Hash 643 – Crown @ Bishops Cannings

This year’s dry February continued with sunshine to boot, as we all gathered in the ‘Crown’ Inn carpark for Hash instructions. One good point about the location was that if the Hares were to set a bum sort of trail, you could see the Church steeple from most if not all of the route, so one could surely not get too lost. Not that that could happen with Caroline and Hilary as hares … except that Julie and Kevin duly got lost, but not for long.

We’d last been from the ‘Crown’ in October 2015, hared by Margaret and John, and scribed by Brian. Brian – you may well ask – who’s that? Anyway, look at the main photo heading Hash number 474, and you’ll see Brian second from the right, and many of the rest of us who were there on this Hash looking exactly the same – you don’t age at all if you keep Hashing.

We all set off with an unknown runner, whom John thought he’d befriended, but she (sensibly) took a left turn near the beginning and we never saw her again – what had John said ?

Having Hilary with us walkers was no help at all, as she lagged behind anyway talking, and failed to help us at the canal where one of her crucial marks was disgracefully faded, luckily brilliantly spotted by yours truly. (Actually, perhaps Caroline had laid that bit of flour… but I think she was busy leading the runners astray !). Then – again, a superb analysis by myself – I spotted a couple of marks which definitely indicated that we should have taken that right turn down an admittedly a pretty obscure unlikely-looking route leading absolutely nowhere, but did Hilary let me know that her misleading signs were in fact leading the wrong way ? Of course not – too busy talking to someone else….!

We had a lovely scenic walk towards Cliffords Hill and Milk Hill (the other side of which was the Alton Barnes White Horse), and then – turning back – we had views of Morgan’s Hill with its monument, and Cherhill Down, the other side of which is the Cherhill White Horse. 

So – I must admit – a pretty good Hash, and washed down outside in the sun by a pint or so of ‘Proper Job’.