Dickens Heath’s biggest
Shirley Town Football Club
Playing field · 300 m outside town
3.5 ha (9 acres)
5 pitchesfootball pitches would fit
0.6 mi north-westfrom the centre
Directionsto the nearest entrance
Photo: David Martin · CC BY-SA 2.0C+Outdoors Grade
Outdoors in Dickens Heath · parks, paths & countryside
82% of Dickens Heath’s residents live within a 5-minute walk of a park
Parks and playing fields in Dickens Heath add up to 3.2 ha for every 1,000 residents; the typical UK town has 2.1. 19 km of footpaths run through the town and the kilometre around it, 2.5 for every square kilometre. Dickens Heath grades C+ for the outdoors: #19 of 35 in West Midlands. A character grade: it isn’t part of the overall grade.
Green space
3.2 ha
per 1,000 residents
Typical UK town 2.1
Near a park
82%
of residents within 400 m
Typical UK town 83%
Footpaths
19 km
2.5 km per km², town + 1 km
Typical UK town 3.0 per km²
Protected landscape
0%
of the land within 5 km
Nearest: Cotswolds National Landscape
Outdoors grade
Dickens Heath grades C+ for the outdoors
Each chart is every UK town of 1,000 or more on one measure: the green bar is Dickens Heath, the dashed line the typical town. The number is the share of towns it beats; the five are averaged and the average ranked again.
C+
Better than 43% of UK towns#19 of 35 in West Midlands · 32nd of 60 UK towns its size
Public green space3.2 haper 1,000 residents: parks, gardens, playing fields, play spaces
72out of
100
100
A park within a walk82%of residents within 400 m (a 5-minute walk)
51out of
100
100
National Park or National Landscape0%of the land within 5 km · None within 5 km
31out of
100
100
Footpaths2.5 kmper km², the town and 1 km around it
46out 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
Dickens Heath is 32nd of 60 UK towns its size for the outdoors
The 60 UK towns and cities of 4,600 to 5,000 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
Dickens Heath2.5
Towns its size2.7
West Midlands towns3.0
All UK towns3.0
Green space, ha per 1,000 residents
Dickens Heath3.2
Towns its size2.1
West Midlands towns2.7
All UK towns2.1
Residents within 400 m of a park
Dickens Heath82%
Towns its size82%
West Midlands towns77%
All UK towns83%
Against towns its size, Dickens Heath stands out most for park space per resident: only 16 of the other 59 have more.
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 | Frinton-on-Sea Essex | A+ | 7.5 | 100% | 2.6 | 0% |
| 3 | Windermere Cumbria | A+ | 3 | 94% | 3.6 | 100% |
| 4 | Rownhams and Nursling Hampshire | A+ | 4.9 | 86% | 6.7 | 12% |
| 5 | Marple Bridge Greater Manchester | A | 9.9 | 80% | 4.4 | 13% |
| 6 | Wilford Nottinghamshire | A | 7.7 | 93% | 9.6 | 0% |
| 7 | Wirksworth Derbyshire | A | 2 | 100% | 4.6 | 8% |
| 8 | Huntington Staffordshire | A | 3.7 | 74% | 4.6 | 27% |
| 9 | Carleton Lancashire | A | 3 | 86% | 3.8 | 0% |
| 10 | Rudheath Cheshire | A | 5.5 | 100% | 3.7 | 0% |
| 11 | Joyden's Wood Kent | A− | 2.7 | 82% | 5.6 | 4% |
| 12 | Writtle Essex | A− | 5.8 | 100% | 3.3 | 0% |
| 13 | Cringleford Norfolk | A− | 1.7 | 94% | 7.4 | 0% |
| 14 | Dersingham Norfolk | A− | 3.1 | 76% | 1.9 | 39% |
| 15 | Elvetham Heath Hampshire | A− | 8.7 | 100% | 2.8 | 0% |
| 16 | Liss Hampshire | A− | 2.3 | 87% | 2.6 | 98% |
| 17 | Binfield Berkshire | A− | 8.5 | 100% | 2.5 | 0% |
