Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Photo: English wikipedia · Public domainThe sea makes up 24% of the area within 5 km. Parks and playing fields in Netley add up to 16.3 ha for every 1,000 residents; the typical UK town has 2.1. The New Forest National Park begins 1.9 mi from the town’s edge. Netley grades A+ for the outdoors: #1 of 76 in Hampshire. A character grade: it isn’t part of the overall grade.
Read from the data: what stands out first, good and bad.
Netley’s strongest suit is the sea, followed by plenty of park space.
Each chart is every UK town of 1,000 or more on one measure: the green bar is Netley, 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 6,000 to 6,600 people with an Outdoors Grade. Hover a dot for its figures; tap one for its page.
Against towns its size, Netley stands out most for park space per resident: only 1 of the other 59 has more.
| Town | Outdoors | Green space | Near a park | Path per km² | Protected | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Netley Hampshire | A+ | 16.3 | 100% | 4.1 | 4% |
| 2 | Stone Kent | A+ | 3.1 | 100% | 6.2 | 0% |
| 3 | Wingerworth Derbyshire | A | 9 | 86% | 4 | 0% |
| 4 | Shotton Clwyd | A | 4.5 | 100% | 4.7 | 0% |
| 5 | Boldon Colliery Tyne and Wear | A | 5.3 | 95% | 5.4 | 0% |
| 6 | Bedwas Gwent | A | 4.4 | 100% | 4 | 0% |
| 7 | Broad Blunsdon Wiltshire | A− | 5.2 | 93% | 4.4 | 0% |
| 8 | Barnton Cheshire | A− | 10 | 94% | 3.8 | 0% |
| 9 | Marston Moretaine Bedfordshire | A− | 17.4 | 88% | 4.2 | 0% |
| 10 | Alcester Warwickshire | A− | 4.1 | 100% | 3.5 | 0% |
| 11 | Ackworth Moor Top West Yorkshire | A− | 4.6 | 91% | 4.6 | 0% |
| 12 | Whitfield Kent | A− | 2.3 | 79% | 2.5 | 32% |
| 13 | Paulton Somerset | A− | 2.1 | 96% | 4.1 | 0% |
| 14 | Burghfield Common Berkshire | A− | 2.1 | 100% | 2.9 | 8% |
| 15 | Broadbridge Heath West Sussex | B+ | 1.6 | 95% | 4.3 | 3% |
| 16 | Lightwater Surrey | B+ | 9.2 | 72% | 5.6 | 0% |
| 17 | Milford and Witley Surrey | B+ | 2.6 | 54% | 3.7 | 78% |
| 18 | Cawston Warwickshire | B+ | 3.6 | 98% | 3 | 0% |
| 19 | Little Chalfont Buckinghamshire | B+ | 1.5 | 83% | 3.6 | 45% |
| 20 | Groby Leicestershire | B+ | 2.1 | 96% | 4.5 | 0% |
| 21 | Crofton West Yorkshire | B+ | 3.6 | 95% | 2.9 | 0% |
| 22 | Axminster Devon | B | 0.9 | 100% | 2.4 | 66% |
| 23 | Hindhead Surrey | B | 1.7 | 37% | 5.9 | 66% |
| 24 | Galleywood Essex | B | 10.3 | 61% | 4.2 | 0% |
| 25 | Throckley Tyne and Wear | B | 3.1 | 89% | 3.2 | 0% |
| 26 | Oundle Northamptonshire | B− | 2.4 | 100% | 2.4 | 0% |
| 27 | Bovey Tracey Devon | B− | 2.2 | 66% | 2.5 | 55% |
| 28 | Yapton West Sussex | B− | 1.8 | 63% | 2 | 15% |
| 29 | Upton West Yorkshire | B− | 2.2 | 100% | 2.2 | 0% |
| 30 | Danbury Essex | B− | 3.9 | 34% | 4.3 | 0% |
| 31 | Ushaw Moor and Bearpark County Durham | C+ | 1.6 | 82% | 4.6 | 0% |
| 32 | South Molton Devon | C+ | 2.2 | 96% | 1.3 | 0% |
| 33 | Denmead Hampshire | C+ | 1.4 | 72% | 2.8 | 35% |
| 34 | Annesley Woodhouse Nottinghamshire | C+ | 1.1 | 96% | 3.8 | 0% |
| 35 | Waltham Lincolnshire | C+ | 2.2 | 84% | 1.3 | 19% |
| 36 | Oakdale Gwent | C+ | 5.2 | 79% | 2.1 | 0% |
| 37 | Lower Willingdon East Sussex | C+ | 0.8 | 57% | 4.2 | 33% |
| 38 | Tetbury Gloucestershire | C+ | 1.2 | 66% | 2.6 | 88% |
| 39 | Malton North Yorkshire | C+ | 2.3 | 43% | 2.4 | 24% |
| 40 | Bowdon Greater Manchester | C | 1.8 | 81% | 3 | 0% |
| 41 | Market Deeping Lincolnshire | C | 1.5 | 96% | 2.4 | 0% |
| 42 | Cross Hands and Pen-y-groes Dyfed | C | 9.7 | 70% | 1.4 | 0% |
| 43 | Lydiate Merseyside | C− | 1.5 | 90% | 2 | 0% |
| 44 | Gildersome West Yorkshire | C− | 1.2 | 81% | 2.9 | 0% |
| 45 | Ashingdon Essex | C− | 1.3 | 61% | 2.2 | 0% |
| 46 | Great Shelford and Stapleford Cambridgeshire | C− | 2.6 | 63% | 2.2 | 0% |
| 47 | Weaverham Cheshire | C− | 0.7 | 81% | 3 | 0% |
| 48 | Boston Spa West Yorkshire | C− | 1.2 | 86% | 1.9 | 0% |
| 49 | Cottenham Cambridgeshire | D | 1.3 | 86% | 1.7 | 0% |
| 50 | Washingborough and Heighington Lincolnshire | D | 1.8 | 66% | 2.2 | 0% |
| 51 | Staplehurst Kent | D | 1.3 | 70% | 1.4 | 1% |
| 52 | Wem Shropshire | D | 1.2 | 77% | 1.5 | 0% |
| 53 | Aintree Merseyside | D | 1.3 | 43% | 2.5 | 0% |
| 54 | Pontarddulais West Glamorgan | D | 1.9 | 67% | 0.5 | 0% |
| 55 | Selston Nottinghamshire | D | 0.9 | 61% | 2.3 | 0% |
| 56 | Earls Barton Northamptonshire | D | 1.5 | 71% | 1.2 | 0% |
| 57 | Broughton Clwyd | D− | 0.8 | 80% | 1 | 0% |
| 58 | Thurcroft South Yorkshire | D− | 0.5 | 56% | 2 | 0% |
| 59 | Abercynon Mid Glamorgan | D− | 1.1 | 55% | 1.6 | 0% |
| 60 | Tadcaster North Yorkshire | D− | 0.6 | 58% | 1.7 | 0% |
Tap a number to zoom to a park. Tap a layer to hide it. The dashed line is Netley’s built-up area.
