Albury two

Continuing our expedition to the Surrey hills, on the Wednesday morning we took a substantial and entirely satisfactory breakfast at the Drummond Arms. Took a look out back to check the carex pendula.

Carex pendula

After which we made a start on the main business of the day and proceeded to Newlands Corner, where it was alleged that there were a lot of substantial yew trees. Clutching a printout of some of the survey at reference 2, including the map, half of which is snapped below.

The map

I also took the precaution of taking along my compass, it being all to easy to lose one's sense of direction in woods when the sun is clouded over. Not so often that it gets an outing these days.

Started badly, being completely baffled by the parking machine, but as luck would have it a couple of chaps took pity on us and showed us how to do it. And so, off into the woods, quickly coming across our first substantial yew tree.

Yew one

Zoomed in detail of yew one

Detail included for the avoidance of doubt, with distinctive sprouting just about visible left.

Yew two

Yew three

Detail of yew three

Yew four

Detail of yew four

Yew five

Detail of yew five

No doubt a tree man would be able to explain how all these trees came to acquire their strange shapes, rather in the way of house detectives on afternoon television.

Yew six

The blue spot

A sign of life from the local preservationists, in the form of a blue spot on the base of a rather misshapen tree, I think a sycamore. Perhaps the tree was slated for chain saw action.

Clump one

Clump two

Hut start

Some of the yews would have made a very good basis for a Neolithic hut. A few more sticks and bracken for roofing and the job would be done. A thought which had clearly been taken up by local Boy Scouts (or some such), with there being quite a lot of signs of hut action.

Characteristic sprouting

Clump three

A trunk, looking up

Clump four, looking out over open down land

Down land flowers

The patch of down land, middle left in green

Yew trees done, BH settled down to the morning's Guardian while I took a stroll around the patch of open down land below the car park, roughly where I had come out at the day before. Lots of flowers and, unlike at the Isle of Wight, I even managed the odd grasshopper.

And so onto Carlo's Trattoria of reference 4, just off the top right of the snap above, for our anniversary lunch. Bread and olives to start, risotto for BH and lobster spaghetti for me for mains. Lobster said to be from Cornwall, a little mushy but it came with a good sauce, all mopped up at the end with some more of their quite respectable bread. Tiramisu for dessert. At the damp end of the spectrum but quite acceptable.

To drink, tap water and a bottle of Titulus from Fazi Battaglia, the people at reference 5. Made from Verdicchio grapes. Very good it was too. And the manager seemed very impressed that we had chosen this particular wine, wanting to know why - not that I could give any better reason that that it was the second most expensive on his list. Having read somewhere in the distant past - possibly in one of Orwell's books - not to go for the most expensive as they tend to have prices inflated for old men to impress their young ladies with.

Wound up with a shot of white grappa, which took some poking around in the drinks' cupboard to turn up. The last shot of the stuff in the house. Tasted OK whatever it was; certainly adequately alcoholic.

A handsome establishment, with enthusiastic service and good food. A little out of town - maybe five miles outside Guildford - so I hope they do OK in these days of responsible drinking and driving.

And so home with BH at the wheel.

Reference 1: http://psmv4.blogspot.com/2019/08/albury-one.html.

Reference 2: https://www.ancient-yew.org/userfiles/file/NewlandsCornerMerrowDowns.pdf.

Reference 3: https://psmv2.blogspot.com/2014/10/the-quest-for-new-compass.html.

Reference 4: http://www.carlostrattoria.com/.

Reference 5: https://fazibattaglia.com/en/wines/titulus.