Run 1082

Sunday 12 February 2012

The Windmill, Charlton

Hares: Rapid 'n' Ringer

HASHERS: 26  ANKLE BITERS: 2  MUTTS: 3  NEWBEES: 2  APRES: 1

RED DRESS RUN

If this sort of image of the GM were to fall into the wrong hands it would do the reputation of the hash no good at all, none whatsoever:

A full weekend diary of Hashing this was: Saturday pm, lay Run 1082, temperature -2°C; Saturday night, Gispert run 1081 and curry, temperature -8°C, dropping to -10°C in places on the way home; Sunday am, hare Run 1082, temperature +2°C.

Saturday afternoon:

Glorious day - not a cloud in the sky, unbroken sunshine, crisp but dry virgin snow, not a breathe of wind. The run was laid in flour of varying shades of pink; a job to find places to put it where it might stand a chance of surviving the expected overnight frost and still be visible. As the trail was laid with a minimum of divergence from the plan in about 90 mins, it was back to the pub to sample a couple of Charlie Wells' fine brews and to discuss domestic arrangements for the morrow with the young ladies behind the bar.

Saturday evening:

Bitterly cold with a slight breeze that made sure everyone kept moving. As Scribe indicated below, Shagpile & Underlay did a fine job, as did the Maharajah curry house afterwards.

Sunday morning:

A rise of ambient temperature into positive territory, together with some fine drizzle meant that the crisp, dry virgin snow of yesterday was now getting a icy polish to it, especially the car park. A quick check showed that the marks were still in reasonable condition, so the Hares could turn to parking attendant duties for arriving Hashers. Bangers 'n' Madge and FDC were first on the scene, followed in short order by a regular stream of chariots. Having racked 'n' stacked as many as we could into the far corner of the car park, the remainder spilled out onto the road.

The Circle called, there were no birthdays or hashiversaries to commiserate with, but a couple of newies Sue & Nicky, sponsored by Gorjoyce & Dogger respectively, presented themselves; well done to them for turning out in the less than conducive conditions.

On Out, several falsies were checked, including a longish one in the direction of the Hitchin-Stevenage road, before the correct trail across the snow-covered field in the direction of Hitchin Hill was called on-on. There were FRBs aplenty, including Zebedee, Foghorn and Pecker to name but three. With very few number checks or fish-hooks laid, it was a pretty free-running trail with just a couple of judicious H-checks included to try keep the pack somewhat together. This wasn't the greatest success and the knitting circle became detached.

Co-hare Rapid Withdrawal opted to check on their progress but thereafter Lady P was found missing, so Zebedee volunteered to go back to find her - turns out she was short-cutting. At one of the checks, hare Ringer laid an arrow that was a few degrees off from the right trail, not far off mind, certainly not more than 90 deg off. On reconsideration, the arrow was corrected but when RA-of-the-day Capt F got back to the check, he was not amused.

At one point, the drizzle must have short-circuited a few of Ringer's dwindling supply of memory cells as he lost the trail. However sufficient must have worked as, generally led by Five Baah, we were soon back on trail just in time to meet up with Rapid and the tail-enders. [Bell End suggests I tell you that the trail was so cunningly laid that even the hare was misled, so if that works for you, that's what happened.]

A large proportion of the Hash decided that the pig trail was the place to go. Why? It's only 3 foot wide and had a bar across it. A final loop round the back of the pub brought us On Inn in 55 minutes - Re-e-e-sult.The pub had got a fine blazing fire going just outside, with a wooden guard fence around it, so where better to circle up. Lady P's heart-shaped biscuits and some rather tasty choc-chip muffins were most welcome and continue to swell the coffers of the charity pot. They also swelled Forkin' Dickchair, who sat down in a reasonably wide chair and got stuck in it (see pic above). Shock, horror: Twicza has washed the Forking T-shirt! - is she a new Double Entry in the making?

Down-downs for: the Hares and the Newies (eventually); Forking for having a fat bum and for thinking that some innocent walkers were part of the Hash; Ringer for changing an arrow; Shagpile for keeping reminding Capt F about SHRAB (Short Runs Are Best), Count Roadkill for admiring PP's bum, Bangers and Capt F for lost tankards (the latter twice in as many minutes), and a few others; finally the Hashit went to Ringer for...well who knows?

OnOn to next week at a pub we haven't been to before - The Engineer's Arms, Henlow . Anyone know if the beer's any good?

Rapid 'n' Ringer