THE “THREE CHEERS FOR THE ADVENT” HASH
Run Number: 419
Date: Sun 2 Dec 07
Time: 80 mins
Distance: 8 miles
Run Location: Stourpaine
The Pub: The White Horse Inn
Pub Links: To Follow
Weather: Unexpectedly good weather (for the run)
Hares, Hounds and Hash Stats
THE WORDS
There is no miracle but leadership. Wisely all the hounds were called together at 11.15 to start at 11.30; the rain stopped at 11.05 sharp and started again after the last hound came back. Many thanks to the Hares [you would say that!!]. The first hound to arrive was Pet Rescue, cycling bravely. Because he was well in advance... and he was wet, he did an extra warming up till the briefing time.
At 11.15 the pack was gathered. BrEW took the picture, and Silent Running started the briefing.
Just after the start Birdseye found two old gloves but since they were already wet he threw them away and joined the advanced party. Emptier, Kinky Bugger and Ronlet ran straight along the road as Strider, Jibber and Pet Rescue took the way up the hill. It was Birdseye who picked the right trail to lead the pack to the first Whip-in up the hill.
At the Whip-in Emptier cast as a joke that the words could be replaced by a couple of pictures but Ronlet, who meanwhile had arrived, strongly rejected this idea [too right!]. The Words should stay the Words, and from a straightforward Hash point of view she was not wrong. Nevertheless some relevant pictures could have enhanced the story...
At the next check we met Madness, who had brought some Sherry and a couple of glasses and invited the hounds to have a drink. Except for some careful hounds, the pack really enjoyed this Advent initiative. [Kinky Bugger was after all a little worse for wear, having left the pub at 4.00am that morning]
From the check Strider sought for some blobs on the path heading to the east but hit a false trail; Birdseye, who picked the Norton Lane heading north from the check, ran so fast that he cleared the false trail mark and the Hare had to call him back. In the meantime Emptier who was on the right trail in the wood heard Birdseye's “On On!” and came back, only to have to turn back when he understood the mistake. After he found the third blob the pack ran in his wake.
The blank is left intentionally since from this point the writer did not attend the run for a while.
[Yes, indeed. It is only because the Wordster has to remain anonymous that we cannot name who was absent at this point. But we all smelled a rat, well Hare actually, and BrEW in particular had no doubt that we would be heading back to the drink stop – unfortunately, Madness was nowhere to be seen…]
After a smiley and a small run around the hill, the pack came back to its starting point. Madness was not there any more (and the sherry was gone) but the check was enhanced with some strange figures (A 202). Anything could happen on a December 2nd..
As some hounds were trying in vain to find a connection with the run [still don’t know what it meant!], Strider and Pet Rescue launched a powerful “On On” and everybody rushed out onto the Norton Lane again.
The slope was not too steep [??] but the pack scattered along the road scaring some pheasants on the way to the next check. The Sherry may have had some side effect. After 500 metres the first hounds hit a check. Birdseye, Strider and b>Pet Rescue tried to find the way, in the meantime BrEW contributed to the growth of a tree. It was Birdseye who eventually called the On and took the pack to the Folly: a farm... and a check.
Strider and Birdseye chose to go through the field to join the Jubilee Trail as Pet Rescue kept on running on the road but he came back after he hit a false trail marking. Then the whole hounds took the track toward the Jubilee Trail. Ronlet wisely ran on up the hillside as the other headed to the gate down the hill. After a while Birdseye followed by Strider started to run up the hill but at the check at the top took a real false trail. Meanwhile the other hounds found the third blob and ran on a slippery track to a whip-in. At that point it was the Hare who got a surprise. Something was wrong in the cunning plan, but accepting his fate, he launched the pack on the trail again.
Within 2 minutes everybody was running again in the field, this time towards Durweston and at the next check an unexpected Glühwein, brought by Manuela, was waiting. It was very windy and cold on this hill. The pack stopped to check the drink.
From that point things went quicker. Pet Rescue tried a track down the field, Ronlet did the same on the other side of the hedge, finally Strider, Emptier and Birdseye who ran down the road called the On. It was Strider who chose the best option by taking to the left down the slope across the field. The horses, that were there, looked disdainfully at the pack growling and heading to the village. The path was quite slippery down the hill and Emptier fell down. Since the camera did not catch this at the moment, Emptier agreed to fake his fall again.
In the meantime the hounds had already reached the centre of Durweston. Jibber took the pack on the trail till the crossing of Stour Valley Way and Milton Lane but he kept on running alone straight on till Birdseye and Kinky Bugger called the On. Something did not escape the hounds - they were running in the direction away from the starting point. Why? The answer came quickly with another Whip-in where the smartest waiter of the day, Madness, took some Port out of the boot of his car…
With this third glass it was urgent to find the trail back. There were some chances that the trail would become easier to guess, but who really knew. Strider, Emptier and Pet Rescue ran ahead towards Durweston Bridge. The group split at the next check and it was Pet Rescue who found the trail back and led the pack to the parking lot.
A great and devious trail – but changing for the pub was a bit tricky as the promised rain now arrived with full force.
HARES, HOUNDS, AND HASH STATS
Hare(s): Silent Running & Quelquechose
Hounds: Birdseye, BrEW, Emptier, Jibber, Kinky Bugger, Pet Rescue, Ronlet
Social Hounds: Madness, Jenny Fuller, Manuela Leroy, Wendy Stibbards
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 (211); Bronwen (Ronlet) Jones (179); Brian (BrEW) Errington-Weddle (143 + 2*); Ed (Birdseye) Sadd (131); Terry (Walt) Disney (123); Tim (Silent Running) Bryning (116 + 1*); Mark (Jibber) Humphries (115); Terry (Buggalugs) Canham (108 + 1*)
GOLD T-SHIRT AWARD (50 AND OVER)
Jason (Kinky Bugger) Wareham (87); Martin (Madness) Lawson (82 + 2*); 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 (32); 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 (22); Steve (Bob the Builder) Pritchard (20); Gordon (F Med) Rafferty (18); Graham (Hidden Depths) Plaice (17); Peter (Emptier) Fuller (15); Lesley (Tinkerbell) Bryning (14*); Pierre (Quelque Chose) Leroy (12); Edward (The Wanderer) Vincent (12); Patrick (Sloe) Ginn (11); Ben (The Slobby Uno ♂) Sadd (11); Sarah Bryning (1 + 9*)
NEED MORE HASHES (5 - 9)
Emma Sadd (8 + 1*); James (i-Plod) Vincent (7); Clare (The Slobby Uno ♀) Sadd (4 + 2*); Wendy Stibbards (7*); Jenny Fuller (3 + 2*); 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); Manuela Leroy (4*); Steve Thornton (4); 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: Silent R & QQC # 419 |
