Simister’s biggest
Heaton Park
Park or garden · 110 m outside town
287 ha (709 acres)8.1 km of path
1 h 45 minto walk all 8.1 km of path
402 pitchesfootball pitches would fit
Centralin the middle of Simister
Directionsto the nearest entrance
Photo: Impudicus · CC BY-SA 4.0COutdoors Grade
Outdoors in Simister · parks, paths & countryside
Simister has more park space per resident than 9 in 10 UK towns
Parks and playing fields in Simister add up to 16.6 ha for every 1,000 residents; the typical UK town has 2.1. No park or playing field is mapped within a 5-minute walk of homes in Simister. 19 km of footpaths run through the village and the kilometre around it, 2.7 for every square kilometre. Simister grades C for the outdoors. A character grade: it isn’t part of the overall grade.
Green space
16.6 ha
per 1,000 residents
Typical UK town 2.1
Near a park
0%
of residents within 400 m
Typical UK town 83%
Footpaths
19 km
2.7 km per km², town + 1 km
Typical UK town 3.0 per km²
Protected landscape
0%
of the land within 5 km
Nearest: Peak District National Park
Character
What kind of outdoors village is Simister?
Read from the data: what stands out first, good and bad.
Room to roam16.6 ha of parks and playing fields per 1,000 residents, more than 98% of UK towns.Parks can be a walk away100% of residents live more than 400 m from a park or playing field.
Simister’s strongest suit is plenty of park space. Where it falls short is how far some homes are from a park.
Outdoors grade
Simister grades C for the outdoors
Each chart is every UK town of 1,000 or more on one measure: the green bar is Simister, 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 35% of UK towns33rd of 60 UK villages its size
Public green space16.6 haper 1,000 residents: parks, gardens, playing fields, play spaces
98out of
100
100
A park within a walk0%of residents within 400 m (a 5-minute walk)
2out of
100
100
National Park or National Landscape0%of the land within 5 km · None within 5 km
31out of
100
100
Footpaths2.7 kmper km², the town and 1 km around it
51out 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
Simister is 33rd of 60 UK villages its size for the outdoors
The 60 UK towns and cities of 1,000 to 1,100 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
Simister2.7
Villages its size2.1
Greater Manchester towns3.9
All UK towns3.0
Green space, ha per 1,000 residents
Simister16.6
Villages its size2.4
Greater Manchester towns2.8
All UK towns2.1
Residents within 400 m of a park
Simister0%
Villages its size71%
Greater Manchester towns85%
All UK towns83%
Against villages its size, Simister stands out most for park space per resident: only 1 of the other 59 has more. It falls furthest behind on homes near a park, where 51 of the others do better.
Show as a table
| Town | Outdoors | Green space | Near a park | Path per km² | Protected | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Lizard Cornwall | A+ | 2.3 | 100% | 3.3 | 30% |
| 2 | Uplyme Devon | A+ | 2.4 | 100% | 3 | 61% |
| 3 | Frampton on Severn Gloucestershire | A+ | 11 | 100% | 3.6 | 0% |
| 4 | Bromham Wiltshire | A+ | 5.8 | 100% | 3.3 | 13% |
| 5 | Blagdon Somerset | A | 3.3 | 100% | 2.9 | 62% |
| 6 | Colney Heath Hertfordshire | A | 8.7 | 100% | 7.4 | 0% |
| 7 | Newnham Gloucestershire | A | 4.2 | 100% | 3.2 | 0% |
| 8 | Heather Leicestershire | A | 16.9 | 100% | 4.7 | 0% |
