Run 1123

Sunday 25 November 2012

The Three Horseshoes, Norton

Hare: Knobber

HASHERS: 21  ANKLE BITERS: 4  MUTTS: 2  NEWEE: 1  APRES: 4

Despite the trail being wiped out in the storm the night before, the Hash managed to find its way around 4 miles of North Herts shiggy and back to the Three Horseshoes in Norton.
Beginning with a loop down Church Lane and over to Green Lanes, the Hash joined the Greenway and headed down the long wet stretch to a held check at Norton Road. Rapid and Underlay found the falsies, whilst Zebedee and Mekon managed to avoid the arrows taking the FRBs to the back of the pack and were waiting at Norton Road for the rest of us.
From there, the pack crossed Norton Road on a course for Radwell, past the hidden landing strip, (which had featured in the Biggles books) and onto a held check outside the Poultry Farm (but no shell suits). The shiggy and the twisting trail proved too much for Twicza, who needed a bit of a sit down half way along, but afterwards wasn't carrying as much mud as Madge.
From there, it was over a bridge and through the Poultry Farm to Radwell Lake, where we admired the swans as they hissed and flapped, and threatened to break our arms with their wings, and Mekon's thumb with their bills (which do not have teeth).
Rapid was good enough to run a falsie and allow the pack to regroup as we approached the brow of the hill leading to Bury Farm. The uphill approach is significant, because, as the farmer did not like the original farm, he buried it, forming the hill upon which he built the existing barns. Hence it is now known as Bury Farm. The descent from Bury Farm leads to the River Ivel, notable as an anagram from which more words can be made than other four letter British rivers (eg, Tyne, Tees or Ouse – which, remarkably, has three vowels). In fact, the trail went very close to the source of the Ivel, but instead headed over Radwell Meadows to Norton Mill. A short jog through the flood and up the path alongside the field leading to the top of Norton Road, then over the meadow and through the churchyard, back to the pub, left me wondering why I had wasted time laying trails fastidiously in the past, when the same result could be achieved by pointing the pack in the right direction and calling "false trail" every now and again.

Back at the pub, the circle was called, and after the regular down-downs, including one for newie "John", RA Ringer called in Subby for PayPal misdemeanors and Mekon for a couple of transgressions, before Secret RA Underlay pointed out a few more, including Pussies for getting her claws into newie John in anticipation of the on on (and then talking about work), and Skidmark wearing a cardigan on the run, although somehow I got the rap for that one, which I didn't mind as some more Spitfire was involved (nice girl, whatever happened to her?) [she married a Fokker: Dep Ed].
All in all, a great way to spend a November Sunday Morning, and thanks to all for supporting a washed out trail and a hare with a poorly chest, not to forget Rapid's amazing fruit cake and Lady P's apricot scones.

Yeah Reggae
Knobber

Where The GM went