Run No. 1433 29th January 2012
Venue: The Cow Roast Inn
Beer: Tring Sidepocket of Toad, Tim Taylor’s Landlord, GK Abbot & Weston’s Cider.
Location: Cow Roast
Hare(s): Mr X
Runners: 13
Virgins: 0
Visitors: 0
Après 0
Newies: 0
Hounds: 0
Total: 13
Membership: Watching out for the Deer Hunter!
A foggy day lay ahead for those who ventured out to the west for this week’s Trail, the Hare was nowhere to be seen as the time approached 11:00hrs. This situation was soon remedied as the 500 Bus from Hemel Hempstead dropped him off, along with My Lil’ & Hyena. Cow Roast’s name is derived from the cattle droving route of years gone by.
The Hare thought that there could only be the three of them out for this run, until he saw the rest of the Pack in the car park a lot further back at the rear of the Pub. The time had gone 11:00 Hrs by the time the RA had to stand in for the absent GM & JM & introduce the Pack to the correct Run number. Apparently it was too far for one & the other had to prepare for a floor to be laid!!!!
It seems that the upcoming AGPU may have two positions filled by traffic cones à lá Cambridge Hash! Anyhow, the Hare warned of roads to cross, exotic animals & deer, some of which may be in bits after the cull taking part on an area the Trail would touch upon, a warning poster had been seen the day before when Mr X set the Hash. Apart from the distress that members of the General Public may have from seeing deer parts scattered about, it also told of the danger of letting dogs off the lead at this time. The Hare added that if any of the Pack were distressed at finding deer remains, then they should phone the number at the bottom of the poster & not bother him.
Short cuts were mentioned & Philippa took notice of this, as did Juices Flowing & Hyena, then without further ado the Hare ushered the Pack out over the busy road to take to the narrow lane running over a small white pack bridge, with railings on the sides, which crosses the Grand Union Canal. Down below to the left was Lock number 46 on this stretch of the Grand Union canal & leading away down the tow path in either direction were False Trails. Gobbler, with Thumper, began searching one of them, when a call of “On!” was heard coming from the lane as it led away from the canal & down toward Northchurch.
Porky Pie & ARP were on to the Dust as the Trail led along the narrow rustic Beggar’s lane to a gap in the hedgerow, there the Trail took to a footpath running north eastward over a crop field to the high, narrow footbridge crossing the main line out of Euston to Tring & Milton Keynes beyond.
The Pack scaled the steep climb up & down the steps to then cross more crop field & come out on to a footpath at the bottom of the pens of Norcott Court farm. Here a CHK was found, Gobbler was up for checking it out, as were the two boys until they got sight of the Llamas in the pen near the CHK. These large & very inquisitive south American Camelids came over to see what the Pack were up to on the edge of their home.
Mr X informed those around him that Llama dung is good for keeping foxes at bay & out of your garden if you place it around the perimeter, Hyena told him this years ago & at first he pooh-poohed it, then two weeks later it was mentioned on Radio 4, so Hyena definitely knows his sh*t! Philippa took notice & told Gobbler that they may have to go back for some dung!
Sparky wasn’t as keen as the rest of the Hash to stop & pet these wonderful creatures, instead, after the Hare had warned of no horn blowing & Hash Hush to be observed through the riding school area of the farm, Sparky carried on around the 90˚ corner the footpath took around the pen to run eastward a short way up the bridleway & on through the farm yard of Norcott Court farm. A slight diversion through two sets of farm gates in the yard led up on to a footpath running across the fields above the back of the farm.
Porky Pie & ARP had to make up some ground after getting a bit behind at the farm, with Hyena they made up the rear of the Pack as the Hash headed up the long steady climb over the rolling green hillside of Tom’s hill toward the gate in the corner by the woodland.
Along the way Mr X & Juices Flowing chatted about Texas & mutual Hashers they know out there & places they have been to. Juice’s flowing was back for one more day before returning to Houston & she came to do this Herts Trail as it was on almost on her doorstep, at one point she & Parson’s Nose actually lived in Cow Roast!
