Meols’ biggest
Queens Park
Park or garden
3.0 ha (7 acres)0.8 km of path
10 minto walk all 0.8 km of path
4 pitchesfootball pitches would fit
Centralin the middle of Meols
Directionsto the nearest entrance
Photo: Redvers · CC BY 3.0AOutdoors Grade
Outdoors in Meols · parks, paths & countryside
Meols is on the coast, on the King Charles III England Coast Path
The sea makes up 55% of the area within 5 km. Parks and playing fields in Meols add up to 3.1 ha for every 1,000 residents; the typical UK town has 2.1. 28 km of footpaths run through the town and the kilometre around it, 2.2 for every square kilometre. Meols grades A for the outdoors: #2 of 25 in Merseyside. A character grade: it isn’t part of the overall grade.
Green space
3.1 ha
per 1,000 residents
Typical UK town 2.1
Near a park
100%
of residents within 400 m
Typical UK town 83%
Footpaths
28 km
2.2 km per km², town + 1 km
Typical UK town 3.0 per km²
Protected landscape
0%
of the land within 5 km
Nearest: Bryniau Clwyd A Dyffryn Dyfrdwy/clwydian Range and Dee Valley National Landscape
The sea
55%
of the area within 5 km
A coastal town
Character
What kind of outdoors town is Meols?
Read from the data: what stands out first, good and bad.
On the coast55% of the area within 5 km is sea; 18 beaches mapped.A park on every doorstep100% of residents live within 400 m of a park or playing field.On a National TrailThe King Charles III England Coast Path passes through.
Meols’ strongest suit is the sea, followed by parks close to every home.
Outdoors grade
Meols grades A for the outdoors
Each chart is every UK town of 1,000 or more on one measure: the green bar is Meols, the dashed line the typical town. The number is the share of towns it beats; the five are averaged and the average ranked again.
A
Better than 87% of UK towns#2 of 25 in Merseyside · 9th of 60 UK towns its size
Public green space3.1 haper 1,000 residents: parks, gardens, playing fields, play spaces
71out 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 · None within 5 km
31out of
100
100
Footpaths2.2 kmper km², the town and 1 km around it
36out of
100
100
The sea55%of the area within 5 km
99out 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
Meols is 9th of 60 UK towns its size for the outdoors
The 60 UK towns and cities of 4,800 to 5,200 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
Meols2.2
Towns its size2.6
Merseyside towns2.6
All UK towns3.0
Green space, ha per 1,000 residents
Meols3.1
Towns its size2.4
Merseyside towns3.0
All UK towns2.1
Residents within 400 m of a park
Meols100%
Towns its size77%
Merseyside towns87%
All UK towns83%
Against towns its size, Meols stands out most for park space per resident: only 19 of the other 59 have more. It falls furthest behind on path per km², where 39 of the others do better.
Show as a table
| Town | Outdoors | Green space | Near a park | Path per km² | Protected | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Rye East Sussex | A+ | 3.5 | 89% | 3.5 | 46% |
| 2 | Pill Somerset | A+ | 5.2 | 100% | 3.8 | 0% |
| 3 | Whitehill Hampshire | A+ | 10.2 | 74% | 5.1 | 58% |
| 4 | Hungerford Berkshire | A+ | 9.1 | 85% | 3.2 | 100% |
| 5 | Burry Port Dyfed | A+ | 11.8 | 75% | 2.8 | 17% |
| 6 | Moreton-in-Marsh Gloucestershire | A | 5 | 100% | 1.8 | 55% |
| 7 | Wirksworth Derbyshire | A | 2 | 100% | 4.6 | 8% |
| 8 | Rhymney Gwent | A | 2.9 | 97% | 3.8 | 6% |
| 9 | Meols Merseyside | A | 3.1 | 100% | 2.2 | 0% |
