Thorner’s biggest
Thorner Playground
Play space
0.1 ha (0 acres)
Centralin the middle of Thorner
Directionsto the nearest entrance
Photo: Chris Heaton · CC BY-SA 2.0C+Outdoors Grade
Outdoors in Thorner · parks, paths & countryside
Parks and walks in Thorner
27 km of footpaths run through the village and the kilometre around it, 3.4 for every square kilometre. 74% of residents live within a 5-minute walk of a park or playing field. Parks and playing fields in Thorner add up to 2.1 ha for every 1,000 residents; the typical UK town has 2.1. Thorner grades C+ for the outdoors. A character grade: it isn’t part of the overall grade.
Green space
2.1 ha
per 1,000 residents
Typical UK town 2.1
Near a park
74%
of residents within 400 m
Typical UK town 83%
Footpaths
27 km
3.4 km per km², town + 1 km
Typical UK town 3.0 per km²
Protected landscape
0%
of the land within 5 km
Nearest: Nidderdale National Landscape
Outdoors grade
Thorner grades C+ for the outdoors
Each chart is every UK town of 1,000 or more on one measure: the green bar is Thorner, 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 35% of UK towns35th of 60 UK villages its size
Public green space2.1 haper 1,000 residents: parks, gardens, playing fields, play spaces
47out of
100
100
A park within a walk74%of residents within 400 m (a 5-minute walk)
36out of
100
100
National Park or National Landscape0%of the land within 5 km · None within 5 km
31out of
100
100
Footpaths3.4 kmper km², the town and 1 km around it
70out 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.
Villages its size
Thorner is 35th of 60 UK villages its size for the outdoors
The 60 UK towns and cities of 1,300 to 1,500 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
Thorner3.4
Villages its size2.3
West Yorkshire towns3.5
All UK towns3.0
Green space, ha per 1,000 residents
Thorner2.1
Villages its size2.0
West Yorkshire towns2.1
All UK towns2.1
Residents within 400 m of a park
Thorner74%
Villages its size85%
West Yorkshire towns87%
All UK towns83%
Against villages its size, Thorner stands out most for path per km²: only 12 of the other 59 have more. It falls furthest behind on homes near a park, where 45 of the others do better.
Show as a table
| Town | Outdoors | Green space | Near a park | Path per km² | Protected | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Dwygyfylchi Clwyd | A+ | 3.2 | 83% | 4.3 | 28% |
| 2 | Tatsfield Surrey | A+ | 7.5 | 100% | 3.1 | 34% |
| 3 | Troon Cornwall | A+ | 6.2 | 100% | 3.7 | 0% |
| 4 | Kingswood Gloucestershire | A | 2.1 | 100% | 3.7 | 45% |
| 5 | Tir-y-berth and Glan-y-nant Gwent | A | 22.1 | 100% | 4.3 | 0% |
| 6 | Chilton Oxfordshire | A | 5.4 | 88% | 2.8 | 70% |
| 7 | Cromford Derbyshire | A | 1.8 | 100% | 6.6 | 12% |
| 8 | Cowfold West Sussex | A | 2.6 | 100% | 3.6 | 15% |
| 9 | Gomshall Surrey | A | 1.9 | 89% | 4.8 | 87% |
| 10 | West Horsley Surrey | A | 3 | 74% | 5.2 | 40% |
| 11 | Startforth County Durham | A | 6 | 78% | 4.3 | 4% |
| 12 | Sherston Wiltshire | A | 3.7 | 100% | 1.4 | 75% |
| 13 | Sherfield on Loddon Hampshire | A− | 8.3 | 100% | 3.2 | 0% |
