Greyhound approved walks in and around Surrey
The historic village of Ripley has existed since Norman times and was first recorded in documents of around 1200. It developed with the establishment of Newark Priory and, during the Tudor period, became very prosperous as a place to stop on the (now A3) road between London and the rapidly growing naval town of Portsmouth.
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.
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.
West End Common is a 70.3-hectare (174-acre) Local Nature Reserve and part of Esher Commons, which is a Site of Special Scientific Interest. The River Mole runs along one edge of the common, which also boasts six ponds and wet areas.
Walks with Rena 