THE “SEARCH AND RESCUE” HASH
Run Number: 410
Date: Mon 10 Sep 07
Time: 105 mins
Distance: About 6 miles
Run Location: Berwick St John Village Hall
The Pub: The Half Moon at Shaftesbury
Pub Links: To Follow
Weather: Warm and sunny then warm and dark
Hares, Hounds and Hash Stats
THE WORDS
Some of us spotted our hare for the evening while searching for the village hall at Berwick St John. He was dashing about with a bag in his hand, doubtless adding some last-minute embellishments to the evening’s trail. Having parked behind the village hall, we admired the sunlit slopes of Winklebury Hill rearing majestically above the village. Sloe suggested a smiley face might be found at the summit. We grimaced nervously.
At the appointed hour (half-hour actually) Birdseye gave the briefing to the five hounds present: about six miles, one whip-in, four smiley faces, quite a lot of sheep and a water stop somewhere around the halfway point. We were just about to take a photo prior to setting off when BrEW and Ronlet drove in, so we had the briefing again before being professionally snapped by BrEW in his persona of Hash Flash. At last we were off, and by the time we’d found the first check we’d encountered latecomers Quelque Chose, Silent Running and new girl Emma, who was looking tremendously sleek and cool in her sunglasses.
At a check near Cross Farm, the main pack convinced itself it had the on, although what they had found was actually a cross. The ensuing confusion gave time for the latecomers to park their cars and catch up. Meanwhile, Sloe had already found the true path going northeast and was well out in front. Jibber and Kinky Bugger decided to take a short cut through the farm. The farmer wasn’t pleased (no wonder it’s called Cross Farm) and Kinky Bugger paid for his transgression by finding himself shin-deep in cowshit in his attempt to avoid the farmer’s wrath.
At the next check most of the pack bumbled around inconsequentially while Quelque Chose headed off past a maize field and was soon lost from sight. After some prompting from the hare, we also set off round the field and over a little bridge onto a track. BrEW and Madness were dawdling at the back and spotted a stile on the right that the pack had ignored. Remembering the promised checkbacks, they carried on dawdling and were rewarded by the sight of the others returning from some distance away, having found the first smiley face. Once over the stile, Ronlet picked up the trail, which led us to Norrington Farm. Sloe continued to do sterling work investigating false trails. Meanwhile BrEW, concerned about his wonky leg, waited until the pack had gone so the kindly hare could point out a shortcut. The rest of us ran up a steepish track to find the second smiley face. Running down again, we eventually found ourselves back on the other side of the farm, where BrEW was lazing about waiting for us.
The trail took us up through a sheep field. As we opened the gate at the far side the sheep saw their chance and charged for the gap. Fortunately Pet Rescue is wise to the habits of sheep and slammed the gate shut just in time. Jibber then led the pack up a big hill. It was a shame he didn’t notice the footpath sign near the bottom, because the third checkback meant the pack had to descend to get the other side of the barbed wire fence, before going up once more. The hill went on for a long time, but at the top we had the relief of a whip-in, with the promised water stop.
We’d watched the sun sink below the horizon on the way up, but at the top it was still visible as Silent Running explored the woods on the right before emerging in response to the call of the pack heading downhill to the disused quarry. Soon afterwards we started to pick our way upward again. The trail was hard to find, and we were well spread out over the hill by the time Ronlet spotted some dust. The climb took us to a stile by a wooded area, and here we lost the trail. With Pet Rescue and Sloe exploring far and wide, and Madness taking a breather, Birdseye seemed to take pity on the pack, and led it zigzagging downhill following a trail nobody had noticed. It was a cruel deception though, as he just wanted to show people his final smiley face. Puffing its way back up to the stile, the pack emerged onto a well-defined track that followed the ridge of the hill. While Jibber explored a false trail down through some nettles, the rest of us ran up past the trig point by the long barrow and on to a gate.
The light was fading by now, and Emma had long since removed her sunglasses. Kinky Bugger and Jibber realised that they had only 15 minutes left to finish the hash, get changed, get some chips, pick up some friends and drive to their skittles evening. The general consensus was that they might be quite late. The village was still not in sight as we wound our way down through another large flock of sheep, and soon it was hard to distinguish pale rocks from pale sawdust. At a check at the top of a field, an indistinct shape (it might have been Kinky Bugger) was seen to get down on all fours to put its nose close to the ground, before confirming that we were “on one”. At this point, we decided to abandon the pretence of looking for dust, and instead followed the “dark line” that Birdseye claimed he could see ahead of us. This took us through a gate and across another field to the road. Here, the hare offered us the choice of running down the road to the village hall, or following the trail round the back of the village. Ronlet was keen to carry on, although how she intended to do this was as unclear as the trail itself. The rest of us voted with our feet, however, and Ronlet decided to let discretion be the better part of valour.