| 10 | Holmfirth West Yorkshire | A | 2.2 | 88% | 4.6 | 27% |
| 11 | Fitzwilliam and Kinsley West Yorkshire | A− | 11.5 | 100% | 3 | 0% |
| 12 | Joyden's Wood Kent | A− | 2.7 | 82% | 5.6 | 4% |
| 13 | Fordingbridge Hampshire | A− | 3.6 | 92% | 2 | 56% |
| 14 | Coleford Gloucestershire | A− | 2.8 | 66% | 4.3 | 48% |
| 15 | Elvetham Heath Hampshire | A− | 8.7 | 100% | 2.8 | 0% |
| 16 | Needham Market Suffolk | A− | 7.2 | 88% | 4 | 0% |
| 17 | Overseal and Castle Gresley Derbyshire | A− | 2.5 | 100% | 4.4 | 0% |
| 18 | Huthwaite Nottinghamshire | B+ | 8.1 | 75% | 4.9 | 0% |
| 19 | Seaton Cumbria | B+ | 2.5 | 87% | 2.6 | 0% |
| 20 | Cranbrook Devon | B+ | 6.4 | 87% | 1.9 | 1% |
| 21 | Hildenborough Kent | B+ | 6.5 | 40% | 2.8 | 46% |
| 22 | Long Ashton Somerset | B+ | 10.2 | 66% | 4.7 | 0% |
| 23 | Stone Cross East Sussex | B+ | 1.4 | 86% | 2.3 | 9% |
| 24 | Aspull Greater Manchester | B | 7.6 | 92% | 2.4 | 0% |
| 25 | Easingwold North Yorkshire | B | 4.3 | 86% | 1.5 | 14% |
| 26 | Grimethorpe South Yorkshire | B | 2.5 | 100% | 2.8 | 0% |
| 27 | Market Rasen Lincolnshire | B | 2.6 | 94% | 1.6 | 16% |
| 28 | Sedgefield County Durham | B | 6.2 | 81% | 2.8 | 0% |
| 29 | Iver Heath Buckinghamshire | B | 28.9 | 53% | 3.8 | 0% |
| 30 | Headley Down and Headley Hampshire | B | 2.1 | 55% | 3.4 | 44% |
| 31 | Abercarn Gwent | B− | 3 | 100% | 1.8 | 0% |
| 32 | Whitburn Tyne and Wear | B− | 2.5 | 46% | 2.5 | 0% |
| 33 | Wotton-under-Edge Gloucestershire | C+ | 0.4 | 32% | 5.4 | 60% |
| 34 | Stokesley North Yorkshire | C+ | 0.9 | 100% | 1.7 | 16% |
| 35 | Wool Dorset | C+ | 2.3 | 51% | 2.5 | 33% |
| 36 | Steeton West Yorkshire | C+ | 1.3 | 100% | 2.7 | 0% |
| 37 | Moulton Northamptonshire | C+ | 3.3 | 88% | 1.7 | 0% |
| 38 | Barton-le-Clay Bedfordshire | C+ | 1.3 | 43% | 3.2 | 38% |
| 39 | Church Lancashire | C | 1.5 | 79% | 3.9 | 0% |
| 40 | Billinge Merseyside | C | 0.9 | 94% | 3 | 0% |
| 41 | Treharris Mid Glamorgan | C | 2.6 | 72% | 2.6 | 0% |
| 42 | Copthorne West Sussex | C | 1.2 | 62% | 2.9 | 13% |
| 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 | Odiham Hampshire | C | 1.9 | 72% | 2.8 | 0% |
| 46 | Jaywick Essex | C− | 1.1 | 75% | 1.4 | 0% |
| 47 | Shavington Cheshire | C− | 1.1 | 87% | 2.1 | 0% |
| 48 | Halesworth Suffolk | C− | 1.4 | 55% | 1.9 | 5% |
| 49 | Tickhill South Yorkshire | D | 1.7 | 69% | 2.2 | 0% |
| 50 | Haslington Cheshire | D | 1.8 | 41% | 2.6 | 0% |
| 51 | Gresford Clwyd | D | 1.4 | 76% | 1.8 | 0% |
| 52 | Melbourn Cambridgeshire | D | 1.2 | 45% | 2.7 | 0% |
| 53 | Fleckney Leicestershire | D | 0.8 | 63% | 2.3 | 0% |
| 54 | Lepton West Yorkshire | D− | 0.9 | 36% | 2.3 | 0% |
| 55 | Wingate County Durham | D− | 1 | 64% | 1.5 | 0% |
| 56 | Harleston Norfolk | D− | 0.2 | 42% | 2.2 | 0% |
| 57 | Bulford Wiltshire | D− | 0.9 | 51% | 1.6 | 0% |
| 58 | Appley Bridge Greater Manchester | D− | 0.5 | 44% | 1.8 | 0% |
| 59 | Shotton Colliery County Durham | D− | 0.9 | 40% | 1.5 | 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 Meols’ 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 Meols
The biggest is Queens Park, 3.0 ha (7 acres). Directions go to the park’s nearest public entrance where Ordnance Survey maps one.
All 4 named parks by size: 6 ha (15 acres) and 2 km of path
Parks & gardens 6.2 ha
The two biggest, Queens Park and Meols Parade Gardens, are 74% of the named green space. 3 of the 4 are under 2 ha: small gardens, play spaces and pitches.
