Hash 460 – Eagle @ Little Coxwell

You never quite know how many people are going to turn up for a hash on an Easter Sunday with all the competing holiday attractions and the state of the weather – it could be five or fifty.   Today’s hash was therefore doubly blessed with balmy weather and a big turnout of – not quite fifty but getting on that way.  Of course, Navy Mike was laying the trail so that may have had something to do with it.  Apart from pretty well all our regular hashers, Mike’s family Nina and Rew and grandson Sam were there and Paul and Di’s family including the delightful 9 year old Evey and there were several new faces – a chap called Bill and his wife who used to run on the Borneo Hash plus some neighbours of Mike and Annie’s from Highworth.  There were so many of us we were blocking the road outside the pub as Mike gave a brief about the trail.  He announced that chocolate Easter eggs were hidden in the undergrowth on the way round and we had to look out for a rarely used trail mark (an E in a circle) which meant ‘Easter Eggs are within 10 yards’.  He also announced that, in a field near the end of the trail, there was a herd of young bullocks who could be a bit frisky and worrying for those of a nervous disposition – but we were not to worry as there was a short diversion marked round the road avoiding them if required.

As we set off down the main street of the village it looked like the start of the London marathon.  Soon, however the pack began to thin out as Sam took the lead down a narrow path behind village gardens chased by Rew and Bill from Borneo.  Clear of the village we climbed up a narrow track to a wide path along a ridge a bit like the Ridgeway, only smaller, and then in a wide arc down across two fields with horses in (they’re more trouble than bullocks !) into the village of Fernham.  Then it was back over the hill and  into fields near Little Coxwell where we found the ‘E’ sign.

Luckily, the front runners hadn’t eaten all the eggs and the back runners and the walkers had a bit of fun rummaging round in the undergrowth, helping Evey to find the most eggs.

The front runners had run through the bullock field without anybody being trampled, but the rest of us still followed the trail round the road back to the pub getting back in just over the hour.

The après was lovely.  We took over and filled the pub garden, the sun came out, everybody talked to everybody else and GOM Brian made a speech thanking our hare for the day Mike for a classic hash.