Photo: Barry Wood · CC BY-SA 2.0Parks and walks in Shotton Colliery
40% of residents live within a 5-minute walk of a park or playing field. Parks and playing fields in Shotton Colliery add up to 0.9 ha for every 1,000 residents; the typical UK town has 2.1. Footpaths add up to 17 km in the town and the kilometre around it, 1.5 for every square kilometre. Shotton Colliery grades D− for the outdoors. A character grade: it isn’t part of the overall grade.
Shotton Colliery grades D− for the outdoors
Each chart is every UK town of 1,000 or more on one measure: the green bar is Shotton Colliery, 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 Shotton Colliery compares with UK towns of 4,800 to 5,100
The 60 UK towns and cities of 4,800 to 5,100 people with an Outdoors Grade. Hover a dot for its figures; tap one for its page.
Shotton Colliery falls furthest behind on park space per resident, where 54 of the 59 others do better.
Show as a table
| Town | Outdoors | Green space | Near a park | Path per km² | Protected | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Rye East Sussex | A+ | 3.5 | 89% | 3.5 | 46% |
| 2 | Pill Somerset | A+ | 5.2 | 100% | 3.8 | 0% |
| 3 | Frinton-on-Sea Essex | A+ | 7.5 | 100% | 2.6 | 0% |
| 4 | Windermere Cumbria | A+ | 3 | 94% | 3.6 | 100% |
| 5 | Burry Port Dyfed | A+ | 11.8 | 75% | 2.8 | 17% |
| 6 | Wilford Nottinghamshire | A | 7.7 | 93% | 9.6 | 0% |
| 7 | Moreton-in-Marsh Gloucestershire | A | 5 | 100% | 1.8 | 55% |
| 8 | Wirksworth Derbyshire | A | 2 | 100% | 4.6 | 8% |
| 9 | Rhymney Gwent | A | 2.9 | 97% | 3.8 | 6% |
| 10 | Meols Merseyside | A | 3.1 | 100% | 2.2 | 0% |
| 11 | Holmfirth West Yorkshire | A | 2.2 | 88% | 4.6 | 27% |
| 12 | Fitzwilliam and Kinsley West Yorkshire | A− | 11.5 | 100% | 3 | 0% |
| 13 | Joyden's Wood Kent | A− | 2.7 | 82% | 5.6 | 4% |
| 14 | Fordingbridge Hampshire | A− | 3.6 | 92% | 2 | 56% |
| 15 | Coleford Gloucestershire | A− | 2.8 | 66% | 4.3 | 48% |
| 16 | Elvetham Heath Hampshire | A− | 8.7 | 100% | 2.8 | 0% |
| 17 | Needham Market Suffolk | A− | 7.2 | 88% | 4 | 0% |
| 18 | Overseal and Castle Gresley Derbyshire | A− | 2.5 | 100% | 4.4 | 0% |
| 19 | Binfield Berkshire | A− | 8.5 | 100% | 2.5 | 0% |
| 20 | Huthwaite Nottinghamshire | B+ | 8.1 | 75% | 4.9 | 0% |
| 21 | Seaton Cumbria | B+ | 2.5 | 87% | 2.6 | 0% |
| 22 | Cranbrook Devon | B+ | 6.4 | 87% | 1.9 | 1% |
| 23 | Hildenborough Kent | B+ | 6.5 | 40% | 2.8 | 46% |
| 24 | Sturry Kent | B+ | 2.7 | 80% | 3.4 | 1% |
| 25 | Stone Cross East Sussex | B+ | 1.4 | 86% | 2.3 | 9% |
| 26 | Aspull Greater Manchester | B | 7.6 | 92% | 2.4 | 0% |
| 27 | Easingwold North Yorkshire | B | 4.3 | 86% | 1.5 | 14% |
| 28 | Grimethorpe South Yorkshire | B | 2.5 | 100% | 2.8 | 0% |
| 29 | Market Rasen Lincolnshire | B | 2.6 | 94% | 1.6 | 16% |
| 30 | Sedgefield County Durham | B | 6.2 | 81% | 2.8 | 0% |
| 31 | Headley Down and Headley Hampshire | B | 2.1 | 55% | 3.4 | 44% |
| 32 | Handsacre and Armitage Staffordshire | B− | 1.8 | 89% | 2.1 | 12% |
| 33 | Wotton-under-Edge Gloucestershire | C+ | 0.4 | 32% | 5.4 | 60% |
| 34 | Stokesley North Yorkshire | C+ | 0.9 | 100% | 1.7 | 16% |
| 35 | Wool Dorset | C+ | 2.3 | 51% | 2.5 | 33% |
| 36 | Steeton West Yorkshire | C+ | 1.3 | 100% | 2.7 | 0% |
| 37 | Moulton Northamptonshire | C+ | 3.3 | 88% | 1.7 | 0% |
| 38 | Barton-le-Clay Bedfordshire | C+ | 1.3 | 43% | 3.2 | 38% |
| 39 | Church Lancashire | C | 1.5 | 79% | 3.9 | 0% |
| 40 | Shortstown Bedfordshire | C | 2.4 | 82% | 2.5 | 0% |
| 41 | Billinge Merseyside | C | 0.9 | 94% | 3 | 0% |
| 42 | Treharris Mid Glamorgan | C | 2.6 | 72% | 2.6 | 0% |
| 43 | Copthorne West Sussex | C | 1.2 | 62% | 2.9 | 13% |
| 44 | Bowburn County Durham | C | 1.5 | 71% | 3.8 | 0% |
| 45 | Bungay Suffolk | C | 0.5 | 78% | 2.6 | 12% |
| 46 | Sutton on Sea and Trusthorpe Lincolnshire | C | 1.8 | 67% | 1.5 | 0% |
| 47 | Northway Gloucestershire | C | 0.9 | 58% | 3.1 | 13% |
