THE “LUCKY PIERRE” HASH
Run Number: 424
Date: Sunday 10 Feb 08
Time: 1 Hour 45 minutes
Distance: About 6 miles
Run Location: Easy Knoyle
The Pub: The Fox & Hounds
Pub Links: To follow
Weather: Delightfully warm and sunny
Hares, Hounds and Hash Stats
THE WORDS
Warthog rolled up on his pushbike and whiled away ten minutes or so by changing his shoes and clothes several times. Others arrived in ones and twos. Almost dead on 1115 our two hares turned up. We were just about to make a start with only six men and a dog when Ronlet and BrEW appeared. Standing in for Birdseye perhaps? With such a seasoned bunch of hashers there was little need for talk. A simple list sufficed: six miles, some whip-ins and three smiley faces.
I was assigned the wordsmith’s task, despite coming up with some excellent reasons why it shouldn’t be me. After a couple of quick photos, BrEW felt the urge to move his car two metres closer to the pub in case a quick getaway might be needed later. Such attention to detail is surely commendable, or pointless, or something.
The pack started to scatter in search of the On. Madness advised that having arrived first he’d already searched uphill for dust and hadn’t found any. Quelque Chose thought he’d take a look anyway, and that was the last we saw of him for a while. The rest of the pack took the road on the left just down from the pub. The trail led up a little rise and down the other side, which is where Silent Running and Alamein found the first smiley face. Meanwhile, Kinky Bugger went back to look for Quelque Chose, and brought him to the top of the hill in time to cross the stile on the right and join the pack running down across the fields.
Once over the road and into the woods we began to suffer from OTS, or obliterated trail syndrome. Surprisingly, even the hares didn’t notice anything amiss for quite a while, and it was only after Kinky Bugger yelled to Jibber that he was sure we were going the wrong way that we retraced our steps back down to where the last check should have been. Quelque Chose almost found the next smiley face, but hadn’t quite got far enough when the On was called. This proved to be the start of a long series of abortive forays into the surrounding countryside for the man who was renamed, for this run only, as “Lucky Pierre”.
We took a long slippery path down out of the woods to a whip-in at the road by Upper Bottom Farm. While Silent Running and Alamein explored some gaps in hedges leading to muddy fields, Lucky Pierre went the right way, but returned having failed to see any dust. After a while the hares got bored and drove us on past the dust to the T-junction where the check was plainly visible. At another check close by at Chapel Farm we started to climb through fields to a gratefully received (by me at least) whip-in at the top. While Lucky Pierre explored a steep downhill false trail, the rest of us jogged gently down to Manor Farm and the road leading past the church into West Knoyle.
After a few minutes of tarmac we came to a check near a bend. Warthog followed the trail round to the left and called the on after finding three blobs. Unfortunately, it turned out that counting was not the hares’ greatest skill, and a cross followed the third blob. Lucky Pierre, who had been on the right trail for once, had almost returned to the check by the time the mistake was corrected, but he gamely led the pack westwards again over the fields towards East Hill.
After we had been out for about an hour, the hares reckoned we were nearly half way round. Ronlet saw a hill in the distance and wondered if it was Shaftesbury. It wasn’t. The sawdust led us through many fields. We saw horses and sheep. And mud. Sometimes the muddy trail slithered through thick brambles. Ronlet did funny break-dancing while trying to avoid falling in the brambles. Madness did nearly-as-funny falling over trying to avoid dancing in the mud and breaking something.
From Oxleaze Farm we headed south before doubling back to the northeast. Madness was offered a small short cut and used it to get in front and lead the pack over a series of stiles taking us in the direction of the Nature Reserve. On the way, Warthog and Jibber found time to play on a rope swing hanging from a high branch. How juvenile.
We found our way through the Nature Reserve, sometimes by following the trail. BrEW managed to get an electric shock. Please feel free to come up with your own amusing remark about the difference between a live hare and a live hound. Things began to get really muddy and several shoes were almost lost. At some point Lucky Pierre (who else?) found the third smiley face. As we climbed through the woods on the way up Great High Croft the mud got stickier and steeper. It really was quite excellent mud. Top quality. First rate. Jolly good show.
Finally we emerged near the top on a nice path covered with pine needles. The hares took pity on us when we couldn’t find any dust (OTS again), and pointed us south through the woods until we picked up the scent going uphill and north towards the windmill, on Windmill Hill, no less. After struggling up the steep hill we collapsed onto a conveniently placed bench at the final whip-in before jogging the last few hundred metres along the road back to the pub.
The food and drink at the Fox & Hounds were good and the food arrived quite quickly even though they were busy and we were late. Well done to the lads for a cracking long run in lovely weather with such splendid mud.
HARES, HOUNDS AND HASH STATS
Hare(s): Jibber and Kinky Bugger
Hounds: BrEW, Madness, Quelque Chose, Ronlet, Silent Running and Warthog
Social Hounds/Puppy Hashers: Not this time
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 (215); Bronwen (Ronlet) Jones (185); Brian (BrEW) Errington-Weddle (148 + 2*); Ed (Birdseye) Sadd (135); Terry (Walt) Disney (126); Tim (Silent Running) Bryning (121 + 1*); Mark (Jibber) Humphries (121)
GOLD T-SHIRT AWARD (50 AND OVER)
Jason (Kinky Bugger) Wareham (94); Martin (Madness) Lawson (84 + 5*); Duncan (Day Glo) Ray (69+ 2*); Tim (Classic) King (69)
MUG AWARD AND CAN WEAR BLUE T-SHIRT (25 - 49)
John (Strider) Bryning (33); Helen (Elle) Goodman (30*); Gail (Tour Guide) Sadd (8 + 19*); Mark (Shady) Vincent (27); Tom (Two Shoes) Gillard (26)
NEED MORE HASHES OR POSTING ORDER (10 - 24)
Rowland (Pet Rescue) Stibbards (24); Peter (Emptier) Fuller (17); Graham (Hidden Depths) Plaice (17); Pierre (Quelque Chose) Leroy (15); Lesley (Tinkerbell) Bryning (14*); Ben (The Slobby Uno ♂) Sadd (13); Edward (The Wanderer) Vincent (12); Patrick (Sloe) Ginn (11); Sarah (..) Bryning (1 + 9*); Emma (…) Sadd (8 + 2*)
NEED MORE HASHES (5 - 9)
Wendy (…) Stibbards (8*); Jenny (…)Fuller (3 + 4*); James (i-Plod) Vincent (7); Clare (The Slobby Uno ♀) Sadd (4 + 2*); Paul (Crazy Fool) Kadoch (5); Manuela (…)Leroy (5*)
KEEP HASHING (1 - 4)
Nikki (Xtra Miles) Brooks (4); Andy (Muddy) Cheney (4); Steve Thornton (4); Alan (…) Kerridge (3); Pierre Leroy Jnr (3); Rebecca Leroy (3*); Fiona (…) Ray (1+2*); Paul Allen (2); David Orriss (2); Elsie May Ray (2*); Alf Sadd (2*); Janice Vincent (2*); Chantelle Wareham (2); Jane Allen (1); Sandie Disney (1*); Renee Ginn (1*); Ben King (1+1*); Alice King (1*); George King (1*); Sarah King (1); Mike Lock (1); Colin McGrory (1); Hilary Naylor (1); Emma Rae (1); Jon (Circus Boy) Smallwood (1); Fiona Vincent (1*)
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Price: Jibber & Kinky # 424 |
