Abercarn’s biggest
Abercarn Welfare Ground
Playing field
6.2 ha (15 acres)
9 pitchesfootball pitches would fit
Centralin the middle of Abercarn
Directionsto the nearest entrance
Church of St Luke · Photo: Lewis Hulbert · CC BY-SA 3.0B−Outdoors Grade
Outdoors in Abercarn · parks, paths & countryside
Almost everyone in Abercarn lives within a 5-minute walk of a park
The Brecon Beacons National Park begins 5.5 mi from the town’s edge. Parks and playing fields in Abercarn add up to 3.0 ha for every 1,000 residents; the typical UK town has 2.1. 26 km of footpaths run through the town and the kilometre around it, 1.8 for every square kilometre. Abercarn grades B− for the outdoors: #21 of 38 in Gwent. A character grade: it isn’t part of the overall grade.
Green space
3.0 ha
per 1,000 residents
Typical UK town 2.1
Near a park
100%
of residents within 400 m
Typical UK town 83%
Footpaths
26 km
1.8 km per km², town + 1 km
Typical UK town 3.0 per km²
Protected landscape
0%
of the land within 5 km
Brecon Beacons starts 5.5 mi out, past the 5 km
Character
What kind of outdoors town is Abercarn?
Read from the data: what stands out first, good and bad.
A park on every doorstep100% of residents live within 400 m of a park or playing field.Countryside close byThe Brecon Beacons National Park starts 5.5 mi north-east.On a National TrailThe Cambrian Way passes through.
Abercarn’s strongest suit is parks close to every home, followed by the Brecon Beacons National Park close by.
Outdoors grade
Abercarn grades B− for the outdoors
Each chart is every UK town of 1,000 or more on one measure: the green bar is Abercarn, 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 50% of UK towns#21 of 38 in Gwent · 33rd of 60 UK towns its size
Public green space3.0 haper 1,000 residents: parks, gardens, playing fields, play spaces
69out of
100
100
A park within a walk100%of residents within 400 m (a 5-minute walk)
89out of
100
100
National Park or National Landscape0%of the land within 5 km · Brecon Beacons begins just past 5 km
31out of
100
100
Footpaths1.8 kmper km², the town and 1 km around it
23out 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
Abercarn is 33rd of 60 UK towns its size for the outdoors
The 60 UK towns and cities of 4,900 to 5,300 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
Abercarn1.8
Towns its size2.7
Gwent towns2.7
All UK towns3.0
Green space, ha per 1,000 residents
Abercarn3.0
Towns its size2.3
Gwent towns2.5
All UK towns2.1
Residents within 400 m of a park
Abercarn100%
Towns its size75%
Gwent towns85%
All UK towns83%
Against towns its size, Abercarn stands out most for homes near a park: none of the other 59 has more. It falls furthest behind on path per km², where 51 of the others do better.
Show as a table
| Town | Outdoors | Green space | Near a park | Path per km² | Protected | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Cookham Berkshire | A+ | 8.3 | 96% | 4.3 | 19% |
| 2 | Weston Dorset | A+ | 2.5 | 95% | 7.6 | 0% |
| 3 | Whitehill Hampshire | A+ | 10.2 | 74% | 5.1 | 58% |
| 4 | Hungerford Berkshire | A+ | 9.1 | 85% | 3.2 | 100% |
| 5 | Moreton-in-Marsh Gloucestershire | A | 5 | 100% | 1.8 | 55% |
| 6 | Rhymney Gwent | A | 2.9 | 97% | 3.8 | 6% |
| 7 | Meols Merseyside | A | 3.1 | 100% | 2.2 | 0% |
| 8 | Holmfirth West Yorkshire | A | 2.2 | 88% | 4.6 | 27% |
| 9 | Fitzwilliam and Kinsley West Yorkshire | A− | 11.5 | 100% | 3 | 0% |
| 10 | Budleigh Salterton Devon | A− | 2.7 | 70% | 2.3 | 38% |
| 11 | Coleford Gloucestershire | A− | 2.8 | 66% | 4.3 | 48% |
| 12 | Needham Market Suffolk | A− | 7.2 | 88% | 4 | 0% |
| 13 | Overseal and Castle Gresley Derbyshire | A− | 2.5 | 100% | 4.4 | 0% |
