Hash 478 – Brook House Farm @ Shaw

Another damp Sunday morning for this hash at Brook House Farm, Shaw, with our hares being Fiona and Sue. Fiona is now an experienced hare, but for Sue this was her initiation as a flour fairy.

We assembled in the car park under a leaden sky, and once again, there was a good turnout given the recent rain and possibility of more on the run. (Of course , it never rained during our hash today).

Mike was feeling better today than when I saw him last Wednesday at the Runch (where he had kindly turned up to tell us how ill he was and wouldn’t be running with us that day, and instead was heading back to his bed) . We naturally prayed not to have caught whatever he had during our brief meeting …. he had to be really ill as even the suggestion of meeting us in the pub later for a beer was turned down.

So Mike was today a walker, but clearly on the mend judging by the hearty pint of ale he was holding after his walk.

Our GOM was absent today, having also succumbed to something nasty. Lots of bugs going around just now! And Caroline turned up, but also not well so was unable to run or walk. Hope both are feeling better soon.

Anyway, to the trail. This led us from the pub to nearby Lydiard Park and a run around the extremities of the park grounds. There were 5 runners all told, and we struggled at times to find our way. In part this was due to earlier rain having washed out some of the flour, and various animals and birds that were seen enjoying a free meal on it. Despite this, we runners were ok until we re-entered the Park and neared the House where we became ‘lost’. I don’t mean properly lost, as we knew exactly where we were, but had lost the trail.

As we had been out around 45 minutes by this time, we decided to retrace the trail we had followed into the park, and thus we were back at the pub in under an hour. A shame really as we had missed a section that had been laid around the lake. John’s device stated we had covered 4.26 miles (not the 5 we should have done). Never mind. John and Viv had to leave and passed on their thanks for a lovely trail to our hares.

The Brook House Farm is a fairly typical chain pub, with an emphasis on food. I was impressed to only be charged £1.99 for a decent pint of Greene King IPA (sadly the Timothy Taylor ‘Landlord’ had just run out). Normally a pint comes in at £3.30 or so, or, if you are feeling really well-healed, around £4.90 for a Peroni.

Kay and I sat with Margaret and John and had a roast dinner, which was very pleasant and only a fiver! Can we hash here again?

Mike did the necessaries in thanking our Hares for an enjoyable trail, and there was some discussion about tracking down our seldom-seen hash acoutrements; horn, shorts, rubber ducks. If you, reader, know who has any of these artifacts, please get them to return them!

Next hash will be Boxing Day. Hope to see you there…