Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Photo: John M · CC BY-SA 2.0The Cannock Chase National Landscape begins 4.8 mi from the town’s edge. Parks and playing fields in Willenhall add up to 3.4 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 66% of residents. Willenhall grades C+ for the outdoors: #22 of 35 in West Midlands. A character grade: it isn’t part of the overall grade.
Read from the data: what stands out first, good and bad.
Willenhall’s strongest suit is plenty of park space, followed by the Cannock Chase National Landscape close by. Where it falls short is how far some homes are from a park.
Each chart is every UK town of 1,000 or more on one measure: the green bar is Willenhall, 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 43,600 to 56,400 people with an Outdoors Grade. Hover a dot for its figures; tap one for its page.
Against towns its size, Willenhall stands out most for park space per resident: only 14 of the other 59 have more. It falls furthest behind on homes near a park, where 58 of the others do better.
| Town | Outdoors | Green space | Near a park | Path per km² | Protected | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Folkestone Kent | A+ | 2.3 | 95% | 4.9 | 45% |
| 2 | Havant Hampshire | A+ | 3.6 | 84% | 5.8 | 30% |
| 3 | Lancaster Lancashire | A+ | 2.4 | 96% | 3.5 | 22% |
| 4 | Andover Hampshire | A | 2.7 | 91% | 4.4 | 21% |
| 5 | Salisbury Wiltshire | A | 2.7 | 94% | 3.9 | 22% |
| 6 | Wrexham Clwyd | A | 3.8 | 92% | 3.9 | 2% |
| 7 | Weymouth Dorset | A | 2.6 | 55% | 3.5 | 35% |
| 8 | Wallsend Tyne and Wear | A | 6 | 93% | 5.7 | 0% |
| 9 | Sittingbourne Kent | A | 1.9 | 93% | 2.8 | 17% |
| 10 | Bexhill-on-Sea East Sussex | A | 1.7 | 83% | 3.4 | 13% |
| 11 | Banbury Oxfordshire | A | 2.6 | 96% | 4.1 | 0% |
| 12 | Bletchley Buckinghamshire | A | 4.1 | 91% | 5.9 | 0% |
| 13 | Eastleigh Hampshire | A− | 3 | 76% | 4.9 | 17% |
| 14 | Trowbridge Wiltshire | A− | 2.3 | 91% | 4.3 | 3% |
| 15 | Christchurch Dorset | A− | 2.1 | 70% | 3.3 | 14% |
| 16 | Crosby Merseyside | A− | 4.6 | 89% | 2.3 | 0% |
| 17 | Royal Tunbridge Wells Kent | A− | 2.2 | 93% | 2.7 | 73% |
| 18 | Washington Tyne and Wear | A− | 4.5 | 90% | 4 | 0% |
| 19 | Ashton-under-Lyne Greater Manchester | A− | 3.1 | 85% | 3.6 | 0% |
| 20 | Cheshunt Hertfordshire | B+ | 4.8 | 79% | 4.9 | 0% |
| 21 | Carlton Nottinghamshire | B+ | 4.9 | 82% | 4.3 | 0% |
| 22 | Bootle Merseyside | B+ | 2.1 | 93% | 2.7 | 0% |
| 23 | Canterbury Kent | B+ | 1.6 | 77% | 5.7 | 19% |
| 24 | West Molesey Surrey | B+ | 4.4 | 80% | 4.4 | 0% |
| 25 | Torquay Devon | B+ | 1.8 | 87% | 2.9 | 0% |
| 26 | Thundersley and South Benfleet Essex | B+ | 3.2 | 69% | 3.2 | 0% |
| 27 | Bridgwater Somerset | B+ | 1.9 | 86% | 3.7 | 2% |
| 28 | Yeovil Somerset | B+ | 2 | 90% | 3.2 | 2% |
| 29 | Royal Leamington Spa Warwickshire | B+ | 2.7 | 91% | 3.8 | 0% |
| 30 | Batley West Yorkshire | B+ | 2.7 | 94% | 3.5 | 0% |
| 31 | Cwmbrân Gwent | B+ | 2.1 | 84% | 3.7 | 1% |
| 32 | Middleton Greater Manchester | B+ | 3.5 | 80% | 4.2 | 0% |
| 33 | Horsham West Sussex | B | 1.5 | 83% | 3.9 | 19% |
| 34 | Wokingham Berkshire | B | 4 | 84% | 3.5 | 0% |
| 35 | Leigh Greater Manchester | B | 5.3 | 77% | 3.8 | 0% |
| 36 | Beeston Nottinghamshire | B | 2.7 | 77% | 6 | 0% |
| 37 | Barrow-in-Furness Cumbria | B | 2 | 91% | 1.9 | 0% |
| 38 | Macclesfield Cheshire | B | 1.8 | 80% | 3.3 | 18% |
| 39 | Winchester Hampshire | B | 1.2 | 79% | 3.8 | 35% |
| 40 | Altrincham Greater Manchester | B | 2.2 | 91% | 3.6 | 0% |
| 41 | Welwyn Garden City Hertfordshire | B | 2.2 | 80% | 4.9 | 0% |
| 42 | Castleford West Yorkshire | B | 2.3 | 92% | 3.2 | 0% |
| 43 | Brentwood Essex | B− | 3.9 | 69% | 3.7 | 0% |
| 44 | Bloxwich West Midlands | B− | 3.6 | 74% | 3.4 | 0% |
| 45 | Oldbury West Midlands | B− | 3 | 68% | 4.3 | 0% |
