Run No. 1380               6th February 2011

Venue:                          The Farmer’s Boy

Beer:                              White Dwarf, Veralum Ale, London Pride

Location:                      St Albans         

Hare(s):                         Mr. X

Runners:                      14

Virgins:                            0

Visitors:                           0

Newies:                           0                             

Hounds:                          0

Après Hashers:             0

Total:                             14

Membership:               ‘Aving nun of it!

Things looked like it would be a low turn out this week, which was a shame after the Hare had gone to the trouble of making sure that Horrors were allowed in to the venue.  Those who did make it, found that all the best parking spaces on London road were already taken, so the later arrivals ended up parking around the corner.

            The Hare made it back from setting the Trail with around half an hour to spare before the off.  The Pack gathered outside of the Farmer’s Boy for the GM to call the Circle together.  The Pack held their breath as Flip Top welcomed everyone to the Run & there was even a little bit of an ironic cheer as he got the number right this week!

The Hare was called forward & he too received a cheer from the Circle, but his wasn’t ironic, instead it was for the fact that the Hash believed that his Trail would not be much longer than an hour, even for the walkers.

To add to the Cheer, Mr. X announced that there would be short cuts, there were plenty of people out there running as they trained for the up-coming marathon season, so they were to be avoided.  There would be two Held CHKs, & there was also one point on the Trail where care would be taken if you were the same height as Mr. X, after he had an incident with some of the low branches, & one went straight into the side of his eye.  Fortunately there was no damage done, except his eye being a bit sore.

The Hash were then directed up to the traffic lights & around to the left, then down toward the mini roundabout at the junction at the end of Watson’s walk, to the left-hand side of the path was a CHK.  Sludge, Underlay & Ski were quickly over the roundabout & on to the Trail where it ran up an alleyway, T-B-T had to be rounded up & called back by the RA to follow on behind the other FRBs.

The Hare marked a Short Cut for the back markers to avoid going down the alley way & then down Paxton way on a loop back to Cottonmill lane, but all of them ignored this & wandered off around the detour!  As the Hare sauntered down Cottonmill lane, Flip Top came running out in front of him, he was followed by Sludge, Underlay, T-B-T & Skip who all thanked the Hare for that little loop!

The Trail continued down Cottonmill lane, passing across from the diving centre in the old swimming pool, to a CHK just beyond the pedestrian crossing.  Here Sludge broke off to run down the short flight of steps & along side the Ver on the Sopwell Nunnery Park but he was stopped by a T.  He & those who had followed him made their way back to hear Flip Top calling on further along Cottonmill lane to where a small wooden slatted bridge spanned a small ditch on the edge of the park.

The Dust led up over the green to the ruins of the 16^th Century Sopwell House once known as Lee Hall on the grounds of the former Sopwell Nunnery.  They are called Nunneries, as blokes wouldn’t get none in there!

The Trail led through one of the gaps in the skeletal like remains of the walls with empty doorways & windows in the old grade 2 listed brick buildings, now the Pack were brought around to pass through a gap, which was once a doorway in the outer wall of the gardens of the house. 

The reason that most of the building is gone was due to Sir Harbottle Grimston taking material to build his new home at Gorehambury, some parts were still habitable until 1793, & parts of the site were used as a scrap yard & motorcycle repair shop in the 1960s.

Anyhow, on the way the Pack gained two dogs, who were out being walked by their owner, one of the Staffordshire terriers had picked up three large sticks & was merrily carrying these along like a tightrope walker would to keep his balance! 

Meanwhile the other hound had taken a fancy to the blue feather duster, or ‘Paxo’s Tickling stick’ as it is known in some quarters these days, as Hyena allowed the dog to chew at it.  The Duster now goes with the Hashit that Hyena was wearing.  Hyena complained hat it was about time that the Hash got a new Hashit, but My Lil’ Sperm ‘ead said this was nonsense as there was at least another year out of it!

The Dust now headed out to the Ver, a bit further from where Sludge was stopped a little earlier, it soon became obvious that the Trail had been interfered with by some numpty, it had been kicked out along the way to the hard-core footpath, perhaps that’s why Sludge didn’t do his usual trick of going beyond a T to pre-empt the Hare & search for Dust after a loop!

The Trail followed the Ver’s meandering course through the area of ‘wet land’ which was pretty dry apart form the Ver!  The Dust remained on the trees & the uprights of the wooden walkway running over the protected wetland beneath, but once off of this & back on to the natural footpath worn in the mud bank of the Ver & on beside the allotments the Dust had been ruined again. 

Sludge managed to find the remains of Dust leading up the wooden steps in the embankment beside the railway bridge, he was the only one to ascend to the higher level of the former Hatfield to St Albans Railway line but the CHK up there had also been destroyed.

Underlay, Skip & Flip Top accidently ran on beyond the steps to pass through the Railway bridge over the Ver, on the other side they found the Trail was still intact from this point onward, unfortunately for the Hare & fortunately for the Pack, this was supposed to be found after a CHK Back from the CHK up on the former Railway line, but it had failed as it was found straight away!