The Trail passed through the metal kissing gate, taking the Pack quickly in & out of the tree line to run along the edge of the wood in another enclosed field. Once Des Res, Sparky & the FRBs had followed the Dust out of the next enclosed field, they would run in to a field with sheep in.
The Trail crossed the top corner at the start of the field, there a crossroads of footpaths & a Held CHK was found just beyond the five bar gate to the woodland. Here Des Res talked about the Friday 13th Quiz & said that he enjoyed it immensely, he wondered how Mr X complied all of the questions? The answer was it was planned last year & they were accumulated over a period of time.
When the Trail continued, it climbed up through the ‘Hangings’ part of the Ashridge estate woodland, again the Hash had a long steady climb up amongst the broadleaf trees to come out on through another stables, this one being below Toms Hill House farm.
Again Sparky was restrained in not using his horn as the Trail passed through the parking area & out on to an immaculately kept farm. A high brick wall was to the right of the Hash as they ran on by ‘Stable Cottage’ on the left, the Hare wondered if ‘unstable’ cottage had fallen down? The Trail led out of this picturesque area & on to a CHK by footpath sign by the grassy triangle in the drive out.
No one seemed to bother looking out down the footpath descending from out of the wood & down through the pasture below Aldbury. Instead most instinctively took to the path running along from the corner of Toms Hill House & through the wood to a CHK point by a gate for a path which crosses an enclosed green area & then down Tom’s hill.
The Trail was picked up heading eastward to Gryme’s Dell in largest of the wooded area of the Ashridge estate, Gobbler had to make up some lost ground having gone astray at the last CHK, he took a slightly unconventional route through the myriad of paths in this more open area to catch up with the rest of the Pack, all as they followed the Dust out by the car park & on to a CHK beside the road cutting through the estate.
The Trail was found on a path, keeping the Hash on the side of the Tom’s Hill road, this led around on to a wider path off through the pine trees a working plantation in Rails wood. This would keep them away form the deeper areas & those o the Estate where scenes from Sleepy Hollow, Harry Potter & Jonathon Creek have been filmed.
The Trail followed the route of a path that would come out to a CHK on the T junction with a Bridleway coming from the road & heading off down to Norcott Hill Hall. The FRBs soon found the Falsie heading up through the shiggy tract of a bridleway to the Tom’s Hill road, while they were doing this the Hare had marked a Short Cut. Juices Flowing took this Short Cut with him.
While these two were taking the official Short Cut, they were soon joined by T-B-T OBE, after he had just got back on track after falling foul at the CHK back by Toms Hill House! Hyena would take the Short Cut as well as he was getting further behind the main body of the Pack.
The Pack had another Held CHK, this one within the edge of the woodland of the Ashridge Estate, here the Short Cut on the capped footpath met up with the main Trail. While awaiting the arrival of the FRBs, the Hare said that the day before he listened to the young barman at the Cow Roast Inn, who was extremely enthusiastic to have achieved his Cellarmanship not long ago, it’s good to see a youngster interested in Real Ale & proud to get the Cask Marque approval.
When the Keenies arrived at the regroup, the Hare informed Philippa that there was another official Short Cut coming up in a short while when the Trail resumed, she missed out on the last one but wasn’t too bothered on missing it out the next one, providing she could get back in time for her Choir Practise (Now we know who would be the Black Horse at the Karaoke!)
The Pack resumed with the Trail & the Dust was quickly picked up, now it was leading out of the wood to come up to a CHK by the edge of a green near to walled farm & other buildings of Norcott Hill Hall. Only a couple were tempted to look back in the horse paddock on a footpath that led back to the enclosure by Toms Hill house & in to the wood to the previous Held CHK.
“On!” was called down the green, the Dust was found & led beyond the walled grounds of the Old Hall, a couple out walking a Irish Wolfhound stopped to talk to a local woman, who came out of White Cottage to see what all the calling from the Hash was about!
The Trail moved on to a CHK by the car park at the end of Norcott Hall lane. ARP, Porky Pie, T-B-T, Gobbler, Phillippa & the kids all went astray by taking to the lane, Des Res did the same but he was too far down the lane when their mistake was realised, he didn’t go back.
