Gainford’s biggest
The Green
Park or garden
0.8 ha (2 acres)
Centralin the middle of Gainford
1 listed
Directionsto the nearest entrance
Photo: peter robinson · CC BY-SA 2.0C+Outdoors Grade
Outdoors in Gainford · parks, paths & countryside
Almost everyone in Gainford lives within a 5-minute walk of a park
10 km of footpaths run through the village and the kilometre around it, 1.4 for every square kilometre. Parks and playing fields in Gainford add up to 2.6 ha for every 1,000 residents; the typical UK town has 2.1. Gainford grades C+ for the outdoors. A character grade: it isn’t part of the overall grade.
Green space
2.6 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
1.4 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
Character
What kind of outdoors village is Gainford?
Read from the data: what stands out first, good and bad.
A park on every doorstep100% of residents live within 400 m of a park or playing field.Few mapped footpaths1.4 km of path per km²; the typical UK town has 3.0.
Gainford’s strongest suit is parks close to every home. Where it falls short is footpaths.
Outdoors grade
Gainford grades C+ for the outdoors
Each chart is every UK town of 1,000 or more on one measure: the green bar is Gainford, 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 42% of UK towns30th of 60 UK villages its size
Public green space2.6 haper 1,000 residents: parks, gardens, playing fields, play spaces
61out 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
Footpaths1.4 kmper km², the town and 1 km around it
15out 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.
Villages its size
Gainford is 30th of 60 UK villages its size for the outdoors
The 60 UK towns and cities of 1,100 to 1,200 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
Gainford1.4
Villages its size2.0
County Durham towns3.0
All UK towns3.0
Green space, ha per 1,000 residents
Gainford2.6
Villages its size2.1
County Durham towns2.1
All UK towns2.1
Residents within 400 m of a park
Gainford100%
Villages its size73%
County Durham towns88%
All UK towns83%
Against villages its size, Gainford stands out most for homes near a park: none of the other 59 has more. It falls furthest behind on path per km², where 41 of the others do better.
Show as a table
| Town | Outdoors | Green space | Near a park | Path per km² | Protected | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Corton Suffolk | A+ | 4.4 | 100% | 3 | 5% |
| 2 | Upton St Leonards Gloucestershire | A+ | 5.2 | 80% | 7.5 | 43% |
| 3 | Fairlands Surrey | A+ | 2.8 | 100% | 5 | 11% |
| 4 | Masham North Yorkshire | A+ | 3.7 | 100% | 3 | 44% |
| 5 | Ditchling East Sussex | A | 7.4 | 77% | 4 | 57% |
| 6 | Horsted Keynes West Sussex | A− | 2.2 | 100% | 2.3 | 83% |
| 7 | Wenvoe South Glamorgan | A− | 5.9 | 100% | 2.9 | 0% |
| 8 | Chatburn Lancashire | A− | 1.7 | 100% | 2.6 | 59% |
| 9 | Boosbeck North Yorkshire | A− | 2.9 | 100% | 1.9 | 22% |
| 10 | Camber East Sussex | A− | 0.9 | 100% | 2.4 | 5% |
| 11 | Grange Moor West Yorkshire | A− | 4.3 | 100% | 2.8 | 0% |
| 12 | St Erth Cornwall | B+ | 0.9 | 100% | 2.5 | 4% |