The biggest is Royal Victoria Country Park, 71 ha (177 acres). Directions go to the park’s nearest public entrance where Ordnance Survey maps one.
The two biggest, Royal Victoria Country Park and Weston Shore City Park, are 80% of the named green space and carry 10 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).
Playing fields count, so a park within reach isn’t always one with paths or trees; 34 playgrounds are mapped in and around the town, about one for every 186 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.
4% of the land within 5 km of Netley is National Park or National Landscape, more than 66% of UK towns. New Forest National Park covers 567 km² and has been a National Park since 2006.
49 km of footpaths, bridleways and rights of way are mapped in Netley and the kilometre around it, 4.1 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 European walking route E9, Milford on Sea to Queen Elizabeth Country Park, a national route, passes Netley. Close to home, the Strawberry Trail has 12 km of local walk within 2 km of the town. 2 regional routes pass through, including the Solent Way and Itchen Way.
Waymarked walks are OpenStreetMap walking routes. Public rights of way are only as complete as the map in each area.
Historic England’s register of parks and gardens, and the listed buildings and scheduled monuments that stand inside Netley’s named parks.
71 ha. 4 listed structures and monuments stand inside it or at its edge.
A listed building or monument counts when it sits inside the park’s OS Open Greenspace outline (to about 15 m), so a few at the boundary are included. Historic England, National Heritage List for England.
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) | 8.4 | 9.9 | 11.7 | 13.7 | 15.5 | 16.5 | 16.1 | 14.5 | 12.5 | 10.6 | 8.8 | 8.0 |
| High (°C) | 9 | 10 | 12 | 15 | 18 | 21 | 23 | 23 | 20 | 16 | 12 | 10 |
| Rain (mm) | 93 | 65 | 55 | 53 | 46 | 50 | 44 | 59 | 62 | 90 | 103 | 98 |
July is the driest month (44 mm) and the warmest (highs of 23 °C). Winter days are short, about 8 hours of daylight in December, and 103 mm of rain falls in November, the wettest month. Frost comes on about 26 nights a year. The climate in Netley →
24% of the area within 5 km of Netley is sea. 9 beaches are mapped within 5 km, 0 with a name.
The King Charles III England Coast Path passes the town.
Sea: 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.
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.
Plus 2 viewpoints without a name on the map.
Plus 1 nature reserve without a name on the map.
Plus 2 picnic sites without a name on the map.
Plus 30 playgrounds without a name on the map.
Plus 4 slipways 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Netley | A+ | 16.3 | 100% | 4% |
| Hamble-le-Rice 1.4 mi | A+ | 12.7 | 67% | 7% |
| Bursledon 1.6 mi | A | 2.6 | 90% | 0% |
| Hythe and Dibden Purlieu 2.8 mi | B+ | 0.8 | 49% | 44% |
| Locks Heath 3.4 mi | A+ | 3.5 | 91% | 4% |
| Hedge End 3.5 mi | A− | 5.5 | 87% | 0% |
| Holbury 3.5 mi | A+ | 5.5 | 89% | 42% |
Netley grades higher for the outdoors than every neighbour in the table.
Royal Victoria Country Park, 71 ha (177 acres), with 5.4 km of path. Weston Shore City Park (25 ha) is second. 4 named parks, gardens and playing fields are in the town or within 400 m of it.
Yes. New Forest National Park begins 1.9 mi west of the town’s edge. It covers 567 km² and has been a National Park since 2006.
6 waymarked walking routes pass within 2 km of the town, including the Strawberry Trail, European walking route E9, Milford on Sea to Queen Elizabeth Country Park and Solent Way. Royal Victoria Country Park alone has 5.4 km of path.
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%.
April to September: the longest days, the warmest afternoons and the least rain of the year, from the Met Office 1991–2020 averages.
Royal Victoria Country Park (Formerly Royal Victoria Military Hospital) (Grade II) is on Historic England’s register of parks and gardens.
For paths, yes: 4.1 km of footpath and right of way per square kilometre, more than 83% of UK towns. For park space per person it beats 98% (16.3 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 Netley’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.