Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Photo: Jdhowens90 at English Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 3.0Parks and playing fields in Romiley add up to 3.9 ha for every 1,000 residents; the typical UK town has 2.1. The Peak District National Park begins 2.8 mi from the town’s edge. 61 km of footpaths run through the town and the kilometre around it, 3.8 for every square kilometre. Romiley grades A− for the outdoors: #14 of 81 in Greater Manchester. A character grade: it isn’t part of the overall grade.
Read from the data: what stands out first, good and bad.
Romiley’s strongest suit is plenty of park space, followed by dense footpaths.
Each chart is every UK town of 1,000 or more on one measure: the green bar is Romiley, the dashed line the typical town. The number is the share of towns it beats; the five are averaged and the average ranked again.
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.
The 60 UK towns and cities of 10,300 to 11,500 people with an Outdoors Grade. Hover a dot for its figures; tap one for its page.
Against towns its size, Romiley stands out most for park space per resident: only 10 of the other 59 have more.
| Town | Outdoors | Green space | Near a park | Path per km² | Protected | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Weybourne Surrey | A+ | 7.1 | 86% | 6.1 | 14% |
| 2 | West End Hampshire | A | 9.1 | 100% | 6.1 | 0% |
| 3 | Brierfield Lancashire | A | 2.1 | 92% | 5.6 | 18% |
| 4 | Penryn Cornwall | A | 1.9 | 91% | 2.6 | 31% |
| 5 | Great Harwood Lancashire | A | 2.2 | 97% | 4.3 | 4% |
| 6 | Godalming Surrey | A− | 4.6 | 73% | 3.1 | 66% |
| 7 | Soham Cambridgeshire | A− | 4.7 | 97% | 4.1 | 0% |
| 8 | Conisbrough South Yorkshire | A− | 5.3 | 99% | 3.8 | 0% |
| 9 | Platt Bridge and Abram Greater Manchester | A− | 3.7 | 98% | 4.3 | 0% |
| 10 | Royston South Yorkshire | A− | 7.9 | 97% | 3.4 | 0% |
| 11 | Romiley Greater Manchester | A− | 3.9 | 80% | 3.8 | 1% |
| 12 | Southwater West Sussex | A− | 3.4 | 82% | 3.7 | 3% |
| 13 | Sawbridgeworth Hertfordshire | A− | 4 | 85% | 5.4 | 0% |
| 14 | Chadwell St Mary Essex | A− | 3.2 | 97% | 2.2 | 0% |
| 15 | Whitwick Leicestershire | A− | 4.2 | 84% | 5.5 | 0% |
| 16 | Kearsley Greater Manchester | A− | 3.4 | 91% | 4.2 | 0% |
| 17 | Uppermill Greater Manchester | A− | 2.4 | 70% | 4.8 | 27% |
| 18 | Tidworth Wiltshire | B+ | 3.7 | 90% | 2.3 | 8% |
| 19 | Pelsall West Midlands | B+ | 6.1 | 95% | 2.9 | 0% |
| 20 | Ross-on-Wye Herefordshire | B+ | 1.9 | 76% | 3.4 | 56% |
| 21 | Barnoldswick Lancashire | B+ | 1.8 | 87% | 4 | 2% |
| 22 | South Elmsall West Yorkshire | B+ | 9 | 92% | 2.5 | 0% |
| 23 | Cranleigh Surrey | B | 2.5 | 20% | 4.3 | 38% |
| 24 | Corsham Wiltshire | B | 1.9 | 81% | 3 | 31% |
| 25 | Baldock Hertfordshire | B | 2.1 | 91% | 4.3 | 0% |
| 26 | Warmsworth South Yorkshire | B | 2.7 | 79% | 4.7 | 0% |
| 27 | Great Dunmow Essex | B | 2 | 92% | 4 | 0% |
| 28 | Gillingham Dorset | B | 1.9 | 91% | 2.6 | 3% |
| 29 | Sandbach Cheshire | B− | 2.5 | 87% | 3.4 | 0% |
| 30 | Helston Cornwall | B− | 1.3 | 61% | 2.7 | 21% |
| 31 | Mossley Greater Manchester | B− | 0.9 | 74% | 4.5 | 14% |
| 32 | Oswaldtwistle Lancashire | B− | 1.1 | 94% | 4.6 | 0% |
| 33 | Filton Gloucestershire | B− | 3.3 | 40% | 4.8 | 0% |
| 34 | Cambourne Cambridgeshire | B− | 0.7 | 91% | 7.1 | 0% |
| 35 | Baglan West Glamorgan | C+ | 2.5 | 69% | 1.9 | 0% |
| 36 | Liskeard Cornwall | C+ | 0.8 | 89% | 2.7 | 6% |
| 37 | Bolsover Derbyshire | C+ | 1.9 | 85% | 2.9 | 0% |
| 38 | Selsey West Sussex | C | 1.6 | 79% | 1.4 | 0% |
| 39 | Earl Shilton Leicestershire | C | 1.5 | 98% | 2.4 | 0% |
| 40 | Sandy Bedfordshire | C | 0.9 | 76% | 5.4 | 0% |
| 41 | Brimington Derbyshire | C | 1.2 | 72% | 4.5 | 0% |
| 42 | Ulverston Cumbria | C | 0.7 | 60% | 1.8 | 8% |
| 43 | Towcester Northamptonshire | C | 1.3 | 77% | 3.6 | 0% |
| 44 | Epping Essex | C− | 1.2 | 70% | 3.7 | 0% |
| 45 | Attleborough Norfolk | C− | 1.8 | 93% | 1.4 | 0% |
| 46 | Hexham Northumberland | C− | 1.5 | 64% | 2 | 9% |
| 47 | Cleveleys Lancashire | C− | 0.8 | 71% | 1.8 | 0% |
| 48 | Downham Market Norfolk | C− | 1.5 | 77% | 2.7 | 0% |
| 49 | Chatteris Cambridgeshire | C− | 1.4 | 94% | 1.7 | 0% |
| 50 | Lutterworth Leicestershire | C− | 1.7 | 83% | 2 | 0% |
