Photo: John S Turner · CC BY-SA 2.080% of Broughton’s residents live within a 5-minute walk of a park
Footpaths add up to 20 km in the town and the kilometre around it, 1.0 for every square kilometre. Parks and playing fields in Broughton add up to 0.8 ha for every 1,000 residents; the typical UK town has 2.1. Broughton grades D− for the outdoors. A character grade: it isn’t part of the overall grade.
What kind of outdoors town is Broughton?
Read from the data: what stands out first, good and bad.
Broughton’s strongest suit is the Wales Coast Path. Where it falls short is footpaths.
Broughton grades D− for the outdoors
Each chart is every UK town of 1,000 or more on one measure: the green bar is Broughton, 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.
How Broughton compares with UK towns of 6,200 to 6,800
The 60 UK towns and cities of 6,200 to 6,800 people with an Outdoors Grade. Hover a dot for its figures; tap one for its page.
Broughton falls furthest behind on path per km², where 58 of the 59 others do better.
Show as a table
| Town | Outdoors | Green space | Near a park | Path per km² | Protected | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Netley Hampshire | A+ | 16.3 | 100% | 4.1 | 4% |
| 2 | Stone Kent | A+ | 3.1 | 100% | 6.2 | 0% |
| 3 | Filey North Yorkshire | A | 5.9 | 89% | 2.8 | 0% |
| 4 | Chalford Gloucestershire | A | 1.6 | 96% | 4.7 | 94% |
| 5 | East Boldon and West Boldon Tyne and Wear | A | 3.4 | 96% | 3.4 | 0% |
| 6 | Wingerworth Derbyshire | A | 9 | 86% | 4 | 0% |
| 7 | Shotton Clwyd | A | 4.5 | 100% | 4.7 | 0% |
| 8 | Barton on Sea Hampshire | A | 4.9 | 50% | 2.8 | 22% |
| 9 | Bedwas Gwent | A | 4.4 | 100% | 4 | 0% |
| 10 | Broad Blunsdon Wiltshire | A− | 5.2 | 93% | 4.4 | 0% |
| 11 | St Blazey Cornwall | A− | 2.4 | 78% | 2.8 | 17% |
| 12 | Marston Moretaine Bedfordshire | A− | 17.4 | 88% | 4.2 | 0% |
| 13 | Olney Buckinghamshire | A− | 6.3 | 100% | 3.2 | 0% |
| 14 | Alcester Warwickshire | A− | 4.1 | 100% | 3.5 | 0% |
| 15 | Whitfield Kent | A− | 2.3 | 79% | 2.5 | 32% |
| 16 | Paulton Somerset | A− | 2.1 | 96% | 4.1 | 0% |
| 17 | Whitworth Lancashire | B+ | 2.5 | 96% | 4.7 | 0% |
| 18 | Broadbridge Heath West Sussex | B+ | 1.6 | 95% | 4.3 | 3% |
| 19 | Lightwater Surrey | B+ | 9.2 | 72% | 5.6 | 0% |
| 20 | Milford and Witley Surrey | B+ | 2.6 | 54% | 3.7 | 78% |
| 21 | Cawston Warwickshire | B+ | 3.6 | 98% | 3 | 0% |
| 22 | North Anston South Yorkshire | B+ | 2.6 | 100% | 3.3 | 0% |
| 23 | Cleator Moor Cumbria | B+ | 3.5 | 91% | 1.9 | 11% |
| 24 | Little Chalfont Buckinghamshire | B+ | 1.5 | 83% | 3.6 | 45% |
| 25 | Groby Leicestershire | B+ | 2.1 | 96% | 4.5 | 0% |
| 26 | Peasedown St John Somerset | B+ | 1.5 | 88% | 4 | 9% |
| 27 | Hindhead Surrey | B | 1.7 | 37% | 5.9 | 66% |
| 28 | Braunton Devon | B | 1.6 | 78% | 2.1 | 24% |
| 29 | Galleywood Essex | B | 10.3 | 61% | 4.2 | 0% |
| 30 | Hartford Cheshire | B | 2.2 | 95% | 3.7 | 0% |
| 31 | Rishton Lancashire | B− | 2.2 | 94% | 3 | 0% |
| 32 | Yapton West Sussex | B− | 1.8 | 63% | 2 | 15% |
| 33 | Wincanton Somerset | B− | 1.4 | 88% | 2.8 | 7% |
| 34 | Upton West Yorkshire | B− | 2.2 | 100% | 2.2 | 0% |
| 35 | Crigglestone and Durkar West Yorkshire | B− | 4.4 | 45% | 3.9 | 0% |
| 36 | Ushaw Moor and Bearpark County Durham | C+ | 1.6 | 82% | 4.6 | 0% |
| 37 | Chiswell Green Hertfordshire | C+ | 4 | 54% | 3.5 | 0% |
| 38 | Denmead Hampshire | C+ | 1.4 | 72% | 2.8 | 35% |
| 39 | Tetbury Gloucestershire | C+ | 1.2 | 66% | 2.6 | 88% |
| 40 | Malton North Yorkshire | C+ | 2.3 | 43% | 2.4 | 24% |
| 41 | Rawdon West Yorkshire | C+ | 1.7 | 67% | 5.1 | 0% |
| 42 | Bolton-le-Sands Lancashire | C+ | 1.1 | 58% | 1.6 | 23% |
| 43 | Brampton Cambridgeshire | C | 3.2 | 61% | 2.9 | 0% |
| 44 | Market Deeping Lincolnshire | C | 1.5 | 96% | 2.4 | 0% |
| 45 | Farnham Common and Farnham Royal Buckinghamshire | C | 1 | 55% | 4.1 | 0% |
| 46 | Cross Hands and Pen-y-groes Dyfed | C | 9.7 | 70% | 1.4 | 0% |
| 47 | Rhoose South Glamorgan | C | 2 | 43% | 1.7 | 0% |
| 48 | Great Wakering Essex | C | 1.1 | 47% | 2.7 | 0% |
| 49 | Lydiate Merseyside | C− | 1.5 | 90% | 2 | 0% |
| 50 | Ashingdon Essex | C− | 1.3 | 61% | 2.2 | 0% |
| 51 | Culcheth Cheshire | C− | 1.7 | 67% | 2.6 | 0% |
| 52 | Boston Spa West Yorkshire | C− | 1.2 | 86% | 1.9 | 0% |
| 53 | Washingborough and Heighington Lincolnshire | D | 1.8 | 66% | 2.2 | 0% |
