Run #1823 Trendlebere Down, OD the Bell Inn, Bovey Tracey with hare Beefy
And there it was, just as foretold, a shimmering
blue luminescent arrow pointing to the sacred circle in a fairy-like
grotto in darkest Trendlebere Down - magic...
A crisp evening (37f) saw some thirty eight hardy
hashers assemble at Beefy's well marked 'car park' on Trendlebere Down.
Indeed, there could be no excuses not to find the circle location with
an almost festive blue reflective arrow showing the way. Intense
planning had Shirley gone into the hare's preparations - a seven mile
recce on Sunday and over ten miles laid on the day - Beefy had left
nothing to chance and dare we say it - it was dry and still - Oh give
thanks to the hash gods on high!.
Recalled:
GM Shitfaced, Teapot, Piltdown, Georgy, 3Sum, SatNav, 69, Beefy, Only
Here, Debbie, Adam, Georgia, Robert, Soapy, Palmolive, Melon Picker, Wet
Johnny, Manopause, Erection, Forrest, Manpig, BroadS, SM Ellie,
I-Poo'd, Coldtits, Bobby Woll, Wigwam, Big End, Well Hopped, Ding Dong,
Wetfart, Fishbait, Slip on Me, Small Fry, BB, Able with late arrivals
Pan Fart & Bush Baby 38
Salute
the Grand Master we could not as he had unfortunately left his staff of
office in the hallway and indeedy, it wasn't quite the same without the
brandishing..
.
Beefy was anxious to get the show on the road as the pub
had an earlier than usual cut-off point for the hash grub. The hash
trail menu was exotic: Three L/S splits and wait for it - TWO walkers'
routes being mark-ed W1 and W2. In the words of old Harry 'You've never
had it so good.'
Rock
'n' stroll time and into the depths of Yarner wood we surged with
Cruella sniggers as the Bat failed to operate the first gate. The first
check was within a hundred yards and Manopause chose correctly and a
nice little lead was opened up on the rest of the pack.
Wet
Johnny was a revelation since having the turbo fitted* and was the FRB
of the night, galloping clear and only caught up with at the checks -
cleverly designed by the hare to put a lid on such an eventuality.
It was déjà vu from
last week as Big End/Ned and Well Hopped loom-ed large in the wing
mirrors but there were other hounds loose in the calaboose... A jingle
of bells could only mean that Feagle, Brock and Ding Dong were closing
fast. Ding Dong confirmed that her stitches were out following a tumble
in one of her canine-cross events and I pulled over to let the pro team
past.
The
inevitable drama unfolded and on a long descent the Bat saw Ding Dong
and team hesitate. 'Have you seen any marks?' 'No' replied the batty
Bat, 'I wuz following you!' A procession of Hi ho, hi ho, it's off to
work we go lights appeared, 'Anything BB?' enquired Manopause but the
longs were also suspicious of the absence of marks and turned back.
'I'll sound my horn if we're on...' echoed back to the retreating longs
and that was the last time they ever saw the Bat again.... sigh
II wasn't the only one that missed the glorious secluded hut stop where cider
or lemonade and fruit and nut flapjacks were on offer in a delightful
fairy light lit hut in the middle of nowhere as Wet Johnny must have
been going too fast and overshot the magical refreshment stop.
A
few snippets of gossip were passed on at the pub: Wiggers had a head
torch failure and wandered lonely as the wispish clouds above but got
back safely and apparently a certain hasher led a large group of walkers
astray - der rottenführer
strikes again - you failed to mention this outrage Bobby, I vunder vy?
Big End was slightly perplexed that Manpig and Forrest had got in front
of him and Well Hopped as they hadn't overtaken and the rumour going
round was that perhaps they had accidentally (Manpig and Forrest not
short cutters of course!) been sidetracked through one of the walkers'
trails.
Following
Bobby Woll's Panzer in my scout car, we managed to find the last spaces
in the steep car park above the Bell Inn. Warm and welcoming was the
Bell and the good news was the price of the vital beer - £3.70 for
Legend and Doom! a full 40p cheaper than the week before, whoa! Our
congenial host and landlord Owen made us very welcome and there were no
queues at the bar that I could see and he was happy that we had a good
time. Let's put the Bell on our list of hash-friendly venues for Bovey.
AWARDS
WET
JOHNNY had the Hashit shirt for going back along the walkers' trail to
look for fellow Penners, Manopause & Erection - WJ's explanation not
being accepted by Melon Picker.
BIG END received the Bat hat from Forrest who claimed that he had saved his bacon by calling him back on trail.
BUSH
BABY was aghast at being awarded the Horsey horseface hat for arriving
late with Pan Fart and getting lost on the short (thanks Wiggers, a
close call as WJ was also my choice and I didn't have a Plan B!)
SLIP ON ME received her 200 Badge to finish the fun.
*Puts it all down to the weight loss - and perhaps a few 6 milers.
POSTSCRIPT
Beefy
put his heart and soul into the evening and what a success it turned
out to be. Everyone loved the trail and the pub, well done!
POST POSTSCRIPT
I
am relieved that no one (apart from the lady who came out of her house
to see why I had run past four times) witnessed my most unfortunate
demise, I shall not elaborate. I stayed behind to chat to Owen and the
locals and they thought that someone wearing a bat on his head and
harlequin chef's trousers was quite normal. By the way, a returning
local, now living in Nova Scotia, recalled many hashers of old,
including Biggles and Soapy - a small world, isn't it...
ON ON to next week and the Churston Court Inn, Churston Ferrers, (TQ5 0JE,) with Hares U-Bend & Manpig
