Each chart is every UK town of 1,000 or more on one measure: the green bar is Wilmslow, 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 77% of UK towns#6 of 46 in Cheshire · 21st of 60 UK towns its size
Public green space4.4 haper 1,000 residents: parks, gardens, playing fields, play spaces
84out of
100
100
A park within a walk90%of residents within 400 m (a 5-minute walk)
66out of
100
100
National Park or National Landscape0%of the land within 5 km · Peak District begins just past 5 km
31out of
100
100
Footpaths4.0 kmper km², the town and 1 km around it
80out of
100
100
The sea0%of the area within 5 km · Inland
42out 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.
Towns its size
Wilmslow is 21st of 60 UK towns its size for the outdoors
The 60 UK towns and cities of 23,700 to 27,900 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
Wilmslow4.0
Towns its size3.4
Cheshire towns2.5
All UK towns3.0
Green space, ha per 1,000 residents
Wilmslow4.4
Towns its size2.5
Cheshire towns1.8
All UK towns2.1
Residents within 400 m of a park
Wilmslow90%
Towns its size83%
Cheshire towns82%
All UK towns83%
Against towns its size, Wilmslow stands out most for park space per resident: only 12 of the other 59 have more.
Show as a table
| Town | Outdoors | Green space | Near a park | Path per km² | Protected | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Lee-on-the-Solent Hampshire | A+ | 5.7 | 96% | 3.7 | 1% |
| 2 | Stroud Gloucestershire | A+ | 4.6 | 79% | 5.8 | 70% |
| 3 | Falmouth Cornwall | A | 1.3 | 96% | 3.5 | 41% |
| 4 | Sevenoaks Kent | A | 8.1 | 76% | 3.8 | 70% |
| 5 | Stalybridge Greater Manchester | A | 5 | 82% | 4.8 | 12% |
| 6 | Newport Isle of Wight | A | 1.8 | 80% | 3.8 | 37% |
| 7 | Ash and Ash Vale Surrey | A | 4.3 | 72% | 5.4 | 20% |
| 8 | Huntingdon Cambridgeshire | A | 5.7 | 99% | 4.4 | 0% |
| 9 | Burntwood Staffordshire | A− | 5.3 | 81% | 3.4 | 12% |
| 10 | Larkfield Kent | A− | 5.6 | 75% | 3.4 | 27% |
| 11 | Rickmansworth Hertfordshire | A− | 2.9 | 81% | 4.4 | 11% |
| 12 | Ewell Surrey | A− | 7.5 | 89% | 4.4 | 0% |
| 13 | Droylsden Greater Manchester | A− | 5.2 | 95% | 4.1 | 0% |
| 14 | Reigate Surrey | A− | 5.5 | 58% | 4.7 | 20% |
| 15 | Felixstowe Suffolk | A− | 2 | 88% | 1.9 | 28% |
| 16 | Tadworth and Epsom Downs Surrey | A− | 3.4 | 65% | 5.3 | 16% |
| 17 | Heanor Derbyshire | A− | 4.2 | 92% | 4.4 | 0% |
| 18 | Gorleston-on-Sea Norfolk | A− | 1.4 | 81% | 3.2 | 17% |
| 19 | Little Hulton Greater Manchester | A− | 8.6 | 87% | 3.8 | 0% |
| 20 | East Grinstead West Sussex | A− | 1.6 | 87% | 3.7 | 58% |
| 21 | Wilmslow Cheshire | A− | 4.4 | 90% | 4 | 0% |
| 22 | Newton-le-Willows Merseyside | A− | 5.2 | 99% | 3.1 | 0% |
| 23 | Ryde Isle of Wight | A− | 1.7 | 76% | 2.6 | 19% |
| 24 | Daventry Northamptonshire | A− | 4.1 | 99% | 3.3 | 0% |
| 25 | Herne Bay Kent | B+ | 2.3 | 83% | 2.9 | 0% |
| 26 | Portishead Somerset | B+ | 2 | 82% | 3.3 | 0% |
| 27 | Haverhill Suffolk | B+ | 2.4 | 91% | 5 | 0% |
| 28 | Longbenton Tyne and Wear | B+ | 3.3 | 80% | 6.2 | 0% |
| 29 | Thatcham Berkshire | B+ | 1.9 | 87% | 3.1 | 27% |
| 30 | Fleetwood Lancashire | B+ | 2.7 | 92% | 1.8 | 0% |
| 31 | Cheadle Hulme Greater Manchester | B+ | 3.9 | 80% | 4.3 | 0% |
| 32 | Bradley Stoke Gloucestershire | B+ | 2 | 93% | 5.3 | 0% |
| 33 | Oadby Leicestershire | B+ | 3.7 | 92% | 3.1 | 0% |