The rest returned to the footpath running through a long finger of woodland & then out on the hilly route behind Goreside, the going was tough & the slippery Shiggy on the steep up & downs on the hillside was too much for the Hare to do again & so he led the official Short Cut straight down Norcott Hall lane.
The Keenies, negotiated the two hard drop downs & following steep ascents up through the edge of the woodland, crossing the drive to Goreside farm on the way, & after the final climb the trail took a more sedate, gentle drop down as it emerged out on to the B4506. The Trail crossed the road to the footpath running alongside the serpentine like road as it wound its way down by Northchurch common.
As the Trail came down away from the common, it passed through the first & only suburban part of the Hash, but this would only last until the Dust led over the Railway line & then down to the bridge over the Grand Union Canal, there an arrow directed the FRBs northward to take to the towpath at Northchurch Top Lock, No 49.
The FRBs passed the fenced off restorative works that were taking place at this lock, on the opposite side was a small square pump-house looking building that was built in 1943. Now the FRBs were on a scenic trot alongside the canal, there were a few houseboats sitting out on the water & one had the notable name of Eeyore!
The Trail led up to a CHK by Dudswell bridge, another small Pack bridge, Bridge No 138 & once over this to the opposite bank, the Trail was found to have been marked by the picturesque Lock Keeper’s cottages at Dudswell Bottom Lock (No 48).
The arrow directed the Pack up the tow path up by Dudswell Mill & Wharf, this had been marked by the Hare as he had led Juices Flowing, Des Res & My Lil’ from off of the Short Cut from the bottom of Norcott Hall lane where it becomes Dudswell lane, by Dudswell bridge.
Gobbler & Phillippa had a bit of a problem as they ran along the tow path toward Dudswell, Thumper had now become a little dehydrated & was in need of a drink, but they encouraged him to soldier on & he did to complete the Trail in fine style. By now the fog had lifted & it was a bright but chilly day.
It was a straight run Inn for the Pack as the Trail followed the Grand Union Canal back up to Cow Roast Lock, on the way they could see the work being carried out on the Lock gates resulting in an almost empty canal, there were just a couple of barges left stranded on the edge of the water way.
The Hare noticed that there were a few large Fresh water mussels lying on the tow path, Mr X threw these healthy looking molluscs back in to the water, this shows at least the quality of the water is up to scratch.
Now, for most the Trail ended when they reached the ‘On Inn’ which was written on the green bank at the canal’s edge, just before the small pack bridge at Cow Roast, they simply took to the steps up to the level of the lane & then back over to the Pub. The Long Trail runners were about 15 minutes behind the SCBs, & considering it was a late start the Trail took an hour & 5 for the SCBs & a little longer for the rest.
The Pack relaxed in the Pub, Gobbler & the Horrors took advantage of sitting in the huge fireplace, they soon warmed up in front of the large burning logs. It soon became noticeable that Sparky was missing, Hyena was back OK but Mr X was looking like losing his “I’ve never lost one on my watch!” Gene Krantz quote.
Meanwhile, T-B-T collected the subs like a true professional [GM material there one thinks?- Ed] as the Pack awaited for Sparky to return, but tempus fugit & the Pack were about to step outside when eventually Sparky came back to the On Inn, just as the RA was preparing the Down-Downs.
It seemed that Sparky had ran under the Cow Roast bridge, gone through the T on the other side of the wooden footbridge by the marina & had continued around the long arcing bend in the canal toward Tring. Sorry about that I had to leave writing this to answer the phone, but no one was there when I answered it!” Anyhow, Sparky must have gone miles before realising that no one was with him!
The Down-Downs took place & My Lil’ stood in for the absent JM & GM, to toast the Pack. The Hare was rewarded for a good Trail, then he took over for the rest of the Hits. Gobbler & his two Horrors were out to be suitably rehydrated with their Down-Downs, Juices Flowing & Des Res were out as well for their return to Herts Hash for some while. Of course Sparky received the final Down-Down for his running on to Tring! Sorry about again, I had to answer the phone again, still no one was there when I answered it!”
Back in the Pub & the Pack got top hear about how far Sparky had run extra on the Trail, we knew he was out there a log time but most were shocked when Sparky announced that he is now a month shy of being 70!!!