| 48 | Shavington Cheshire | C− | 1.1 | 87% | 2.1 | 0% |
| 49 | Melbourne Derbyshire | C− | 1.5 | 67% | 2.7 | 0% |
| 50 | Halesworth Suffolk | C− | 1.4 | 55% | 1.9 | 5% |
| 51 | Tickhill South Yorkshire | D | 1.7 | 69% | 2.2 | 0% |
| 52 | Haslington Cheshire | D | 1.8 | 41% | 2.6 | 0% |
| 53 | Gresford Clwyd | D | 1.4 | 76% | 1.8 | 0% |
| 54 | South Cave East Riding of Yorkshire | D | 1.5 | 43% | 0.9 | 0% |
| 55 | Melbourn Cambridgeshire | D | 1.2 | 45% | 2.7 | 0% |
| 56 | Fleckney Leicestershire | D | 0.8 | 63% | 2.3 | 0% |
| 57 | Lepton West Yorkshire | D− | 0.9 | 36% | 2.3 | 0% |
| 58 | Wingate County Durham | D− | 1 | 64% | 1.5 | 0% |
| 59 | Bulford Wiltshire | D− | 0.9 | 51% | 1.6 | 0% |
| 60 | Shotton Colliery County Durham | D− | 0.9 | 40% | 1.5 | 0% |
Parks, footpaths & countryside
Tap a number to zoom to a park. Tap a layer to hide it. The dashed line is Shotton Colliery’s built-up area.
4 in 10 Shotton Colliery 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).
About 3,000 people live further than that. Playing fields count, so a park within reach isn’t always one with paths or trees; 11 playgrounds are mapped in and around the town, about one for every 449 residents.
The North Pennines National Landscape is 17 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.
Footpaths in and around Shotton Colliery
17 km of footpaths, bridleways and rights of way are mapped in Shotton Colliery and the kilometre around it, 1.5 km for every square kilometre (the typical UK town has 3.0).
No named walking route is mapped within 2 km of Shotton Colliery; 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.
The best walking months in Shotton Colliery: June, July and 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 | 7.2 |
| High (°C) | 6 | 7 | 9 | 12 | 14 | 17 | 19 | 19 | 17 | 13 | 9 | 7 |
| Rain (mm) | 54 | 49 | 47 | 54 | 49 | 65 | 68 | 77 | 61 | 78 | 86 | 67 |
March is the driest month (47 mm) and July the warmest (highs of 19 °C). Winter days are short, about 7 hours of daylight in December, and 86 mm of rain falls in November, the wettest month. Frost comes on about 48 nights a year. The climate in Shotton Colliery →
11 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
Shotton Colliery is inland. These are the nearest named beaches, measured from the edge of the town.
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
Hills and peaks 1
Plus 1 peak without a name on the map.
Nature reserves 1
Playgrounds 11
Plus 11 playgrounds without a name on the map.
Campsites 1
The outdoors in nearby towns
The nearest towns of 1,000+ within 12 miles. Tap a town for its outdoors page.
Easington, 2.7 miles away, grades A−, the best next door: 94% of its residents live within 400 m of a park. Wheatley Hill, Peterlee and Haswell have at least twice Shotton Colliery’s green space per resident. None of the neighbours has a protected landscape within 5 km either.
Questions about the outdoors in Shotton Colliery
Is Shotton Colliery near a National Park?
The nearest protected landscape is the North Pennines National Landscape, 17 mi west of the town’s edge. It covers 1,985 km² and was designated in 1988.
What is the nearest beach to Shotton Colliery?
Shippersea Bay, 3.7 mi from the edge of the town, then Hawthorn Hive (4.0 mi). Shotton Colliery itself is inland.
How many people in Shotton Colliery live near a park?
40% 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 Shotton Colliery?
June, July and September: the longest days, the warmest afternoons and the least rain of the year, from the Met Office 1991–2020 averages.
Is Shotton Colliery good for walking?
Paths are thinner than most towns: 1.5 km of footpath and right of way per square kilometre, more than 16% of UK towns. For park space per person it beats 11% (0.9 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 Shotton Colliery’s overall grade.
Where Shotton Colliery’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.