Author Matthew Ogborn, who grew up in the Surrey countryside, has recently published a new book, Surrey Pub Walks. 

Last week he talked us through one of those walks, which ended at a pub in Coulsdon.

This week he's back with a new ramble around Epsom Common.

It is clear to see from the enthusiastic response to the Narnia inspired Coulsdon pub walk from my new Surrey Pub Walks book, that there is a big appetite for people of all ages to get out and about in Surrey this summer.

Another walk in the northern part of the charming county that should strike a chord is the stroll around Epsom Common that uses The Jolly Coopers Pub & Fuzzchat Brewery as its anchor point.

Easy enough to find off the B280/Christ Church Road that runs from the back of Epsom to the east, Chessington to the north and Oxshott to the west, you can park up at or near the pub before you embark on the gentle walk around one of Surrey’s most historic and fascinating places.

Epsom has a compelling history based primarily on its development as a famous spa town after Epsom salts were discovered in 1618, even though its popularity declined after famous apothecary Livingstone died in 1727.

If you want to take a brief diversion at the start of your journey, you can find Epsom Well in the middle of the Wells Estate before you rejoin the sedate walk that takes you westward on Epsom Common.

If you want to follow my walk to the letter, then amble downhill until you reach a bench on the right where you turn right up a narrow (often muddy) track back north up to Great Stew Pond.

At the moment, the track is open to walkers but fenced off from dogs because the cattle are grazing on the grassland.

Your Local Guardian:

If you have a dog, just carry on to the left of Great Stew Pond and cut right at the north side of it before heading south again to rejoin the book route.

The second half of the walk takes you down a wide bridle path with majestic trees towering over either side leading back towards Christ Church on your left before you tack right across Stamford Green and back to the pub.

The Jolly Coopers itself, a CAMRA favourite, recently changed hands and boasts a large paved, partly covered area in the garden where you can sample their tasty menu and Fuzzchat beers.

Keep an eye out on their website for their August Bank Holiday Beer Festival, if you really want to get stuck in.

Where does the fun ‘Fuzzchat’ name come from, you ask? It is a name from the 1700s, before squatter’s rights, given to someone who is born on Epsom Common.

Readers of the Surrey Comet and Your Local Guardian can get 20% off Surrey Pub Walks when ordering through the Countryside Books website. Just visit the following link and enter COMET20 at checkout: bit.ly/surreywalks