Greyhound approved walks in and around Surrey
Whitmoor Common is one of a group of eight commons that collectively make up Worplesdon commons. They are designated as a Local Nature Reserve, a Site of Special Scientific Interest and a Special Protection Area, and boast some of the south's finest heathland.
Brookwood Heath is a small open landscape of lowland heathland tucked away behind the village of Pirbright in the borough of Guildford.
Rena and I visited Bedelands Nature Reserve for the first time in late May 2016, less than one month after I adopted her for a group walk organised by the West Sussex Greyhound Walking Group.
Swinley Forest comprises 2,600 acres of Crown Estate land straddling the Surrey-Berkshire county boundary. It boasts woodlands, streams, grasslands and ponds.
Elstead Common is a Site of Special Scientific Interest, as are neighbouring Ockley and Royal commons (Walks with Rena post for the latter is here). All are managed by Surrey Wildlife Trust on behalf of the MOD. Elstead and Ockley commons are recognised as some of the finest remaining lowland heath in the south of England and are awash with heather, gorse and bracken. The woodlands on its perimeter are primarily made up of birch and Scots pine.
Newark Priory is a ruined priory next to the River Wey at Newark Lock between Ripley, Send and Pyrford and to the east of Woking Palace. It is a Grade I listed building and protected Scheduled Monument, meaning it should forever remain in ruins just like it is today.
Shalford's water meadows were once farmland used for growing hay and grazing cattle. They are a reminder of the area's once "intensive" farming history (although clearly not intensive by today's farming standards). In the Middle Ages, ditches and channels were created in natural riverside meadows and then deliberately flooded to turn them into water meadows, a practice imported from Europe. How very international.
Royal Common, just outside Elstead, is part of the Longmoor Training Area owned by the Defence Estates, which also covers large parts of Hankley, Elstead and Ockley commons. Public access is allowed across the Defence Training Estate provided you adhere to the Surrey Commons Military Lands Byelaws 1978. Army training here (when it takes place) revolves around logistics and minor infantry manoeuvre exercises and you're unlikely to come to any harm, but make sure you follow the instructions of troops if you do encounter any.
Papercourt Lock is a lock on the River Wey Navigation, now owned and maintained by the National Trust. The Wey was one of the first British rivers to be made navigable, and opened to barge traffic in 1653. It is a 15-mile waterway linking Guildford to the Thames at Weybridge.
Known as “London’s lost route to the sea”, the Wey and Arun Canal is a partially open, 18.5 mile (30km) canal running southwards from the River Wey at Shalford in Surrey to the River Arun at Pallingham in West Sussex.
Walks with Rena 