Stanley’s biggest
Memorial Park
Park or garden
6.6 ha (16 acres)1.0 km of path
15 minto walk all 1 km of path
9 pitchesfootball pitches would fit
0.9 mi south-westfrom the centre
Directionsto the nearest entrance
Photo: Graham Robson · CC BY-SA 2.0BOutdoors Grade
Outdoors in Stanley · parks, paths & countryside
Stanley has more footpath per square kilometre than 9 in 10 UK towns
114 km of footpaths run through the town and the kilometre around it, 5.2 for every square kilometre. The North Pennines National Landscape begins 6.2 mi from the town’s edge. A park or playing field is within a 5-minute walk for 88% of residents. Stanley grades B for the outdoors: #21 of 52 in County Durham. A character grade: it isn’t part of the overall grade.
Green space
1.7 ha
per 1,000 residents
Typical UK town 2.1
Near a park
88%
of residents within 400 m
Typical UK town 83%
Footpaths
114 km
5.2 km per km², town + 1 km
Typical UK town 3.0 per km²
Protected landscape
0%
of the land within 5 km
North Pennines starts 6.2 mi out, past the 5 km
Character
What kind of outdoors town is Stanley?
Read from the data: what stands out first, good and bad.
A town of footpaths5.2 km of path per km², more than 93% of UK towns. The typical town has 3.0.Countryside close byThe North Pennines National Landscape starts 6.2 mi south-west.Less park per person1.7 ha of parks and playing fields per 1,000 residents; the typical UK town has 2.1.
Stanley’s strongest suit is dense footpaths, followed by the North Pennines National Landscape close by. Where it falls short is park space per person.
Outdoors grade
Stanley grades B for the outdoors
Each chart is every UK town of 1,000 or more on one measure: the green bar is Stanley, the dashed line the typical town. The number is the share of towns it beats; the five are averaged and the average ranked again.
B
Better than 58% of UK towns#21 of 52 in County Durham · 33rd of 60 UK towns its size
Public green space1.7 haper 1,000 residents: parks, gardens, playing fields, play spaces
36out of
100
100
A park within a walk88%of residents within 400 m (a 5-minute walk)
64out of
100
100
National Park or National Landscape0%of the land within 5 km · North Pennines begins just past 5 km
31out of
100
100
Footpaths5.2 kmper km², the town and 1 km around it
94out 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
Stanley is 33rd of 60 UK towns its size for the outdoors
The 60 UK towns and cities of 18,000 to 20,800 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
Stanley5.2
Towns its size3.4
County Durham towns3.0
All UK towns3.0
Green space, ha per 1,000 residents
Stanley1.7
Towns its size2.2
County Durham towns2.1
All UK towns2.1
Residents within 400 m of a park
Stanley88%
Towns its size86%
County Durham towns88%
All UK towns83%
Against towns its size, Stanley stands out most for path per km²: only 4 of the other 59 have more. It falls furthest behind on park space per resident, where 46 of the others do better.
Show as a table
| Town | Outdoors | Green space | Near a park | Path per km² | Protected | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Camborne Cornwall | A+ | 2.2 | 93% | 4 | 8% |
| 2 | Littlehampton West Sussex | A+ | 2.1 | 99% | 3.1 | 18% |
| 3 | Litherland Merseyside | A | 7.3 | 94% | 3.3 | 0% |
| 4 | Buxton Derbyshire | A | 3.5 | 86% | 3.8 | 61% |
| 5 | Houghton Regis Bedfordshire | A | 3.5 | 81% | 8 | 20% |
| 6 | Colne Lancashire | A | 3.2 | 86% | 5.3 | 8% |
| 7 | Waltham Abbey Essex | A | 11.9 | 92% | 6.7 | 0% |
| 8 | Farnham Surrey | A | 5.1 | 73% | 4.3 | 35% |
| 9 | Hazlemere Buckinghamshire | A | 2.5 | 81% | 4.7 | 68% |
| 10 | Forest Town Nottinghamshire | A | 6.4 | 94% | 5.7 | 0% |
| 11 | Northwich Cheshire | A | 8.8 | 92% | 4.8 | 0% |
| 12 | Leek Staffordshire | A | 4.2 | 83% | 3.6 | 19% |
| 13 | Stratton St Margaret Wiltshire | A | 3.3 | 82% | 5.1 | 5% |
| 14 | Keynsham Somerset | A | 2.1 | 95% | 4.6 | 11% |
| 15 | Abbots Langley and Kings Langley Hertfordshire | A | 3.8 | 88% | 3.6 | 3% |
