Photo: Tom Tunney · Public domainAlmost everyone in Thornley lives within a 5-minute walk of a park
Parks and playing fields in Thornley add up to 3.2 ha for every 1,000 residents; the typical UK town has 2.1. 25 km of footpaths run through the town and the kilometre around it, 2.9 for every square kilometre. Thornley grades B+ for the outdoors: #9 of 52 in County Durham. A character grade: it isn’t part of the overall grade.
Thornley grades B+ for the outdoors
Each chart is every UK town of 1,000 or more on one measure: the green bar is Thornley, 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.
Thornley is 19th of 60 UK towns its size for the outdoors
The 60 UK towns and cities of 2,400 to 2,600 people with an Outdoors Grade. Hover a dot for its figures; tap one for its page.
Against towns its size, Thornley stands out most for park space per resident: only 21 of the other 59 have more.
Show as a table
| Town | Outdoors | Green space | Near a park | Path per km² | Protected | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Petworth West Sussex | A+ | 29.6 | 100% | 4.1 | 93% |
| 2 | Tywardreath Cornwall | A+ | 4.6 | 100% | 2.5 | 26% |
| 3 | Shalford Surrey | A+ | 14.9 | 89% | 4.8 | 47% |
| 4 | Silloth Cumbria | A+ | 7.3 | 100% | 1.4 | 17% |
| 5 | Hopton on Sea Norfolk | A+ | 6.7 | 100% | 1.6 | 2% |
| 6 | Dolgellau Gwynedd | A | 3.6 | 100% | 1.9 | 100% |
| 7 | Binley Woods Warwickshire | A | 5.5 | 100% | 4.3 | 0% |
| 8 | Rowhedge Essex | A | 1.6 | 100% | 6.4 | 0% |
| 9 | Maple Cross Hertfordshire | A | 3.1 | 100% | 2.9 | 14% |
| 10 | Hawley Hampshire | A | 6.9 | 92% | 5.8 | 0% |
| 11 | Chopwell Tyne and Wear | A | 7.5 | 100% | 3.4 | 0% |
| 12 | Longford Gloucestershire | A | 11.9 | 100% | 3.3 | 0% |
| 13 | Darenth Kent | A− | 1.8 | 100% | 4.3 | 1% |
| 14 | Drybrook Gloucestershire | A− | 3.9 | 83% | 3.4 | 10% |
| 15 | South Anston South Yorkshire | A− | 3.5 | 100% | 3.4 | 0% |
| 16 | Stewartby Bedfordshire | A− | 21 | 100% | 2.4 | 0% |
| 17 | Saundersfoot Dyfed | A− | 10.2 | 69% | 0.9 | 19% |
| 18 | Porthmadog Gwynedd | B+ | 0.9 | 94% | 2 | 41% |
| 19 | Thornley County Durham | B+ | 3.2 | 100% | 2.9 | 0% |
| 20 | Witton Gilbert County Durham | B+ | 2.1 | 100% | 3.9 | 0% |
| 21 | Craven Arms Shropshire | B | 1.3 | 87% | 2.9 | 59% |
| 22 | Barlestone Leicestershire | B | 3 | 100% | 2.3 | 0% |
| 23 | Oakley Bedfordshire | B | 3.2 | 100% | 2 | 0% |
| 24 | Pannal North Yorkshire | B− | 3.7 | 77% | 3 | 0% |
| 25 | Coundon and Leeholme County Durham | B− | 4.4 | 100% | 1 | 0% |
| 26 | Brewood Staffordshire | B− | 3 | 100% | 1.6 | 0% |
| 27 | Kelvedon Hatch Essex | B− | 7.3 | 77% | 2.5 | 0% |
| 28 | Seer Green Buckinghamshire | B− | 1.7 | 38% | 3.8 | 35% |
| 29 | Grimsargh Lancashire | B− | 2.6 | 67% | 2.8 | 2% |
| 30 | Ash Green Warwickshire | B− | 3.4 | 67% | 3.6 | 0% |
| 31 | Timsbury Somerset | B− | 2.7 | 68% | 4.1 | 0% |
| 32 | Bishop's Itchington Warwickshire | C+ | 1.5 | 100% | 2.8 | 0% |
| 33 | Crossways Dorset | C+ | 0.5 | 100% | 1.8 | 22% |
| 34 | Shepley West Yorkshire | C+ | 1.6 | 87% | 3.5 | 0% |
| 35 | Widdrington Station Northumberland | C+ | 1 | 88% | 2.4 | 0% |
| 36 | Caton Lancashire | C+ | 1.2 | 72% | 2.2 | 67% |
| 37 | Steeple Claydon Buckinghamshire | C+ | 1.5 | 100% | 2.2 | 0% |
| 38 | Stratton Gloucestershire | C | 0.7 | 46% | 3.3 | 70% |
| 39 | Great Houghton South Yorkshire | C | 1.8 | 100% | 1.7 | 0% |
| 40 | Heage Derbyshire | C | 1.9 | 78% | 3.1 | 0% |
| 41 | Watlington Norfolk | C | 2.3 | 100% | 0.6 | 0% |
| 42 | Llandybie Dyfed | C | 2.6 | 59% | 1.2 | 13% |
| 43 | Laleham Surrey | C | 9.8 | 34% | 2.1 | 0% |
| 44 | Ash (Dover) Kent | C | 2.3 | 72% | 2.4 | 0% |
| 45 | Hatton Derbyshire | C− | 3.3 | 61% | 1.7 | 0% |
| 46 | Loggerheads Staffordshire | C− | 1.2 | 86% | 2.1 | 0% |
| 47 | Cwm Gwent | C− | 2 | 12% | 3.1 | 0% |
| 48 | Cliffe Kent | C− | 1.1 | 55% | 1.9 | 0% |