| 9 | Aberaeron Dyfed | A | 6.1 | 100% | 2.1 | 0% |
| 10 | Blockley Gloucestershire | A | 2.9 | 100% | 2.5 | 86% |
| 11 | Silverdale Lancashire | A | 2.3 | 46% | 3.9 | 76% |
| 12 | North Curry Somerset | A | 6.2 | 100% | 3.5 | 0% |
| 13 | Furness Vale Derbyshire | A− | 2 | 78% | 5 | 36% |
| 14 | Chedgrave Norfolk | A− | 3 | 100% | 1.7 | 26% |
| 15 | Plumpton Green East Sussex | A− | 4.6 | 54% | 3.6 | 37% |
| 16 | Ardleigh Essex | A− | 3.2 | 100% | 1.5 | 21% |
| 17 | Hyde Heath Buckinghamshire | B+ | 5.4 | 68% | 2.1 | 81% |
| 18 | Crowlas Cornwall | B+ | 3.3 | 73% | 1.1 | 23% |
| 19 | Five Ash Down East Sussex | B+ | 2.8 | 0% | 4.1 | 43% |
| 20 | Avening Gloucestershire | B | 0.9 | 100% | 2.3 | 97% |
| 21 | Morchard Bishop Devon | B | 2.6 | 100% | 2.8 | 0% |
| 22 | Flamstead Hertfordshire | B | 2.1 | 82% | 2.7 | 33% |
| 23 | Llanymynech Shropshire | B | 2 | 100% | 2.9 | 0% |
| 24 | Minley Hampshire | B− | 5.7 | 0% | 6.5 | 0% |
| 25 | Sharnford Leicestershire | B− | 1.9 | 100% | 2.9 | 0% |
| 26 | High Shincliffe County Durham | B− | 0.5 | 100% | 4.6 | 0% |
| 27 | Ettington Warwickshire | B− | 3.3 | 100% | 1.6 | 0% |
| 28 | Coopersale Essex | B− | 1.1 | 100% | 3.5 | 0% |
| 29 | Carleton-in-Craven North Yorkshire | C+ | 0.4 | 100% | 2.3 | 10% |
| 30 | Draycott Somerset | C+ | 2.1 | 68% | 2.1 | 46% |
| 31 | Sutterton Lincolnshire | C+ | 2.8 | 100% | 0.4 | 0% |
| 32 | Weston Staffordshire | C+ | 1.3 | 100% | 1 | 4% |
| 33 | Simister Greater Manchester | C | 16.6 | 0% | 2.7 | 0% |
| 34 | Warmington Northamptonshire | C | 1.6 | 100% | 2 | 0% |
| 35 | Little Melton Norfolk | C | 4.2 | 72% | 2 | 0% |
| 36 | Hilton Cambridgeshire | C | 6.8 | 70% | 1.8 | 0% |
| 37 | Huby (Hambleton) North Yorkshire | C | 2.4 | 75% | 1.5 | 2% |
| 38 | Elswick Lancashire | C | 1.8 | 100% | 0.8 | 0% |
| 39 | Freethorpe Norfolk | C− | 2.3 | 26% | 0.7 | 61% |
| 40 | Kimbolton Cambridgeshire | C− | 2.4 | 50% | 2.8 | 0% |
| 41 | Ansley Warwickshire | C− | 1.8 | 64% | 2.8 | 0% |
| 42 | Stebbing Essex | C− | 2.4 | 70% | 2 | 0% |
| 43 | Castle Hedingham Essex | C− | 1.7 | 52% | 3.1 | 0% |
| 44 | Tolleshunt Knights Essex | C− | 3.4 | 41% | 1.8 | 0% |
| 45 | Surfleet Lincolnshire | C− | 4.2 | 0% | 1.8 | 0% |
| 46 | New Quay Dyfed | D | 1.2 | 30% | 1.3 | 0% |
| 47 | Skidby East Riding of Yorkshire | D | 2.8 | 56% | 0.9 | 0% |
| 48 | Snitterfield Warwickshire | D | 2.4 | 63% | 0.8 | 0% |
| 49 | Crundale Dyfed | D | 1.5 | 57% | 0.5 | 5% |
| 50 | Napton on the Hill Warwickshire | D | 0.4 | 69% | 2.5 | 0% |
| 51 | Hevingham Norfolk | D | 1.8 | 0% | 2 | 0% |
| 52 | Wisbech St Mary Cambridgeshire | D | 1.8 | 69% | 0.2 | 0% |
| 53 | Horsham St Faith Norfolk | D | 0.9 | 52% | 1.1 | 0% |
| 54 | Henham Essex | D | 0 | 0% | 3 | 0% |
| 55 | Methwold Norfolk | D− | 1.8 | 61% | 0.5 | 0% |
| 56 | Hockliffe Bedfordshire | D− | 1.2 | 49% | 1.8 | 0% |
| 57 | Pencader Dyfed | D− | 1.2 | 30% | 0.1 | 0% |
| 58 | Wainfleet St Mary Lincolnshire | D− | 0.1 | 0% | 1.5 | 0% |
| 59 | Netheravon Wiltshire | D− | 0.4 | 0% | 1.3 | 0% |
| 60 | Leeming Bar North Yorkshire | D− | 0.7 | 0% | 0.9 | 0% |
The map
Parks, footpaths & countryside
Tap a number to zoom to a park. Tap a layer to hide it. The dashed line is Simister’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 Simister
The biggest is Heaton Park, 287 ha (709 acres). Directions go to the park’s nearest public entrance where Ordnance Survey maps one.