| 16 | Harwich Essex | A− | 1.7 | 95% | 2.1 | 20% |
| 17 | Peterlee County Durham | A− | 2.3 | 85% | 4.2 | 0% |
| 18 | Ebbw Vale Gwent | A− | 2 | 92% | 3.3 | 29% |
| 19 | Mansfield Woodhouse Nottinghamshire | A− | 2.8 | 94% | 4.9 | 0% |
| 20 | Devizes Wiltshire | A− | 1.8 | 91% | 3.2 | 38% |
| 21 | Walkden Greater Manchester | B+ | 3.4 | 92% | 3.4 | 0% |
| 22 | Belper Derbyshire | B+ | 2.4 | 94% | 4.1 | 0% |
| 23 | Eastwood Nottinghamshire | B+ | 2.6 | 93% | 3.9 | 0% |
| 24 | Hythe and Dibden Purlieu Hampshire | B+ | 0.8 | 49% | 4.4 | 44% |
| 25 | Sandhurst Berkshire | B+ | 5.1 | 79% | 3.9 | 0% |
| 26 | Hazel Grove Greater Manchester | B+ | 2.9 | 62% | 4.2 | 3% |
| 27 | Mirfield West Yorkshire | B | 2.5 | 90% | 3.7 | 0% |
| 28 | Ripley Derbyshire | B | 2.4 | 91% | 3.7 | 0% |
| 29 | Irlam Greater Manchester | B | 3.1 | 95% | 2.8 | 0% |
| 30 | Cradley Heath West Midlands | B | 3.3 | 76% | 4.3 | 0% |
| 31 | Penwortham Lancashire | B | 2.9 | 91% | 3.1 | 0% |
| 32 | Ely Cambridgeshire | B | 2.7 | 88% | 3.3 | 0% |
| 33 | Stanley County Durham | B | 1.7 | 88% | 5.2 | 0% |
| 34 | Shaw Greater Manchester | B | 1.9 | 96% | 3.7 | 0% |
| 35 | Stourport-on-Severn Worcestershire | B | 3.1 | 79% | 3.8 | 0% |
| 36 | Romsey Hampshire | B− | 1.2 | 82% | 4.5 | 2% |
| 37 | Ware Hertfordshire | B− | 2 | 81% | 4.9 | 0% |
| 38 | Guisborough North Yorkshire | B− | 1.5 | 80% | 2.6 | 35% |
| 39 | Calne Wiltshire | B− | 1.3 | 88% | 2.4 | 33% |
| 40 | Wednesbury West Midlands | B− | 2.7 | 93% | 2.3 | 0% |
| 41 | Dereham Norfolk | B− | 1.8 | 90% | 3.4 | 0% |
| 42 | Failsworth Greater Manchester | C+ | 1.8 | 77% | 4.6 | 0% |
| 43 | Rawmarsh South Yorkshire | C+ | 2 | 84% | 3.2 | 0% |
| 44 | Maesteg Mid Glamorgan | C+ | 2 | 94% | 2.5 | 0% |
| 45 | Melksham Wiltshire | C+ | 2.2 | 87% | 2.7 | 0% |
| 46 | Bideford Devon | C+ | 0.9 | 83% | 1 | 11% |
| 47 | Newmarket Suffolk | C+ | 1.9 | 91% | 2.6 | 0% |
| 48 | Knowle and Dorridge West Midlands | C+ | 2.7 | 82% | 2.4 | 0% |
| 49 | Adwick le Street South Yorkshire | C+ | 2.8 | 89% | 1.8 | 0% |
| 50 | Spennymoor County Durham | C+ | 2.1 | 84% | 2.7 | 0% |
| 51 | Thornton Lancashire | C | 2.1 | 71% | 1.6 | 0% |
| 52 | Nantwich Cheshire | C | 2.2 | 86% | 2.3 | 0% |
| 53 | Horwich Greater Manchester | C | 1.8 | 67% | 3.4 | 0% |
| 54 | Maghull Merseyside | C− | 1.6 | 86% | 2.2 | 0% |
| 55 | Skegness Lincolnshire | C− | 0.9 | 58% | 2.5 | 0% |
| 56 | Willerby and Anlaby East Riding of Yorkshire | C− | 1.6 | 46% | 1.7 | 0% |
| 57 | Selby North Yorkshire | C− | 1.6 | 81% | 1.9 | 0% |
| 58 | Goole East Riding of Yorkshire | D | 1.7 | 81% | 1.4 | 0% |
| 59 | Stamford Lincolnshire | D | 1.3 | 64% | 2.7 | 0% |
| 60 | Tiverton Devon | D | 1.5 | 59% | 2.6 | 0% |
The map
Parks, footpaths & countryside
Tap a number to zoom to a park. Tap a layer to hide it. The dashed line is Stanley’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 Stanley
The biggest is Memorial Park, 6.6 ha (16 acres). Directions go to the park’s nearest public entrance where Ordnance Survey maps one.
All 4 named parks by size: 11 ha (28 acres) and 1 km of path
Parks & gardens 7.5 haPlaying fields 3.8 ha
The two biggest, Memorial Park and Oakey Park, are 87% of the named green space.
Oakey Park
Playing field
3.2 ha (8 acres)0.3 km of path
4 pitchesfootball pitches would fit
0.5 mi north-westfrom the centre
Playground
Directionsto the nearest entrance
Beamishburn
Park or garden · 310 m outside town
0.9 ha (2 acres)0.2 km of path
1.5 mi north-eastfrom the centre
Directionsto the nearest entrance
Stanley Community Football Centre
Playing field
0.6 ha (1 acres)
0.4 mi south-westfrom the centre
Directionsto the nearest entrance
Close to home
9 in 10 Stanley 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 (88%)Further (12%)
Stanley88%
Towns its size86%
County Durham towns88%
All UK towns83%
About 2,300 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 1,295 residents.
