Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Photo: Rob Farrow · CC BY-SA 2.0Parks and playing fields in Brixworth add up to 3.8 ha for every 1,000 residents; the typical UK town has 2.1. A park or playing field is within a 5-minute walk for 94% of residents. Footpaths add up to 26 km in the town and the kilometre around it, 2.3 for every square kilometre. Brixworth grades B for the outdoors: #8 of 31 in Northamptonshire. 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 Brixworth, 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 5,600 to 6,000 people with an Outdoors Grade. Hover a dot for its figures; tap one for its page.
Against towns its size, Brixworth stands out most for park space per resident: only 11 of the other 59 have more. It falls furthest behind on path per km², where 32 of the others do better.
| Town | Outdoors | Green space | Near a park | Path per km² | Protected | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Blackfield and Langley Hampshire | A+ | 28.1 | 95% | 4.2 | 48% |
| 2 | Saltburn-by-the-Sea North Yorkshire | A | 4.7 | 92% | 2.5 | 0% |
| 3 | Bagshot Surrey | A | 10.5 | 100% | 5.2 | 0% |
| 4 | Deepcar South Yorkshire | A | 1.8 | 100% | 6.4 | 21% |
| 5 | Barrowford Lancashire | A | 4.2 | 82% | 5 | 22% |
| 6 | Wareham Dorset | A | 1.9 | 83% | 3.4 | 56% |
| 7 | Leiston Suffolk | A | 1.7 | 95% | 2.7 | 35% |
| 8 | Amble Northumberland | A | 2 | 100% | 2.2 | 5% |
| 9 | West Hallam Derbyshire | A | 4.8 | 100% | 4.3 | 0% |
| 10 | Haworth West Yorkshire | A | 4.1 | 100% | 4.3 | 0% |
| 11 | Millom Cumbria | A | 2 | 82% | 3.2 | 13% |
| 12 | Menston West Yorkshire | A | 2.4 | 90% | 4.1 | 18% |
| 13 | Shepperton Surrey | A | 8.7 | 89% | 4.6 | 0% |
| 14 | Carnforth Lancashire | A− | 1.2 | 89% | 3 | 39% |
| 15 | Barnard Castle County Durham | A− | 2.2 | 100% | 3.4 | 1% |
| 16 | Nailsworth Gloucestershire | A− | 1.3 | 86% | 5.9 | 88% |
| 17 | Botley Hampshire | A− | 14.6 | 70% | 3.6 | 2% |
| 18 | East Horsley Surrey | A− | 3.5 | 55% | 4.5 | 33% |
| 19 | Blaenavon Gwent | A− | 1.8 | 100% | 2.3 | 39% |
| 20 | Henfield West Sussex | A− | 3.8 | 51% | 4.4 | 17% |
| 21 | Kingsbridge Devon | B+ | 1.5 | 91% | 1.6 | 67% |
| 22 | Marchwood Hampshire | B+ | 2 | 87% | 1.3 | 38% |
| 23 | Creswell Derbyshire | B+ | 2.7 | 100% | 3.2 | 0% |
| 24 | Moor Park Hertfordshire | B+ | 4.5 | 46% | 4.5 | 1% |
| 25 | Thrybergh and Dalton South Yorkshire | B+ | 2.6 | 95% | 4 | 0% |
| 26 | Willington County Durham | B+ | 4.7 | 95% | 2.8 | 0% |
| 27 | Garstang Lancashire | B | 2.4 | 89% | 2.3 | 15% |
| 28 | East Tilbury Essex | B | 2.3 | 92% | 2 | 0% |
| 29 | Shipston-on-Stour Warwickshire | B | 2.3 | 94% | 1.6 | 20% |
| 30 | Brixworth Northamptonshire | B | 3.8 | 94% | 2.3 | 0% |
| 31 | Hemsby Norfolk | B | 2.5 | 51% | 1.4 | 22% |
| 32 | Bidford-on-Avon Warwickshire | B | 3.4 | 100% | 1.9 | 0% |
| 33 | Cheddar Somerset | B− | 2.3 | 41% | 3 | 56% |
| 34 | Thirsk North Yorkshire | B− | 1.8 | 100% | 2.8 | 0% |
| 35 | Haddenham Buckinghamshire | B− | 3.1 | 86% | 2.7 | 0% |
| 36 | Hullbridge Essex | C+ | 5.7 | 59% | 3 | 0% |
| 37 | Aylesham Kent | C+ | 0.3 | 76% | 3.4 | 33% |
| 38 | Bagillt Clwyd | C+ | 1.3 | 87% | 1.8 | 0% |
| 39 | Crawley Down West Sussex | C+ | 1.2 | 80% | 2.2 | 40% |
| 40 | Pontyclun Mid Glamorgan | C | 2.4 | 79% | 2.6 | 0% |
| 41 | Ruthin Clwyd | C | 2.7 | 51% | 1.5 | 31% |
| 42 | Egremont Cumbria | C | 1.1 | 63% | 1.8 | 11% |
| 43 | Wadebridge Cornwall | C | 1.8 | 74% | 1.8 | 17% |