| 34 | Seaford East Sussex | B+ | 0.8 | 73% | 2.8 | 52% |
| 35 | Darwen Lancashire | B | 2.2 | 89% | 4.5 | 0% |
| 36 | Newton Aycliffe County Durham | B | 2.1 | 94% | 4.1 | 0% |
| 37 | Rugeley Staffordshire | B | 1.2 | 94% | 2.7 | 37% |
| 38 | Witham Essex | B | 1.9 | 94% | 4.1 | 0% |
| 39 | Broadstairs Kent | B | 1.7 | 76% | 3.1 | 0% |
| 40 | Atherton Greater Manchester | B | 3.8 | 83% | 3.1 | 0% |
| 41 | Rhyl Clwyd | B | 1 | 84% | 2.2 | 7% |
| 42 | Sudbury Suffolk | B | 3.8 | 77% | 3.5 | 0% |
| 43 | Droitwich Spa Worcestershire | B | 2.5 | 84% | 3.8 | 0% |
| 44 | Thetford Norfolk | B− | 2.9 | 65% | 5.1 | 0% |
| 45 | St Austell Cornwall | B− | 1.2 | 71% | 2.5 | 7% |
| 46 | Ashton-in-Makerfield Greater Manchester | B− | 2.6 | 93% | 2.5 | 0% |
| 47 | Melton Mowbray Leicestershire | B− | 3.3 | 84% | 2.4 | 0% |
| 48 | Hindley Greater Manchester | C+ | 2.5 | 77% | 3.4 | 0% |
| 49 | Coseley West Midlands | C+ | 1.4 | 84% | 4.7 | 0% |
| 50 | Newquay Cornwall | C+ | 1.6 | 75% | 2.6 | 0% |
| 51 | Horley Surrey | C+ | 1.9 | 84% | 3.4 | 0% |
| 52 | Market Harborough Leicestershire | C+ | 1.9 | 94% | 2.3 | 0% |
| 53 | Ascot Berkshire | C+ | 3.6 | 56% | 3 | 0% |
| 54 | Walton-on-Thames Surrey | C | 1.6 | 81% | 3.4 | 0% |
| 55 | Golborne Greater Manchester | C | 3 | 66% | 2.7 | 0% |
| 56 | Wickersley and Bramley South Yorkshire | C | 1.7 | 77% | 3.4 | 0% |
| 57 | Wickford Essex | C | 2.4 | 59% | 3 | 0% |
| 58 | Retford Nottinghamshire | C− | 1.7 | 76% | 2.3 | 0% |
| 59 | Ormskirk Lancashire | D | 1.5 | 80% | 1.8 | 0% |
| 60 | Wisbech Cambridgeshire | D | 1.2 | 79% | 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 Wilmslow’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 Wilmslow
The biggest is Lindow Common, 18 ha (44 acres). Directions go to the park’s nearest public entrance where Ordnance Survey maps one.
All 5 named parks by size: 70 ha (172 acres) and 13 km of path
Parks & gardens 31 haPlaying fields 39 ha
The two biggest, Lindow Common and Boddington Playing Fields, are 65% of the named green space and carry 11 km of path between them.
Boddington Playing Fields
Playing field
28 ha (68 acres)5.3 km of path
1 h 10 minto walk all 5.3 km of path
39 pitchesfootball pitches would fit
Centralin the middle of Wilmslow
Directionsto the nearest entrance
Wilmslow Park
Park or garden
13 ha (32 acres)2.0 km of path
25 minto walk all 2 km of path
18 pitchesfootball pitches would fit
0.5 mi eastfrom the centre
Directionsto the nearest entrance
Jim Evison Playing Field
Playing field
8.5 ha (21 acres)0.6 km of path
10 minto walk all 0.6 km of path
12 pitchesfootball pitches would fit
1 mi north-westfrom the centre
Directionsto the nearest entrance
Harden House Playing Fields
Playing field · 240 m outside town
2.9 ha (7 acres)
4 pitchesfootball pitches would fit
1.3 mi southfrom the centre
Directionsto the nearest entrance
Close to home
9 in 10 Wilmslow 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).
Within 400 m (90%)Further (10%)
Wilmslow90%
Towns its size83%
Cheshire towns82%
All UK towns83%
About 3,000 people live further than that. Playing fields count, so a park within reach isn’t always one with paths or trees; 29 playgrounds are mapped in and around the town, about one for every 887 residents.
National Parks & National Landscapes
The Peak District National Park is 4.5 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.
