Fragonard fail, aka Yaverland five

On Monday past, our first walk in the Brading, once the Nunwell, woods, where we thought to have a go at Fragonard (last noticed at reference 1), despite there only being the two of us, rather than the three needed to do the job properly. The swing was attached to a large old beech tree, growing out of the side of a small quarry, but it was too high me for to get myself up onto it, let alone BH. No upper body strength these days.

Next stop another huge beech, unfortunately down since our last visit, along with several other large old trees around the same crossing of the paths.

Pushed on to make sure that the farmer beyond the woods was still doing broad beans, which he was. And then far enough to make sure that the sea mark was still there, which it was. Loud and clear on top of the next hill.

Quick picnic at home, then onto Yaverland for a quick swim.

After which it was time to give the Bugle another go, despite BH's unfortunate experience with mussels the year before, an experience which had not been noticed, not at least under that name, the only notice of the place being from back in 2010, at reference 2. This time we went for the turkey and ham pie, which turned out to be very good indeed, although a little spoilt by the mashed potatoes which came with it, and which should have been freshened up a little before serving. Wondering about the flavour of the pie resulted in a visit from the chef who explained all about making his pies, a making which in this case included a little double cream to bind the lumps of meat and a little tarragon to flavour same. I think I would have used a bit less tarragon but we were very impressed that the place made its own pies. Pies with both top and bottom crust. None of these biscuit topped stews which are usually passed off for pies in pubs.

Taken with a drop of 2014 Fleurie, a red of the Beaujolais family, new to both of us, and unusual these days as I mostly stick to white. But given the poor standard of wine in the pubs of Brading, rather good. Possibly from the outfit at reference 5. It took a while to get into it, the barmaid taking a while to find a working corkscrew - to the point where we thought that she had popped across to the pub across the road to get one.

The chef also explained that the Bugle was one eight pubs owned by the same family, flying under the banner of' 'Character Inns'. I don't think that we have tried any of the others, although we have passed the 'Caulkheads' in Sandown, mainly because they are mostly well to the west of our range.

PS: bing certainly knew about the right stuff, even if reference 5 is the wrong stuff, coming up with 'la Madone, Fleurie, La Reine de l'Arenite is pretty, floral, elegant and aromatic. Spot on Fleurie! A heady perfume of freshly picked irises and peonies drift above the crushed berry fruit nose. The fleshy, luscious, cherry flavours and hints of rose are typically vivacious, backed up with a touch of spice and good depth. In winter, match with a roast leg of lamb. During the summer, chill lightly and serve with roasted or barbecued chicken or pork'. Perhaps I ought to tell these people about the merits of turkey and ham pie. A bit more than a third of what the Bugle charged, which I think fair enough.

Reference 1: http://psmv3.blogspot.co.uk/2017/05/viols.html.

Reference 2: http://pumpkinstrokemarrow.blogspot.co.uk/search?q=bugle+brading.

Reference 3: https://www.buglebrading.co.uk/.

Reference 4: https://www.characterinns.co.uk/.

Reference 5: http://www.domaine-de-la-madone.com/.

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