| 18 | Saxmundham Suffolk | B+ | 3.3 | 100% | 1.9 | 3% |
| 19 | Borough Green Kent | B+ | 2.5 | 93% | 1.9 | 50% |
| 20 | Bodicote Oxfordshire | B+ | 10.2 | 86% | 3.2 | 0% |
| 21 | Sturry Kent | B+ | 2.7 | 80% | 3.4 | 1% |
| 22 | Callington Cornwall | B | 2.1 | 100% | 1.1 | 21% |
| 23 | Coedpoeth Clwyd | B | 1.4 | 100% | 1.9 | 24% |
| 24 | Lenham and Harrietsham Kent | B− | 1.4 | 88% | 2.4 | 47% |
| 25 | Chalfont St Giles Buckinghamshire | B− | 1.8 | 57% | 3.5 | 37% |
| 26 | Kelvedon and Feering Essex | B− | 3.5 | 94% | 2.2 | 0% |
| 27 | Astley Greater Manchester | B− | 3.5 | 78% | 3.1 | 0% |
| 28 | Handsacre and Armitage Staffordshire | B− | 1.8 | 89% | 2.1 | 12% |
| 29 | Llay Clwyd | B− | 10.6 | 85% | 1.7 | 0% |
| 30 | Dudley Tyne and Wear | C+ | 2.6 | 69% | 4 | 0% |
| 31 | Bramley Hampshire | C+ | 2.8 | 100% | 1.4 | 0% |
| 32 | Dickens Heath West Midlands | C+ | 3.2 | 82% | 2.5 | 0% |
| 33 | Stokesley North Yorkshire | C+ | 0.9 | 100% | 1.7 | 16% |
| 34 | Cross Hills North Yorkshire | C+ | 1.9 | 86% | 3 | 0% |
| 35 | Ripponden West Yorkshire | C+ | 2.1 | 75% | 3.8 | 0% |
| 36 | Edwalton Nottinghamshire | C+ | 2.1 | 58% | 4.5 | 0% |
| 37 | Shortstown Bedfordshire | C | 2.4 | 82% | 2.5 | 0% |
| 38 | Datchet Berkshire | C | 8.4 | 72% | 1.5 | 0% |
| 39 | Copthorne West Sussex | C | 1.2 | 62% | 2.9 | 13% |
| 40 | Bowburn County Durham | C | 1.5 | 71% | 3.8 | 0% |
| 41 | Minster (Thanet) Kent | C | 2.3 | 64% | 1.2 | 0% |
| 42 | Makeney Derbyshire | C | 2.1 | 56% | 3.4 | 0% |
| 43 | Mynydd Isa Clwyd | C | 0.9 | 87% | 2 | 3% |
| 44 | Northway Gloucestershire | C | 0.9 | 58% | 3.1 | 13% |
| 45 | Winterton Lincolnshire | C | 1.6 | 82% | 1.1 | 0% |
| 46 | Woodhall Spa Lincolnshire | C− | 1.9 | 61% | 3 | 0% |
| 47 | Barton-under-Needwood Staffordshire | C− | 2.3 | 70% | 2.2 | 0% |
| 48 | Preesall and Knott End-on-Sea Lancashire | C− | 0.7 | 69% | 1.9 | 0% |
| 49 | Middleton St George County Durham | C− | 1.8 | 94% | 1 | 0% |
| 50 | Sowerby North Yorkshire | C− | 1.5 | 77% | 2.7 | 0% |
| 51 | Bailrigg Lancashire | C− | 0 | 0% | 3.4 | 18% |
| 52 | Melbourne Derbyshire | C− | 1.5 | 67% | 2.7 | 0% |
| 53 | Halesworth Suffolk | C− | 1.4 | 55% | 1.9 | 5% |
| 54 | Tickhill South Yorkshire | D | 1.7 | 69% | 2.2 | 0% |
| 55 | South Cave East Riding of Yorkshire | D | 1.5 | 43% | 0.9 | 0% |
| 56 | Markfield Leicestershire | D | 0.8 | 63% | 2.7 | 0% |
| 57 | Melbourn Cambridgeshire | D | 1.2 | 45% | 2.7 | 0% |
| 58 | Fleckney Leicestershire | D | 0.8 | 63% | 2.3 | 0% |
| 59 | Chilton County Durham | D− | 1.1 | 68% | 1 | 0% |
| 60 | Bulford Wiltshire | D− | 0.9 | 51% | 1.6 | 0% |
The map
Parks, footpaths & countryside
Tap a number to zoom to a park. Tap a layer to hide it. The dashed line is Dickens Heath’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 Dickens Heath
The biggest is Shirley Town Football Club, 3.5 ha (9 acres). Directions go to the park’s nearest public entrance where Ordnance Survey maps one.
Close to home
How close Dickens Heath’s homes are to 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 (82%)Further (18%)
Dickens Heath82%
Towns its size82%
West Midlands towns77%
All UK towns83%
About 800 people live further than that. Playing fields count, so a park within reach isn’t always one with paths or trees; 15 playgrounds are mapped in and around the town, about one for every 320 residents.
