Hutch had taken up the gauntlet and offered to lay the trail, planned by Gnome Alone, as Gnome had family commitments.  It was a live trail and Hutch was worried about being mugged, sorry, getting lost, in Didcot.  So Noddy went with him.

The rest of us gathered at the pub and realised that we had no flour to mark the trail.  Luckily our RA came to the rescue, finding a small bag in the boot of his vast vehicle.  We set off out of the pub towards Didcot but turned West quickly and until we reached the edge of the village.  Then North along the edge of the field and out in to the countryside.  It was somewhere along here that we skirted a field of corn which was definitely as high as an elephant’s eye and Epic Fail and Mismatch decided to hide in it and jump out at Gatecrasher.  Are we ensured for juvenile pranks causing heart failure?  Oh well.  The rest of us were just glad it was not us.  Turning back towards Hagbourne we then followed Hakka’s brook through the tees and cut through the farm until we met the triangle at the East of the village.  This is where things started to go wrong.  We couldn’t find flour for a while, then picked it up going back towards the pub.  It was pitch black by this time and people were getting confused. There was no On Inn but we were back at the pub.  Only 2.8 miles.  How sensible for an autumnal evening.  If only the hares were there to receive our praise.  But where were they?  We later discovered that they had turned back towards Didcot along Baker’s Lane, then across the field and looked round the estate in a very pretty pattern, ending up coming directly south into Hagbourne.  The whole trail must have been c6 miles!  And they were worried the whole time that the pack would catch up because Noddy kept patching up Hutch’s checks to make them perfect circles.  Maybe a re-naming?

It was decided it is definitely time to go to Sunday mornings.  Hash Words followed and there was a lot of discussion about Epic Fail bringing his friend Jules the previous week (not sure why as I had missed the big occasion).  Hopefully Jules will join us again.  Maybe not the best introduction to Hashing for Victoria but she enjoyed herself, and joined in the banter at the pub, being particularly excited to hear that Ringer has picked a name for her already and it is really rude!  He knows how to encourage a young lady!

The Yellow Shirt could have gone to Epic Fail and Mismatch for scaring Gatecrasher or to Gatecrasher for stalking Epic Fail and Mismatch at the Cotswold Classic.  But it went to Rear Admiral for going to Canada and not telling anyone!  The Green Shorts went to Epic because we couldn’t remember the last time he wore them.  Noddy was allowed to keep the paddle as she had enjoyed using it so much during the trail – or was it because she had been a hare so not seen any misdemeanours.

On On

Hares:  Hutch and Noddy

Hounds:  Lemony Snickett, Big Stiffy, B’Cider, Zorro, Dingaling, Ringer, Jethro, Mismatch, Dobby, Eric, Pressganger, Billy Whizz, Dancing Queen, Epic Fail, Wilson, Rubber Sole, Rear Admiral and Victoria

Date:  23 September 2014

Distance: 2.8 miles