| Date | Hare | Scribe |
|---|---|---|
| 14 Nov 2021 | Margaret & John | Keith |
It’s been a while (2015) since we hashed from the quaint, olde worlde White Horse at Woolstone, a pleasant leafy village just down the hill from the Ridgeway. This would be our 5th Hash here.
It seemed inevitable we would be climbing towards the Ridgeway at some point on this hash, as we have so often before.
First, a little on the pub whose website tells us it was
“built in Elizabethan times, The White Horse at Woolstone is almost 500 years old and is set in the olde worlde village of Woolstone, in the heart of the vale of the white horse.”
Thomas Hughes of Tom Brown’s Schooldays fame is said to have written his books here and The White Horse is mentioned in J.K.Rowling’s new book, Lethal White.
It just oozes character.
Today being Remembrance Sunday, at the appointed hour of 11am our group of around 15 stood in solemn silence for two minutes to remember those who gave so much in two world wars and more recent conflicts.
Only the sound of birds could be heard until the two canine companions present (not used to watching humans standing in a circle silently for this long) struck up a little doggie conversation between themselves to break the silence.
John and Margaret were our hares today and it was good to have them back with us, along with Chrissy, Jonny, Malcolm and Jan.
John gave us a detailed briefing and said it was a short walkers trail of around three miles or a longer runners 5 mile trail. Few hazards to contend with but some stiles.
We were given the on-on and were soon crossing fields on a well laid trail that was easy enough to follow. I found myself at the rear with Caroline as faster runners steadily put distance between us.
We didn’t head up towards the Ridgeway after all and were heading back towards Woolstone when Caroline & I lost the trail in a large field with cows. After deliberating and exploring we conceded defeat and headed up to the road, to head in the direction of the pub.
Not soon after this we met Eleanor and her companion driving towards us having similarly lost the trail, but having got back well before us.
It was less than five miles – more like 3.5 – but enjoyable nonetheless with the Autumn colours still everywhere.
I asked John how we could have lost his trail? John said the field of cows had contained two stiles close together. We had only seen one – the wrong one at that.
The walkers were still out but soon appeared and eventually the long walkers also. Kay was one of these and had evidence that some cows had obscured arrows just to confuse us. No wonder we lost the trail.
The apres was enjoyably cosy outside under cover and with the heaters keeping us warm.
We sat drinking beer etc and enjoying hot chips provided by David until Kevin thanked the hares for their efforts. Another very enjoyable hash – thanks to Margaret and John.