| 51 | Cheadle Staffordshire | C− | 1.7 | 90% | 1.4 | 0% |
| 52 | West Moors Dorset | C− | 0.9 | 33% | 3.1 | 0% |
| 53 | New Ollerton and Ollerton Nottinghamshire | C− | 0.8 | 80% | 2.8 | 0% |
| 54 | Dinnington South Yorkshire | C− | 1.1 | 81% | 2.4 | 0% |
| 55 | Leominster Herefordshire | C− | 1.1 | 72% | 2.8 | 0% |
| 56 | Newtown Powys | D | 2.3 | 65% | 1.6 | 0% |
| 57 | Sherborne Dorset | D | 1.2 | 76% | 2.1 | 0% |
| 58 | Longton Lancashire | D | 1.7 | 60% | 2.1 | 0% |
| 59 | Burton Latimer Northamptonshire | D | 0.9 | 62% | 2.8 | 0% |
| 60 | Tonyrefail Mid Glamorgan | D− | 0.7 | 48% | 1.1 | 0% |
Tap a number to zoom to a park. Tap a layer to hide it. The dashed line is Romiley’s built-up area.
The biggest is Chadkirk Estate, 32 ha (79 acres). Directions go to the park’s nearest public entrance where Ordnance Survey maps one.
The two biggest, Chadkirk Estate and Brabyns Park, are 93% of the named green space and carry 6 km of path between them.
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 2,200 people live further than that. Playing fields count, so a park within reach isn’t always one with paths or trees; 42 playgrounds are mapped in and around the town, about one for every 260 residents.
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.
Peak District National Park covers 1,438 km² and has been a National Park since 1951.
61 km of footpaths, bridleways and rights of way are mapped in Romiley and the kilometre around it, 3.8 km for every square kilometre (the typical UK town has 3.0). Bars show each route’s kilometres within 2 km of the town.
Close to home, the Etherow - Goyt Valley Way has 11 km of local walk within 2 km of the town. 4 regional routes pass through, including the Midshires Way, GM Ringway Stage 7, Trans-Pennine Trail (Stockport to Silkstone Common) and GM Ringway Stage 6.
Waymarked walks are OpenStreetMap walking routes. Public rights of way are only as complete as the map in each area.
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) | 8.0 | 9.7 | 11.7 | 13.9 | 15.9 | 17.0 | 16.5 | 14.8 | 12.6 | 10.4 | 8.5 | 7.5 |
| High (°C) | 7 | 8 | 10 | 13 | 16 | 19 | 21 | 20 | 18 | 14 | 10 | 8 |
| Rain (mm) | 84 | 68 | 62 | 56 | 65 | 76 | 92 | 86 | 80 | 102 | 89 | 99 |
April is the driest month (56 mm) and July the warmest (highs of 21 °C). Winter days are short, about 8 hours of daylight in December, and 102 mm of rain falls in October, the wettest month. Frost comes on about 34 nights a year. The climate in Romiley →
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.
Romiley 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.
Plus 1 viewpoint without a name on the map.
Plus 41 playgrounds without a name on the map.
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Romiley | A− | 3.9 | 80% | 1% |
| Bredbury and Woodley 1.0 mi | A | 4.8 | 94% | 0% |
| Marple 1.7 mi | B+ | 3.4 | 64% | 5% |
| Marple Bridge 1.9 mi | A | 9.9 | 80% | 13% |
| Hyde 2.7 mi | A | 4.3 | 91% | 1% |
| Denton 2.9 mi | B | 2.4 | 88% | 0% |
| Hazel Grove 2.9 mi | B+ | 2.9 | 62% | 3% |
Marple Bridge, 1.9 miles away, grades A, the best next door: 80% of its residents live within 400 m of a park. Marple Bridge has at least twice Romiley’s green space per resident.
Chadkirk Estate, 32 ha (79 acres), with 2.3 km of path. Brabyns Park (25 ha) is second. 4 named parks, gardens and playing fields are in the town or within 400 m of it.
Yes. Peak District National Park begins 2.8 mi east of the town’s edge. It covers 1,438 km² and has been a National Park since 1951.
9 waymarked walking routes pass within 2 km of the town, including the Midshires Way, Etherow - Goyt Valley Way and GM Ringway Stage 7. Chadkirk Estate alone has 2.3 km of path.
Stone Beach, 14 mi from the edge of the town, then Wader Point (14 mi). Romiley itself is inland.
80% 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%.
May to September: the longest days, the warmest afternoons and the least rain of the year, from the Met Office 1991–2020 averages.
For paths, yes: 3.8 km of footpath and right of way per square kilometre, more than 77% of UK towns. For park space per person it beats 81% (3.9 ha per 1,000 residents).
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 Romiley’s overall grade.
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.