Run 1190

Sunday 2 February 2014

The Queens Head, Tebworth

Hares: Nik Nak and Ringer

HASHERS: 20  ANKLE BITERS: 2  MUTTS: 2  NEWBEES: 3

Dateline Sat 25 Jan: Check out a planned route from the Queen's Head. Pleasant day for a walk. Very wet underfoot with some quality shiggy in places. Back to the pub for a pint and a chat with the landlord, both agreeable.
Dateline Sun 26 Jan: Hash run from The Cross Keys, Totternhoe. Not for the first time at this pub, it p!^^ed down.
And so the rain pissisted for most of the remainder of the week.

Therefore it was with some trepidation that the Hares (now plural having multiplied overnight, as hares do) gathered on the Sunday morn to lay the run. Would the previously 'wet underfoot' now be vast lakes with the odd spot of grass poking through? Would it be best to lay the trail in bathtime ducks? After the previous evening's shindig to celebrate our GM's C÷2 birthday (Yee Haa!), the Hares were greeted by a reasonably mild, sunny (if early) morning to lay the trail. Having marked all the false trails away from the pub, we set off across the first field, which amazingly didn't seem much shiggier than it was a week ago. Given the state of the terrain, great handfuls of the white stuff were deposited as we went round.

Job done, back at the pub hashers began to arrive and we marshalled most of the cars into the small car park. Since GM Rapid has become a uni student again and would be attending lectures on both Sat and Sun, he was not available to organise the regular S.Herts H3 run on Saturday, so SH4 were invited to join us on Sunday instead. HM Capt F regaled us with the now-customary 'On This Day' and Leroy threw in a joke. Smiffo followed the 'if you want to get ahead get a hat' mantra and declared a birthday. Skippy's little friend Alison was introduced as a newee and visitors Ian and Paul from SH4 introduced themselves. Some 'only slightly out of date' beer was brought into the Circle, subsequently carried round the trail and distributed FOC, provided you toted the (ever lightening) bag for a bit.

After squidging through the first bit of shiggy, the pack set off on a long straight section heading due west in the direction of Hockliffe. A couple of numbered fish-hooks served to stop the FRBs (especially Smiffo & 5-Baah) getting too far ahead. At the end of this section, an impromptu beer stop was initiated by Forking DC who elected to drink a beer rather than head to the back of the pack at another number fish-hook. Despite the signposted Chalgrave Heritage Trail footpath leading in the opposite direction across the field, 5-Baah ignored it, relying on his long Hashing experience, and immediately sniffed out the real trail through the first of a series of encounters with some boot-grabbing shiggy as we crossed through gates leading from one field to the next.

A cunningly laid check at a gap in a hedge resulted in Shufflecock calling 'On' on one side of the hedge, PP calling 'On' in the same direction on the other side, someone else heading across the field and 5-Baah heading up the other side of the hedge we'd just come down beside. All these were false trails, so Smiffo (who had just returned from retracing his steps as the 6th person at a 6-to-the-back fish-hook) was left to conclude with Holmesian insight – when all other possibilities have been eliminated, whatever option remains must be the right answer – that the barely visible, unsignposted style across the field must be the On – as indeed it was. Sheep and more shiggy were the only hazards from now on and the first arrivals back at the pub were there in an hour on the dot.

Our very fine host provided us with a welcome repast of chilli, chips and sausages which went down very well. Remnants of Rapid's birthday cake were also scoffed with enthusiasm. On-Out, Pongo declared himself fully content with the run; there were D-Ds for the Hares, the birthday boy, the SH4 visitors, newee Alison, muddy faller Nik-Nak and sundry sinners as identified by the RAs. Not bad all in all.

On-On to next week's run at Stotfold with Mr Knobber and El Capitain.
Ringer & Nik-Nak