National Parks & National Landscapes
The North Pennines National Landscape is 6.2 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 Stanley scores 0% on it even though the North Pennines National Landscape is 6.2 mi away.
Footpaths & waymarked walks
6 waymarked walks pass through or near Stanley
114 km of footpaths, bridleways and rights of way are mapped in Stanley and the kilometre around it, 5.2 km for every square kilometre (the typical UK town has 3.0). Bars show each route’s kilometres within 2 km of the town.
RegionalLocal
Tyne and Wear Heritage Way Section 67.1 km
H100 - Beamish Valley5.3 km
Hedley Hall Wood Blue Trail1.4 km
Tyne and Wear Heritage Way Section 71.2 km
Tyne-Wear Trail1.1 km
The Angel's Way0.6 km
Close to home, the H100 - Beamish Valley has 5 km of local walk within 2 km of the town. 4 regional routes pass through, including the Tyne and Wear Heritage Way Section 6, Tyne and Wear Heritage Way Section 7, Tyne-Wear Trail and The Angel's 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 Stanley: 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 | 10.3 | 8.3 | 7.2 |
| High (°C) | 6 | 7 | 9 | 12 | 15 | 17 | 20 | 19 | 17 | 13 | 9 | 6 |
| Rain (mm) | 57 | 47 | 54 | 56 | 53 | 73 | 66 | 75 | 62 | 68 | 72 | 64 |
February is the driest month (47 mm) and July the warmest (highs of 20 °C). Winter days are short, about 7 hours of daylight in December, and 75 mm of rain falls in August, the wettest month. Frost comes on about 51 nights a year. The climate in Stanley →
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.
3Waterfalls2Nature reserves5Picnic sites5.2× towns its size15Playgrounds0.5× towns its size1Campsites
The nearest beaches
Stanley is inland. These are the nearest named beaches, measured from the edge of the town.
Shingles7.0 mi from Stanley’s edge
DirectionsShingle Beach7.2 mi from Stanley’s edge
DirectionsHendon Beach13 mi from Stanley’s edge
DirectionsHerd Sand13 mi from Stanley’s edge
DirectionsGraham's Sand13 mi from Stanley’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
Waterfalls 3
No Place Waterfall0.3 mi from town
DirectionsLetchburn Linn Waterfall0.4 mi from town
DirectionsBeamish Hall Waterfall0.6 mi from town
DirectionsNature reserves 2
Bloemfontein Nature Reserve0.0 mi from town
DirectionsKyo Bogs Local Nature Reserve13 ha · 0.6 mi from town
DirectionsPicnic sites 5
Plus 5 picnic sites without a name on the map.
Campsites 1
Plus 1 campsite 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.
Tanfield LeaAnnfield PlainDiptonBurnhopeNewfieldBurnopfieldStanley
ABCDOutdoors Grade
| Town | Outdoors | Green space, ha per 1,000 | Near a park | Protected within 5 km |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Stanley | B | 1.7 | 88% | 0% |
| Tanfield Lea 1.1 mi | A− | 3.8 | 89% | 0% |
| Annfield Plain 1.9 mi | B+ | 3.4 | 93% | 0% |
| Dipton 2.7 mi | B | 3.2 | 87% | 0% |
| Burnhope 2.9 mi | B+ | 3.1 | 100% | 0% |
| Newfield 2.9 mi | A | 8.3 | 100% | 0% |
| Burnopfield 3.2 mi | C− | 1.5 | 50% | 0% |
Newfield, 2.9 miles away, grades A, the best next door: every resident lives within 400 m of a park. Tanfield Lea and Newfield have at least twice Stanley’s green space per resident. None of the neighbours has a protected landscape within 5 km either.
Questions about the outdoors in Stanley
What is the biggest park in Stanley?
Memorial Park, 6.6 ha (16 acres), with 1 km of path. Oakey Park (3.2 ha) is second. 4 named parks, gardens and playing fields are in the town or within 400 m of it.
Is Stanley near a National Park?
The nearest protected landscape is the North Pennines National Landscape, 6.2 mi south-west of the town’s edge. It covers 1,985 km² and was designated in 1988.
What are the best walks near Stanley?
6 waymarked walking routes pass within 2 km of the town, including the Tyne and Wear Heritage Way Section 6, H100 - Beamish Valley and Hedley Hall Wood Blue Trail.
What is the nearest beach to Stanley?
Shingles, 7.0 mi from the edge of the town, then Shingle Beach (7.2 mi). Stanley itself is inland.
How many people in Stanley live near a park?
88% 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 Stanley?
July and September: the longest days, the warmest afternoons and the least rain of the year, from the Met Office 1991–2020 averages.
Is Stanley good for walking?
For paths, yes: 5.2 km of footpath and right of way per square kilometre, more than 94% of UK towns. For park space per person it beats 36% (1.7 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 Stanley’s overall grade.
Sources
Where Stanley’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.