The hares arrived at the pub car park to find a crowd already gathering.  People had taken note of the instruction to be on time!  That’s a first!  We were standing around chatting when a young lady (Clare) in running gear approached asking if we were there for the bluebell run.  Lemony, being a proper athlete and belonging to Abingdon Athletic, knew that she was talking about their run – the following week.  Lucky for us Clare decided to stick with the Hash.  Probably the allure of chips afterwards.  Then a chap arrived.  Lemony approached him to see if he had made the same mistake.  But, no, he intended to run with the hash.  At this point Pressganger became the most animated we have seen her in years – hugging this ‘stranger’ and exclaiming that she had not seen him for 20 years.  The level of enthusiasm led one or two to wonder if there was more to this than an old hashing friendship!

Then we watched Gatecrasher drive round the carpark slowly and end up in the disabled bay.  Well, he had had root canal surgery earlier that day.

The first leg was a lengthy trek along the road so the hares played a brilliant double bluff sending the walkers on the correct trail but explaining that the rest of us would meet them shortly.  So the runners went off in all the other directions.  Professional Peach queried if she should follow the walkers and was encouraged to do so.  But by the time she called On On the rest of the field were far flung and so we all got to the end next junction together.  Off the pack set into the woods.  But the trail went along the road and into the Dry Sandford quarry.  A loop of this brought us out firther along the Dry Sandford road which we crossed and headed north towards the church (where Noddy got married) and houses. 

By this time Gatecrasher most of the group knew the ins and outs of his root canal surgery and he was still running well.

We took a foodpath left and headed NE across the field to the top of the lake then turned S towards the trees.  On entering the woods there was a beautiful trail into the bluebells.  Some distance along here was a 2nd fish hook.  Cruel but necessary as it was the only way to see the best display of flowers.  We then weaved our way through the fen area and round the woods until we came to the Eastern edge where the hares had laid on a flock of sheep and lambs. 

We turned down the lane to the road, straight across to the footpath and diagonally back to the pub.

The landlady was most welcoming, putting us in the side bar with comfy chairs and providing copious amounts of chips.

Then came the real business of the day – a naming.  Bern made Ringer remember his childhood again (or is it his second childhood now?  He is almost 50 after all) so Bern became Schnorbitz after Bernie Winters’ dog.

The Yellow Shirt went to A Cruel Joke for travelling to America to watch golf and then telling us all about it!

Eric commented that the Supergirl pants had looked awfully stretched on CS – will she never learn?  He pinged them across the room at her and they landed on Qualcast’s head.  Who will be wearing them next week?

A great evening!

On On

Hares:  Wimpey and Lemony Snicket
Hounds:  Buzz, Professional Peach, Pressganger, Gatecrasher, Ringer, Jethro, Rear Admiral, Dingaling, Billy Whizz and Qualcast, Bern, Hotlips, Big Stiffy, Stiff Upper, Mr McHenry, Noddy, Henry V, A Cruel Joke, Eric, CS, Snowy, Clare, Kay and Charles 

Date: 29 April 2015
Distance: c4.5 miles