| 14 | Weston Rhyn Shropshire | A− | 3.6 | 100% | 2.2 | 10% |
| 15 | Distington Cumbria | A− | 4.2 | 100% | 1.6 | 0% |
| 16 | Wharncliffe Side South Yorkshire | A− | 3.3 | 47% | 6.4 | 22% |
| 17 | Wigginton North Yorkshire | A− | 4.1 | 100% | 2.9 | 0% |
| 18 | Shotley Gate Suffolk | A− | 1 | 100% | 1.5 | 34% |
| 19 | Carway Dyfed | B+ | 17 | 100% | 1.8 | 0% |
| 20 | Appleton Thorn Cheshire | B+ | 5.6 | 100% | 2 | 0% |
| 21 | Handcross West Sussex | B | 9.6 | 58% | 1.9 | 87% |
| 22 | Barrow Lancashire | B | 0.5 | 100% | 2.8 | 27% |
| 23 | Trevor Clwyd | B | 2 | 60% | 3.5 | 55% |
| 24 | Woolmer Green Hertfordshire | B | 1.3 | 100% | 4.3 | 0% |
| 25 | Bentley Hampshire | B | 1.3 | 100% | 2.1 | 22% |
| 26 | Tye Green Essex | B | 2 | 100% | 3 | 0% |
| 27 | Cefn Cribwr Mid Glamorgan | B | 6.5 | 100% | 1.2 | 0% |
| 28 | Sampford Peverell Devon | B− | 3 | 100% | 2 | 0% |
| 29 | Warkworth Northumberland | B− | 1.8 | 76% | 1.3 | 9% |
| 30 | Clwt-y-bont Gwynedd | B− | 0.8 | 100% | 2.1 | 19% |
| 31 | Steeple Bumpstead Essex | B− | 1.9 | 100% | 2.4 | 0% |
| 32 | Trub Greater Manchester | C+ | 1.9 | 100% | 2.3 | 0% |
| 33 | Pilning Gloucestershire | C+ | 2 | 54% | 2.6 | 0% |
| 34 | Launton Oxfordshire | C+ | 0.7 | 100% | 3 | 0% |
| 35 | Thorner West Yorkshire | C+ | 2.1 | 74% | 3.4 | 0% |
| 36 | Benenden Kent | C | 2 | 57% | 1.7 | 83% |
| 37 | Barlaston Staffordshire | C | 2.7 | 80% | 2.4 | 0% |
| 38 | Great Waldingfield Suffolk | C | 2 | 100% | 1.5 | 0% |
| 39 | Great Bardfield Essex | C | 2 | 81% | 2.6 | 0% |
| 40 | Brailsford Derbyshire | C | 0.9 | 100% | 2.4 | 0% |
| 41 | Slip End Bedfordshire | C | 1.9 | 22% | 2.3 | 28% |
| 42 | Hurley Warwickshire | C | 2.8 | 75% | 2.2 | 0% |
| 43 | Stewkley Buckinghamshire | C | 4.2 | 74% | 1.7 | 0% |
| 44 | Tickton East Riding of Yorkshire | C | 2 | 100% | 0.7 | 0% |
| 45 | Chelford Cheshire | C | 1.8 | 82% | 2.5 | 0% |
| 46 | Easebourne West Sussex | C | 0.4 | 0% | 2.9 | 100% |
| 47 | Blunham Bedfordshire | C | 2.2 | 77% | 2.3 | 0% |
| 48 | Offord D'Arcy and Offord Cluny Cambridgeshire | C− | 2.7 | 78% | 1.5 | 0% |
| 49 | Penperlleni Gwent | C− | 0.6 | 80% | 1.7 | 17% |
| 50 | Newton Flotman Norfolk | C− | 2.5 | 78% | 1.2 | 0% |
| 51 | Penrhyn-coch Dyfed | D | 0.7 | 100% | 0.8 | 0% |
| 52 | Hawley Kent | D | 0.7 | 24% | 2.8 | 3% |
| 53 | Perham Down Wiltshire | D | 0.8 | 42% | 2.2 | 17% |
| 54 | Billingborough Lincolnshire | D | 2.4 | 45% | 1.6 | 0% |
| 55 | Skelton (York) North Yorkshire | D | 1.4 | 77% | 1.6 | 0% |
| 56 | Meon Vale Warwickshire | D | 0.4 | 50% | 1.4 | 19% |
| 57 | Stillington County Durham | D | 1.4 | 77% | 0.8 | 0% |
| 58 | Friday Bridge Cambridgeshire | D− | 1 | 79% | 0.3 | 0% |
| 59 | Woodmansey East Riding of Yorkshire | D− | 0.7 | 0% | 1.9 | 0% |
| 60 | Langham Rutland | D− | 0.3 | 23% | 1.3 | 0% |
The map
Parks, footpaths & countryside
Tap a number to zoom to a park. Tap a layer to hide it. The dashed line is Thorner’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 Thorner
The biggest is Thorner Playground, 0.1 ha (0 acres). Directions go to the park’s nearest public entrance where Ordnance Survey maps one.
