THE “SOGGY SUDSY” HASH
Run Number: 418
Date: Sun 18 Nov 07
Time: 50 mins
Distance: 5 or 6 km
Run Location: Milton Abbas
The Pub: The Hambro Arms
Pub Links: To Follow
Weather: Relentlessly wet and cold
Hares, Hounds and Hash Stats
THE WORDS
It had to happen. After days of unusually fair autumn weather, nature had to have a laugh at BH3’s expense and turned on a downpour very reminiscent of the lightening troubled hash of 2002. Despite the inclement conditions there was a good turn out. Birdseye was one of the first arriving at 1105 – although he thought he was late. Perhaps that’s the trick; tell him that we start 15 minutes earlier. It was BrEW and Ronlet who arrived just as the pack were preparing for the off, so a slight delay for the Hash photo – probably a very bright one in view of the amount of day glo in evidence. It was not only extremely wet but cold too, and the Hare wasted no time in a lengthy briefing, but urged us to check it out straight away.
The first part of the trail was punctured by the sound of chattering teeth and groans as unwarmed limbs scaled the steep path up to the newer dwellings above the village’s main street. A check at the top had people guessing left or right, but Warthog found the footpath between the houses heading north. Not for long though as the hare switched us back east, meeting up beyond the false trail marker on the road others had previously checked. The hare warned us that from this point onwards the sawdust trail may have become somewhat degraded due to the rain – he’d only been able to ‘freshen up’ the trail near the village. Initially this was not a problem as the pack fully and justifiably expected the trail to carry on along the road to the woods. Emptier and Pet Rescue hit the next check first, followed by Ronlet who joined Emptier to check out the trail signposted St Catherine’s Chapel. Their guess proved correct and the pack wasted no time in catching them up.
The hare’s warning about the trail now proved its worth. Sawdust blobs were as scarce as the proverbial rocking horse excrement and this resulted in some delay at the chapel. Ronlet had walked on two hundred yards before she found some and having not seen a check assumed that it must be the On. The hare did not contradict and we were all keen to get moving again. The next kilometre saw the same pattern. Although there were potential checking sites, no sawdust was seen and Ronlet kept heading straight on using the hare’s presence at the back as confirmation that we were on the right trail. We were lucky if we saw two blobs before we came to a clear whip-in by some estate houses above Crincombe Bottom. The hare confirmed that a couple of checks had been eradicated by the rain, but in view of the atrocious conditions thought it best to keep the pack moving. Hear! Hear!
Advised that it was one blob and on (which we all thought was fairly amusing) we scattered in our various directions. Ronlet was on a roll when she did discover one leading us through the old estate gates. Then as we’d come to expect the sawdust disappeared and there was some hesitation where a footpath crossed the track. Birdseye checked left but BrEW managed to spot what Ronlet couldn’t see and we all kept heading straight along the track which eventually brought us to a junction with the Winterborne Stickland road. Here we had a 4-point check, and with great confidence Ronlet headed for the field footpath opposite, accompanied by Emptier. They were half way to the woods before they could confirm it was the right trail. By this stage and resembling drowned rats, none of wanted to hang about, but the track was somewhat rocky and perilous, particularly after we’d negotiated the stile and were under the trees. Ankle snapping territory, but we managed to survive till the next check which Kinky Bugger’s eagle eyes spotted amongst the autumn leaves. Having drawn our attention to the check, we now had our attention drawn to Kinky Bugger himself, who had cleverly devised a way of showering himself as he ran. Soap suds were forming in his sodden jacket and were coating his legs – either that or he’d contracted a mutant strain of rabies.
Expecting the worst many hounds checked uphill leaving Birdseye to venture alone along the low road. He called the On just as they were returning and we squelched after him. He was fortunately far enough ahead to prevent any unnecessary checking of side routes. We now emerged at a clearing and track junction which gave us a couple of options and the opportunity to admire the position of a woodland house and compare notes on the ‘waterproofness’ or otherwise of our various jackets. Most were not faring that well.
