Run No. 1386               20^th March 2011

Venue:                          The White Lion

Beer:                              Fullers Front Row, London Pride

Location:                      Barnet

Hare(s):                         Skip & Psycho

Runners:                        14

Virgins:                           0

Visitors:                          1

Newies:                           0                            

Hounds:                         0

Après Hashers:            1

Total:                             16

Membership:               Meeting up with Windmill

An initially poor turn out for this week’s Trail was boosted by appearances from both Crispy Bush & Captain Hook, one of whom can’t get back to Libya & the other is on loan from Hamersley, Perth WA.  Shame that the Herts Hashit wasn’t available to be awarded in the Circle as it would be an almost forgone conclusion as to who would have received it!

With a lot of the Hierarchy absent the few regulars who did soon found out that there would be plenty of nosh after the Trail when Windmill would be putting in an appearance.  Things didn’t bode well for Mr. X, Sludge & T-B-T as they were going to be the only FRBs this morning.

With the Grand Monkey & the Joint Monkey both missing, perhaps Paxo was absent as this was the site for the death of The Earl of Warwick (the King Maker) by the Yorkist Edward IV in 1471?  So, it was down to the RA to do the honours & welcome everyone to the (correct) Run number.  The Hares were called forward to explain what the Hounds should expect out on the Trail.

Skip seemed to be the senior Hare, he said that this Trail was based on one of Windmill’s old ones but that there were a few slight alterations.  He added that at the Start of the Run the Trail would go to Windmill’s where Bus Stop had prepared a Drink & Jelly Baby Stop, just as Skip mentioned this Bus Stop came trotting around to the car park at the rear of the Pub.

So, the Hare ushered the Pack out of the Car Park entrance & on to the St Albans Road, Bus Stop was right up there at the front as she led Sludge & Mr. X around to the path running through the grounds of the local Church & then on to Chez ‘Windmill et Bus Stop’ for the Pack to say hello to Windmill & raise a glass to him.

            Jaron enjoyed the juice, while the adults sipped at the Sherry & tucked in to the Jelly babies.  Soon it was time to move on & Hooky led the way with Mr. X to find the Trail leading off of Hadley Grove & down to the footpath from the end of Christchurch lane, that runs along beside part of the Old Fold Manor Golf Course, this would turn out to be a False Trail, which is the best way to treat a visiting guest Hasher. [Especially if he’s a mate of Roo-Ted! – Ed]

            Meanwhile Bus Stop, Party Animal & Flanders had all stuck with Psycho & Skip, Sludge was soon up with them as they followed the Trail straight up Hadley Grove & on to a part of the common.  The Pack soon made their way over the boggy part of the green, by way of a couple of sets of duck-boards over the small watery ditches that drain the green to reach the CHK on the A1000 Hadley Green road.

The major consensus of crossing over to the lower branch of the Hadley Wood road & in to King George fields, this proved to be correct as Sludge led the way to the Southeast.  Bus Stop was up with him as they cross the first enclosed part of the playing fields to find the next CHK just beyond the gap in the two hedgerows, before the grassy hill drops away.

Sludge was tempting fate by uttering the words “I’ll do the wrong thing & check it out down hill!” these proved to be correct as he would find a T further to the Southeast down to the outskirts of the suburbs of the metropolis. 

Meanwhile T-B-T was too busy chatting with Crispy Bush about Hashing in the Middle-East to do any FRBing, so it was down to the RA to find the Dust on the footpath within the trees & bushes, that were just starting to blossom with white mayflowers, on the descent on the short steep embankment down to the stream in the bottom on the small wooded vale between the fields.

Skip warned those on the descent down the slippery route to “Be careful!” but it seems that T-B-T had not listened, he managed to make it down the steps cut in to one bank but as the Trail climbed up the opposite side where there were no footings after crossing the narrow wooden plank of a bridge over the stream, he managed to go down face first!

All of this happened out of the RA’s sight, though he was soon notified of this event & no amount of cleaning there & then on the by spot by T-B-T would remove the Shiggy all over his front!

Sludge made it back from his earlier faux pah, but knackered himself on the climb up on to the top of the steep hillside as he tried to run it all!  Apart from Sludge’s heavy breathing, a woodpecker could be heard tapping away at a tree in the distance.

The Dust led on out in to the corner of the sports field part of the park, & ran along the edge of the football pitches.  Here the Trail led along the top of the field, at the opposite end from the small pavilion, to take to the tarmac footpath leading out northward between two large properties to the wrought iron gate set in to the red brick pillars on the edge of the Hadley road.

An arrow directed the Hash over the road & in to Hadley Wood, where the first Held CHK was found just inside the tree line.  The FRBs soon congregated around the CHK & it was now that the RA saw the damage T-B-T had done to himself.  T-B-T’s futile “I haven’t done anything wrong!” didn’t rub with the RA!

T-B-T was none too impressed that those around him who witnessed him fell flat on his face did nothing but laugh at him, he did admit that he was laughing himself as he struggled to get back to his feet again.  From the sounds of things it was Psycho who was the main antagonist laughing at T-B-T’s misfortune.

