Ferryhill’s biggest
King Georges Field
Playing field
2.5 ha (6 acres)0.8 km of path
10 minto walk all 0.8 km of path
3 pitchesfootball pitches would fit
Centralin the middle of Ferryhill
Directionsto the nearest entrance
Photo: Robert Graham · CC BY-SA 2.0C−Outdoors Grade
Outdoors in Ferryhill · parks, paths & countryside
94% of Ferryhill’s residents live within a 5-minute walk of a park
29 km of footpaths run through the town and the kilometre around it, 1.7 for every square kilometre. Parks and playing fields in Ferryhill add up to 1.5 ha for every 1,000 residents; the typical UK town has 2.1. Ferryhill grades C− for the outdoors: #44 of 52 in County Durham. A character grade: it isn’t part of the overall grade.
Green space
1.5 ha
per 1,000 residents
Typical UK town 2.1
Near a park
94%
of residents within 400 m
Typical UK town 83%
Footpaths
29 km
1.7 km per km², town + 1 km
Typical UK town 3.0 per km²
Protected landscape
0%
of the land within 5 km
Nearest: North Pennines National Landscape
Outdoors grade
Ferryhill grades C− for the outdoors
Each chart is every UK town of 1,000 or more on one measure: the green bar is Ferryhill, the dashed line the typical town. The number is the share of towns it beats; the five are averaged and the average ranked again.
C−
Better than 22% of UK towns#44 of 52 in County Durham · 50th of 60 UK towns its size
Public green space1.5 haper 1,000 residents: parks, gardens, playing fields, play spaces
28out of
100
100
A park within a walk94%of residents within 400 m (a 5-minute walk)
73out of
100
100
National Park or National Landscape0%of the land within 5 km · None within 5 km
31out of
100
100
Footpaths1.7 kmper km², the town and 1 km around it
22out 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
Ferryhill is 50th of 60 UK towns its size for the outdoors
The 60 UK towns and cities of 8,500 to 9,200 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
Ferryhill1.7
Towns its size2.9
County Durham towns3.0
All UK towns3.0
Green space, ha per 1,000 residents
Ferryhill1.5
Towns its size2.4
County Durham towns2.1
All UK towns2.1
Residents within 400 m of a park
Ferryhill94%
Towns its size85%
County Durham towns88%
All UK towns83%
Against towns its size, Ferryhill stands out most for homes near a park: only 12 of the other 59 have more. It falls furthest behind on path per km², where 51 of the others do better.
Show as a table
| Town | Outdoors | Green space | Near a park | Path per km² | Protected | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Swanage Dorset | A+ | 6.9 | 95% | 4.2 | 47% |
| 2 | Pool and Illogan Cornwall | A+ | 3.7 | 81% | 4 | 5% |
| 3 | Worsbrough South Yorkshire | A | 10.1 | 100% | 6 | 0% |
| 4 | Storrington West Sussex | A | 5.5 | 85% | 3.2 | 54% |
| 5 | Killamarsh Derbyshire | A | 10.6 | 97% | 5.5 | 0% |
| 6 | Warlingham Surrey | A | 4.2 | 81% | 4.3 | 13% |
| 7 | Greasby Merseyside | A | 5.9 | 74% | 3.6 | 0% |
| 8 | Hetton-le-Hole Tyne and Wear | A− | 7.8 | 95% | 3.7 | 0% |
| 9 | Billingshurst West Sussex | A− | 2.9 | 95% | 3.1 | 3% |
| 10 | Ryton Tyne and Wear | A− | 5.5 | 85% | 5.1 | 0% |
| 11 | Brightlingsea Essex | A− | 3 | 97% | 2.4 | 0% |
| 12 | Thurnscoe South Yorkshire | A− | 9.4 | 100% | 2.7 | 0% |