Close to home
Few Simister 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 (0%)Further (100%)
Simister0%
Villages its size71%
Greater Manchester towns85%
All UK towns83%
About 1,100 people live further than that. Playing fields count, so a park within reach isn’t always one with paths or trees; 18 playgrounds are mapped in and around the village, about one for every 59 residents.
National Parks & National Landscapes
The Peak District National Park is 10 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
Peak District National Park covers 1,438 km² and has been a National Park since 1951.
Footpaths & waymarked walks
1 waymarked walk passes through or near Simister
19 km of footpaths, bridleways and rights of way are mapped in Simister and the kilometre around it, 2.7 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
Rochdale Way4.5 km
The regional route here is the Rochdale 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 Simister: 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) | 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 | 20 | 20 | 17 | 14 | 10 | 8 |
| Rain (mm) | 103 | 89 | 79 | 68 | 69 | 83 | 93 | 94 | 96 | 114 | 110 | 126 |
April is the driest month (68 mm) and July the warmest (highs of 20 °C). Winter days are short, about 7 hours of daylight in December, and 126 mm of rain falls in December, the wettest month. Frost comes on about 33 nights a year. The climate in Simister →
The coast
Beaches near Simister
0% of the area within 5 km of Simister is sea, so the Outdoors Grade counts it as inland. 7 beaches are mapped within 5 km, 1 with a name.
Stone Beach3.1 mi from town
DirectionsSea: the area outside the ONS coastline (mean high water). Bathing water quality is published by the Environment Agency (England) and Natural Resources Wales; check it before swimming.
Things to do
4 viewpoints and 18 playgrounds
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.
Every named place, with directions
Viewpoints 4
Lake Viewpoint1.1 mi from town
DirectionsColonnade from Manchester Town Hall1.1 mi from town
DirectionsHeaton Park Colonnade1.1 mi from town
DirectionsPlus 1 viewpoint without a name on the map.
Hills and peaks 1
Parrenthorn0.2 mi from town
DirectionsPlaygrounds 18
Northern Playground0.6 mi from town
DirectionsSouthern Playground0.9 mi from town
DirectionsThatch Leach Lane Playground0.9 mi from town
DirectionsLakeside Adventure Playground1.0 mi from town
DirectionsPlus 14 playgrounds 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.
RhodesWhitefieldPrestwichMiddletonHeywoodRadcliffeSimister
ABCDOutdoors Grade
Prestwich, 1.7 miles away, grades A, the best next door: 94% 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 Simister
What is the biggest park in Simister?
Heaton Park, 287 ha (709 acres), with 8.1 km of path, just outside the built-up area. 1 named park, garden or playing field is in the village or within 400 m of it.
Is Simister near a National Park?
Yes. Peak District National Park begins 10 mi east of the village’s edge. It covers 1,438 km² and has been a National Park since 1951.
What are the best walks near Simister?
1 waymarked walking route passes within 2 km of the village, including the Rochdale Way. Heaton Park alone has 8.1 km of path.
How many people in Simister live near a park?
0% 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 Simister?
May to September: the longest days, the warmest afternoons and the least rain of the year, from the Met Office 1991–2020 averages.
Is Simister good for walking?
About average for paths: 2.7 km of footpath and right of way per square kilometre, more than 51% of UK towns. For park space per person it beats 98% (16.6 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 Simister’s overall grade.
Sources
Where Simister’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.