Skip arrived at the CHK & began handing out sweets, My Lil’ enquired if these were ‘Lucky Arsenal’ Sweets, from the tone of Skip’s reply it seems not!  It was not far from this CHK, on a Windmill Trail, that Flanders took a tumble & she ended up looking like T-B-T did this week!

When it came to resuming the Trail, Sludge & the RA headed eastward along the inside of the wood by the Baker’s Hill road, they had My Lil’, Hooky, Crispy Bush & a number of others following on in their wake as they ran on to a T! 

On the way back to the CHK the RA could see through the thinned out leafless branches, some of which were beginning to dub, ahead of him to his right were Hooky & Crispy Bush making their way northward through the leaf litter floor in this broadleaf woodland, so he cut across between the holly bushes & laurels to come out behind them.

The Trail ran down to a brook which runs through the centre of the wood, here it would cross back & forth several times, which the RA leapt across until he got fed up!  At one point along by it Jaron took a tumble, at least he didn’t come up looking half as bad as T-B-T did!  But, where was his Dad?

As the Keenies headed toward the end of the first part of the Hadley Wood, to where it is separated by the mainline from Kings Cross to Edinburgh, the Hare said that from the furthest point out the Trail it was no longer down to him, & that the other part was set by Psycho & it was more “Interesting”, for which the FRBs could read to mean she got lost!

While stopped at a CHK by a small clearing, Sludge turned the RA through 45 degrees in order for him to see that there was a very prominent blob of fresh, bright white Dust on an Oak tree at the north edge of the wood.

The Hare set the Keenies off on loop down toward the Railway line, then back up to a CHK by the alleyway out on to Park Gate Crescent, here the FRBs were amused to see one of the many couples out walking their hounds around this end of the wood, standing there & they were relentlessly calling their dog, who, as the Keenies advanced through the wood, was seen to be running about playing with other civilian dogs.  One can only deduce that this hound went to the same (dis)obedience school that Winston went to?

Anyhow, T-B-T was the only one to go all the way up the alleyway from the CHK on the edge of the wood on to Park Gate Crescent, the RA started off that way but decided that there were too many dog’s eggs littering the short path to risk following on behind T-B-T, who found nothing there for all of his efforts.

Sludge soon called “On!” along the North side of the wood & the FRBs were now heading westward & back toward the SCBs, but something went wrong along the way as the Keenies made their way all the way back up to the west end of the wood & on to the common beyond the trees without seeing any of the SCBs!

Sludge was spotted wandering aimlessly like a cloud, over the common.  On the cricket wicket there wee three men working away by rolling the surface to get tit in tip top condition of the start of the new season.

Having crossed over the road, Sludge stumbled upon arrows on the north side of the Camlet Way, this led along by the War Memorial, set a little way back form the road, then on by the local School to follow the road around to the junction with the Hadley road,

From here arrows led most of the Hash on along the cobblestone path through the Churchyard of St Mary the Virgin, somehow T-B-T missed out Churchyard [Mud in his eyes? – Ed] & continued around on the road, passing through the white livestock gates to meet up with the Trail as it exits the Church grounds.

The Trail now made its way to the end of the common, but the FRBs were left a little confused as an arrow was found on the south side of the road, toward the Haemochromatosis Society (Sufferers have too much iron in their blood).  

Suddenly Dust was picked up on through the centre of one strip of the common between the Hadley Road & Sydney Chapman way.  The Keenies were now spread out over various parts of the common but somehow managed to make their way up the length of it to the west tip & on to the On Inn.

Sludge didn’t go straight back in via the Hadley road & Christchurch Passage to the back of the White Lion car park, instead he stopped off to pick up two large bags of golf balls from Windmill!

Eventually the Pack were all back together, they were even joined by Fartin Martin & Georgina, who must be after Ketchups mantle of being the last to arrive at the venue?

The Hash settled in for a couple of pints while T-B-T amused them with the story of his up-coming ‘Speed awareness’ course!

The Circle was called before the food was ready.  The RA almost forgot the correct running order of toasting the Hash & then going on to the Down-Downs but he corrected himself in time to prevent himself being in the centre of the Circle.  The Hares were called out for a very good Trail, that took the FRBs & one of the walking wounded just over an hour to complete.

T-B-T was called forward for falling over; Party Animal was awarded her Down-Down for reaching 69 Runs (Fnar! Fnar!)  Crispy Bush had the song for our Guest of Captain Hook from Hamersley, of course this was the one about "Hamersley take it up the Arse, Doo-Dah!’

Then there were the fallers, Jaron was let off & instead Ketchup was out for letting his son fall over & he was joined by his Hash Dad of T-B-T to make it a family affair!

Bus Stop brought Windmill around to the Pub just in time for the chips & sandwiches to be dished out, needless to say even though thee wasn’t a large tuner out, the gannets of the Hash soon ploughed in to the grub.  Worryingly for Psycho, Skip seemed to devoured a large quantity of (as he called them) “Farty Egg” sandwiches!  No doubt this would be a real rasping duvet rippler later that night?

Windmill stayed for well over an hour, so everyone had a good chat to him & Sludge got bags of Golf balls!