Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Photo: John Yeadon · CC BY 3.0The North York Moors National Park begins 2.3 mi from the town’s edge. Parks and playing fields in Eston add up to 2.9 ha for every 1,000 residents; the typical UK town has 2.1. 74 km of footpaths run through the town and the kilometre around it, 2.8 for every square kilometre. Eston grades B+ for the outdoors: #15 of 54 in North Yorkshire. A character grade: it isn’t part of the overall grade.
Read from the data: what stands out first, good and bad.
Eston’s strongest suit is the North York Moors National Park close by, followed by the King Charles III England Coast Path.
Each chart is every UK town of 1,000 or more on one measure: the green bar is Eston, 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 27,000 to 32,400 people with an Outdoors Grade. Hover a dot for its figures; tap one for its page.
Against towns its size, Eston stands out most for park space per resident: only 21 of the other 59 have more. It falls furthest behind on path per km², where 42 of the others do better.
| Town | Outdoors | Green space | Near a park | Path per km² | Protected | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Yate Gloucestershire | A+ | 4.3 | 99% | 6.8 | 11% |
| 2 | Jarrow Tyne and Wear | A+ | 5.3 | 90% | 6.1 | 0% |
| 3 | Northfleet Kent | A | 2 | 85% | 7.7 | 4% |
| 4 | Ashington Northumberland | A | 5.6 | 83% | 3.9 | 0% |
| 5 | Penarth South Glamorgan | A | 3.5 | 83% | 4.1 | 0% |
| 6 | Witney Oxfordshire | A | 2.5 | 88% | 4.6 | 19% |
| 7 | Woodley Berkshire | A | 5 | 81% | 4.3 | 1% |
| 8 | Lancing and Sompting West Sussex | A | 1.8 | 80% | 3 | 37% |
| 9 | Prestwich Greater Manchester | A | 9 | 94% | 4.1 | 0% |
| 10 | Totton Hampshire | A | 1.6 | 94% | 4.4 | 50% |
| 11 | Burntwood Staffordshire | A− | 5.3 | 81% | 3.4 | 12% |
| 12 | Ewell Surrey | A− | 7.5 | 89% | 4.4 | 0% |
| 13 | Chandler's Ford Hampshire | A− | 2.7 | 80% | 5.3 | 6% |
| 14 | Stretford Greater Manchester | A− | 3.7 | 92% | 4.9 | 0% |
| 15 | Tadworth and Epsom Downs Surrey | A− | 3.4 | 65% | 5.3 | 16% |
| 16 | Great Yarmouth Norfolk | A− | 1.7 | 73% | 3.2 | 18% |
| 17 | Cleethorpes Lincolnshire | A− | 3 | 84% | 2.7 | 0% |
| 18 | Daventry Northamptonshire | A− | 4.1 | 99% | 3.3 | 0% |
| 19 | Eston North Yorkshire | B+ | 2.9 | 93% | 2.8 | 2% |
| 20 | Harpenden Hertfordshire | B+ | 3.5 | 84% | 2.9 | 2% |
| 21 | Cramlington Northumberland | B+ | 2.3 | 91% | 6.6 | 0% |
| 22 | Deal Kent | B+ | 1 | 86% | 2.7 | 6% |
| 23 | Farnworth Greater Manchester | B+ | 3 | 85% | 4.4 | 0% |
| 24 | Chichester West Sussex | B+ | 1.6 | 89% | 3 | 40% |
| 25 | Pontypool Gwent | B+ | 3.6 | 93% | 1.8 | 7% |
| 26 | Brierley Hill West Midlands | B+ | 3.1 | 82% | 4.6 | 0% |
| 27 | Colwyn Bay Clwyd | B+ | 1.9 | 77% | 2.4 | 0% |
| 28 | Windsor Berkshire | B | 5.5 | 83% | 3.3 | 0% |
| 29 | Shipley West Yorkshire | B | 2.1 | 87% | 6 | 0% |
| 30 | Consett County Durham | B | 1.7 | 87% | 3.1 | 19% |
| 31 | Darwen Lancashire | B | 2.2 | 89% | 4.5 | 0% |
| 32 | Witham Essex | B | 1.9 | 94% | 4.1 | 0% |
| 33 | Egham Surrey | B | 4.1 | 63% | 4.9 | 0% |
| 34 | Bushey Hertfordshire | B | 3.1 | 77% | 4 | 0% |
| 35 | Atherton Greater Manchester | B | 3.8 | 83% | 3.1 | 0% |
| 36 | Evesham Worcestershire | B− | 1.7 | 80% | 3.5 | 4% |
| 37 | Stanford-le-Hope Essex | B− | 2.6 | 84% | 1.4 | 0% |
| 38 | Radcliffe Greater Manchester | B− | 1.7 | 86% | 4.2 | 0% |
| 39 | Whitstable Kent | B− | 1.5 | 84% | 2.3 | 0% |
| 40 | Melton Mowbray Leicestershire | B− | 3.3 | 84% | 2.4 | 0% |
| 41 | Kendal Cumbria | C+ | 0.9 | 67% | 4 | 33% |
| 42 | Newton Abbot Devon | C+ | 2.6 | 62% | 2.3 | 6% |
| 43 | Stratford-upon-Avon Warwickshire | C | 1.6 | 84% | 3.2 | 0% |
| 44 | Newark-on-Trent Nottinghamshire | C | 2.2 | 91% | 2 | 0% |
| 45 | Bedworth Warwickshire | C | 1.5 | 87% | 2.9 | 0% |
| 46 | Barnstaple Devon | C | 1.6 | 92% | 2.4 | 0% |
| 47 | Frome Somerset | C | 1.3 | 78% | 2.4 | 9% |
| 48 | Rayleigh Essex | C | 2 | 71% | 3.1 | 0% |
| 49 | Beverley East Riding of Yorkshire | C | 0.7 | 92% | 2.9 | 0% |
| 50 | Wickford Essex | C | 2.4 | 59% | 3 | 0% |
