Run	Date	Hare(s)	Description	MapRef	1:50000	1:25000	1:10000	More
804	2014-12-21	Dr Blood & Pink Flamingo	Coates Common / Sutton Common, Lords Piece CP	SU989174

Was it raining?, not quite, just threatening and a bit chilly. A faint musty aroma was emanating from my Santa hat that had been stored, unwashed in a plastic bag for a year and fortunately not mouldy.

We had a welcome influx of young blood from Olly, Clem and Alex, to swell a meagre turn out on this shortest day.

The preamble and usual lies from Dr B were a bit hard for a hasher's brain to encompass, something about there being four features to be encountered and three regroups, but no Turtle Doves or a Partridge.

Treefeller kindly volunteered to make his mega chariot available later, on the trail, for anyone wanting to be a lilly liver and have a ride in. A prompt start saw us split up following three trails east out on to the common. By chance Bambi found the true trail south west across the road on the bridleway to Sutton End and was soon overhauled by Olive Oyl as everyone had fun dodging around the massive puddles keeping their paws dry.

The three young corpuscles would have reached Sutton End first had they not been tempted up the sandy Column Hill path to gaze at three blobs arranged around the base of a tree, that I think must have been one of the features of which to beware.

Meanwhile Old Faithful had found good flour north up the road to reach a check at the edge of The Warren, and then nothing, so we started to bunch up and mutter about no trail etc..... until the hare started dropping hints and surprise surprise, Snake Charmer suddenly found blobs north west through The Warren and out to road and Crouch Farm.

Followed by OF, Kinky, Bambi and Thom she then took the path through the lovely pine trees in The Moor, more followed, and most ran past a tree with three blobs around the base, feature number two?, anyway it took a while to get everyone back to a picturesque regroup on Chingford Pond dam.

A couple of easy checks later and we found the way through New Piece to meet Treefeller at Burton Mill car park. I think that Pru hopped aboard here, not sure about anyone else?. There was a good photo opportunity on the viewing platform, click, click, and then north up the path to Hammer Moor.

The track in the field down to Shopham Bridge was very boggy so all, apart from the corpuscles just ran down the road and turned right on to the old railway.

Heading south now, the pace dropped as we encountered a sheepish looking herd of bullocks, no stampede, phew!.

Many minutes had now passed, so I think it was decided to abandon a route that returned via the footpath through Coates in favour of a short cut south on a private track past a private house to the road and thence the chariots.

Dr Blood had the bright idea of singing carols as we progressed so that if the landowner was around they might assume that we were collecting for charity and therefore avoid us. So, we arrived back at Sutton Common car park after one hour and thirty three minutes of festive hashing, to the strains of Bleak Midwinter and moaning etc... to find that Pru had laid out a feast.

So intent were we on face stuffing that it was not until 12.45 that someone noticed that Splasher was absent.

Snake Charmer raced off in her chariot to look for him, otherwise everyone else resumed feasting, un-phased. She found him, walking along the road, heading away from us.

As soon as our hunger was assuaged, some time later, we thanked the Hares for a challenging trail, Pru for set up etc, and then our JMs admitted that the Hash-It had been forgotten and that although it was certain that lots of shortcutting and other misdemeanours had occurred they could not remember the who? and what? of it all. Then back to more feasting, then Thumper and Kinky lead us in some home made carol singing, then home for a nap.

Bambi.