| 13 | Shaftesbury Dorset | A− | 2.8 | 92% | 2.3 | 44% |
| 14 | Shanklin Isle of Wight | A− | 1.4 | 33% | 4.5 | 29% |
| 15 | Alfreton Derbyshire | B+ | 4.3 | 100% | 2.7 | 0% |
| 16 | Longridge Lancashire | B+ | 1.9 | 89% | 3 | 32% |
| 17 | Winnersh Berkshire | B+ | 9.6 | 80% | 3.9 | 0% |
| 18 | Frodsham Cheshire | B+ | 2.5 | 67% | 4.4 | 0% |
| 19 | Hadleigh Suffolk | B+ | 2.6 | 87% | 2.7 | 10% |
| 20 | Higham Ferrers Northamptonshire | B+ | 3.5 | 93% | 3.3 | 0% |
| 21 | Hayle Cornwall | B+ | 1.4 | 72% | 3.4 | 6% |
| 22 | Banstead Surrey | B+ | 2.4 | 66% | 5.2 | 3% |
| 23 | Cinderford Gloucestershire | B+ | 1.7 | 80% | 4.7 | 4% |
| 24 | Ashbourne Derbyshire | B | 1.9 | 92% | 2.7 | 14% |
| 25 | Cockermouth Cumbria | B | 2.6 | 81% | 2.2 | 42% |
| 26 | Ampthill Bedfordshire | B | 6.8 | 71% | 3.9 | 0% |
| 27 | Clay Cross Derbyshire | B | 2.6 | 88% | 3.7 | 0% |
| 28 | Gatley Greater Manchester | B | 5.7 | 66% | 4.2 | 0% |
| 29 | South Kirkby West Yorkshire | B | 3 | 97% | 2.7 | 0% |
| 30 | Marlborough Wiltshire | B | 1.2 | 72% | 3.8 | 100% |
| 31 | Wendover Buckinghamshire | B | 1 | 58% | 5.6 | 60% |
| 32 | Hornsea East Riding of Yorkshire | B− | 2.7 | 90% | 0.6 | 0% |
| 33 | Whitnash Warwickshire | B− | 2 | 95% | 3.3 | 0% |
| 34 | Cullompton Devon | B− | 3.2 | 100% | 1.8 | 0% |
| 35 | Stansted Mountfitchet Essex | B− | 0.8 | 96% | 4.7 | 0% |
| 36 | Hook Hampshire | B− | 2.4 | 80% | 3.4 | 0% |
| 37 | West End and Chobham Surrey | B− | 3.3 | 65% | 3.6 | 0% |
| 38 | Caister-on-Sea Norfolk | C+ | 1.1 | 58% | 2.1 | 21% |
| 39 | Hoo St Werburgh Kent | C+ | 1.4 | 92% | 1.9 | 0% |
| 40 | Wideopen Tyne and Wear | C+ | 2.1 | 75% | 4.2 | 0% |
| 41 | Okehampton Devon | C+ | 0.9 | 85% | 2.2 | 37% |
| 42 | Atherstone Warwickshire | C+ | 2.7 | 88% | 2 | 0% |
| 43 | Brinsworth South Yorkshire | C | 1.3 | 76% | 4.5 | 0% |
| 44 | Barwell Leicestershire | C | 1.7 | 90% | 2.6 | 0% |
| 45 | Faringdon Oxfordshire | C | 1.3 | 94% | 2.5 | 0% |
| 46 | Kinmel Bay Clwyd | C | 1.8 | 76% | 0.9 | 0% |
| 47 | Rothwell Northamptonshire | C | 2.2 | 91% | 1.5 | 0% |
| 48 | Burscough Lancashire | C | 2.6 | 76% | 2.1 | 0% |
| 49 | Sherburn in Elmet North Yorkshire | C− | 1.8 | 93% | 1.4 | 0% |
| 50 | Ferryhill County Durham | C− | 1.5 | 94% | 1.7 | 0% |
| 51 | East Leake Nottinghamshire | C− | 2.4 | 68% | 2.1 | 0% |
| 52 | Pencoed Mid Glamorgan | C− | 2.8 | 52% | 2.1 | 0% |
| 53 | Sileby Leicestershire | C− | 1 | 80% | 2.6 | 0% |
| 54 | Adlington Lancashire | C− | 1.3 | 64% | 3.1 | 0% |
| 55 | Shifnal Shropshire | D | 1 | 89% | 1.6 | 0% |
| 56 | Littleport Cambridgeshire | D | 1 | 71% | 2.4 | 0% |
| 57 | Harworth and Bircotes Nottinghamshire | D | 1.9 | 64% | 1.5 | 0% |
| 58 | Holbeach Lincolnshire | D | 1 | 91% | 0.5 | 0% |
| 59 | Tarleton and Hesketh Bank Lancashire | D | 1.5 | 63% | 1.7 | 0% |
| 60 | Kirkham Lancashire | D− | 1.3 | 66% | 1.3 | 0% |
The map
Parks, footpaths & countryside
Tap a number to zoom to a park. Tap a layer to hide it. The dashed line is Ferryhill’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 Ferryhill
The biggest is King Georges Field, 2.5 ha (6 acres). Directions go to the park’s nearest public entrance where Ordnance Survey maps one.