| 51 | Sedgley West Midlands | C | 1.5 | 65% | 4 | 0% |
| 52 | Congleton Cheshire | C | 1.7 | 72% | 3.1 | 0% |
| 53 | Hertford Hertfordshire | C | 0.9 | 65% | 5.3 | 0% |
| 54 | Rushden Northamptonshire | C− | 1.5 | 84% | 2.4 | 0% |
| 55 | Heywood Greater Manchester | C− | 1.3 | 80% | 2.8 | 0% |
| 56 | Heswall Merseyside | C− | 1.1 | 56% | 2.3 | 0% |
| 57 | Port Talbot West Glamorgan | C− | 1.3 | 68% | 1.1 | 0% |
| 58 | Ormskirk Lancashire | D | 1.5 | 80% | 1.8 | 0% |
| 59 | Spalding Lincolnshire | D | 1.1 | 85% | 1.5 | 0% |
| 60 | Pontypridd Mid Glamorgan | D | 1.5 | 70% | 1.9 | 0% |
Tap a number to zoom to a park. Tap a layer to hide it. The dashed line is Eston’s built-up area.
The biggest is Flatts Lane Woodland Country Park, 41 ha (101 acres). Directions go to the park’s nearest public entrance where Ordnance Survey maps one.
The two biggest, Flatts Lane Woodland Country Park and Smith's Dock Park, are 87% of the named green space and carry 6 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; 28 playgrounds are mapped in and around the town, about one for every 1,058 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.
2% of the land within 5 km of Eston is National Park or National Landscape, more than 64% of UK towns. North York Moors National Park covers 1,441 km² and has been a National Park since 1952.
74 km of footpaths, bridleways and rights of way are mapped in Eston and the kilometre around it, 2.8 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 King Charles III England Coast Path, a national route, passes Eston. Close to home, the Tees Link has 11 km of local walk within 2 km of the town. The regional route here is the Teesdale Way (Middlesbrough to Warrenby).
Waymarked walks are OpenStreetMap walking routes. Public rights of way are only as complete as the map in each area.
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) | 7.8 | 9.6 | 11.7 | 14.0 | 16.0 | 17.2 | 16.7 | 14.9 | 12.6 | 10.4 | 8.3 | 7.3 |
| High (°C) | 7 | 8 | 11 | 13 | 16 | 19 | 21 | 21 | 18 | 14 | 10 | 8 |
| Rain (mm) | 48 | 38 | 39 | 43 | 40 | 63 | 58 | 67 | 55 | 57 | 67 | 57 |
February is the driest month (38 mm) and July the warmest (highs of 21 °C). Winter days are short, about 7 hours of daylight in December, and 67 mm of rain falls in November, the wettest month. Frost comes on about 35 nights a year. The climate in Eston →
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.
Eston 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 27 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Eston | B+ | 2.9 | 93% | 2% |
| Middlesbrough 2.9 mi | A | 2.6 | 85% | 3% |
| Guisborough 4.3 mi | B− | 1.5 | 80% | 35% |
| Redcar 4.4 mi | B− | 2.6 | 79% | 0% |
| New Marske 4.6 mi | A− | 4.4 | 90% | 0% |
| Stainton 5.1 mi | D | 0.5 | 0% | 0% |
| Great Ayton 5.2 mi | C− | 0.2 | 48% | 31% |
Middlesbrough, 2.9 miles away, grades A, the best next door: 85% of its residents live within 400 m of a park.
Flatts Lane Woodland Country Park, 41 ha (101 acres), with 5.8 km of path, just outside the built-up area. Smith's Dock Park (10 ha) is second. 4 named parks, gardens and playing fields are in the town or within 400 m of it.
Yes. North York Moors National Park begins 2.3 mi south-east of the town’s edge. It covers 1,441 km² and has been a National Park since 1952.
3 waymarked walking routes pass within 2 km of the town, including the Tees Link, King Charles III England Coast Path: Filey Brigg to Newport Bridge and Teesdale Way (Middlesbrough to Warrenby). Flatts Lane Woodland Country Park alone has 5.8 km of path.
Coatham Sands, 3.8 mi from the edge of the town, then Marske Sands (5.1 mi). Eston itself is inland.
93% 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 to July and September: the longest days, the warmest afternoons and the least rain of the year, from the Met Office 1991–2020 averages.
About average for paths: 2.8 km of footpath and right of way per square kilometre, more than 53% of UK towns. For park space per person it beats 68% (2.9 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 Eston’s overall grade.
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