| 54 | Wem Shropshire | D | 1.2 | 77% | 1.5 | 0% |
| 55 | Holmes Chapel Cheshire | D | 0.8 | 72% | 2 | 0% |
| 56 | Pontarddulais West Glamorgan | D | 1.9 | 67% | 0.5 | 0% |
| 57 | Coleshill Warwickshire | D | 1.3 | 69% | 1.7 | 0% |
| 58 | Broughton Clwyd | D− | 0.8 | 80% | 1 | 0% |
| 59 | Abercynon Mid Glamorgan | D− | 1.1 | 55% | 1.6 | 0% |
| 60 | Tadcaster North Yorkshire | D− | 0.6 | 58% | 1.7 | 0% |
Parks, footpaths & countryside
Tap a number to zoom to a park. Tap a layer to hide it. The dashed line is Broughton’s built-up area.
How close Broughton’s homes are to 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 1,300 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 384 residents.
The Bryniau Clwyd A Dyffryn Dyfrdwy/clwydian Range and Dee Valley National Landscape is 6.9 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.
Bryniau Clwyd A Dyffryn Dyfrdwy/clwydian Range and Dee Valley
Broughton is on the Wales Coast Path
20 km of footpaths, bridleways and rights of way are mapped in Broughton and the kilometre around it, 1.0 km for every square kilometre (the typical UK town has 3.0). Bars show each route’s kilometres within 2 km of the town.
The Wales Coast Path, a national route, passes Broughton. Close to home, the Wales Link Path has 7 km of local walk within 2 km of the town.
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 Broughton: 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) | 8.1 | 9.7 | 11.7 | 13.9 | 15.8 | 16.9 | 16.5 | 14.7 | 12.6 | 10.5 | 8.5 | 7.6 |
| High (°C) | 8 | 9 | 11 | 14 | 17 | 20 | 21 | 20 | 18 | 15 | 11 | 8 |
| Rain (mm) | 58 | 48 | 47 | 48 | 52 | 65 | 62 | 60 | 62 | 76 | 71 | 74 |
March is the driest month (47 mm) and July the warmest (highs of 21 °C). Winter days are short, about 8 hours of daylight in December, and 76 mm of rain falls in October, the wettest month. Frost comes on about 42 nights a year. The climate in Broughton →
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
Broughton is inland. These are the nearest named beaches, measured from the edge of the town.
Check the water before you swim. Natural Resources Wales tests designated bathing waters from May to September and publishes a rating for each beach.
Up high. Hawarden Castle, at 90 m, is the highest named top within 2 km of Broughton.
Every named place, with directions
Viewpoints 1
Plus 1 viewpoint without a name on the map.
Hills and peaks 1
Playgrounds 17
Plus 17 playgrounds without a name on the map.
Campsites 4
Plus 3 campsites without a name on the map.
Slipways 1
Plus 1 slipway without a name on the map.
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Broughton | D− | 0.8 | 80% | 0% |
| Higher Kinnerton 1.5 mi | C− | 0.7 | 100% | 0% |
| Hawarden 2.4 mi | B− | 3.7 | 81% | 0% |
| Penyffordd 2.5 mi | D− | 0.7 | 36% | 0% |
| Aston 3.1 mi | B− | 4.4 | 37% | 0% |
| Garden City 3.6 mi | D− | 1.5 | 58% | 0% |
| Shotton 3.7 mi | A | 4.5 | 100% | 0% |
Shotton, 3.7 miles away, grades A, the best next door: every resident lives within 400 m of a park. Hawarden, Aston and Shotton have at least twice Broughton’s green space per resident. None of the neighbours has a protected landscape within 5 km either.
Questions about the outdoors in Broughton
Is Broughton near a National Park?
The nearest protected landscape is the Bryniau Clwyd A Dyffryn Dyfrdwy/clwydian Range and Dee Valley National Landscape, 6.9 mi west of the town’s edge. It covers 389 km² and was designated in 2011.
What are the best walks near Broughton?
2 waymarked walking routes pass within 2 km of the town, including the Wales Coast Path (North Wales) main route and Wales Link Path.
What is the nearest beach to Broughton?
Tranmere Beach, 13 mi from the edge of the town, then East Hoyle Bank (16 mi). Broughton itself is inland.
How many people in Broughton live near a park?
80% 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 Broughton?
May to September: the longest days, the warmest afternoons and the least rain of the year, from the Met Office 1991–2020 averages.
Is Broughton good for walking?
Paths are thinner than most towns: 1.0 km of footpath and right of way per square kilometre, more than 7% of UK towns. For park space per person it beats 9% (0.8 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 Broughton’s overall grade.
Where Broughton’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.