Run 856 - Highmoor Cross
Run: 856
Date: Sunday, 9 November 2008
Venue: Rising Sun, Highmoor Cross
Hare(s): Pressganger
Hounds: S/Shoveller, Penelope Pitstop, Gnome Alone, Lemony Snickett, Deaf Aid, Bootsy, Lonely, Big Stiffy, Pyro,
Jenks, Twister, CS Gas
Meg K9-1, Beryl K9-2, Whispa K9-3, Jenk’s Mutt K9-4
Scribe: S/Shoveller
A “Now where did that trail go?” Run
A small group of hashers and nearly as many dogs congregated in the car park of the Rising Sun on Witheridge Hill on this dull and somewhat cool Remembrance Sunday morning.
Without too much ado, and befitting the day, the Hare, Pressganger, quietly gave her briefing and warned us that the trail may be masked by falling and wind-blown leaves – excuses maybe? Little did we know.
We set off up the track leading to the car park and were soon jogging down the other side of the said Witheridge Hill.
A check at the crossroads on the bend in the Highmoor/Stoke Row main road had everyone baffled for a long while as no-one could spot flour anywhere so the Hare eventually called the On-On up the hill towards Stoke Row. Lonely’s good fortune was to have found himself on the correct path and he kept on going up the hill, running over a carpet of thick leaves which masked the underlying puddles which soon had us all dancing from side to side to avoid bogging down in a morass of unseen sticky mud.
With only the odd blob of flour showing through the leaves the forward progress at each pathway junction was somewhat stilted. Eventually we hit a small lane on the outskirts of Stoke Row and the pack headed back down into the woods on the basis of “it always goes this way”. Unfortunately for the Hare that wasn’t the case and as the front runners probed deeper into the wood the hare found herself stranded “off piste”, so to speak.
At this stage Jenks stepped forward and with his local knowledge led us along myriad twists and turns until we emerged behind the Crooked Billet Pub. At this stage it was decided that we would head up into Stoke Row where we came up on village MAP which sort of helped to re-orientate the Hare. Crossing the main road we headed south before turning east into the woods and then out onto the track leading to Neal’s Farm before heading east once more towards Kingwood Common. We came upon a small-holding having a large-holding of Emus, Ducks, Geese, Chickens, Horses, Sheep, etc – all cackling or baaing away. The Hare gave a cry of “Eureka, we are back on track”, declaring that this farm was a special viewing point on her trail.
After some debate we decided to return up the outgoing trail as set by the Hares (it should be mentioned here that Pressganger was helped in her trail laying by a novice hare who decided that one day of life in the woods was enough!).
On through the woods we ran and eventually we got to a point where the option was to go direct to the pub or try to switch to the incoming trail somewhere over to our right. Contrary to DH3 principles of being in the pub by 12 noon we ran into unknown territory and soon after Jenks and Twister were somewhat surprised to be spoken to by a tree! The owner of the voice climbed down out of the tree and appeared to be a fully camouflaged twitcher (not the one known to us). He advised that we were on private land and that death and destruction from the landowner might befall us if we didn’t hop it soon. However, he was a jolly nice chap as he pointed out a short cut across the adjacent field with warnings of “don’t look back if you hear a shout from the black house on your right”. Bootsy gamely held the barbed wire for us all to climb through and then we all disappeared across the field like a pack of thieves in the night with nary a look back
Finally we found the homeward footpath and, “hey, some blobs” and the “On Inn”. We got into the pub just as it started to rain and were soon enjoying drinks before the log fire. But surprise, surprise, a bedraggled CSGas then turned up (having arrived at the start very late) – he’d probably done more of the original trail than any of us, poor chap!
Everyone declared that they had enjoyed the mystery tour, so well done Pressganger – it all turned out well in the end.
S/Shoveller