| 13 | Gotherington Gloucestershire | B+ | 2.7 | 72% | 3.7 | 33% |
| 14 | South Bents Tyne and Wear | B+ | 4.9 | 62% | 2.6 | 0% |
| 15 | Borth Dyfed | B | 3.1 | 74% | 1.2 | 0% |
| 16 | Oakley Buckinghamshire | B | 2.9 | 100% | 2.5 | 0% |
| 17 | High Pittington County Durham | B | 1.6 | 100% | 3.9 | 0% |
| 18 | Cropston Leicestershire | B | 3.1 | 100% | 2.2 | 0% |
| 19 | Jacobs Well Surrey | B | 1.4 | 77% | 4.7 | 8% |
| 20 | Curdworth Warwickshire | B− | 2.9 | 100% | 2.1 | 0% |
| 21 | Bishop Middleham County Durham | B− | 2.6 | 100% | 2.2 | 0% |
| 22 | Plaxtol Kent | B− | 2.6 | 57% | 2.5 | 40% |
| 23 | Harpur Hill Derbyshire | B− | 3.1 | 31% | 2.3 | 60% |
| 24 | Kelly Bray Cornwall | B− | 1.2 | 100% | 1.8 | 22% |
| 25 | Thurlton Norfolk | B− | 1.5 | 100% | 0.7 | 39% |
| 26 | Roydon (South Norfolk) Norfolk | B− | 4.3 | 50% | 4 | 0% |
| 27 | Beaumaris Gwynedd | B− | 2.7 | 30% | 0.8 | 18% |
| 28 | Latchingdon Essex | B− | 1.7 | 100% | 0.9 | 0% |
| 29 | Castlethorpe Buckinghamshire | C+ | 3.5 | 72% | 2.9 | 0% |
| 30 | Gainford County Durham | C+ | 2.6 | 100% | 1.4 | 0% |
| 31 | Lacey Green and Loosley Row Buckinghamshire | C+ | 2.1 | 27% | 2.4 | 82% |
| 32 | Whimple Devon | C+ | 5.2 | 70% | 0.9 | 1% |
| 33 | Brinklow Warwickshire | C+ | 1.7 | 100% | 2 | 0% |
| 34 | St Cleer Cornwall | C | 3 | 29% | 1.6 | 32% |
| 35 | Three Legged Cross Dorset | C | 1.5 | 77% | 2.6 | 1% |
| 36 | Bow Devon | C | 1.9 | 100% | 1.1 | 0% |
| 37 | Swindon Staffordshire | C | 2.5 | 67% | 2.6 | 0% |
| 38 | Mannings Heath West Sussex | C | 1 | 71% | 1.9 | 44% |
| 39 | Baldwin's Gate Staffordshire | C− | 1.3 | 100% | 1.5 | 0% |
| 40 | North Newbald East Riding of Yorkshire | C− | 1.7 | 100% | 0.4 | 0% |
| 41 | Milverton Somerset | C− | 2.1 | 70% | 2.4 | 0% |
| 42 | Maiden Newton Dorset | C− | 1.1 | 27% | 2 | 100% |
| 43 | Wetheral Cumbria | C− | 3.8 | 51% | 1.9 | 0% |
| 44 | Crowle Worcestershire | C− | 2.4 | 34% | 2.8 | 0% |
| 45 | Beachley Gloucestershire | C− | 0.3 | 0% | 1.2 | 14% |
| 46 | Capel Hendre Dyfed | D | 0.8 | 100% | 0.9 | 0% |
| 47 | Cawston Norfolk | D | 2.7 | 71% | 0.8 | 0% |
| 48 | Benwick Cambridgeshire | D | 0.3 | 100% | 0.2 | 0% |
| 49 | Ramsey Island Essex | D | 1.4 | 39% | 1.1 | 0% |
| 50 | Pelynt Cornwall | D | 0 | 0% | 0.6 | 13% |
| 51 | Chawley Oxfordshire | D | 0.3 | 0% | 3.8 | 0% |
| 52 | Great Doddington Northamptonshire | D | 1.3 | 69% | 1.7 | 0% |
| 53 | Reawla Cornwall | D | 0.2 | 0% | 2 | 3% |
| 54 | Stickney Lincolnshire | D | 2.4 | 0% | 1 | 0% |
| 55 | High Legh Cheshire | D− | 1.9 | 50% | 0.8 | 0% |
| 56 | Moulton Chapel Lincolnshire | D− | 1.5 | 60% | 0 | 0% |
| 57 | Kentford Suffolk | D− | 1.9 | 0% | 0.5 | 0% |
| 58 | Austrey Warwickshire | D− | 1.7 | 0% | 0.7 | 0% |
| 59 | East Keswick West Yorkshire | D− | 0.2 | 0% | 1.7 | 0% |
| 60 | Llanfyllin Powys | D− | 0 | 0% | 1.6 | 0% |
The map
Parks, footpaths & countryside
Tap a number to zoom to a park. Tap a layer to hide it. The dashed line is Gainford’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 Gainford
The biggest is The Green, 0.8 ha (2 acres). Directions go to the park’s nearest public entrance where Ordnance Survey maps one.
