| Date | Hare | Scribe |
|---|---|---|
| 17 Mar 2024 | Jeremy | Keith |
Not having run since well before Christmas, I felt some trepidation about today’s hash. It would be a bit of a struggle – when isn’t it – but I told myself I could always do the short trail if needed. So comforting myself with that thought Kay and I headed out for The Bear.
This was to be our fourth Hash there. The last was February 1999 and happened to be the first Anniversary of Kennet Valley Hash. The Hare was Mike (appropriately enough as he likes to be Hare on milestone occasions) and Jeremy wrote the mag. It reads as an eventful and enjoyable hash with dancing (sic) and food prepared by Margaret et al.
So here we were once more a full quarter century later, following the wettest February since Noah’s time, gathered in The Bears’ courtyard in the gloom; but thankfully there was no rain. *
Jeremy was enjoying a well-deserved late breakfast bacon bun as we arrived. Our numbers were lower than usual, and it seems the certainty of mud had deterred some. Others sensibly wore sturdy boots and I was impressed with the effort Julie had made to bring hers to a military shine. Not for long would they shine like I feared. Kay had made a good effort too but needed a bit more spit ‘n polish to match Julie’s. Not that it mattered – they’d be doing them again in a few hours.
It turned out there would be only three runners; Viv, John and I. Runner Julie was present but declared herself a walker after running a half marathon distance yesterday (a practice for the real thing next week – good luck to her!).
After the group photo and briefing (3.5 miles or 6 miles, some hills, no cattle) we were off.
Initially I kept up with Viv and John but gradually they receded from view. You may just see them far ahead in the long green field. They are there, truly.
The earlier tracks were muddy but passable but towards the end, quite wet and slippery. Somehow I’d caught up to Viv and we got back to the pub together after nearly two hours. Before you ask, we did the long trail …
It had been a varied well laid trail through town and country. GOM praised Jeremy and we all joined in thanking him for another enjoyable trail.
During the après we happened to mention past hashers we no longer or rarely see. One was Fiona, who lives in the Marlborough area, a retired midwife. And as I write this, Countryfile is on TV and whose face appears there? Fiona – talking about the work of a local wildlife group! What are the odds on that?
Thanks Jeremy. Enjoyed it despite the mud and my aching legs.
The History of The Bear Hotel – nicked from the pubs website
The Bear Hotel is a stunning building. Built in 1757 it is redolent of all things nautical. The pub sign is like the spar of a ship, the figureheads, acting as corbels, are enigmatic and again associated with a nautically, the cartouche is elegant and like a vessel making the whole silhouette very much like a ship in sail. With its front in the High Street, facing the old Town Hall and its side in The Parade, The Bear Hotel is late 19th century Jacobean and Georgian in style and has looked this way since 1889 after it was luxuriously re-built. The public House/Hotel would have been the visual marker as horse traffic turned left into the High Street from the Parade (then The Marsh) before New Road was built in 1812.
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* It has been the fourth wettest February for England using records from 1871, with three-quarters of catchments receiving more than twice the long term average (LTA) rainfall. For the period March to February, the last 12 months have been the wettest in England on record. Looking at the old (1906) photo of The Bear, it seems they expected rain then too, judging by the number of hats being worn