Brynmawr’s biggest
Welfare Park
Park or garden
3.1 ha (8 acres)0.2 km of path
4 pitchesfootball pitches would fit
Centralin the middle of Brynmawr
Directionsto the nearest entrance
Photo: Jeff Gogarty · CC BY-SA 2.0C+Outdoors Grade
Outdoors in Brynmawr · parks, paths & countryside
45% of the land within 5 km of Brynmawr is National Park or National Landscape
The Brecon Beacons National Park reaches the edge of Brynmawr. Parks and playing fields in Brynmawr add up to 1.2 ha for every 1,000 residents; the typical UK town has 2.1. A park or playing field is within a 5-minute walk for 68% of residents. Brynmawr grades C+ for the outdoors: #27 of 38 in Gwent. A character grade: it isn’t part of the overall grade.
Green space
1.2 ha
per 1,000 residents
Typical UK town 2.1
Near a park
68%
of residents within 400 m
Typical UK town 83%
Footpaths
30 km
2.9 km per km², town + 1 km
Typical UK town 3.0 per km²
Protected landscape
45%
of the land within 5 km
Nearest: Brecon Beacons National Park
Character
What kind of outdoors town is Brynmawr?
Read from the data: what stands out first, good and bad.
Protected countryside45% of the land within 5 km is Brecon Beacons National Park.Less park per person1.2 ha of parks and playing fields per 1,000 residents; the typical UK town has 2.1.
Brynmawr’s strongest suit is protected countryside on the doorstep. Where it falls short is park space per person.
Outdoors grade
Brynmawr grades C+ for the outdoors
Each chart is every UK town of 1,000 or more on one measure: the green bar is Brynmawr, 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 39% of UK towns#27 of 38 in Gwent · 34th of 60 UK towns its size
Public green space1.2 haper 1,000 residents: parks, gardens, playing fields, play spaces
17out of
100
100
A park within a walk68%of residents within 400 m (a 5-minute walk)
28out of
100
100
National Park or National Landscape45%of the land within 5 km
90out of
100
100
Footpaths2.9 kmper km², the town and 1 km around it
56out 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
Brynmawr is 34th of 60 UK towns its size for the outdoors
The 60 UK towns and cities of 5,000 to 5,500 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
Brynmawr2.9
Towns its size2.7
Gwent towns2.7
All UK towns3.0
Green space, ha per 1,000 residents
Brynmawr1.2
Towns its size2.1
Gwent towns2.5
All UK towns2.1
Residents within 400 m of a park
Brynmawr68%
Towns its size73%
Gwent towns85%
All UK towns83%
Brynmawr falls furthest behind on park space per resident, where 49 of the 59 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 | St Ives Cornwall | A | 0.8 | 89% | 3.5 | 24% |
| 6 | Budleigh Salterton Devon | A− | 2.7 | 70% | 2.3 | 38% |
| 7 | Edwinstowe Nottinghamshire | A− | 5.6 | 90% | 4 | 0% |
| 8 | Hoylake Merseyside | A− | 3.5 | 83% | 2.6 | 0% |
| 9 | Brotton North Yorkshire | A− | 1.4 | 89% | 3 | 2% |
| 10 | Eynsham Oxfordshire | A− | 3 | 94% | 2.8 | 1% |
| 11 | Northam Devon | A− | 6.8 | 43% | 2 | 16% |
| 12 | Highbridge Somerset | B+ | 2.9 | 83% | 2.9 | 0% |