The Trail ran along the edge of a green open space, out of sight from above to run beneath the shrub covered railway embankment to reach the first Held CHK of the Trail at an open point where the Railway comes down to the level of the field.  This looked like someone had tried but failed to kick it out, perhaps the Pack weren’t far away from the culprit?

The Keenies were in shock for a little while, they were not sure what to make of the sight of Fartin Martin running toward them at the held CHK, the RA thought that something may have happened back at the tail of the Hash!

With this being a long enough stretch & with the last CHK not holding anyone but Sludge up, it took a while for the rest of the Pack to make it in to sight.  Once Psycho, Party Animal & 2-1-2 Maureen came in to view, the Hare allowed the search for the Trail to continue.

Underlay went off toward the cut-through in to the corner of Monk’s close, while Sludge & Skip were keener on looking further along the old Railway line, but before any of these could get too far along their chosen routes Flip Top called “On!” from along the edge of the field running along the back gardens of the homes.

Psycho, Party Animal & 2-1-2 Maureen all began to cut across the field as Flip Top led the way over toward Sopwell Mill farm, & on to a T!  So, an about-turn for most of the Pack as they now saw Sludge, T-B-T & Underlay head off back down the Railway line, then on over the small bridge that has had the old brick walls knocked down & replaced with new metal rails, which don’t quite look right!

“On!” was now called by those leading the way westward along the old line, the Trail was still intact from here onward as it was placed upon the tress along one side, obviously the numpty who had kicked it out earlier had either got fed up or just didn’t go that way.  There had been some work on the tree line & every so often there would be a pile of sawdust, which would be ideal to collect & used for setting a Trail in the future, especially if it snows again!

Farts, Georgina, Hyena & My Lil’ Sperm ‘ead all arrived under the bridge, with Cottonmill lane above, where a CHK was found.  Underlay chose to look Southward along out on Cottonmill lane, while T-B-T & Sludge came back from their chosen way up beyond the Youth Club to the North as they looked out on to see the Sopwell Nunnery green space that they had crossed earlier.  The Hare questioned them if they were sure that they hadn’t been on Trail where they had just come from?

A second look for T-B-T & Sludge a bit further on down Cottonmill lane & they found the Trail hidden behind a lamppost.  The FRBs were on their way back toward the park, but as they approached the junction with Prospect raod an arrow could be seen on the traffic Island, hidden from the Out Trail & this directed the Pack westward to run down the ½ mile road of Victorian terraced houses & new builds near the end. 

On the way the Pack passed by a skip & it was a surprise that Skip hadn’t taken some Plasterboard out of it to set a Trail with.  Skip didn’t stop & he continued to the end of the road to follow on behind T-B-T, Sludge & Underlay in crossing the junction with Holywell hill road & on to the drive to Westminster lodge, where the Dust was daubed on the established trees lining the way.

The Trail passed by the front of the sports centre, the Hare had thought of putting a Held CHK outside of this so the Hash could gather & look up at those on the other side of the steamed up windows, as they worked away on the running machines, but he had second thoughts about it & decided to put it further in to Veralum park, by the entrance to the last car park near to the mini golf course.

The Hare made sure the Pack Held the CHK, once Hyena, Fartin Martin, Psycho, Party Animal & George all within sight, the Hare let the FRBs loose once more.  My Lil’ Sperm ‘ead veered off toward the Ver over the green but he was brought back when the Trail was picked up & it headed toward the football pitches on the west side of Veralamium park.

T-B-T stopped & he to look at an arrow on the green verge, he seemed to look at it in disbelief as it pointed over to the tree line in the centre of the Park, but his awkward expression was due to him having pulled up as he had pulled a muscle in his calf.  It wasn’t the only injury he was carrying as he was also suffering with a strain to one of his shoulders! 

The only sympathy T-B-T got was “Run it off!” from Flip Top, then Mr. X said that it was shame they didn’t have a ‘Magic Sponge’ which are sadly not seen these days, it was a probably the best thing ever to get a player back on his feet by being damped down with a sponge of ice-cold water.

The Dust continued over to the large gap in the hedge & on to a CHK beside the start of a low hedge on the edge separating the football pitches area from the fishponds of the lakes of the green open space. Though the CHK had to be pointed out to a few of the FRBs!

While Sludge & Underlay set off on the tarmac path across the park by the soccer matches & on toward St Michael’s village, they were along way out by the time that Flip Top had found the Dust running up beside the remains of the Roman wall & the place where the Gate House once stood to guard to the city of Veralumium.  Sludge & Underlay weren’t happy as they made their way back from the crowd watching a football match.

The Hare had a quick word with Ketchup as he wanted to warn him that there was a short cut coming up, & on the Trail ahead the Keenies would take there was a steep slope that he may not be able to get Jaron’s buggy down.  Ketchup was unperturbed about this & was willing to take a chance when he heard that the Keenies would be on an elongated loop next.

