Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
War Memorial · Photo: Peter Broster · CC BY-SA 4.0Parks and playing fields in Oadby add up to 3.7 ha for every 1,000 residents; the typical UK town has 2.1. Footpaths add up to 70 km in the town and the kilometre around it, 3.1 for every square kilometre. Oadby grades B+ for the outdoors: #11 of 50 in Leicestershire. A character grade: it isn’t part of the overall grade.
Each chart is every UK town of 1,000 or more on one measure: the green bar is Oadby, 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 22,100 to 25,900 people with an Outdoors Grade. Hover a dot for its figures; tap one for its page.
Against towns its size, Oadby stands out most for park space per resident: only 20 of the other 59 have more. It falls furthest behind on path per km², where 38 of the others do better.
| Town | Outdoors | Green space | Near a park | Path per km² | Protected | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Lee-on-the-Solent Hampshire | A+ | 5.7 | 96% | 3.7 | 1% |
| 2 | Chapeltown and High Green South Yorkshire | A+ | 4.9 | 94% | 5.8 | 0% |
| 3 | Falmouth Cornwall | A | 1.3 | 96% | 3.5 | 41% |
| 4 | Reddish Greater Manchester | A | 6.7 | 100% | 5 | 0% |
| 5 | Caterham Surrey | A | 4.3 | 84% | 4.3 | 17% |
| 6 | Newport Isle of Wight | A | 1.8 | 80% | 3.8 | 37% |
| 7 | Ash and Ash Vale Surrey | A | 4.3 | 72% | 5.4 | 20% |
| 8 | Huntingdon Cambridgeshire | A | 5.7 | 99% | 4.4 | 0% |
| 9 | Thornaby-on-Tees North Yorkshire | A | 5.4 | 92% | 5.2 | 0% |
| 10 | South Ockendon Essex | A− | 2.6 | 88% | 3.8 | 0% |
| 11 | Droylsden Greater Manchester | A− | 5.2 | 95% | 4.1 | 0% |
| 12 | Reigate Surrey | A− | 5.5 | 58% | 4.7 | 20% |
| 13 | Felixstowe Suffolk | A− | 2 | 88% | 1.9 | 28% |
| 14 | Heanor Derbyshire | A− | 4.2 | 92% | 4.4 | 0% |
| 15 | Gorleston-on-Sea Norfolk | A− | 1.4 | 81% | 3.2 | 17% |
| 16 | Hedge End Hampshire | A− | 5.5 | 87% | 4.4 | 0% |
| 17 | Little Hulton Greater Manchester | A− | 8.6 | 87% | 3.8 | 0% |
| 18 | Wilmslow Cheshire | A− | 4.4 | 90% | 4 | 0% |
| 19 | Kempston Bedfordshire | A− | 4.9 | 88% | 4 | 0% |
| 20 | Newton-le-Willows Merseyside | A− | 5.2 | 99% | 3.1 | 0% |
| 21 | Ryde Isle of Wight | A− | 1.7 | 76% | 2.6 | 19% |
| 22 | Shoreham-by-Sea West Sussex | A− | 1.6 | 74% | 2.7 | 35% |
| 23 | Whitefield Greater Manchester | A− | 4.7 | 87% | 4 | 0% |
| 24 | Ingleby Barwick North Yorkshire | B+ | 2.9 | 87% | 6.1 | 0% |
| 25 | Maldon Essex | B+ | 2.8 | 82% | 3.2 | 0% |
| 26 | Whitehaven Cumbria | B+ | 1.8 | 91% | 2 | 1% |
| 27 | Chesham Buckinghamshire | B+ | 1.9 | 73% | 4 | 64% |
| 28 | Herne Bay Kent | B+ | 2.3 | 83% | 2.9 | 0% |
| 29 | Thatcham Berkshire | B+ | 1.9 | 87% | 3.1 | 27% |
| 30 | Cheadle Hulme Greater Manchester | B+ | 3.9 | 80% | 4.3 | 0% |
| 31 | Chafford Hundred and West Thurrock Essex | B+ | 2.2 | 97% | 2.4 | 0% |
| 32 | Oadby Leicestershire | B+ | 3.7 | 92% | 3.1 | 0% |
| 33 | Bradley Stoke Gloucestershire | B+ | 2 | 93% | 5.3 | 0% |
| 34 | Seaford East Sussex | B+ | 0.8 | 73% | 2.8 | 52% |
| 35 | Orrell Greater Manchester | B+ | 4.1 | 77% | 4.3 | 0% |
| 36 | Swinton Greater Manchester | B | 3.9 | 81% | 3.7 | 0% |
| 37 | Newton Aycliffe County Durham | B | 2.1 | 94% | 4.1 | 0% |
| 38 | Broadstairs Kent | B | 1.7 | 76% | 3.1 | 0% |
| 39 | Sudbury Suffolk | B | 3.8 | 77% | 3.5 | 0% |
| 40 | Truro Cornwall | B | 1.6 | 84% | 2.9 | 21% |
| 41 | Hailsham East Sussex | B | 1.4 | 87% | 3.2 | 12% |
| 42 | Rawtenstall Lancashire | B | 1.9 | 83% | 6.4 | 0% |
| 43 | Royton Greater Manchester | B− | 2.8 | 71% | 4.9 | 0% |
| 44 | Thetford Norfolk | B− | 2.9 | 65% | 5.1 | 0% |
| 45 | St Austell Cornwall | B− | 1.2 | 71% | 2.5 | 7% |
| 46 | Bishop Auckland County Durham | B− | 2.7 | 85% | 2.7 | 0% |
| 47 | Chester-le-Street County Durham | C+ | 1.7 | 75% | 6.2 | 0% |
| 48 | Hindley Greater Manchester | C+ | 2.5 | 77% | 3.4 | 0% |
| 49 | Coseley West Midlands | C+ | 1.4 | 84% | 4.7 | 0% |
