Longridge’s biggest
Towneley Gardens
Park or garden
0.6 ha (2 acres)0.4 km of path
Centralin the middle of Longridge
Directionsto the nearest entrance
Photo: Chris Heaton · CC BY-SA 2.0B+Outdoors Grade
Outdoors in Longridge · parks, paths & countryside
32% of the land within 5 km of Longridge is National Park or National Landscape
The Forest Of Bowland National Landscape reaches the edge of Longridge. A park or playing field is within a 5-minute walk for 89% of residents. Footpaths add up to 51 km in the town and the kilometre around it, 3.0 for every square kilometre. Longridge grades B+ for the outdoors: #21 of 65 in Lancashire. A character grade: it isn’t part of the overall grade.
Green space
1.9 ha
per 1,000 residents
Typical UK town 2.1
Near a park
89%
of residents within 400 m
Typical UK town 83%
Footpaths
51 km
3.0 km per km², town + 1 km
Typical UK town 3.0 per km²
Protected landscape
32%
of the land within 5 km
Nearest: Forest Of Bowland National Landscape
Outdoors grade
Longridge grades B+ for the outdoors
Each chart is every UK town of 1,000 or more on one measure: the green bar is Longridge, 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 73% of UK towns#21 of 65 in Lancashire · 16th of 60 UK towns its size
Public green space1.9 haper 1,000 residents: parks, gardens, playing fields, play spaces
44out of
100
100
A park within a walk89%of residents within 400 m (a 5-minute walk)
65out of
100
100
National Park or National Landscape32%of the land within 5 km
84out of
100
100
Footpaths3.0 kmper km², the town and 1 km around it
60out 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
Longridge is 16th of 60 UK towns its size for the outdoors
The 60 UK towns and cities of 8,300 to 9,100 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
Longridge3.0
Towns its size2.9
Lancashire towns3.0
All UK towns3.0
Green space, ha per 1,000 residents
Longridge1.9
Towns its size2.2
Lancashire towns2.0
All UK towns2.1
Residents within 400 m of a park
Longridge89%
Towns its size84%
Lancashire towns85%
All UK towns83%
Longridge falls furthest behind on park space per resident, where 33 of the 59 others do better.
Show as a table
| Town | Outdoors | Green space | Near a park | Path per km² | Protected | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Upton Dorset | A+ | 9.1 | 84% | 4.7 | 18% |
| 2 | Hawkinge Kent | A+ | 2.6 | 100% | 3.2 | 74% |
| 3 | Pool and Illogan Cornwall | A+ | 3.7 | 81% | 4 | 5% |
| 4 | Worsbrough South Yorkshire | A | 10.1 | 100% | 6 | 0% |
| 5 | Storrington West Sussex | A | 5.5 | 85% | 3.2 | 54% |
| 6 | Killamarsh Derbyshire | A | 10.6 | 97% | 5.5 | 0% |
| 7 | Wallingford Oxfordshire | A | 3.1 | 85% | 3.7 | 61% |
| 8 | Warlingham Surrey | A | 4.2 | 81% | 4.3 | 13% |
| 9 | East Cowes Isle of Wight | A | 1.4 | 96% | 3 | 8% |
| 10 | Penistone South Yorkshire | A | 2.6 | 97% | 3.9 | 9% |
| 11 | Maryport Cumbria | A− | 1.4 | 100% | 2.4 | 5% |
| 12 | Hetton-le-Hole Tyne and Wear | A− | 7.8 | 95% | 3.7 | 0% |
| 13 | Brightlingsea Essex | A− | 3 | 97% | 2.4 | 0% |
| 14 | Ryton Tyne and Wear | A− | 5.5 | 85% | 5.1 | 0% |