| 49 | Probus Cornwall | C− | 0.6 | 75% | 1.5 | 15% |
| 50 | East Harling Norfolk | D | 1.7 | 85% | 0.9 | 0% |
| 51 | Lampeter Dyfed | D | 1.5 | 88% | 0.9 | 0% |
| 52 | Long Crendon Buckinghamshire | D | 1.4 | 86% | 0.8 | 0% |
| 53 | Fordham Cambridgeshire | D | 2.3 | 35% | 1.7 | 0% |
| 54 | Long Itchington Warwickshire | D | 2.1 | 45% | 1.7 | 0% |
| 55 | Clophill Bedfordshire | D | 0.7 | 41% | 3.1 | 0% |
| 56 | Silverstone Northamptonshire | D | 1.1 | 0% | 2.8 | 0% |
| 57 | Holme upon Spalding Moor East Riding of Yorkshire | D− | 1.5 | 41% | 0.8 | 0% |
| 58 | Nafferton East Riding of Yorkshire | D− | 1.3 | 56% | 0.6 | 0% |
| 59 | Rhos West Glamorgan | D− | 1 | 58% | 0.8 | 0% |
| 60 | Cranwell Lincolnshire | D− | 0.5 | 57% | 1.1 | 0% |
Parks, footpaths & countryside
Tap a number to zoom to a park. Tap a layer to hide it. The dashed line is Thornley’s built-up area.
How close Thornley’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).
Playing fields count, so a park within reach isn’t always one with paths or trees; 8 playgrounds are mapped in and around the town, about one for every 318 residents.
The North Pennines National Landscape is 16 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.
6 waymarked walks pass through or near Thornley
25 km of footpaths, bridleways and rights of way are mapped in Thornley and the kilometre around it, 2.9 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 regional route here is the Way of Love.
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 Thornley: 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 | 10 | 12 | 15 | 17 | 20 | 19 | 17 | 13 | 9 | 7 |
| Rain (mm) | 54 | 48 | 46 | 54 | 49 | 67 | 66 | 74 | 60 | 72 | 77 | 64 |
March is the driest month (46 mm) and July the warmest (highs of 20 °C). Winter days are short, about 7 hours of daylight in December, and 77 mm of rain falls in November, the wettest month. Frost comes on about 54 nights a year. The climate in Thornley →
8 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
Thornley 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
Nature reserves 1
Playgrounds 8
Plus 8 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.
| Town | Outdoors | Green space, ha per 1,000 | Near a park | Protected within 5 km |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Thornley | B+ | 3.2 | 100% | 0% |
| Wheatley Hill 1.2 mi | B+ | 2.6 | 100% | 0% |
| Shotton Colliery 2.2 mi | D− | 0.9 | 40% | 0% |
| Haswell 2.4 mi | C+ | 3.2 | 100% | 0% |
| Kelloe 2.5 mi | B | 5.6 | 42% | 0% |
| Trimdon Colliery 2.6 mi | B+ | 4.7 | 100% | 0% |
| Trimdon Grange 2.7 mi | C+ | 2.1 | 100% | 0% |
Thornley grades higher for the outdoors than every neighbour in the table. None of the neighbours has a protected landscape within 5 km either.
Questions about the outdoors in Thornley
Is Thornley near a National Park?
The nearest protected landscape is the North Pennines National Landscape, 16 mi west of the town’s edge. It covers 1,985 km² and was designated in 1988.
What are the best walks near Thornley?
6 waymarked walking routes pass within 2 km of the town, including the Cassop Vale circular walk, Heritage 100 - Cassop, Quarrington Hill and Kelloe and Cassop-cum-Quarrington circular walk.
What is the nearest beach to Thornley?
Shippersea Bay, 5.6 mi from the edge of the town, then Hawthorn Hive (5.8 mi). Thornley itself is inland.
How many people in Thornley 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 Thornley?
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 Thornley good for walking?
About average for paths: 2.9 km of footpath and right of way per square kilometre, more than 56% of UK towns. For park space per person it beats 72% (3.2 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 Thornley’s overall grade.
Where Thornley’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.