| 44 | Bracebridge Heath Lincolnshire | C | 1.1 | 81% | 3.7 | 0% |
| 45 | Four Marks Hampshire | C | 0.9 | 46% | 3 | 31% |
| 46 | Undy and Magor Gwent | C | 0.9 | 86% | 1.4 | 0% |
| 47 | Durrington Wiltshire | C | 1.1 | 90% | 2.7 | 0% |
| 48 | Red Lodge Suffolk | C | 1.5 | 100% | 1.5 | 0% |
| 49 | Ramsey Cambridgeshire | C | 2.5 | 72% | 2.3 | 0% |
| 50 | Pembury Kent | C− | 1.1 | 45% | 2 | 58% |
| 51 | Abertridwr and Senghenydd Gwent | C− | 1.8 | 87% | 1 | 0% |
| 52 | Purfleet-on-Thames Essex | C− | 0.9 | 64% | 1.9 | 0% |
| 53 | Cuddington Cheshire | C− | 1.5 | 66% | 2.6 | 0% |
| 54 | Withernsea East Riding of Yorkshire | D | 0.9 | 60% | 1.1 | 0% |
| 55 | Finningley South Yorkshire | D | 2 | 65% | 1.3 | 0% |
| 56 | Brigg Lincolnshire | D | 1.7 | 65% | 1.4 | 0% |
| 57 | Ruskington Lincolnshire | D | 1.3 | 70% | 1.7 | 0% |
| 58 | Bulkington Warwickshire | D | 0.9 | 76% | 1.5 | 0% |
| 59 | Sawtry Cambridgeshire | D | 1.3 | 40% | 2.2 | 0% |
| 60 | Burwell Cambridgeshire | D− | 1.5 | 44% | 1.8 | 0% |
Tap a number to zoom to a park. Tap a layer to hide it. The dashed line is Brixworth’s built-up area.
The biggest is Brixworth Country Park, 13 ha (33 acres). Directions go to the park’s nearest public entrance where Ordnance Survey maps one.
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 300 people live further than that. 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 962 residents.
26 km of footpaths, bridleways and rights of way are mapped in Brixworth and the kilometre around it, 2.3 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 regional route here is the Midshires Way.
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) | 8.2 | 9.8 | 11.7 | 13.8 | 15.7 | 16.8 | 16.3 | 14.7 | 12.6 | 10.5 | 8.7 | 7.7 |
| High (°C) | 7 | 8 | 10 | 13 | 17 | 19 | 22 | 22 | 19 | 14 | 10 | 7 |
| Rain (mm) | 63 | 49 | 45 | 49 | 59 | 54 | 58 | 63 | 63 | 75 | 69 | 66 |
March is the driest month (45 mm) and July the warmest (highs of 22 °C). Winter days are short, about 8 hours of daylight in December, and 75 mm of rain falls in October, the wettest month. Frost comes on about 49 nights a year. The climate in Brixworth →
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 5 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Brixworth | B | 3.8 | 94% | 0% |
| Spratton 2.0 mi | C− | 2.3 | 85% | 0% |
| Moulton 3.4 mi | C+ | 3.3 | 88% | 0% |
| Sywell and Overstone 4.7 mi | D | 3.1 | 62% | 0% |
| Mawsley Village 5.0 mi | D | 1.5 | 71% | 0% |
| Northampton 5.6 mi | B | 2.6 | 85% | 0% |
| Broughton 6.2 mi | D | 2.7 | 70% | 0% |
Northampton, 5.6 miles away, grades B, the best next door: 85% of its residents live within 400 m of a park. None of the neighbours has a protected landscape within 5 km either.
Brixworth Country Park, 13 ha (33 acres), with 3.6 km of path, just outside the built-up area. St Davids Recreation Ground (3.4 ha) is second. 2 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 Brixworth.
2 waymarked walking routes pass within 2 km of the town, including the Northamptonshire Round and Midshires Way. Brixworth Country Park alone has 3.6 km of path.
94% 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 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: 2.3 km of footpath and right of way per square kilometre, more than 41% of UK towns. For park space per person it beats 80% (3.8 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 Brixworth’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.