National ParkNational LandscapeThe 5 km the grade counts
Protected landscape begins just outside the 5 km ring the Outdoors Grade measures, so Wilmslow scores 0% on it even though the Peak District National Park is 4.5 mi away. Peak District National Park covers 1,438 km² and has been a National Park since 1951.
Footpaths & waymarked walks
4 waymarked walks pass through or near Wilmslow
125 km of footpaths, bridleways and rights of way are mapped in Wilmslow and the kilometre around it, 4.0 km for every square kilometre (the typical UK town has 3.0). Bars show each route’s kilometres within 2 km of the town.
RegionalLocalOther waymarked
North Cheshire Way12.1 km
Bollin Valley Way10.3 km
Fred Perry Way1.7 km
Wizard Walk0.9 km
2 regional routes pass through, including the North Cheshire Way and Bollin Valley Way.
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 Wilmslow: 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) | 8.0 | 9.7 | 11.7 | 13.9 | 15.8 | 17.0 | 16.5 | 14.8 | 12.6 | 10.4 | 8.5 | 7.5 |
| High (°C) | 7 | 8 | 10 | 13 | 16 | 19 | 21 | 20 | 18 | 14 | 10 | 7 |
| Rain (mm) | 72 | 61 | 55 | 55 | 56 | 69 | 72 | 77 | 69 | 92 | 82 | 86 |
April is the driest month (55 mm) and July the warmest (highs of 21 °C). Winter days are short, about 8 hours of daylight in December, and 92 mm of rain falls in October, the wettest month. Frost comes on about 40 nights a year. The climate in Wilmslow →
Things to do
5 viewpoints, 29 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.
5Viewpoints4.7× towns its size9Picnic sites9.1× towns its size29Playgroundsabout the same as towns its size
The nearest beaches
Wilmslow is inland. These are the nearest named beaches, measured from the edge of the town.
Wader Point17 mi from Wilmslow’s edge
DirectionsStone Beach17 mi from Wilmslow’s edge
DirectionsCreek Beach South17 mi from Wilmslow’s edge
DirectionsCreek Beach North17 mi from Wilmslow’s edge
DirectionsCar Park Beach17 mi from Wilmslow’s edge
DirectionsGood to know
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 5
Castle Rock1.0 mi from town
DirectionsStormy Point1.1 mi from town
DirectionsSouthside MAN Viewing area1.2 mi from town
DirectionsPlus 2 viewpoints without a name on the map.
Picnic sites 9
Plus 9 picnic sites without a name on the map.
Playgrounds 29
Alverston Drive Play Areain town
DirectionsPlus 28 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.
Alderley EdgeWoodfordCheadle HulmeBramhallMobberleyWythenshaweWilmslow
ABCDOutdoors Grade
| Town | Outdoors | Green space, ha per 1,000 | Near a park | Protected within 5 km |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wilmslow | A− | 4.4 | 90% | 0% |
| Alderley Edge 1.7 mi | B− | 2.2 | 86% | 0% |
| Woodford 3.3 mi | B+ | 5.9 | 80% | 5% |
| Cheadle Hulme 3.4 mi | B+ | 3.9 | 80% | 0% |
| Bramhall 3.9 mi | B− | 4.7 | 71% | 0% |
| Mobberley 4.2 mi | C+ | 1.4 | 100% | 0% |
| Wythenshawe 4.2 mi | B | 2.5 | 84% | 0% |
Wilmslow grades higher for the outdoors than every neighbour in the table.
Questions about the outdoors in Wilmslow
What is the biggest park in Wilmslow?
Lindow Common, 18 ha (44 acres), with 5.4 km of path. Boddington Playing Fields (28 ha) is second. 5 named parks, gardens and playing fields are in the town or within 400 m of it.
Is Wilmslow near a National Park?
Yes. Peak District National Park begins 4.5 mi east of the town’s edge. It covers 1,438 km² and has been a National Park since 1951.
What are the best walks near Wilmslow?
4 waymarked walking routes pass within 2 km of the town, including the North Cheshire Way, Bollin Valley Way and Fred Perry Way. Lindow Common alone has 5.4 km of path.
What is the nearest beach to Wilmslow?
Wader Point, 17 mi from the edge of the town, then Stone Beach (17 mi). Wilmslow itself is inland.
How many people in Wilmslow live near a park?
90% 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 Wilmslow?
May to September: the longest days, the warmest afternoons and the least rain of the year, from the Met Office 1991–2020 averages.
Is Wilmslow good for walking?
For paths, yes: 4.0 km of footpath and right of way per square kilometre, more than 80% of UK towns. For park space per person it beats 84% (4.4 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 Wilmslow’s overall grade.
Sources
Where Wilmslow’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.