Pet Rescue and Emptier responded to the lure of the track to the right and fortunately called the On before anyone else had committed themselves too far in the wrong direction. This brought us to a sweeping bend and a couple of options. Ronlet missed the fact that there was a check and called the On upwards. She was soon corrected and was joined in the count by Birdseye. As ’On Dust he clearly has a knack for spotting the stuff and the On was confirmed in that direction. Passing a farmhouse and the site of the 2002 lightening strike, we felt the draw of Milton Abbas and picked up the pace. Fortunately, if the hare had planned any nasty and protracted dog-leg back (no offence to Alamein), the rain had swept away the evidence and the front runners decided on the straight forward route back to the pub along and down the main road.
A very bedraggled and cold pack was greeted on arrival at the Hambro Arms by a clean and dry Madness, beer in hand and plaster on his leg. He was none the worse for being de-bunioned and gave us bags of encouragement (which we really didn’t need) to hurry up and get indoors. It’s very tricky peeling off wet clothes and donning dry ones in a pub car park when it’s still pouring down… Stating the obvious I realise. Elle, Wendy and Jenny were also there and the latter fortuitously spotted a £5 note floating in a puddle next to Ronlet and BrEW’s car. Ronlet was only too keen to claim it as a Hash Fund acquisition, although Silent Running may have been less than enthusiastic about adding it to his neatly stacked subs.
Not everyone could stay for food but those that did enjoyed a very necessary replenishment of fuel – the home-made mushy peas were just the job, particularly washed down by a pint or two of Durdle Door.
HARES, HOUNDS, AND HASH STATS
Hare(s): Walt
Hounds: Birdseye, BrEW, Emptier, Jibber, Kinky Bugger, Pet Rescue, Ronlet, Quelque Chose, Silent Running, Warthog
Social Hounds: Elle, Madness, Jenny Fuller, Wendy Stibbards
Real Hounds: Alamein
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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 (211); Bronwen (Ronlet) Jones (178); Brian (BrEW) Errington-Weddle (142 + 2*); Ed (Birdseye) Sadd (130); Terry (Walt) Disney (123); Tim (Silent Running) Bryning (114 + 1*); Mark (Jibber) Humphries (114); Terry (Buggalugs) Canham (108 + 1*)
GOLD T-SHIRT AWARD (50 AND OVER)
Jason (Kinky Bugger) Wareham (86); Martin (Madness) Lawson (82 + 1*); J-F (Entente) Lechanoine (79); Tim (Classic) King (69); Duncan (Day Glo) Ray (65 + 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*); John (Strider) Bryning (31); Jim (Forget Me Not) Forrest (25 + 6*); Helen (Elle) Goodman (28*); Mark (Shady) Vincent (27); Tom (Two Shoes) Gillard (26)
NEED MORE HASHES OR POSTING ORDER (10 - 24)
Gail (Tour Guide) Sadd (8 + 16*); Rowland (Pet Rescue) Stibbards (21); Steve (Bob the Builder) Pritchard (20); Gordon (F Med) Rafferty (18); Graham (Hidden Depths) Plaice (17); Lesley (Tinkerbell) Bryning (14*); Peter (Emptier) Fuller (14); Edward (The Wanderer) Vincent (12); Patrick (Sloe) Ginn (11); Ben (The Slobby Uno ♂) Sadd (11); Sarah Bryning (1 + 9*); Pierre (Quelque Chose) Leroy (10)
NEED MORE HASHES (5 - 9)
Emma Sadd (8 + 1*); James (i-Plod) Vincent (7); Clare (The Slobby Uno ♀) Sadd (4 + 2*); Wendy Stibbards (6*); Paul (Crazy Fool) Kadoch (5); Ombeline Lechanoine (5*); John (Nokia) Noraika (5)
KEEP HASHING (1 - 4)
Jean-Baptiste (Pierre) Blandenet (4); Nikki (Xtra Miles) Brooks (4); Andy (Muddy) Cheney (4); Jenny Fuller (3 + 1*); Steve Thornton (4); Manuela Leroy (3*); Heather Terrington (2 + 1*); 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: Walt # 418 |