| 14 | Northam Devon | A− | 6.8 | 43% | 2 | 16% |
| 15 | Huthwaite Nottinghamshire | B+ | 8.1 | 75% | 4.9 | 0% |
| 16 | Sonning Common Oxfordshire | B+ | 2.6 | 60% | 3.7 | 74% |
| 17 | Seaton Cumbria | B+ | 2.5 | 87% | 2.6 | 0% |
| 18 | Drighlington West Yorkshire | B+ | 4.1 | 92% | 3.3 | 0% |
| 19 | Long Ashton Somerset | B+ | 10.2 | 66% | 4.7 | 0% |
| 20 | Dartmouth Devon | B+ | 2.1 | 71% | 1.8 | 45% |
| 21 | Fremington Devon | B+ | 1.4 | 88% | 2.1 | 10% |
| 22 | Stone Cross East Sussex | B+ | 1.4 | 86% | 2.3 | 9% |
| 23 | Easingwold North Yorkshire | B | 4.3 | 86% | 1.5 | 14% |
| 24 | Grimethorpe South Yorkshire | B | 2.5 | 100% | 2.8 | 0% |
| 25 | Benson Oxfordshire | B | 6 | 44% | 2.3 | 50% |
| 26 | Longstanton and Northstowe Cambridgeshire | B | 4.3 | 86% | 2.8 | 0% |
| 27 | Sedgefield County Durham | B | 6.2 | 81% | 2.8 | 0% |
| 28 | Rowlands Gill Tyne and Wear | B | 4.9 | 84% | 2.8 | 0% |
| 29 | Redbourn Hertfordshire | B | 2.4 | 70% | 3.2 | 11% |
| 30 | Iver Heath Buckinghamshire | B | 28.9 | 53% | 3.8 | 0% |
| 31 | Virginia Water Surrey | B | 14.5 | 72% | 3 | 0% |
| 32 | Hebden Bridge West Yorkshire | B− | 1.6 | 84% | 7.8 | 0% |
| 33 | Abercarn Gwent | B− | 3 | 100% | 1.8 | 0% |
| 34 | Whitburn Tyne and Wear | B− | 2.5 | 46% | 2.5 | 0% |
| 35 | Wool Dorset | C+ | 2.3 | 51% | 2.5 | 33% |
| 36 | Brynmawr Gwent | C+ | 1.2 | 68% | 2.9 | 45% |
| 37 | Sacriston County Durham | C+ | 2.1 | 72% | 4 | 0% |
| 38 | Steeton West Yorkshire | C+ | 1.3 | 100% | 2.7 | 0% |
| 39 | Helsby Cheshire | C+ | 1.4 | 66% | 3.2 | 0% |
| 40 | Church Lancashire | C | 1.5 | 79% | 3.9 | 0% |
| 41 | Oakley Hampshire | C | 1.7 | 56% | 2.6 | 21% |
| 42 | Treharris Mid Glamorgan | C | 2.6 | 72% | 2.6 | 0% |
| 43 | Bungay Suffolk | C | 0.5 | 78% | 2.6 | 12% |
| 44 | Sutton on Sea and Trusthorpe Lincolnshire | C | 1.8 | 67% | 1.5 | 0% |
| 45 | Havercroft and Ryhill West Yorkshire | C | 1.6 | 81% | 2.8 | 0% |
| 46 | Odiham Hampshire | C | 1.9 | 72% | 2.8 | 0% |
| 47 | Long Stratton Norfolk | C− | 1 | 89% | 2.5 | 0% |
| 48 | Jaywick Essex | C− | 1.1 | 75% | 1.4 | 0% |
| 49 | Bayston Hill Shropshire | C− | 1.8 | 70% | 2.7 | 0% |
| 50 | Llangefni Gwynedd | C− | 1.8 | 95% | 0.8 | 0% |
| 51 | Littlestone-on-Sea Kent | C− | 1.4 | 37% | 1.8 | 0% |
| 52 | Shavington Cheshire | C− | 1.1 | 87% | 2.1 | 0% |
| 53 | Potton Bedfordshire | D | 1.3 | 77% | 2.1 | 0% |
| 54 | Haslington Cheshire | D | 1.8 | 41% | 2.6 | 0% |
| 55 | Moorends South Yorkshire | D | 2.2 | 39% | 0.8 | 0% |
| 56 | Winslow Buckinghamshire | D− | 1.4 | 59% | 1.5 | 0% |
| 57 | Wingate County Durham | D− | 1 | 64% | 1.5 | 0% |
| 58 | Harleston Norfolk | D− | 0.2 | 42% | 2.2 | 0% |
| 59 | Appley Bridge Greater Manchester | D− | 0.5 | 44% | 1.8 | 0% |
| 60 | Somerton Somerset | D− | 0.6 | 48% | 1 | 0% |
The map
Parks, footpaths & countryside
Tap a number to zoom to a park. Tap a layer to hide it. The dashed line is Abercarn’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 Abercarn
The biggest is Abercarn Welfare Ground, 6.2 ha (15 acres). Directions go to the park’s nearest public entrance where Ordnance Survey maps one.
Memorial Park
Park or garden
0.3 ha (1 acres)0.1 km of path
0.9 mi southfrom the centre
1 listed
Directionsto the nearest entrance
King George's Field
Playing field
0.5 ha (1 acres)0.2 km of path
Centralin the middle of Abercarn
Directionsto the nearest entrance
Close to home
How close Abercarn’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).
Within 400 m (100%)Further (0%)
Abercarn100%
Towns its size75%
Gwent towns85%
All UK towns83%
Playing fields count, so a park within reach isn’t always one with paths or trees; 20 playgrounds are mapped in and around the town, about one for every 256 residents.