Close to home
How close Ferryhill’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).
Within 400 m (94%)Further (6%)
Ferryhill94%
Towns its size85%
County Durham towns88%
All UK towns83%
About 600 people live further than that. Playing fields count, so a park within reach isn’t always one with paths or trees; 15 playgrounds are mapped in and around the town, about one for every 590 residents.
National Parks & National Landscapes
The North Pennines National Landscape is 11 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
Footpaths & waymarked walks
Footpaths in and around Ferryhill
29 km of footpaths, bridleways and rights of way are mapped in Ferryhill and the kilometre around it, 1.7 km for every square kilometre (the typical UK town has 3.0).
No named walking route is mapped within 2 km of Ferryhill; its footpaths are on the map above.
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 Ferryhill: 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) | 7.8 | 9.6 | 11.7 | 14.0 | 16.1 | 17.3 | 16.8 | 14.9 | 12.6 | 10.4 | 8.3 | 7.3 |
| High (°C) | 7 | 7 | 10 | 12 | 15 | 18 | 20 | 20 | 17 | 13 | 10 | 7 |
| Rain (mm) | 61 | 48 | 43 | 53 | 48 | 65 | 67 | 71 | 54 | 67 | 72 | 64 |
March is the driest month (43 mm) and July the warmest (highs of 20 °C). Winter days are short, about 7 hours of daylight in December, and 72 mm of rain falls in November, the wettest month. Frost comes on about 54 nights a year. The climate in Ferryhill →
Things to do
15 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
Ferryhill is inland. These are the nearest named beaches, measured from the edge of the town.
Shippersea Bay12 mi from Ferryhill’s edge
DirectionsHawthorn Hive12 mi from Ferryhill’s edge
DirectionsBlast Beach12 mi from Ferryhill’s edge
DirectionsNorth Sands13 mi from Ferryhill’s edge
DirectionsMiddleton Beach13 mi from Ferryhill’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
Playgrounds 15
Plus 15 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.
ChiltonCornforthSpennymoorBishop MiddlehamCoxhoeCoundon and LeeholmeFerryhill
ABCDOutdoors Grade
| Town | Outdoors | Green space, ha per 1,000 | Near a park | Protected within 5 km |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ferryhill | C− | 1.5 | 94% | 0% |
| Chilton 1.8 mi | D− | 1.1 | 68% | 0% |
| Cornforth 1.8 mi | C− | 1.9 | 66% | 0% |
| Spennymoor 2.3 mi | C+ | 2.1 | 84% | 0% |
| Bishop Middleham 2.5 mi | B− | 2.6 | 100% | 0% |
| Coxhoe 2.7 mi | C | 1.4 | 66% | 0% |
| Coundon and Leeholme 3.7 mi | B− | 4.4 | 100% | 0% |
Bishop Middleham, 2.5 miles away, grades B−, the best next door: every resident lives within 400 m of a park. Coundon and Leeholme has at least twice Ferryhill’s green space per resident. None of the neighbours has a protected landscape within 5 km either.
Questions about the outdoors in Ferryhill
What is the biggest park in Ferryhill?
King Georges Field, 2.5 ha (6 acres), with 0.8 km of path. 1 named park, garden or playing field is in the town or within 400 m of it.
Is Ferryhill near a National Park?
The nearest protected landscape is the North Pennines National Landscape, 11 mi west of the town’s edge. It covers 1,985 km² and was designated in 1988.
What is the nearest beach to Ferryhill?
Shippersea Bay, 12 mi from the edge of the town, then Hawthorn Hive (12 mi). Ferryhill itself is inland.
How many people in Ferryhill live near a park?
94% 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 Ferryhill?
May to September: the longest days, the warmest afternoons and the least rain of the year, from the Met Office 1991–2020 averages.
Is Ferryhill good for walking?
Paths are thinner than most towns: 1.7 km of footpath and right of way per square kilometre, more than 22% of UK towns. For park space per person it beats 28% (1.5 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 Ferryhill’s overall grade.
Sources
Where Ferryhill’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.