Run 1128

Sunday 30 December 2012

The Crooked Chimney, Lemsford

Hare: Capt. Fantaaastic

HASHERS: 16  ANKLE BITERS: 3  MUTTS: 2  APRES: 0

The run was not as advertised due to the fact that the original hares could not lay it and I was asked to substitute. [See footnote. Our sincere thanks to Capt F for stepping in at the 11th hour and producing a fine run - Dep Ed]

The forecast was pretty darned good, so it did not seem much of an issue to lay the run on Sunday morning. An early breakfast and trip out to Lemsford.

Those BBC forecasters had got it spot on, blue skies and a pretty mild temperature for 30th Dec. Laying the run was actually quite enjoyable. The scenery was great, particularly on the deserted Brocket Hall golf course. These golfers start early though as some very posh cars were beginning to arrive and it was not even 9 o' Clock.

The outward trail through the golf-course was cut short, as progress was slow and the trail had taken over 2½hrs to set (slightly over-cooked perhaps?). After dodging the little white missiles and finally leaving the golf-course behind, the pack traversed a small wood and descended to the first of two new checks, the "SV" or Super Vet check for hashers that have completed 150+ runs.

After crossing the 'Flint Bridge' another trek through the woods and the pack emerge at the car park. Crossing the B653 was a heart stopping moment as it seems to be a bit of a speedway on a Sunday morning.

A long leg through the Turnip field and the pack finally emerge from the trail onto a road (if you can call it road) pretty close to the Inn. Unfortunately only the short cutters were allowed to go ON-INN, for the rest the hare had a nasty surprise. Turning away from the pub, the group set off to Cromer Hyde to the second and rather confusing new check. The "OE", or Odds and Evens check, where alternate hashers had to run a pointless loop in either a clock-wise or counter clock-wise direction. In retrospect the OE check was a bit of a gamble with only a solo hare, as it meant that half of the pack was hareless and prone to getting lost. Anyway my concerns came to naught and all was well. I must admit it did split the group a tad, so next time I do this (if ever) I will set some short cuts and also make sure that I have the assistance of another hare.

This part of the route was fairly reminiscent to the one set by Bangers from the John Bunyan. All I can say is that the condition of the tracks had not improved any in the intervening ten weeks. The Slough of Despond had actually turned into the Slough of Utter Despond (or perhaps more apt would be the Dyke of Drowned Hashers). Another problem with the OE check is that it did not allow the superb RA Ringer to keep tabs on everyone, which might account for the lack of down-downs, or maybe it's because we have all started our New Year Resolution of good hash behaviour a tad early.

Down-downs were awarded to the gallant substitute hare (i.e. me), and the secret RA (Subby) also awarded me a second down-down for getting flustered when asked the name of the MK Hash group (for the record they are MKH3 and we are H5). Pecker got a down-down for allowing the ankle biters (Skippy & Knotch) to dob The Count apparently without any feelings of guilt.

On-On to the New Year run 1129 from the Wheatsheaf Tempsford
Yours affectionately - Capt F

[Footnote: Sadly, Spotted Dick's mum had passed away the day before. We send our condolences to SD.]