National Parks & National Landscapes
The Brecon Beacons National Park is 5.5 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
National Park
Brecon Beacons
5.5 mi north-east1,350 km²since 1955
Protected landscape begins just outside the 5 km ring the Outdoors Grade measures, so Abercarn scores 0% on it even though the Brecon Beacons National Park is 5.5 mi away. Brecon Beacons National Park covers 1,350 km² and has been a National Park since 1955.
Footpaths & waymarked walks
Abercarn is on the Cambrian Way
26 km of footpaths, bridleways and rights of way are mapped in Abercarn and the kilometre around it, 1.8 km for every square kilometre (the typical UK town has 3.0). Bars show each route’s kilometres within 2 km of the town.
National
Cambrian Way4.9 km
The Cambrian Way, a national route, passes Abercarn.
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 Abercarn: May to 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) | 8.3 | 9.9 | 11.7 | 13.8 | 15.6 | 16.6 | 16.2 | 14.6 | 12.6 | 10.5 | 8.7 | 7.8 |
| High (°C) | 7 | 7 | 10 | 13 | 16 | 19 | 20 | 20 | 18 | 14 | 10 | 7 |
| Rain (mm) | 167 | 120 | 102 | 88 | 91 | 88 | 87 | 110 | 105 | 160 | 160 | 174 |
July is the driest month (87 mm) and the warmest (highs of 20 °C). Winter days are short, about 8 hours of daylight in December, and 174 mm of rain falls in December, the wettest month. Frost comes on about 49 nights a year. The climate in Abercarn →
Things to do
20 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
Abercarn is inland. These are the nearest named beaches, measured from the edge of the town.
The Bendricks17 mi from Abercarn’s edge
DirectionsLadye Bay17 mi from Abercarn’s edge
DirectionsClevedon Beach17 mi from Abercarn’s edge
DirectionsSugar Loaf Beach17 mi from Abercarn’s edge
DirectionsPebble Beach18 mi from Abercarn’s edge
DirectionsGood to know
Check the water before you swim. Natural Resources Wales tests designated bathing waters from May to September and publishes a rating for each beach.
Up high. Medart, at 384 m, is the highest named top within 2 km of Abercarn.
Every named place, with directions
Hills and peaks 3
Medart384 m (1,260 ft) · 0.4 mi from town
DirectionsMynydd Y Lan381 m (1,250 ft) · 0.8 mi from town
DirectionsTwmbarlwm419 m (1,375 ft) · 1.0 mi from town
DirectionsPlaygrounds 20
Feeder Row Children's Playgroundin town
DirectionsPlus 19 playgrounds without a name on the map.
Campsites 2
Cwmcarn Forest Drive Campsite0.1 mi from town
DirectionsCRAI Scout Activity Centre1.0 mi from town
DirectionsNext door
The outdoors in nearby towns
The nearest towns of 1,000+ within 12 miles. Tap a town for its outdoors page.
NewbridgeSwffrydPontllanfraithOakdaleRiscaCwmfelinfachAbercarn
ABCDOutdoors Grade
| Town | Outdoors | Green space, ha per 1,000 | Near a park | Protected within 5 km |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Abercarn | B− | 3.0 | 100% | 0% |
| Newbridge 1.6 mi | C | 2.2 | 94% | 0% |
| Swffryd 2.4 mi | D− | 1.4 | 17% | 0% |
| Pontllanfraith 2.6 mi | B | 3.7 | 93% | 0% |
| Oakdale 2.8 mi | C+ | 5.2 | 79% | 0% |
| Risca 2.8 mi | A− | 6.9 | 94% | 0% |
| Cwmfelinfach 2.9 mi | A− | 24.6 | 100% | 0% |
Cwmfelinfach, 2.9 miles away, grades A−, the best next door: every resident lives within 400 m of a park. Risca and Cwmfelinfach have at least twice Abercarn’s green space per resident. None of the neighbours has a protected landscape within 5 km either.
Questions about the outdoors in Abercarn
What is the biggest park in Abercarn?
Abercarn Welfare Ground, 6.2 ha (15 acres). Memorial Park (0.3 ha) is second. 3 named parks, gardens and playing fields are in the town or within 400 m of it.
Is Abercarn near a National Park?
Yes. Brecon Beacons National Park begins 5.5 mi north-east of the town’s edge. It covers 1,350 km² and has been a National Park since 1955.
What are the best walks near Abercarn?
1 waymarked walking route passes within 2 km of the town, including the Cambrian Way.
What is the nearest beach to Abercarn?
The Bendricks, 17 mi from the edge of the town, then Ladye Bay (17 mi). Abercarn itself is inland.
How many people in Abercarn 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 Abercarn?
May to September: the longest days, the warmest afternoons and the least rain of the year, from the Met Office 1991–2020 averages.
Is Abercarn good for walking?
Paths are thinner than most towns: 1.8 km of footpath and right of way per square kilometre, more than 23% of UK towns. For park space per person it beats 69% (3.0 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 Abercarn’s overall grade.
Sources
Where Abercarn’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.