Run	Date	Hare(s)	Description	MapRef	1:50000	1:25000	1:10000	Aerial
692	2010-08-15	Panda & Flash	Wickham West Walk - South CP	SU596121

Yipee!! the pay and display machine was out of order. As is the way with all "user friendly" devices these days it was necessary to walk all the way over to the machine and then try and force a coin into the slot before the darn thing would display the out of order message. The annoyance was of course tempered by the two pound saving.

The now customary historical references from our JM included a mention of the opening of the first motorway service station on the M1 and presumably the consumption of the first service station meal which someone must have eaten.
There were welcome backs for Nikki and for Torchy whom we have not seen in a while due to his knobbly knee, and even Mussolini arrived just in time even though he had had to slow down due to the speed trap that Mr Plod had set up just down the road.

The hares had little of any meaning to say, so an average size pack set out under a bright dry warm sky along a sandy path which for a while runs parallel to the road.
Here I must confess that I have no real recollection of where we went, not because I have forgotten but because I never knew in the first place. This was all lovely unfamiliar woodland territory for me and most of us judging by the comments that I heard at the checks.
After the sandy bit with the buzzard mewing overhead we found ourselves on the "Old Oak Trail" and then out at a minor road. A short hold here because Spiderman failed to notice the blobs on the true trail and all others found falsies, eventually requiring a hare to assist Cath and Mussolini to get a big lead on the rest of the pack.
Soon we were all strung out as one by one people found the trail and the long run on to the next check where an impromptu regroup was called.
Now a bit of luck, we started to see signposts indicating the direction and distance of the carpark. Thus, armed with this knowledge, the run entered a psychological phase as the hares dared us to take the obvious direction at each check.
There was evidence of sabotage over the next few checks but the hares had been careful to lay enough flour on the abundant horse manure for us to find our way.

All too soon the signs were indicating a distance of only six hundred metres to the carpark and then we came upon the On-Inn after one hour and ten minutes.
The JMs lead a round of applause for Panda and Flash and conceded that Hampshire can yield territory that is just as good as in West Sussex.
There was an obvious nomination for Mussolini for being on time, however the Hash-It was given to Spiderman for apparently using a divining rod to avoid running on any damp bits.

Then the hares laid out a small feast for us, drink, cheese, biscuits, sausages etc which we had great delight in consuming. I can't wait for the next time that they lay a trail !.

Bambi.