| 13 | Sonning Common Oxfordshire | B+ | 2.6 | 60% | 3.7 | 74% |
| 14 | Llantwit Major South Glamorgan | B+ | 3.2 | 83% | 2.4 | 0% |
| 15 | Drighlington West Yorkshire | B+ | 4.1 | 92% | 3.3 | 0% |
| 16 | Whitchurch Hampshire | B+ | 2.3 | 75% | 3.3 | 43% |
| 17 | New Alresford Hampshire | B+ | 2 | 94% | 2.3 | 38% |
| 18 | Waverley and Catcliffe South Yorkshire | B+ | 8.8 | 65% | 5 | 0% |
| 19 | Shrivenham and Watchfield Oxfordshire | B+ | 3.5 | 96% | 1.7 | 6% |
| 20 | Long Ashton Somerset | B+ | 10.2 | 66% | 4.7 | 0% |
| 21 | Dartmouth Devon | B+ | 2.1 | 71% | 1.8 | 45% |
| 22 | Newent Gloucestershire | B+ | 3 | 100% | 2.7 | 0% |
| 23 | Battle East Sussex | B+ | 1.7 | 64% | 4.3 | 84% |
| 24 | Fremington Devon | B+ | 1.4 | 88% | 2.1 | 10% |
| 25 | Benson Oxfordshire | B | 6 | 44% | 2.3 | 50% |
| 26 | Longstanton and Northstowe Cambridgeshire | B | 4.3 | 86% | 2.8 | 0% |
| 27 | Rowlands Gill Tyne and Wear | B | 4.9 | 84% | 2.8 | 0% |
| 28 | Redbourn Hertfordshire | B | 2.4 | 70% | 3.2 | 11% |
| 29 | Iver Heath Buckinghamshire | B | 28.9 | 53% | 3.8 | 0% |
| 30 | Virginia Water Surrey | B | 14.5 | 72% | 3 | 0% |
| 31 | Hebden Bridge West Yorkshire | B− | 1.6 | 84% | 7.8 | 0% |
| 32 | Abercarn Gwent | B− | 3 | 100% | 1.8 | 0% |
| 33 | Midhurst West Sussex | C+ | 0.3 | 28% | 4.3 | 100% |
| 34 | Brynmawr Gwent | C+ | 1.2 | 68% | 2.9 | 45% |
| 35 | Sacriston County Durham | C+ | 2.1 | 72% | 4 | 0% |
| 36 | Helsby Cheshire | C+ | 1.4 | 66% | 3.2 | 0% |
| 37 | Oakley Hampshire | C | 1.7 | 56% | 2.6 | 21% |
| 38 | Havercroft and Ryhill West Yorkshire | C | 1.6 | 81% | 2.8 | 0% |
| 39 | Bovingdon Hertfordshire | C | 1.4 | 55% | 2.3 | 26% |
| 40 | Shevington Greater Manchester | C | 1.8 | 73% | 2.9 | 0% |
| 41 | Odiham Hampshire | C | 1.9 | 72% | 2.8 | 0% |
| 42 | Waterbeach Cambridgeshire | C | 1.5 | 94% | 1.9 | 0% |
| 43 | Looe Cornwall | C− | 0.1 | 47% | 1.7 | 6% |
| 44 | Long Stratton Norfolk | C− | 1 | 89% | 2.5 | 0% |
| 45 | Bayston Hill Shropshire | C− | 1.8 | 70% | 2.7 | 0% |
| 46 | Ludgershall Wiltshire | C− | 0.7 | 72% | 1.9 | 32% |
| 47 | Llangefni Gwynedd | C− | 1.8 | 95% | 0.8 | 0% |
| 48 | Ingatestone Essex | C− | 3.2 | 56% | 2 | 0% |
| 49 | Measham Leicestershire | C− | 1.3 | 83% | 2.4 | 0% |
| 50 | Littlestone-on-Sea Kent | C− | 1.4 | 37% | 1.8 | 0% |
| 51 | Long Sutton Lincolnshire | D | 2.2 | 81% | 0.7 | 0% |
| 52 | Potton Bedfordshire | D | 1.3 | 77% | 2.1 | 0% |
| 53 | Blackrod Greater Manchester | D | 1 | 83% | 1.9 | 0% |
| 54 | Wigton Cumbria | D | 2.4 | 65% | 1 | 0% |
| 55 | Thornton West Yorkshire | D | 0.4 | 54% | 3.1 | 0% |
| 56 | Moorends South Yorkshire | D | 2.2 | 39% | 0.8 | 0% |
| 57 | Winslow Buckinghamshire | D− | 1.4 | 59% | 1.5 | 0% |
| 58 | Appley Bridge Greater Manchester | D− | 0.5 | 44% | 1.8 | 0% |
| 59 | Ravenshead Nottinghamshire | D− | 0.1 | 0% | 1.9 | 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 Brynmawr’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 Brynmawr
The biggest is Welfare Park, 3.1 ha (8 acres). Directions go to the park’s nearest public entrance where Ordnance Survey maps one.
