Run	Date	Hare(s)	Description	MapRef	1:50000	1:25000	1:10000	Aerial
Run 619	28 October 2007	Mussolini and Godiva	East Dean Village	SU904130

Since Humble Scripe is unable to keep up with the pack due to injury Bambi has augmented his report. So we get two reports for the price of one!

Gospel according to Humble Scribe

However I had not accounted for hashers lack of brain as lots of the pack turned up including not only the two newcomers from last time Heidi and Lydia but a further two entrants.

The trail was to be laid by your Humble Scribe but due to being a cripple, Mussolini had stepped into the breach to be assisted by Miss Perfect who unfortunately came down with the lurgee (which she managed to pass to me over the ‘phone) and JM Godiva did the decent thing and became the unhappy stand in.
So JM explained that the other JM could not be present as he had gone to Liverpool to watch a football match (well Arsenal v Liverpool, is that close enough?) and then handed over to the chief hare. Mussolini made a few excuses about rain and people clearing up his blobs of flour but told the pack to use their common sense?????? (He was serious!)

So of the pack went with Bambi going in completely the wrong direction and the rest of the pack went around the edge of the field which meant that they missed the cunningly placed trail which was on the public footpath going through the middle of the field. (Is it me or is this beginning to sound a bit dense even for hashers?). So off and upwards to the cow field and then upwards again to the stile and towards the forest.
Crippled walkers and an athletic Doc were going along at a distance behind when we came across Bambi who had again chosen completely the wrong path. The pack had tumbled down the trail to the stinging nettle patch that Mussolini had been cultivating for just such an occasion before cutting back into the forest in a loop that led back to the farm.

Down the road and then up to the other side of the forest in a repeat of the trail Mussolini had laid in ‘87 (or was it ‘88?). The rain slowed up for nearly 30 seconds at one point before the pack trudged down through the mud down the path to cut through the field leading back to the lane where the evil hare had them once again squishing through cow shiggy .Miss Perfect was heard to try and move the young male cows away by saying “shoo!” “Bullocks” I hear you say. But no, it was true. As the cheating shortcutters had got home first I saw the pack drip homewards in one’s and two’s to attempt to look less like drowned rats before assembling in the pub.

We all remember when the Star & Garter was a pub with real locals who worked around the area and enjoyed an honest pint; but now we had a frosty reception as we did not want to eat the lunchtime platter at. £75 a head!
It is now the haunt of the running dogs of capitalist imperialism!

As Spiderman had forgotten the hashit, it was decided by a unanimous vote (well actually Godiva decreed) that he should therefore have the honour and he could carry it around next time. So, all in all a surprisingly well attended and enthusiastic run which everybody enjoyed.

Our thanks to the hares for a good run at short notice.

On On Humble Scribe

Gospel according to Bambi

The following checks were easily dealt with as we broadly executed a clockwise loop around Forest Hanger with no letup in the rain, although the flour....sorry dough was just about remaining visible. Eventualy we found ourselves back at Newhouse Farm with Canman and Wynne at the fore and there was a suspicion that we faced a long on-in, but not so.

Reluctantly the pack followed the leading duo to the top of the slope to the east of the farm.

From here The Gnu sniffed out our way down to the Charlton Forest entrance gates where the hare had laid another "off piste" adventure to flummox us.

Next we headed down hill on the familiar path that comes out by the soccer pitch, surely this was on-in.....not so easy, as a cruel little finale we were taken back across Newhouse Farm lane and returned to the slippy sloppy cow patties for our descent to the village hall.

After a struggle to get into dry clothes we retired to the Star and Garter where we easily outnumbered the diners.

Godiva had decided not to award a non existant hash-it so we all congratulated Mussolini for a great trail and settled into rehydration amongst an infestation of wet tail slappy tailed dogs.

On-On Bambi.