Run 1273

Monday 10 August 2015

White Hart, Maulden

Hares: Blow Felt and Ringer

HASHERS: 17  MUTTS: 2

"A well-crafted run, quite crafty in places" opined Count Roadkill, divining the thoughts of Chairman Pongo. Indeed it WAS finely-crafted, thanks entirely to the senior hare Blow Felt; some but by no means all of the craftiness being stirred into the mix by co-hare Ringer.

After a beautiful sunny weekend, what's the weather forecast for early Monday afternoon? Showers, possibly heavy at times. Blast! Undeterred we set off just after 2pm armed with dust, a plan and a pocketful of crafty. In the event the showers amounted to no more than a brief pitter-patter on the Hares' balding old heads. Job over, we had time for a pint at the pub, although the ale was off and workmen were busy(ish) fitting new pumps and pipework to the bar. It would be back on by the evening we were assured, but we weren't 100% convinced, especially after the girl behind the bar knocked over a full pint of cider, narrowly missing my jacket. Still we must be optimistic mustn't we?. We downed a pint of euro-fizz apiece, followed by a relax back at chez Blow Felt before returning to a perfect summer evening in Maulden with the clues laid ready for the pack to sniff out. Nik-Nak arrived, technically before the off but only just, while Edwina 1-2-3 and Knobber failed to make the cut. Shagpile started but soon returned to the pub when Rainbow decided she'd had enough – right from the off she didn't look enthusiastic.

With plenty of directions to choose out from the pub, Rapid Withdrawal, Double Entry and Underlay and others started to explore. Most proved false until Underlay found the dust of truth and led the pack up The Brache but missed the little cut through that would take us towards the churchyard of the lovely Parish Church of St Mary the Virgin, sitting atop the Greensand Ridge, and which we passed on our Bangers walk last year. Here we dipped into the craftiness pocket and laid a long trail away from the church, only to almost double back along another path that joins it, to the other side of the church. Even the 'assistance' given to Underlay by a local walker when she found the bar: "there's another gate down there you go through" was to no avail. At the church, another dip into the craftiness pocket resulting in the pack checking out all directions from a non-existent check, ignoring the helpful advice given by the Ts they found. What does a T mean? It means go back to the PREVIOUS check. Simples! So eventually we regrouped and took the gate into the churchyard and followed the path down to the road.

Directed across the road by a helpful arrow, the pack set off on a long loop, which included a brief run around a nature reserve. By now it was getting a bit dark in the woods and several routes around it were taken, accompanied by a bevvy of nearby calls on 'OnOn'. It didn't matter which way you went as we were soon back at the entrance, in the case of the backmarkers, arriving just as the FRBs were leaving, but the back hare insisted they run/walk it anyway. The end of the loop brought us back to an arrow which the hares had omitted to kick out as they passed it the first time round. Oops! Soon it was 'On Inn' and the FRBs were back at the pub in just over the hour as per the plan.

After CrK/Pongo's summary of the run, the hares were awarded their just desserts. Unable to find a legitimate reason to delay any longer, the GM was forced to hand over to RA Forking. It used to be that down-downs were punishments for misdemeanours but now they seem to have become awards in their own right. Anyway in the 'punishment' chair were Edwina and Knobber for being late (quite right) also Nik-Nak (not quite late), DE for using a birth name for Pussies Galore, Subby for being a bit hippy?? and Atomic Titten to model the new hash attire – a coat of unknown parentage, Golden Globes for her deca mug, achieved after more years of hashing (not all of it with H5) than she might want to admit to, and of course the now traditional d-d to himself by the RA.

That's how it was, so it's OnOn to next week's run at Eaton Socon with Atomic and Karmen.

OnOn
Blow Felt & Ringer

How Rapid Withdrawal did 1273