| 46 | Tipton West Midlands | B− | 1.9 | 79% | 4.5 | 0% |
| 47 | Smethwick West Midlands | C+ | 2 | 88% | 3.1 | 0% |
| 48 | Hinckley Leicestershire | C+ | 1.8 | 87% | 3.3 | 0% |
| 49 | Wellingborough Northamptonshire | C+ | 2.7 | 95% | 1.9 | 0% |
| 50 | Willenhall West Midlands | C+ | 3.4 | 66% | 3 | 0% |
| 51 | Kingswinford West Midlands | C+ | 2.6 | 71% | 3.2 | 0% |
| 52 | King's Lynn Norfolk | C+ | 1.3 | 80% | 2.2 | 23% |
| 53 | Clacton-on-Sea Essex | C | 1.7 | 73% | 1.9 | 0% |
| 54 | Kirkby Merseyside | C | 2.2 | 87% | 2.2 | 0% |
| 55 | Grays Essex | C | 1.2 | 83% | 2.1 | 0% |
| 56 | Durham County Durham | C | 1.1 | 68% | 6 | 0% |
| 57 | Keighley West Yorkshire | C | 1.6 | 73% | 3.3 | 0% |
| 58 | Boston Lincolnshire | C− | 2.1 | 78% | 2.1 | 0% |
| 59 | Grantham Lincolnshire | D | 0.9 | 69% | 2.7 | 0% |
| 60 | Bridgend Mid Glamorgan | D | 0.9 | 78% | 2 | 0% |
Tap a number to zoom to a park. Tap a layer to hide it. The dashed line is Willenhall’s built-up area.
The biggest is Rough Wood Country Park, 107 ha (263 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 17,000 people live further than that. Playing fields count, so a park within reach isn’t always one with paths or trees; 44 playgrounds are mapped in and around the town, about one for every 1,127 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.
Protected landscape begins just outside the 5 km ring the Outdoors Grade measures, so Willenhall scores 0% on it even though the Cannock Chase National Landscape is 4.8 mi away.
100 km of footpaths, bridleways and rights of way are mapped in Willenhall and the kilometre around it, 3.0 km for every square kilometre (the typical UK town has 3.0). Bars show each route’s kilometres within 2 km of the town.
Close to home, the Walsall Walk of Art has 5 km of local walk within 2 km of the town. The regional route here is the Monarch's 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) | 8.1 | 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 | 14 | 17 | 20 | 22 | 21 | 18 | 14 | 10 | 7 |
| Rain (mm) | 65 | 50 | 50 | 53 | 58 | 69 | 62 | 65 | 62 | 78 | 72 | 73 |
March is the driest month (50 mm) and July the warmest (highs of 22 °C). Winter days are short, about 8 hours of daylight in December, and 78 mm of rain falls in October, the wettest month. Frost comes on about 38 nights a year. The climate in Willenhall →
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.
Willenhall 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.
Up high. Pouk Hill, at 145 m, is the highest named top within 2 km of Willenhall.
Plus 1 nature reserve without a name on the map.
Plus 40 playgrounds without a name on the map.
The nearest towns of 1,000+ within 12 miles. Tap a town for its outdoors page.
Essington, 2.3 miles away, grades B+, the best next door: every resident lives within 400 m of a park. None of the neighbours has a protected landscape within 5 km either.
Rough Wood Country Park, 107 ha (263 acres), with 11.8 km of path. Memorial Park (21 ha) is second. 3 named parks, gardens and playing fields are in the town or within 400 m of it.
The nearest protected landscape is the Cannock Chase National Landscape, 4.8 mi north of the town’s edge. It covers 69 km² and was designated in 1958.
5 waymarked walking routes pass within 2 km of the town, including the Monarch's Way, Walsall Walk of Art and Forest of Mercia Way. Rough Wood Country Park alone has 11.8 km of path.
library, 24 mi from the edge of the town. Willenhall itself is inland.
66% 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.
For paths, yes: 3.0 km of footpath and right of way per square kilometre, more than 61% of UK towns. For park space per person it beats 76% (3.4 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 Willenhall’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.