Close to home
7 in 10 Thorner residents live 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 (74%)Further (26%)
Thorner74%
Villages its size85%
West Yorkshire towns87%
All UK towns83%
About 400 people live further than that. Playing fields count, so a park within reach isn’t always one with paths or trees; 5 playgrounds are mapped in and around the village, about one for every 279 residents.
National Parks & National Landscapes
The Nidderdale National Landscape is 9.9 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
Yorkshire Dales National Park covers 2,185 km² and has been a National Park since 1954.
Footpaths & waymarked walks
2 waymarked walks pass through or near Thorner
27 km of footpaths, bridleways and rights of way are mapped in Thorner and the kilometre around it, 3.4 km for every square kilometre (the typical UK town has 3.0). Bars show each route’s kilometres within 2 km of the village.
Local
Leeds Country Way6.5 km
East Keskick And Hetchell Wood 6.25 miles 3.5 hours3.1 km
Close to home, the Leeds Country Way has 6 km of local walk within 2 km of the village.
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 Thorner: May to September
The village’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) | 7.9 | 9.7 | 11.7 | 13.9 | 15.9 | 17.1 | 16.6 | 14.8 | 12.6 | 10.4 | 8.4 | 7.4 |
| High (°C) | 7 | 7 | 10 | 13 | 16 | 19 | 21 | 21 | 18 | 14 | 10 | 7 |
| Rain (mm) | 56 | 48 | 45 | 49 | 49 | 63 | 57 | 66 | 58 | 66 | 65 | 63 |
March is the driest month (45 mm) and July the warmest (highs of 21 °C). Winter days are short, about 7 hours of daylight in December, and 66 mm of rain falls in August, the wettest month. Frost comes on about 47 nights a year. The climate in Thorner →
Things to do
5 playgrounds and the nearest beaches
Mapped within 2 km of the village in OpenStreetMap, against the typical UK village its size per resident. Named places are listed with directions; unnamed ones are only counted.
The nearest beaches
Thorner is inland. These are the nearest named beaches, measured from the edge of the village.
York Beach15 mi from Thorner’s edge
DirectionsPebble Beach20 mi from Thorner’s edge
DirectionsDoncaster Lakeside Beach27 mi from Thorner’s edge
DirectionsBeach at Doncaster Lakeside27 mi from Thorner’s edge
DirectionsSea Lions30 mi from Thorner’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
Hills and peaks 1
Scarcroft Hill0.3 mi from town
DirectionsNature reserves 1
Plus 1 nature reserve without a name on the map.
Playgrounds 5
Plus 5 playgrounds 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.
ScarcroftBardseyShadwellScholes (Leeds)Barwick in ElmetEast KeswickThorner
ABCDOutdoors Grade
| Town | Outdoors | Green space, ha per 1,000 | Near a park | Protected within 5 km |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Thorner | C+ | 2.1 | 74% | 0% |
| Scarcroft 1.2 mi | D− | 0.5 | 15% | 0% |
| Bardsey 2.2 mi | D− | 0.1 | 0% | 0% |
| Shadwell 2.2 mi | D− | 0.3 | 25% | 0% |
| Scholes (Leeds) 2.2 mi | D | 0.0 | 0% | 0% |
| Barwick in Elmet 2.4 mi | C | 1.5 | 87% | 0% |
| East Keswick 2.8 mi | D− | 0.2 | 0% | 0% |
Thorner 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 Thorner
What is the biggest park in Thorner?
Thorner Playground, 0.1 ha (0 acres). 1 named park, garden or playing field is in the village or within 400 m of it.
Is Thorner near a National Park?
Yes. Yorkshire Dales National Park begins 18 mi north-west of the village’s edge. It covers 2,185 km² and has been a National Park since 1954. The nearest protected landscape of any kind is the Nidderdale National Landscape, 9.9 mi away.
What are the best walks near Thorner?
2 waymarked walking routes pass within 2 km of the village, including the Leeds Country Way and East Keskick And Hetchell Wood 6.25 miles 3.5 hours.
What is the nearest beach to Thorner?
York Beach, 15 mi from the edge of the village, then Pebble Beach (20 mi). Thorner itself is inland.
How many people in Thorner live near a park?
74% 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 Thorner?
May to September: the longest days, the warmest afternoons and the least rain of the year, from the Met Office 1991–2020 averages.
Is Thorner good for walking?
For paths, yes: 3.4 km of footpath and right of way per square kilometre, more than 70% of UK towns. For park space per person it beats 47% (2.1 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 Thorner’s overall grade.
Sources
Where Thorner’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.