Ockley

Vann Lake and Ockley Woods is a 57.8-hectare (143-acre) biological Site of Special Scientific Interest south of Ockley in Surrey. Vann Lake is part of Vann Lake and Candy's Copse, a nature reserve managed by the Surrey Wildlife Trust.This site has a lake and ancient woodland which is botanically rich, especially for mosses, liverworts and fungi. There are diverse species of breeding birds and invertebrates include the rare Molophilus lackschewitzianus cranefly and purple emperor and silver-washed fritillary butterflies. There is also a population of dormice.

The Greensand Ridge, also known as the Wealden Greensand is an extensive, prominent, often wooded, mixed greensand/sandstone escarpment in south-east England. Forming part of the Weald, a former dense forest in Sussex, Surrey and Kent, it runs to and from the East Sussex coast, wrapping around the High Weald and Low Weald. It reaches its highest elevation, 294 metres (965 ft), at Leith Hill in Surrey—the second highest point in south-east England, while another hill in its range, Blackdown, is the highest point in Sussex at 280 metres (919 ft). The eastern end of the ridge forms the northern boundary of Romney Marsh. About 51 per cent of the Wealden Greensand is protected as the South Downs National Park, Kent Downs Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty and Surrey Hills Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty.

Broome Hall is a Grade II-listed country house with grounds including cottages and outhouses on the wooded, upper southern slopes of the Greensand Ridge near Coldharbour in Surrey, England. It was built around 1830 for the politician and printer Andrew Spottiswoode, and had a succession of similarly wealthy family owners before the main house was converted into eleven flats, each separately owned, in the late 20th century. It was owned, for a number of years in the 1970s, by actor Oliver Reed. Broom(e) refers to the genus (and specifically several species) of often flowering plants Genisteae (along with gorse, lupins and laburnum). Along with evergreens, broom dominates the sandy soil in the region.

Ockley railway station serves the villages of Ockley and Capel in Surrey, England and is 1.4 miles (2.3 km) from Ockley village and 0.5 miles (0.80 km) west of the village of Capel. The station is 29 miles 20 chains (47.1 km) from London Waterloo station. Ockley is managed by Southern which also provide the services.

Leith Hill in southern England is the highest summit of the Greensand Ridge, approximately 6.7 km (4 mi) southwest of Dorking, Surrey and 40.5 km (30 mi) southwest of central London. It reaches 294 m (965 ft) above sea level, and is the second highest point in southeast England, after Walbury Hill in southwest Berkshire, (which is 297 m (974 ft) high). Leith Hill is the highest ground for 79 km (49 mi). Four areas of woodland surrounding the hill comprise the 337.9-hectare (835-acre) Leith Hill Site of Special Scientific Interest, although the summit is excluded from this designation.The nearest railway station is Holmwood station, 3.6 km (2 mi) to the east, served by Southern trains to London Victoria.

On 26 November 1944, four C-47 transport aircraft of the 442nd Operations Group departed from Advanced Landing Ground "A-4 in Pays de la Loire, northern France, en route to Chalgrove Airfield, Oxfordshire, England. The C-47s were flying in a Diamond formation. After crossing the English Channel low cloud forced the aircraft to descend from 1,500 feet to 1,200 feet. Three of the four C-47 descended another 200 feet, and shortly thereafter, the three C-47s crashed into the side of Leith Hill, the highest summit of the Greensand Ridge. The crash killed all thirteen crewmen on the three C-47, five on 43–47975, five on 42-93754 & three on 42–92837. The fourth C-47 landed safely at Chalgrove Airfield.

The Greensand Way is a long-distance path of 108 miles (174 km) in southeast England, from Haslemere in Surrey to Hamstreet in Kent. It follows the Greensand Ridge along the Surrey Hills and Chart Hills. The route is mostly rural, passing through woods, and alongside fruit orchards and hop farms in Kent and links with the Stour Valley Walk near Pluckley in Kent. The trail was opened on 15 June 1980 and is jointly managed by Surrey and Kent Councils who fully updated it in 2012 (route, waymarking, online guide). Much of the land is designated an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB). The stretch from Hindhead to Leith Hill has formed part of the Surrey Hills AONB since 1958. The Sevenoaks Ridge, from the Surrey–Kent border to Borough Green, is included in the Kent Downs AONB. The waymarks alone are not sufficient to follow the trail – an OS map, or the online guide with maps, is required. An updated guide with maps and walk directions is available online from the Kent and Surrey Council websites. The original guidebook is out of print. On Ordnance Survey Explorer map 145, a spur – also labelled Greensand Way – is shown from Thursley to Farnham; this is not part of the path.

Auclaye is a 0.6-hectare (1.5-acre) geological Site of Special Scientific Interest south of Capel in Surrey. It is a Geological Conservation Review site.This site is important for its Mesozoic insects, with many well preserved bodies from several orders dating to the Lower Cretaceous period. It has produced new species of aculeate hymenoptera and cricket.The site is private land with no public access.

Wallis Wood is a 14-hectare (35-acre) nature reserve south-east of Ewhurst in Surrey. It is managed by the Surrey Wildlife Trust.A stream runs through this woodland reserve, which has an area of meadow pasture on its bank. Woodland flora include bluebells, broad-leaved helleborine orchids, violet helleborine orchids, common spotted orchids, primroses and wood anemone. There is a rare spider, Hyptiotes paradoxus, which lives in yew trees and is only found in one other site in the county.There is access from Horsham Road in Walliswood.

Coldharbour is a hamlet in the Mole Valley district, in the English county of Surrey. It is on a minor road from Dorking to Leith Hill Place.

Leith Hill SSSI is a 337.9-hectare (835-acre) biological Site of Special Scientific Interest south-east of Dorking in Surrey. The SSSI consists of four wooded areas surrounding Leith Hill.These woods support diverse breeding birds, including all three species of British woodpeckers. The invertebrate population is outstanding, with many nationally rare and uncommon species, such as the beetles Notolaemus unifasciatus, which is found on dead wood, Silvanus bidentatus, which feeds on fungus, and the water beetle Agabus melanarius. There are two nationally rare moths.

Stane Street is the modern name of the 91 km-long (57 mi) Roman road in southern England that linked Londinium (London) to Noviomagus Reginorum (Chichester). The exact date of construction is uncertain; however, on the basis of archaeological artefacts discovered along the route, it was in use by 70 AD and may have been built in the first decade of the Roman occupation of Britain (as early as 43–53 AD). Stane Street shows clearly the engineering principles that the Romans used when building roads. A straight-line alignment from London Bridge to Chichester would have required steep crossings of the North Downs, Greensand Ridge and South Downs. The road was therefore designed to exploit a natural gap in the North Downs cut by the River Mole and to pass to the east of the high ground of Leith Hill, before following flatter land in the River Arun valley to Pulborough. The direct survey line was followed only for the northernmost 20 km (12 mi) from London to Ewell. At no point does the road lie more than 10 km (6 mi) from the direct line from London Bridge to Chichester. Today the Roman road is easily traceable on modern maps. Much of the route is followed by the A3, A24, A29 and A285, although most of the course through the modern county of Surrey has either been completely abandoned or is followed only by bridlepaths. Earthworks associated with the road are visible in many places where the course is not overlain by modern roads. Several parts of Stane Street are listed as scheduled monuments, including the well-preserved section from Mickleham Downs to Thirty Acres Barn, Ashtead.