Greyhound approved walks in and around Surrey
Capel is a village in Surrey just north of the border with Sussex and just to the side of the A24, which used to pass through it before the bypass was built. Like so many of these little places in Surrey, it dates back to the Domesday Book. The area around was mainly used for farming but the heavy clay soil also nurtured a thriving brickmaking industry and by the early 19th century there were several brickyards too.
You'll find Tower Wood on Hosey Common (also known as Hosey Hill) just south of Westerham in Kent and a little north of Chartwell, the former home of the late Sir Winston Churchill, who was the Prime Minister from 1940-1945. Tower Wood is so-called because of the ruins of an 18th century folly tower nestled at its heart.
Arbrook Common is part of the Esher group of Commons but has quite different characteristics. While in the winter months it is extremely wet and muddy here, this is a particularly lovely place to visit during the summer, where the woods provide shade and there are plenty of paddling spots.
Abinger Common is an area of thickly wooded sandstone heath to the south-west of Dorking and, within a headwater ravine here, you'll find the tiny, remote hamlet of Friday Street. Situated on the gentle lower north slope of Leith Hill, there's not much of note here - and that's part of its charm; it feels a little like a step back in time.
Albury is a well-to-do village within the Surrey Hills and about three miles east of Guildford. As well as the residential village itself, Albury includes a patch of wooded heathland called Albury Heath and the mixed woodlands of Albury Warren. It's also home to Albury Park mansion, which has featured in Four Weddings and a Funeral and Midsomer Murders.
The second largest of London's royal parks (behind Richmond Park), Bushy Park covers approximately 445 hectares. It was one of Henry VIII's favourite hunting grounds and wild herds of red and fallow deer still roam. The park features the Longford River canal, the Diana Fountain, Chestnut Avenue and many ponds.
Roosthole (some say Roost Hole and others say RoostHole*) is an area of St Leonard's Forest, an ancient woodland between Horsham and Crawley in West Sussex, which forms part of the High Weald Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty and consists of just over 700 acres of mixed deciduous and conifer woodland, as well as some areas of open, wooded heath.
Churt Common, known locally as The Flashes, comprises 106 hectares of heathland and bog to the south-east of Frensham Common.
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.
Hankley Common is a 560-hectare nature reserve near the village of Elstead in Surrey comprising lowland heath and woodland. The site is part of the Thursley, Hankley and Frensham Commons Special Area of Conservation and a Site of Special Scientific Interest.
Walks with Rena 