| 15 | Alfreton Derbyshire | B+ | 4.3 | 100% | 2.7 | 0% |
| 16 | Longridge Lancashire | B+ | 1.9 | 89% | 3 | 32% |
| 17 | Winnersh Berkshire | B+ | 9.6 | 80% | 3.9 | 0% |
| 18 | Hadleigh Suffolk | B+ | 2.6 | 87% | 2.7 | 10% |
| 19 | Higham Ferrers Northamptonshire | B+ | 3.5 | 93% | 3.3 | 0% |
| 20 | Hayle Cornwall | B+ | 1.4 | 72% | 3.4 | 6% |
| 21 | Banstead Surrey | B+ | 2.4 | 66% | 5.2 | 3% |
| 22 | Cinderford Gloucestershire | B+ | 1.7 | 80% | 4.7 | 4% |
| 23 | Ashbourne Derbyshire | B | 1.9 | 92% | 2.7 | 14% |
| 24 | Cockermouth Cumbria | B | 2.6 | 81% | 2.2 | 42% |
| 25 | Ampthill Bedfordshire | B | 6.8 | 71% | 3.9 | 0% |
| 26 | Clay Cross Derbyshire | B | 2.6 | 88% | 3.7 | 0% |
| 27 | South Kirkby West Yorkshire | B | 3 | 97% | 2.7 | 0% |
| 28 | Marlborough Wiltshire | B | 1.2 | 72% | 3.8 | 100% |
| 29 | Abergele Clwyd | B | 2.9 | 78% | 2.1 | 0% |
| 30 | Wendover Buckinghamshire | B | 1 | 58% | 5.6 | 60% |
| 31 | Hornsea East Riding of Yorkshire | B− | 2.7 | 90% | 0.6 | 0% |
| 32 | Alnwick Northumberland | B− | 2.2 | 67% | 3.4 | 7% |
| 33 | Whitnash Warwickshire | B− | 2 | 95% | 3.3 | 0% |
| 34 | Cullompton Devon | B− | 3.2 | 100% | 1.8 | 0% |
| 35 | Stansted Mountfitchet Essex | B− | 0.8 | 96% | 4.7 | 0% |
| 36 | Hook Hampshire | B− | 2.4 | 80% | 3.4 | 0% |
| 37 | West End and Chobham Surrey | B− | 3.3 | 65% | 3.6 | 0% |
| 38 | Caister-on-Sea Norfolk | C+ | 1.1 | 58% | 2.1 | 21% |
| 39 | Hoo St Werburgh Kent | C+ | 1.4 | 92% | 1.9 | 0% |
| 40 | Atherstone Warwickshire | C+ | 2.7 | 88% | 2 | 0% |
| 41 | Brinsworth South Yorkshire | C | 1.3 | 76% | 4.5 | 0% |
| 42 | Faringdon Oxfordshire | C | 1.3 | 94% | 2.5 | 0% |
| 43 | Kinmel Bay Clwyd | C | 1.8 | 76% | 0.9 | 0% |
| 44 | Silsden West Yorkshire | C | 0.8 | 67% | 3.5 | 1% |
| 45 | Rothwell Northamptonshire | C | 2.2 | 91% | 1.5 | 0% |
| 46 | Burscough Lancashire | C | 2.6 | 76% | 2.1 | 0% |
| 47 | Sherburn in Elmet North Yorkshire | C− | 1.8 | 93% | 1.4 | 0% |
| 48 | Ferryhill County Durham | C− | 1.5 | 94% | 1.7 | 0% |
| 49 | East Leake Nottinghamshire | C− | 2.4 | 68% | 2.1 | 0% |
| 50 | Launceston Cornwall | C− | 2.1 | 66% | 0.9 | 1% |
| 51 | Sileby Leicestershire | C− | 1 | 80% | 2.6 | 0% |
| 52 | Adlington Lancashire | C− | 1.3 | 64% | 3.1 | 0% |
| 53 | Shifnal Shropshire | D | 1 | 89% | 1.6 | 0% |
| 54 | Swaffham Norfolk | D | 1 | 68% | 2.6 | 0% |
| 55 | Harworth and Bircotes Nottinghamshire | D | 1.9 | 64% | 1.5 | 0% |
| 56 | Holbeach Lincolnshire | D | 1 | 91% | 0.5 | 0% |
| 57 | Tarleton and Hesketh Bank Lancashire | D | 1.5 | 63% | 1.7 | 0% |
| 58 | Coxheath Kent | D | 1.2 | 48% | 2.4 | 0% |
| 59 | Clydach West Glamorgan | D | 1.7 | 68% | 0.8 | 0% |
| 60 | Kirkham Lancashire | D− | 1.3 | 66% | 1.3 | 0% |
The map
Parks, footpaths & countryside
Tap a number to zoom to a park. Tap a layer to hide it. The dashed line is Longridge’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 Longridge
The biggest is Towneley Gardens, 0.6 ha (2 acres). Directions go to the park’s nearest public entrance where Ordnance Survey maps one.