Once the FRBs were off up beside the old Roman wall to the right, & the fenced off deep ditch of the first part of the defences on the left, the Hare marked the short cut for the back markers.  While My Lil’ Sperm ‘ead knew where he was going, taking Psycho, Party Animal, Fartin Martin & Georgina with him, Mr. X went back to make sure that 2-1-2 Maureen was on the right track.

2-1-2 Maureen wanted to go look at the waterfowl being fed on the lake & so Mr. X said that it was no problem as the Trail was inside the avenue of short bushy of trees & she could pick it up again if she carried on to Ye Fighting Cocks (Oh, Er! Where was Pebbledash this week?).

The Hare sent Hyena on the short cut as well, before turning back & running up the Trail to make sure that the FRBs weren’t confused by the Trail at the furthest point out.  T-B-T, Skip, & Ketchup with Jaron in the buggy had all managed to find the loop back down in the bottom of the ditch, but Flip Top, Sludge & Underlay were missing.

The Hare ran up to the wooden footbridge at the end of the Roman Wall, this spans the Ditch & takes the footpath out up through the wooded perimeter & on to the edge of King Harry lane.  There a CHK was located & False Trails were set to the left toward the King Harry Pub, & straight over the pedestrian crossing where the footpath runs by the local school playing field.

The Trail itself went a short way to the right before disappearing back through the trees & down in to the wooded area the defensive Ditch runs around on to a bend of 90˚ there Dust led down to another CHK, & it seems that the remaining FRBs fell for the Falsie out of the wooded area & on to the green fields to the southwest of the park!

As the Hare reached the footbridge he stopped to see the last of the lost FRBs had finally discovered the Trail now went underneath itself!  Mr. X went on to mark both the other CHKs so Sludge couldn’t complain later on, but Sludge was leaving straight after his return to the On Inn so the Hare needn’t have worried, but as Mr. X says “I haven’t lost a Hasher on my watch, & I am not starting now!”

The Keenies ran on through the Ditch, carefully hidden from peering eyes through the railings from above by the wall, a lot of work had been done in restoring this ancient path, with unwanted shrubs & weeds being thinned out & cleared away, one of the large trees that had fallen across the route now had a section cut out of it so that access was not blocked.

The Keenies made their way out to the gate in the iron railings at the north end of the ditch, where ‘Ha Ha’ was written in Dust & an arrow directed them by where they had come in to this section of the park & on to the Northeast corner of the lake area.  Earlier, T-B-T had asked what ‘H, A, H, A’ was supposed to mean!

Still it makes you wonder how effective the Roman Defences were as Boadicea & her Icini tribe of Ancient Britons were responsible for its sacking in 43 AD.  Nothing like a woman scorned eh?  No wonder they changed from wooden defences to brick & stone.

The Trail was now marked down by the Fishponds, which were made to breed fish for the residents of the nearby St Albans Abbey, from there it was out over the Ver by Ye Fighting Cocks.

From one corner of the ancient, historic octagonal Pub the penultimate CHK was found at the bottom of the green space below St Albans Abbey Cathedral.  By the time the Keenies reached this bit of the Trail the SCBs had already passed through this part of the Trail.

Out of the RA & GM’s sight, or so he thought, was Skip & he found the Falsie running along the bottom of the Abbey grounds, but unlike the others of My Lil’ Sperm ‘ead & Hyena, he didn’t take the last scalene loop up toward the Cathedral on the hill & then returning down to the footpath to the lower footpath out the back of the School grounds & to the arcing behind road of Holywell hill.

The Trail would now simply move up to emerge on to Holywell hill, above where the Duke of Marlborough is but Flip Top noted this! 

The Pack crossed over the busy arterial route, near to the house where the Sarah Churchill Duchess of Marlborough was born & ran down Belmont hill road lane, with the newer mini housing estates on the right-hand side & the older established terraced home son the left.  A left-hand turn at the end led up to Sopwell lane & to run out almost in front of the White Lion.

Flip Top was now dropping back to be the last of the FRBs, & in fact the Pack, to make their way on by the Hare & Hounds to find an arrow directing them over the junction to pass by the White Hart tap & up through the alley way the Beehive sits in!  Just beyond this Pub was the “On Inn” with an arrow directing the Pack home to the Farmer’s boy.

The Pack enjoyed the Ales in the Farmers Boy, Mr. X had a chat with the Landlord as he too has a Season Ticket at Saracens.  Soon he had to break off from this as the GM called the Circle, & after toasting the Hash Flip Top also carried out the Down-Downs as the RA was going to have to leave early to catch a bus.

So apart from the Hare receiving his Down-Down for setting a Trail in which every one was around within the hour, or an extra five minutes for the Keenies!  Mr. X was allowed to leave the Circle, but only long enough for the GM (Standing in for the absent Curate) to get his breath back & call Mr. X back in, the reason for his second hit was taking the Pack past so many Pubs!

Mr. X tried to plea that it’s almost impossible to avoid Pubs in St Albans as there is one there for every week of the year!  After the RA finished his Hit, he asked permission to leave the Circle, this was granted & he left to catch his bus, as  he went he could hear Skip being called forward for & mention of a naming, plus Flip Top was aware that it was Psycho’s Birthday two days later………