(The next run is on Monday eve and is from The Jolly Waggoner at Ardeley)

Monday 1:30 to 3:30 p.m. - beautiful day, sunny intervals, comfortably warm; ideal for laying a run. Monday 4:00 p.m. onwards - bloody showers!!!

Perhaps it was the thought of a visit to the Deep South (of Bedfordshire) that deterred the Hashers; at any rate we were a small but enthusiastic pack that gathered in the darkening gloom of Dunstable for Ringer's birthday bash. Nik Nak for once was 15 minutes early. Being away from the usual centre of gravity of Hash venues acted as a spur to the welcome return of Rajah and Five Baah to H5 runs.

Whilst waiting for the off, Stallion availed himself of the opportunity to apply some Vaseline, and was asked by Lady Penelope "What's that for then?" HM Walnut Whip Willy called the circle and Ringer responded to both the calls for "any birthdays?" and "over to the Hare". Warnings of a deeply overgrown path were issued but aside from a busy road, no other hazard notices were required, so it was "Check it out" time.

Rajah and Capt. F set off eagerly in the wrong direction and it was left to Shagpile and FKA Duck to sniff out the right trail. This led us a completely open area complete with a kid's play park, including swings and a rocket ship, but no-one was interested; there was a time when several Hashers would have been in there. With no obvious exit paths it was Hashers checking in all directions. Rajah and Shagpile eventually found the path out of the field but Rajah missed the one into the woods. Now things got a bit harder with a steepish climb up the hill to a check. Unfortunately one of the best falsies of the run was turned to nought by a lucky guess - ah well, never mind - such is the lot of a Hare. After some more upping and downing of the hill, we reached a Ladies' check followed by a long stretch to a held check. A planned short cut at this point proved unnecessary, but the route across the quarry via a recently opened Nature Trail took a bit of sniffing out. Now this was the overgrown bit and it was a treat to hear, but not be able to see, Hashers making their way down into the pit. Cries of "Oh my God!!" were heard from Nik Nak on more than one occasion.

This led out shortly onto the famous Dunstable Downs which should have been a glorious opportunity to see the gliders taking off and landing, and take in the spectacular views across to the Vale of Aylesbury. However, the breeze had got up a bit and the held viewpoint stop was a bit on the chilly side. Following the chalk ridge down lead us to a spot for which both FKA Duck and Nik Nak (separately!) had nostalgic memories - the site of the old California Ballroom ("The Cali"), now sadly demolished some 30 years ago to make way for a housing estate.

A run through some of the back roads of Dunstable brought (most of) us to the On Inn.

Down-downs were awarded by WWW to Ringer for both birthday and haring duties, to Capt. F for something or other, then it was over to the Secret RA - on this occasion Capt. F, who was most liberal with his admonishments.

Business over, WWW and Luke got eagerly into the dips, which were followed by a small mountain of roast tatties, which I am grateful to say were all eaten by the end.

So another birthday gone and another run sorted. Oh well, OnOn to the Jolly Waggoner at Ardeley - a new pub I believe.

ONON - Ringer