Nammet

We've been eating out a bit recently. Earlier this week I took my Mum to Bluebell's Café at Briddlesford Lodge Farm for birthday lunch. This is usually very good, and today was no exception. I had a chicken and bacon club sandwich with salad, and Mum had a toasted gammon and cheese sandwich with salad. Both were made from 'doorstop' slices of granary bread and were scrumptious. The teenager had sausage and mash with gravy, which was also delicious, but such a large portion that even she was outfaced! After lunch we waddled across the farmyard to the farm shop and had a look round. Lots of delicious goodies for sale which were most tempting.

 

This evening I went to Ryde with a chum and we ended up eating at 'Ada Mediterranean Kitchen' in Union Street. Delicious! We had a selection of mezze, including pastry wrapped feta cheese, deep fried haloumi, falafel, lamb kofta, stuffed vine leaves, aubergine and other vegetables, and a sausage and tomato dish. We finished with coffee. Overall we were very satisfied, and the meal was good value for money, with excellent service. I shall go there again!

 

 

*nammet is an Isle of Wight word. I use it to mean any meal, but that may be a bit broad.

Concerts

I have been to a couple of concerts recently. The first was at Quarr Abbey, near Binstead, for a performance of Faure's Requiem and French Motets by Les Fauristes Chamber Choir, from London. The concert was to raise funds for the restoration of the Abbey organ, and was free with a collection at the end.

 

I have to say I wasn't overwhelmed. The soloist, Judith Charron, was jolly good, but the choir sounded out of tune in places which rather marred their performance. The organist, Hamish Dustagheer, was, however, excellent. The Abbey itself is austere but rather lovely and worth a visit if you are in the area.  

 

The second concert was by the Isle of Wight Cantata Choir, performing John Rutter's Magnificat and a selection of opera choruses. The venue was 'Aspire', Ryde, which is a former church now used as a community centre. It is in dire need of a lick of paint inside, but is a lovely venue none the less. I thoroughly enjoyed the Magnificat and thought the choir sang beautifully. In the second half they sang opera choruses by Bizet, Tchaikovsky, and Rossini, with solos by the talented Tressa Lambert. Tressa also performed a selection of solos by Flanders and Swan, and Gershwin among others. Finally, she performed the 'Flower Duet' with Rachel Tweddle, the choirs' conductor. A thoroughly enjoyable evening.

 

Altar detail, Aspire.

Roof detail, Aspire.

 

Bouldner and Thorley

Nice walk today, with no planning. We parked at Bouldner carpark again (I love a free car park), followed the promenade to Yarmouth, walked through the town and then headed across the green to find the footpath by the River Yar. We followed the path along the side of the river for a while, past the Mill House and the turning to the End of the Line Café, then went through a gate to follow a path towards Mill Copse. We paused and picked blackberries.

Neither of us had been to Mill Copse before; it was a small woodland planted with a variety of trees including Californian Redwoods, and was very peaceful. We found wayfaring marks on the ground, presumably left by Scouts, and followed them through a gate, across a field and eventually to a road.

After a while we found a footpath on the right leading to the ruins of a small church and graveyard next to Thorley Manor. Lovely and unexpected. We turned back as it was a dead end, retraced our steps along the road, found the next footpath and followed it until we got to the Thorley Road. We followed that back to the main road to Yarmouth and found the car.

We foraged along the way and returned home with a full tub of blackberries and pockets full of conkers! A lovely autumnal walk.

Route: http://gb.mapometer.com/walking/route_4178961.html

Distance: 4.4 miles

Footpaths: Y11a, Y16, Y1, Y4, Y5, Y6

Remains of St Swithun's Church