Hash 498 – Horse & Jockey @ Stanford in the Vale

It constantly amazes me that there are still venues that the KVH3 has not hashed from despite the fact that we are nearing the 500th event. However, The Horse and Jockey is one such venue and now I am wondering why on earth not. It is a lovely location and I hope we will do more from there in the future.

Arriving early on this sunny September morning I found there was another event taking place. A group of classic motorcyclists were assembled for a Sunday jaunt, though they were just leaving. Quickly other hashers began to arrive and all the usual handshaking took place. The trails were laid by both Keith and Kaye who gave their pre-hash address and sent us on our way.

We immediately crossed the main Faringdon to Wantage road onto the Standford-in -the -Vale High St. Despite having lived in the area for 50 years this is a village I have never ventured into and I have to say it is delightful.We continued up the High St until it swung left onto Church Green and through the church yard of the parish church St Denys. A couple of turns and onto a narrow footpath and into open country. Very clear hash signs all the way. Partly because of the late summer and partly because it was a beautiful sunny day, the countryside looked glorious. I was running with Maurice and his dog Rocky. There was woodland to our right, which we ventured into once or twice, and open views to our left. Our track suddenly opened out and we were running alongside the Carswell Golf and Country Club. Eventually we meet Keith and Kaye who directed us down a long but quiet lane. Through a couple of gates and back into the village where we caught up with David and Viv. We came across a basket of apples with a sign asking us to help ourselves which we duly did and ate them on the short trot back to the pub.

We sat outside around a long table. I thanked Keith and Kaye for a delightful hash.