National Parks & National Landscapes
The Cotswolds National Landscape is 19 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
Footpaths & waymarked walks
7 waymarked walks pass through or near Dickens Heath
19 km of footpaths, bridleways and rights of way are mapped in Dickens Heath and the kilometre around it, 2.5 km for every square kilometre (the typical UK town has 3.0). Bars show each route’s kilometres within 2 km of the town.
RegionalLocal
Rail Trail: Shirley > The Lakes6.5 km
Rail Trail: Wythall > Shirley3.4 km
North Worcestershire Path3.3 km
Rail Trail: The Lakes > Earlswood3.0 km
Rail Trail: Whitlocks End > Shirley2.7 km
Rail Trail: Earlswood > Wythall1.6 km
Rail Trail: Olton > Shirley1.1 km
Close to home, the Rail Trail: Shirley > The Lakes has 7 km of local walk within 2 km of the town. The regional route here is the North Worcestershire Path.
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 Dickens Heath: 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) | 8.2 | 9.8 | 11.7 | 13.8 | 15.7 | 16.8 | 16.3 | 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) | 68 | 54 | 53 | 58 | 61 | 64 | 65 | 69 | 66 | 77 | 77 | 76 |
March is the driest month (53 mm) and July the warmest (highs of 22 °C). Winter days are short, about 8 hours of daylight in December, and 77 mm of rain falls in October, the wettest month. Frost comes on about 50 nights a year. The climate in Dickens Heath →
Things to do
15 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
Dickens Heath is inland. These are the nearest named beaches, measured from the edge of the town.
library18 mi from Dickens Heath’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 5
Dickens Heath Country Park & Local Nature Reserve8.1 ha · 0.0 mi from town
DirectionsDickens Heath Local Nature Reserve2.0 ha · 0.1 mi from town
DirectionsBills Wood Local Nature Reserve7.1 ha · 0.7 mi from town
DirectionsLittle Clowes Wood31 ha · 1.1 mi from town
DirectionsPlus 1 nature reserve without a name on the map.
Playgrounds 15
Dickens Heath Play Areain town
DirectionsTidbury Heights Playground0.4 mi from town
DirectionsNoble Way Children’s Play Area0.6 mi from town
DirectionsSpider Park0.9 mi from town
DirectionsEarlwood Leisure Park1.2 mi from town
DirectionsPlus 10 playgrounds without a name on the map.
Campsites 1
The Log Cabin1.1 mi from town
DirectionsSlipways 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.
Tidbury GreenCheswick GreenWythallHollywoodSolihullHockley HeathDickens Heath
ABCDOutdoors Grade
| Town | Outdoors | Green space, ha per 1,000 | Near a park | Protected within 5 km |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dickens Heath | C+ | 3.2 | 82% | 0% |
| Tidbury Green 0.8 mi | C− | 2.4 | 49% | 0% |
| Cheswick Green 1.0 mi | C− | 1.0 | 77% | 0% |
| Wythall 1.6 mi | D− | 0.2 | 0% | 0% |
| Hollywood 1.8 mi | C− | 2.4 | 54% | 0% |
| Solihull 2.9 mi | C | 2.9 | 54% | 0% |
| Hockley Heath 3.2 mi | C+ | 2.6 | 86% | 0% |
Dickens Heath grades higher for the outdoors than every neighbour in the table. None of the neighbours has a protected landscape within 5 km either.
Questions about the outdoors in Dickens Heath
What is the biggest park in Dickens Heath?
Shirley Town Football Club, 3.5 ha (9 acres), just outside the built-up area. 1 named park, garden or playing field is in the town or within 400 m of it.
Is Dickens Heath near a National Park?
The nearest protected landscape is the Cotswolds National Landscape, 19 mi south of the town’s edge. It covers 2,041 km² and was designated in 1966.
What are the best walks near Dickens Heath?
7 waymarked walking routes pass within 2 km of the town, including the Rail Trail: Shirley > The Lakes, Rail Trail: Wythall > Shirley and North Worcestershire Path.
What is the nearest beach to Dickens Heath?
library, 18 mi from the edge of the town. Dickens Heath itself is inland.
How many people in Dickens Heath live near a park?
82% 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 Dickens Heath?
May to September: the longest days, the warmest afternoons and the least rain of the year, from the Met Office 1991–2020 averages.
Is Dickens Heath good for walking?
About average for paths: 2.5 km of footpath and right of way per square kilometre, more than 46% of UK towns. For park space per person it beats 72% (3.2 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 Dickens Heath’s overall grade.
Sources
Where Dickens Heath’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.