Close to home
How close Gainford’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 (100%)Further (0%)
Gainford100%
Villages its size73%
County Durham towns88%
All UK towns83%
Playing fields count, so a park within reach isn’t always one with paths or trees.
National Parks & National Landscapes
The North Pennines National Landscape is 7.9 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.
National ParkNational LandscapeThe 5 km the grade counts
Yorkshire Dales National Park covers 2,185 km² and has been a National Park since 1954.
Footpaths & waymarked walks
2 waymarked walks pass through or near Gainford
10 km of footpaths, bridleways and rights of way are mapped in Gainford and the kilometre around it, 1.4 km for every square kilometre (the typical UK town has 3.0). Bars show each route’s kilometres within 2 km of the village.
Regional
Teesdale Way (Middleton in Teesdale to Middlesbrough)6.0 km
Way of Life - Gainford to Escomb3.7 km
2 regional routes pass through, including the Teesdale Way (Middleton in Teesdale to Middlesbrough) and Way of Life - Gainford to Escomb.
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 Gainford: May to 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) | 7.8 | 9.6 | 11.7 | 14.0 | 16.0 | 17.2 | 16.7 | 14.9 | 12.6 | 10.4 | 8.3 | 7.3 |
| High (°C) | 7 | 7 | 9 | 12 | 15 | 18 | 20 | 20 | 17 | 13 | 9 | 7 |
| Rain (mm) | 56 | 53 | 46 | 50 | 45 | 67 | 70 | 67 | 61 | 67 | 72 | 70 |
May is the driest month (45 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 58 nights a year. The climate in Gainford →
Things to do
Viewpoints, hills and nature near Gainford
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.
The nearest beaches
Gainford is inland. These are the nearest named beaches, measured from the edge of the village.
Middleton Beach24 mi from Gainford’s edge
DirectionsNorth Sands24 mi from Gainford’s edge
DirectionsFish Sands24 mi from Gainford’s edge
DirectionsShippersea Bay24 mi from Gainford’s edge
DirectionsBlock Sands24 mi from Gainford’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 1
Plus 1 playground 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.
StaindropEvenwoodCockfieldHeighingtonWest AucklandShildonGainford
ABCDOutdoors Grade
| Town | Outdoors | Green space, ha per 1,000 | Near a park | Protected within 5 km |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gainford | C+ | 2.6 | 100% | 0% |
| Staindrop 3.6 mi | D | 1.4 | 82% | 0% |
| Evenwood 5.2 mi | C+ | 3.4 | 100% | 0% |
| Cockfield 5.3 mi | B− | 2.3 | 81% | 0% |
| Heighington 5.7 mi | D | 2.6 | 64% | 0% |
| West Auckland 5.7 mi | C− | 1.1 | 91% | 0% |
| Shildon 6.8 mi | B | 2.8 | 93% | 0% |
Shildon, 6.8 miles away, grades B, the best next door: 93% 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 Gainford
What is the biggest park in Gainford?
The Green, 0.8 ha (2 acres). 1 named park, garden or playing field is in the village or within 400 m of it.
Is Gainford near a National Park?
Yes. Yorkshire Dales National Park begins 9.1 mi south of the village’s edge. It covers 2,185 km² and has been a National Park since 1954. The nearest protected landscape of any kind is the North Pennines National Landscape, 7.9 mi away.
What are the best walks near Gainford?
2 waymarked walking routes pass within 2 km of the village, including the Teesdale Way (Middleton in Teesdale to Middlesbrough) and Way of Life - Gainford to Escomb.
What is the nearest beach to Gainford?
Middleton Beach, 24 mi from the edge of the village, then North Sands (24 mi). Gainford itself is inland.
How many people in Gainford 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 Gainford?
May to September: the longest days, the warmest afternoons and the least rain of the year, from the Met Office 1991–2020 averages.
Is Gainford good for walking?
Paths are thinner than most towns: 1.4 km of footpath and right of way per square kilometre, more than 15% of UK towns. For park space per person it beats 61% (2.6 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 Gainford’s overall grade.
Sources
Where Gainford’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.