Brookwood Heath is a small open landscape of lowland heathland tucked away behind the village of Pirbright in the borough of Guildford.
Brookwood Heath from Pirbright
Churt Common (The Flashes) and Stony Jump
Churt Common, known locally as The Flashes, comprises 106 hectares of heathland and bog to the south-east of Frensham Common.
Bedelands Nature Reserve
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.
Shalford Water Meadows
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.
Outwood – Hornecourt Wood
Hornecourt Wood is an ancient Wealden beech woodland on the National Trust's Harewoods Estate in Outwood.
Sheets Heath via Basingstoke Canal
There’s not much to be said about Sheets Heath and online research threw up very little as well. Its Wikipedia page hints at a sniff of scandal, claiming that the Woking Borough Council website says the common is a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) but that this is not corroborated by the official SSSI list held by Natural England.
Norbury Park East
Norbury Park is a 530 hectare historic parkland comprising mixed wooded and agricultural land, which was alluded to in the Domesday Book of 1086. Grade II listed on the Register of Historic Parks and Gardens, it occupies mostly prominent land reaching into a bend in the River Mole and is part of the Mole Gap to Reigate Escarpment Special Area of Conservation.
Outwood Common
Outwood Common comprises open common, woodland and fields, traversed by streams and dotted with more than 100 ponds here and there. A large proportion of the countryside in and around Outwood is part of the Harewoods Estate, which is managed by the National Trust. Some of the ancient oak trees in the wood are over 200 years old.
Banstead Woods
An ancient woodland thought to have been owned by Anne Boleyn, Banstead Woods was alluded to in the Domesday Book of 1086 and, in the medieval period, sheltered the royal deer. These days, it is local nature reserve and site of Special Scientific Interest, infamous for the swathes of vibrant bluebells that carpet the floor in the springtime.
Sanderstead to Whyteleafe Countryside Area (SWCA) / Riddlesdown
On the border of Purley (London Borough of Croydon) and Whyteleafe (Tandridge, Surrey), the Sanderstead to Whyteleafe Countryside Area (SWCA) is a 200 acre area of chalk grass/downland, fields, woodland and scrub, which forms part of the North Downs.
Walks with Rena 