T’was a beautiful, turning grey, 13.5°C day with a steady force 8 gale on the high seas! Less in the lee of the woods though. There was a good turn-out with 19 of us and 2 dogs, as we met on Middle Park Way at the edge of Stauton Country Park.

Bambi welcomed all to Hash 1022, with, “what do you call a dog with no legs?........... Anything you like, it still won’t come” and introduced the Hares as Prancer Cheezy Chips and Dancer. They kindly explained our flour mark to the newcomers/returning friends, Hornblower, Sweaty Butterfly, Lucas and Ash, and we were off on a trail that was boggy and muddy in places but lovely in other parts.

The route broadly speaking, 2 clockwise loops small and large. We headed north to an erased check, clock wise around a boggy field before entering the Staunton estate by the duck pond (and my local ParkRun).
The path meandered in a clockwise triangular loop heading towards the makings of Havant Thickett Reservoir, that, by the looks of things, is in the process of being dug out. As this is fed by the, normally tiny, hermitage stream there isn’t enough water to fill the reservoir, so 2 bore holes have been sunk in Bidbury mead to the south to gauge the water flow and pressure for a pipe line that will travel 2.5 miles north to help fill the reservoir along with a flow of recycled water. Given the proposed drinking water requirements for this reservoir and Southern Water’s track record; the mention of recycled water has been a lengthy discussion topic locally.

For the foraging report, Lucas with eagle eyes spotted several mushrooms of remarkable size, upper calf height for me and approaching 25cm across, probably the largest I have seen. This led to an inconclusive discussion on whether they were immature Parasol mushrooms which are very tasty, or not and inedible – ah…… choices, choices, to pick and eat or not? There are very few mushrooms of that size in the UK so identification shouldn’t be too difficult – some feel that correct identification is important though.

Lucas found a wooden climbing wall to conquer, and a fish hook caught slightly disappointing, Bambi, Lucas, Snake Charmer and Ash.
The path headed up hill to the main lawn and back towards the entrance gate. We searched across the road for the trail, before being called back and heading back down the steps for a regroup and photo at the stump of a huge felled tree carved in to several seats facing the duck pond.
It was then down the lawn to the west side of the duck pond. We spied signs saying “Chinese House” and “The Fort”, which small partially subterranean buildings, masonry play houses, ice houses or bunkers back in the day when Staunton House stood.

A light shower greeted us as we passed the on-inn on the way to the cars. The trail was 3.5 miles, completed in a leisurely 65 minutes – a most enjoyable hash only slightly inclement right at the end.

In the post run circle, down-downs were awarded to:-

1. The Hares for a lovely run.
2. Lucas was given the hash name of, “Prince of Darkness” in honour of the ‘60s company of the same name, which made light bulbs for cars and motorbikes. Many a biker regaled tales of swooping through country lanes at night, only to have the vibration shatter the headlight filament, causing, shall we say, “consternation”! Hence the legend of “Lucas, prince of darkness” was born. By the way, in those days, everyone knew then that electrical systems were run on smoke. Once the smoke got out of the system, it ceased to function therefore it must have been running on smoke. Rumour has it that Lucas made smoke injectors, to refill wiring looms where the smoke had got out. But I digress………
3. Substandard for keeping his hands warm in his pockets for large portions of the run.
4. Popeye for planning to cycle to the hash, only 2 miles away, then driving there and arriving late. He set off on the whizzy electric bike, realised that a tyre was almost flat, returned and pumped it up; set off again realised half way there that he didn’t have a lock and returned home again, before getting in the car, doh……
5. Dancer for his comment, “ah! my father likes to keep it tight” in reference to the route almost meeting itself, as one loop morphed into another.

We then departed headed for the pub, to the east then south, “The Swallow”. When we arrived, it had been renamed, the Heron! Which confused Bambi who actually went to the Swallow, also nearby. A locals pub, that went silent on entry as everyone looked round - one of those strange experiences that will haunt him for eternity. He found us at the Heron eventually.

The Hash-it was awarded to Prancer for mentioning the wrong bird name for the pub! It could easily have been The Owl, we might have died of thirst…….

On-On,
Popeye.

Sonia's track
... AND ... photos by Bambi