Back at the hall, we suddenly realised that BrEW, who because of his infirmity had been given a map at the water stop, and was taking a short cut back, was missing. It was agreed that the map would have been of limited use as he didn’t have his reading glasses with him, and it was dark. Ronlet drove up the road to flash her lights to guide him in. A few minutes later he arrived, confessing to having got a little lost on the way back. Now we just had to find Ronlet.
The pub in the village was closed so those who hadn’t already rushed off agreed to try the Grove Arms at Ludwell, or failing that, the Half Moon in Shaftesbury. The Grove was closed for a staff party, so we implemented plan B at the Half Moon, where the food and beer were both good.
HARES, HOUNDS, AND HASH STATS
Hare(s): Birdseye
Hounds: BrEW, Jibber, Kinky Bugger, Madness, Pet Rescue, Quelque Chose, Ronlet, Silent Running, Sloe and Emma Rae
Social Hounds/Puppy Hashers: Not this time
Real Hounds: Not this time
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MUG & T-SHIRT RATINGS
(??*) - Denotes attendance by those not Mug Rated (social hounds).
RED T-SHIRT AWARD (100 AND OVER) ….And we’ve got them – for £10!
Andy (Warthog) Goodman (206); Bronwen (Ronlet) Jones (172); Brian (BrEW) Errington-Weddle (135 + 2*); Ed (Birdseye) Sadd (124); Terry (Walt) Disney (116); Terry (Buggalugs) Canham (108 + 1*); Tim (Silent Running) Bryning (105 + 1*); Mark (Jibber) Humphries (106)
GOLD T-SHIRT AWARD (50 AND OVER)
J-F (Entente) Lechanoine (79); Jason (Kinky Bugger) Wareham (76); Martin (Madness) Lawson (75); Tim (Classic) King (69); Duncan (Day Glo) Ray (64 + 2*)
MUG AWARD AND CAN WEAR BLUE T-SHIRT (25 - 49)
Sylvie (Ça Va) Lechanoine (44 + 2*); John (Semaphore) Carr (42); Tom (Jock) Moncur (38); Frances (Stop Watch) Canham (35*); Ruth (Typhoon) Canham (35*); Jim (Forget Me Not) Forrest (25 + 6*); John (Strider) Bryning (27); Helen (Elle) Goodman (27*); Tom (Two Shoes) Gillard (26); Mark (Shady) Vincent (25)
NEED MORE HASHES OR POSTING ORDER (10 - 24)
Gail (Tour Guide) Sadd (8 + 16*); Steve (Bob the Builder) Pritchard (20); Gordon (F Med) Rafferty (18); Rowland (Pet Rescue) Stibbards (18); Graham (Hidden Depths) Plaice (15); Lesley (Tinkerbell) Bryning (14*); Edward (The Wanderer) Vincent (12); Ben (The Slobby Uno ♂) Sadd (11); Sarah Bryning (1 + 9*); Peter (Emptier) Fuller (10)
NEED MORE HASHES (5 - 9)
Patrick (Sloe) Ginn (9); Emma Sadd (8 + 1*); James (i-Plod) Vincent (7); Clare (The Slobby Uno ♀) Sadd (4 + 2*); Paul (Crazy Fool) Kadoch (5); Ombeline Lechanoine (5*); Pierre (Quelque Chose) Leroy (5); John (Nokia) Noraika (5); Wendy Stibbards (5*)
KEEP HASHING (1 - 4)
Jean-Baptiste (Pierre) Blandenet (4); Nikki (Xtra Miles) Brooks (4); Andy (Muddy) Cheney (4); Steve Thornton (4); Jenny Fuller (3); Heather Terrington (2 + 1*); Manuela Leroy (2*); Pierre Leroy Jnr (2); Rebecca Leroy (2*); Steve (Cloth Ears) Lomas (2); David Orriss (2); Rod (Dyno) Thomas (2); Janice Vincent (2*); Chantelle Wareham (2); Mary Burden (1); William Burden (1); James Carr (1); Julie Carr (1); William Carr (1); Ben King (1); Gabbi Lomas (1); Colin McGrory (1); Hilary Naylor (1); Fiona Ray (1); Robert Carr (1*); Sandie Disney (1*); Kate Forrest (1*); Renee Ginn (1*); Mike Lock (1); Emma Rae (1); Alf Sadd (1*); Fiona Vincent (1*)
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Price: Birdseye # 410 |