Close to home
7 in 10 Brynmawr 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 (68%)Further (32%)
Brynmawr68%
Towns its size73%
Gwent towns85%
All UK towns83%
About 1,700 people live further than that. Playing fields count, so a park within reach isn’t always one with paths or trees; 14 playgrounds are mapped in and around the town, about one for every 375 residents.
National Parks & National Landscapes
National Parks and National Landscapes around Brynmawr
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
At the edge north-east1,350 km²since 195545% of the land within 5 km
45% of the land within 5 km of Brynmawr is National Park or National Landscape, more than 90% of UK towns. Brecon Beacons National Park covers 1,350 km² and has been a National Park since 1955.
Footpaths & waymarked walks
Footpaths in and around Brynmawr
30 km of footpaths, bridleways and rights of way are mapped in Brynmawr and the kilometre around it, 2.9 km for every square kilometre (the typical UK town has 3.0).
No named walking route is mapped within 2 km of Brynmawr; its footpaths are on the map above.
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 Brynmawr: June 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 | 16.7 | 16.2 | 14.6 | 12.6 | 10.5 | 8.7 | 7.8 |
| High (°C) | 6 | 6 | 9 | 12 | 15 | 18 | 19 | 19 | 16 | 12 | 9 | 7 |
| Rain (mm) | 182 | 133 | 113 | 92 | 91 | 82 | 96 | 105 | 110 | 167 | 165 | 187 |
June is the driest month (82 mm) and July the warmest (highs of 19 °C). Winter days are short, about 8 hours of daylight in December, and 187 mm of rain falls in December, the wettest month. Frost comes on about 54 nights a year. The climate in Brynmawr →
Things to do
14 playgrounds
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.
Every named place, with directions
Hills and peaks 4
Mulfran524 m (1,719 ft) · 0.6 mi from town
DirectionsTwyn Carn-Canddo500 m (1,640 ft) · 0.9 mi from town
DirectionsWaun Cyrn470 m (1,542 ft) · 1.1 mi from town
DirectionsMynydd Pen-cyrn529 m (1,736 ft) · 1.2 mi from town
DirectionsWaterfalls 1
Plus 1 waterfall without a name on the map.
Nature reserves 2
Parc Nant y Waun21 ha · 0.1 mi from town
DirectionsBeaufort Hill Ponds & Woodlands83 ha · 0.3 mi from town
DirectionsPlaygrounds 14
Plus 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.
NantygloEbbw ValeBlainaTredegarCwmGilwernBrynmawr
ABCDOutdoors Grade
Nantyglo, 1 miles away, grades A−, the best next door: 82% of its residents live within 400 m of a park. Nantyglo and Tredegar have at least twice Brynmawr’s green space per resident.
Questions about the outdoors in Brynmawr
What is the biggest park in Brynmawr?
Welfare Park, 3.1 ha (8 acres). 1 named park, garden or playing field is in the town or within 400 m of it.
Is Brynmawr near a National Park?
Brecon Beacons National Park reaches the edge of Brynmawr. It covers 1,350 km² and has been a National Park since 1955.
How many people in Brynmawr live near a park?
68% 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 Brynmawr?
June to September: the longest days, the warmest afternoons and the least rain of the year, from the Met Office 1991–2020 averages.
Is Brynmawr 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 17% (1.2 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 Brynmawr’s overall grade.
Sources
Where Brynmawr’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.