| 50 | Newquay Cornwall | C+ | 1.6 | 75% | 2.6 | 0% |
| 51 | Ashford Surrey | C+ | 3.4 | 73% | 2.9 | 0% |
| 52 | Clifton Nottinghamshire | C+ | 1.5 | 76% | 6.2 | 0% |
| 53 | Kenilworth Warwickshire | C+ | 2.7 | 75% | 3 | 0% |
| 54 | Market Harborough Leicestershire | C+ | 1.9 | 94% | 2.3 | 0% |
| 55 | Formby Merseyside | C+ | 1.4 | 63% | 2.8 | 0% |
| 56 | Ascot Berkshire | C+ | 3.6 | 56% | 3 | 0% |
| 57 | Potters Bar Hertfordshire | C | 1.6 | 71% | 4.3 | 0% |
| 58 | Golborne Greater Manchester | C | 3 | 66% | 2.7 | 0% |
| 59 | Wickersley and Bramley South Yorkshire | C | 1.7 | 77% | 3.4 | 0% |
| 60 | Retford Nottinghamshire | C− | 1.7 | 76% | 2.3 | 0% |
Tap a number to zoom to a park. Tap a layer to hide it. The dashed line is Oadby’s built-up area.
The biggest is Brocks Hill Country Park and Environment Centre, 28 ha (69 acres). Directions go to the park’s nearest public entrance where Ordnance Survey maps one.
The two biggest, Brocks Hill Country Park and Environment Centre and Shady Lane Arboretum, are 75% of the named green space and carry 8 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).
About 2,000 people live further than that. Playing fields count, so a park within reach isn’t always one with paths or trees; 39 playgrounds are mapped in and around the town, about one for every 616 residents.
70 km of footpaths, bridleways and rights of way are mapped in Oadby and the kilometre around it, 3.1 km for every square kilometre (the typical UK town has 3.0).
No named walking route is mapped within 2 km of Oadby; 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.
Historic England’s register of parks and gardens, and the listed buildings and scheduled monuments that stand inside Oadby’s named parks.
6.7 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) | 8.1 | 9.8 | 11.7 | 13.9 | 15.7 | 16.8 | 16.4 | 14.7 | 12.6 | 10.5 | 8.6 | 7.7 |
| High (°C) | 7 | 8 | 10 | 13 | 16 | 19 | 22 | 21 | 18 | 14 | 10 | 7 |
| Rain (mm) | 56 | 44 | 42 | 45 | 53 | 62 | 70 | 63 | 58 | 68 | 63 | 60 |
March is the driest month (42 mm) and July the warmest (highs of 22 °C). Winter days are short, about 8 hours of daylight in December, and 70 mm of rain falls in July, the wettest month. Frost comes on about 57 nights a year. The climate in Oadby →
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.
Oadby is inland. These are the nearest named beaches, measured from the edge of the town.
Check the water before you swim. The Environment Agency tests designated bathing waters from May to September and publishes a rating for each beach.
Plus 1 viewpoint without a name on the map.
Plus 3 picnic sites without a name on the map.
Plus 35 playgrounds 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Oadby | B+ | 3.7 | 92% | 0% |
| Wigston 2.0 mi | B | 2.9 | 88% | 0% |
| Great Glen 2.3 mi | C | 1.4 | 91% | 0% |
| Leicester 3.4 mi | B | 2.3 | 89% | 0% |
| Houghton on the Hill 3.7 mi | D | 1.8 | 60% | 0% |
| Countesthorpe 4.2 mi | C+ | 1.7 | 100% | 0% |
| Fleckney 4.5 mi | D | 0.8 | 63% | 0% |
Oadby grades higher for the outdoors than every neighbour in the table. None of the neighbours has a protected landscape within 5 km either.
Brocks Hill Country Park and Environment Centre, 28 ha (69 acres), with 4.5 km of path. Shady Lane Arboretum (13 ha) is second. 5 named parks, gardens and playing fields are in the town or within 400 m of it.
No National Park or National Landscape is within 30 km (about 19 miles) of Oadby.
library, 16 mi from the edge of the town. Oadby itself is inland.
92% 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%.
May, June, August and September: the longest days, the warmest afternoons and the least rain of the year, from the Met Office 1991–2020 averages.
For paths, yes: 3.1 km of footpath and right of way per square kilometre, more than 63% of UK towns. For park space per person it beats 79% (3.7 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 Oadby’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.