Meols Parade Gardens
Park or garden
1.6 ha (4 acres)0.8 km of path
10 minto walk all 0.8 km of path
2 pitchesfootball pitches would fit
0.5 mi westfrom the centre
Directionsto the nearest entrance
Meols Park
Park or garden
1.3 ha (3 acres)0.2 km of path
2 pitchesfootball pitches would fit
Centralin the middle of Meols
Directionsto the nearest entrance
The Goose Green
Park or garden
0.3 ha (1 acres)0.2 km of path
Centralin the middle of Meols
Directionsto the nearest entrance
Close to home
Everyone in Meols lives 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 (100%)Further (0%)
Meols100%
Towns its size77%
Merseyside towns87%
All UK towns83%
Playing fields count, so a park within reach isn’t always one with paths or trees; 6 playgrounds are mapped in and around the town, about one for every 837 residents.
National Parks & National Landscapes
The Bryniau Clwyd A Dyffryn Dyfrdwy/clwydian Range and Dee Valley National Landscape is 8.2 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 Landscape
Bryniau Clwyd A Dyffryn Dyfrdwy/clwydian Range and Dee Valley
8.2 mi south-west389 km²since 2011
Footpaths & waymarked walks
Meols is on the King Charles III England Coast Path
28 km of footpaths, bridleways and rights of way are mapped in Meols and the kilometre around it, 2.2 km for every square kilometre (the typical UK town has 3.0). Bars show each route’s kilometres within 2 km of the town.
NationalRegional
King Charles III England Coast Path: Birkenhead to Welsh Border9.8 km
Wirral Circular Trail8.2 km
The King Charles III England Coast Path, a national route, passes Meols. The regional route here is the Wirral Circular Trail.
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 Meols: 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) | 8.0 | 9.7 | 11.7 | 13.9 | 15.9 | 17.0 | 16.5 | 14.8 | 12.6 | 10.4 | 8.5 | 7.5 |
| High (°C) | 8 | 8 | 11 | 13 | 16 | 19 | 20 | 20 | 18 | 15 | 11 | 9 |
| Rain (mm) | 61 | 50 | 47 | 48 | 50 | 63 | 67 | 66 | 72 | 81 | 78 | 78 |
March is the driest month (47 mm) and July the warmest (highs of 20 °C). Winter days are short, about 8 hours of daylight in December, and 81 mm of rain falls in October, the wettest month. Frost comes on about 15 nights a year. The climate in Meols →
The coast
The coast and beaches near Meols
55% of the area within 5 km of Meols is sea. 18 beaches are mapped within 5 km, 2 with a name.
East Hoyle Bank0.5 mi from town
DirectionsThe 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.
Things to do
6 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
Nature reserves 1
Ditton Lane Nature Area1.1 mi from town
DirectionsPlaygrounds 6
Plus 6 playgrounds without a name on the map.
Slipways 1
Plus 1 slipway 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.
HoylakeWest KirbyGreasbyCaldyWallaseyBirkenheadMeols
ABCDOutdoors Grade
| Town | Outdoors | Green space, ha per 1,000 | Near a park | Protected within 5 km |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Meols | A | 3.1 | 100% | 0% |
| Hoylake 0.9 mi | A− | 3.5 | 83% | 0% |
| West Kirby 2.0 mi | B | 1.9 | 68% | 0% |
| Greasby 2.4 mi | A | 5.9 | 74% | 0% |
| Caldy 2.9 mi | A− | 19.3 | 47% | 0% |
| Wallasey 4.3 mi | B | 1.9 | 90% | 0% |
| Birkenhead 4.6 mi | B+ | 3.1 | 71% | 0% |
Meols grades higher for the outdoors than every neighbour in the table. Caldy has at least twice Meols’ green space per resident. None of the neighbours has a protected landscape within 5 km either.
Questions about the outdoors in Meols
What is the biggest park in Meols?
Queens Park, 3.0 ha (7 acres), with 0.8 km of path. Meols Parade Gardens (1.6 ha) is second. 4 named parks, gardens and playing fields are in the town or within 400 m of it.
Is Meols near a National Park?
The nearest protected landscape is the Bryniau Clwyd A Dyffryn Dyfrdwy/clwydian Range and Dee Valley National Landscape, 8.2 mi south-west of the town’s edge. It covers 389 km² and was designated in 2011.
What are the best walks near Meols?
2 waymarked walking routes pass within 2 km of the town, including the King Charles III England Coast Path: Birkenhead to Welsh Border and Wirral Circular Trail.
How many people in Meols 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 Meols?
May to September: the longest days, the warmest afternoons and the least rain of the year, from the Met Office 1991–2020 averages.
Is Meols good for walking?
Paths are thinner than most towns: 2.2 km of footpath and right of way per square kilometre, more than 36% of UK towns. For park space per person it beats 71% (3.1 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 Meols’ overall grade.
Sources
Where Meols’ 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.