Albury one

An expedition built around a visit to the Surrey chapter of Dignity in Dying, a visit to be noticed in a post to come.

The roof

An expedition was declared open by visiting Denbigh's for a coffee break, in my case fizzy water. Water taken in what was probably a handsome courtyard, now roofed over to provide more seating for their cafeteria. Or perhaps to free up space in buildings around the courtyard for shopping. We wondered how important the shop and cafeteria were to an operation which started out as a vineyard. Perhaps the successors of the founder are more interested in money than the vagaries of English wine - although perhaps with the global warming of the previous post it will come into its own. Hang in there! We also wondered about the heat gain arising from the glass roof when it got hot. Would the curtains right be enough? Pleasant enough on the day that we were there.

With thanks to the Controller of the Ordnance Survey

After Denbigh's, we motored gently through the Surrey hills, to attempt to call at the new church of St. Peter and St. Paul in Albury proper, the church with a tower more or less in the middle of the snap above. With this large red brick church being called the new church to distinguish it from the old church swallowed up in the park of the big house up the road, from where the present village moved. Old church still there, but we did not make it on this occasion. While the new church was firmly shut. In any event, it must be something of an embarrassment to the church authorities, hugely too big for current needs.

Side elevation

Tower one

Tower two

Entrance to basement

Pushed onto a long, straggly village called Chilworth which did not seem to have a church at all, from where we pulled back onto the Drummond Arms to take lunch, tea-total in my case against the meeting in the evening.

Pie dish

My fish pie came in a new-to-us branch of enamelled pie die, a good deal more worn and a good deal more substantial that the white enamel dishes with blue trim that one usually gets and which were noticed at reference 1. BH elected for a beef pie, a substantial helping of beef stew in a red pie dish with a slice of puff pastry on top. All in all, very satisfactory.

Garden, etc

Large car park, outdoor seating area, garden and river out back. We failed to work out was the river installations were all about. We also failed to take the road upto St. Martha's chapel, on the pilgrim's way, taking the adjacent road which eventually turned into a track then a path, coming out at Newland's Corner. Which I now find is the church which the inhabitants of Chilworth were expected to use. Reference 2 suggests that it is an interesting place, so we shall clearly have to have another go at some point.

St. Martha's from the northwest, from reference 2

Shed from the road adjacent

I puzzled about the shed in the snap above, with its vents just above the foundation layer. A shed for what we used to call broiler chickens in the 1950's? Broiler for the fact that they were broiled alive in sheds prone to overheating rather than for their being intended to be broiled when dead? While Wikipedia is more prosaic, saying simply that 'a broiler is any chicken (Gallus gallus domesticus) that is bred and raised specifically for meat production'.

The wrong road adjacent turned into a sunken lane. At one point there were lots of hazel nut shells scattered about, suggesting that problems with grey squirrels taking immature nuts was not confined to our garden in Epsom. Lots of crows about. One large field of wheat, near ripe, sporting a Union flag. Perhaps the farmer was one of those voting for Brexit - and we will see how he likes it when we are flooded with Canadian and Australian wheat. And although we had not reached the designated yew spot at Newlands Corner, we did come across one tall yew tree, unusual in our limited experience.

Two pill boxes, left over from the second world war. Did the Germans build such things all over Normandy to slow down our invasion, the one that did eventually arrive?

Three rather serious looking runners. Lots of crows. One pickup load of fresh copper beech trimmings dumped in the lane. The work of a traveller or just that of a lazy common-or-garden gardener?

Minty flowers

A lot of blue flowers on a mint-like and mint-smelling plant. Yet to be identified, snapped here on top of my blue board suitcase from a charity shop, proper costume drama job, possibly from the 1950's. And eventually popping out on main road at Newlands Corner.

Curious bridge

Back down again to discover the curious bridge, doubling up on the one from which the snap was taken. Perhaps some relic of the days when the Tilling Bourne (click on the map above to enlarge it) supported a string of mills, gunpowder and otherwise? Perhaps some grand relation of the curious water works snapped above, behind the pub?

Back to said Drummond Arms for snooze and snack and so to the next village for dignity in dying, to be noticed shortly. Back to this village for a spot of Drummond Sancerre, the owning website for which I failed to track down, but I did manage the gushing comments to be found at reference 3.

Sancerre

Health hazard

A linen chest on the way to our bedroom, something of a hazard for anyone using it. I think neither antique nor fake, just a rough wooden chest knocked up out of pine boards by some village carpenter, fifty years or more ago.

Back of the pub

And the day closed with a snap of the pub in the olden days, presumably when Albury was in weekend tripping range from both Guildford and London.

Or not quite. It actually closed with the definitive end of the Maigret saga, with my finishing the second pass of 'Maigret et Monsieur Charles'. End of first pass noticed at reference 4.

Reference 1: https://psmv4.blogspot.com/2019/07/godshill.html.

Reference 2: https://mikepeer.com/st-catherines-line/st-marthas-chapel/.

Reference 3: https://thechampagnecompany.com/sancerre-la-fuzelle-adrien-marechal-2017-white-wine-loire-france. 'Sancerre La Fuzelle, Adrien Maréchal is a classic Sauvignon Blanc full of crisp ripe acidity with gooseberry and Elderflower flavours offering a long, delicious finish. Sancerre is a very versatile wine and is a great match with roasted asparagus, sushi or pizza'.

Reference 4: https://psmv4.blogspot.com/2019/07/the-end-of-beginning.html.