The Mike Riding Ground
Playing field
2.0 ha (5 acres)
3 pitchesfootball pitches would fit
0.6 mi north-westfrom the centre
Directionsto the nearest entrance
Close to home
9 in 10 Longridge 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 (89%)Further (11%)
Longridge89%
Towns its size84%
Lancashire towns85%
All UK towns83%
About 1,000 people live further than that. Playing fields count, so a park within reach isn’t always one with paths or trees; 12 playgrounds are mapped in and around the town, about one for every 728 residents.
National Parks & National Landscapes
National Parks and National Landscapes around Longridge
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 Landscape
Forest Of Bowland
At the edge north-east806 km²since 196432% of the land within 5 km
Official site32% of the land within 5 km of Longridge is National Park or National Landscape, more than 84% of UK towns. Yorkshire Dales National Park covers 2,185 km² and has been a National Park since 1954.
Footpaths & waymarked walks
1 waymarked walk passes through or near Longridge
51 km of footpaths, bridleways and rights of way are mapped in Longridge and the kilometre around it, 3.0 km for every square kilometre (the typical UK town has 3.0). Bars show each route’s kilometres within 2 km of the town.
Regional
Ribble Way1.9 km
The regional route here is the Ribble 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 Longridge: 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) | 7.9 | 9.7 | 11.7 | 13.9 | 15.9 | 17.1 | 16.6 | 14.8 | 12.6 | 10.4 | 8.4 | 7.4 |
| High (°C) | 7 | 7 | 9 | 12 | 16 | 18 | 20 | 19 | 17 | 13 | 10 | 7 |
| Rain (mm) | 112 | 99 | 83 | 67 | 76 | 89 | 96 | 116 | 115 | 134 | 127 | 144 |
April is the driest month (67 mm) and July the warmest (highs of 20 °C). Winter days are short, about 7 hours of daylight in December, and 144 mm of rain falls in December, the wettest month. Frost comes on about 44 nights a year. The climate in Longridge →
Things to do
12 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
Longridge is inland. These are the nearest named beaches, measured from the edge of the town.
Treasure Beach17 mi from Longridge’s edge
DirectionsHalf Moon Bay18 mi from Longridge’s edge
DirectionsMallows Bay19 mi from Longridge’s edge
DirectionsCar Park Beach20 mi from Longridge’s edge
DirectionsCreek Beach North20 mi from Longridge’s edge
DirectionsGood to know
Check the water before you swim. The Environment Agency tests designated bathing waters from May to September and publishes a rating for each beach.
Every named place, with directions
Nature reserves 1
Grimsargh Wetlands11 ha · 0.8 mi from town
DirectionsPlaygrounds 12
Plus 12 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.
GrimsarghGoosnarghBroughtonMyerscough SmithyBartonFulwoodLongridge
ABCDOutdoors Grade
Goosnargh, 2.9 miles away, grades A−, the best next door: every resident lives within 400 m of a park.
Questions about the outdoors in Longridge
What is the biggest park in Longridge?
Towneley Gardens, 0.6 ha (2 acres). The Mike Riding Ground (2.0 ha) is second. 2 named parks, gardens and playing fields are in the town or within 400 m of it.
Is Longridge near a National Park?
Yes. Yorkshire Dales National Park begins 18 mi north-east of the town’s edge. It covers 2,185 km² and has been a National Park since 1954. The nearest protected landscape of any kind is the Forest Of Bowland National Landscape, at the edge of the town.
What are the best walks near Longridge?
1 waymarked walking route passes within 2 km of the town, including the Ribble Way.
What is the nearest beach to Longridge?
Treasure Beach, 17 mi from the edge of the town, then Half Moon Bay (18 mi). Longridge itself is inland.
How many people in Longridge live near a park?
89% 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 Longridge?
May to September: the longest days, the warmest afternoons and the least rain of the year, from the Met Office 1991–2020 averages.
Is Longridge good for walking?
For paths, yes: 3.0 km of footpath and right of way per square kilometre, more than 60% of UK towns. For park space per person it beats 44% (1.9 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 Longridge’s overall grade.
Sources
Where Longridge’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.