When friends are visiting from far afield and you're wondering what to do with them on a Sunday afternoon, your prayers are answered thanks to the teas served at Brockham Church.

My guests have said the highlight of their visits were the cakes and mugs of tea they enjoyed in the picturesque village of Brockham.

Last Sunday was no exception. With grey skies and an unseasonably cold breeze, a walk in the Surrey hills did not seem so appealing as a gentle stroll nearer to home.

I motored along the rural lanes of Leigh, Betchworth and Strood Green, emerging in Brockham near a charmingly old-fashioned chemists, which seemed to occupy the downstairs front room of a Victorian villa.

We wandered alongside the green, pausing to admire the well-kept period cottages with their neat gardens. Splashes of water in one front garden suggested that the newly-installed French marigolds were succumbing to the recent lack of rain and that the watering can had been brought out. After stopping to look at the trays of plants for sale outside the Spar general stores, we ambled towards the village hall.

Outside a number of posters were on display. One advertised a body conditioning and aerobic workout, held on Friday mornings at the hall between 9.30am and 10.30am.

On offer was "strengthening and toning for the whole body for all fitness levels and abilities". Furthermore, "mats and weights are provided and all you need is to bring a drink, wear comfortable clothing and supportive footwear, which is a must".

Another leaflet advertised a talk on Betchworth Castle, which was to be held on Monday at the Buckland Reading Room.

My eyes then wandered to an announcement of a £1,000 reward for information leading to the return of a lost dog. The Staffie-cross bitch, aged 19 months, went missing from Box Hill on March 21. She is white with a black dot on her nose and ears and a brindle patch to the rear and base of her tail. She also had a red leather collar with silver metal bones on. She was a "very friendly much-loved family pet". If seen, call 07853 596 708.

A few yards away, we took a seat on a bench dedicated to the memory of Michael Tomlinson and commented on the historic village pump close by. A lady walking past helped to explain how it worked. She said she was originally from Brockham and moved to Australia in the early 1970s but came back annually for long stays.

"Where do you regard as home?" I inquired. "Both," she replied, smiling. She still had relatives in the village and was staying until the autumn.

We studied the pump – restored in June 1951 by the Brockham Green Village Society – and a plaque said the fountain alongside was put up in memory of a local benefactor, Henry Thomas Hope of The Deepdene, "to commemorate his numerous acts of benevolence and his readiness on all occasions both to promote and support public improvement".

It was then time for tea. We headed for the church hall, passing a few boys kicking a football around the green.

Teas are served each Sunday from 2.30pm to 5pm and already the hall was a hive of activity. A bouncy castle had been inflated outside and families were making a bee-line for the tables laden with mouth-watering cakes, flapjacks and scones made by villagers. On this occasion, the teas were provided by the Friends of Brockham School to raise funds for classroom equipment. The school hopes to buy more books for its library.

A busy band of mothers were at the servery pouring tea from a large pot into a plethora of mugs. I took a tray to the cakes table and surveyed the colourful display of chocolate sponges, cookies, tarts and scones.

"What is that one?" I said, pointing to a more unusual sponge.

"That's Armenian cake. One of the mums is from Armenia," said a volunteer. "It's made from chocolate and vanilla with fresh cream on top."

It was truly delicious.

After passing platefuls of cornflake cakes, flapjacks, honey and ginger cake, Victoria sponges and scones to be served with jam and cream, I paid the helper at the end, who was assisted by a schoolgirl.

One of the ladies was regretting that she had baked jam tarts rather than fairy cakes, which there was a slight shortage of.

"I normally make fairy cakes," she sighed.

We took the tea and cakes to a table near a wall poster titled All Things Bright and Beautiful, presumably made by Sunday School members.

An elderly couple were sitting on the same table.

I asked: "Are you from Brockham?" They replied: "No, we've come from Crawley – actually, Ifield."

They told me they enjoyed coming to unspoiled Brockham. "There's so much traffic these days in Crawley," said the lady. "It's not like it was when we moved there 50 years ago."

Mark Davison