Run 874 - Aston Tirrold
Run: 874
Date: Tuesday, 19 May 2009
Venue: The Chequers Aston Tirrold
Hare(s): Twitcher
Hounds: Golden Shower, Highlighter, Pressganger, Billy Whiz, Finger Flasher, Barbie Doll, CS Gas, Big Stiffy, Shit Shoveller, Penelope Pitstop, Wee Wii Whinger, Little Prick, Hash Crim, Rear Admiral, B-Cider, Preperation-H, Rubber Sole, Lemony Snickett, Hoody, Shandy, Half Pint, Young Lady Visitor
Meg K9-1, Hattie K9-2
[From Web Master: Apologies from S/Shoveller if he's missed anyone out - if you were there and are not above, drop me a line, and you'll be added to the list]
Scribe: S,Shoveller
The Grand Old Duke of York Run
Meeting in the yard of the Sweet Olive at The Chequers in Aston Tirrold we then had to do a quick re-shuffle of the cars, around the wall, to park in front of the closed garage.
Weather was fair and after a quick briefing from the hare we set off up the road towards the village hall and then queued to get off the road and out onto the field path towards Blewbury. The general consensus was that ‘it always goes this way’, so we all followed Finger Flasher, Shandy, Half Pint and the Young Lady visitor westward for several hundred metres before hesitation crept in. A distant call of on-on had us running eastward and down a narrow track in the adjacent field to the one we had come from. We all spilled out onto a wide track and found the check at our feet. The small boys and SS went straight on into a narrow path and were certain they had the correct trail until the false trail marker emerged from the nettles and at the same time an On-On shout was heard from the right along the wide track. The track led to the main (and fast) A417 which we had to cross rather carefully and quickly. Faced by a locked gate someone (Billy Whiz?) rolled under the gate only to find that the trail had gone left along the A417 verge and had then turned up the track opposite Spring Lane out of Aston Upthorpe.
From here on it was up and more up. We eventually turned into an old quarry higher up the road and this was ideal territory if you were riding a BMX bike and had nerves of steel, which we didn’t, as there were several small tracks running up (or down – depending on one’s viewpoint) the sides of the quarry. Scrambling up the far side of the gully was not easy even using the CS Gas technique of throwing yourself forward as fast as you can go and hoping against hope that momentum will get you up and over the top. Unfortunately the technique was not very successful and at times gravity beats momentum – today was gravity’s turn to win!
At last we reached the top of the hill and started descending towards some farm buildings – at this point the Hare boldly stated that he hadn’t reconnoitred this part of the trail so was glad it went where he thought it might go!
At the farm buildings we waited for all to catch up then checked out the check – right was wrong as usual. Up left we went and up some more – the trail continued forward at a check but soon the front runners noted something was astray as everyone had turned left at the check and disappeared. Tracking back we found that were crossing an area that had previously been used for pig grazing or similar – seems like the Big Bad Wolf had been along and blown their houses down and one wondered which pot those piggies were cooking in now! At another check we went down along the edge of the field to our left – Finger Flasher leading. Some smirking from the Hare led us to believe that something was wrong but we could not detect what. Then we discovered that the nice little path in the trees became a narrow defile filled with the most potent of stinging nettles. Finger Flasher escaped out onto the main track, the rest of us pushed on to the end and emerged with legs on fire or so it felt.
At least we were going down now and the running was easier. Crossing the A417 into Chalk Hill and still running down hill was pleasurable despite the hum emitting from our legs. Thoughts of On-Inn crossed our minds until we found the check at the corner of the playing field. More or less everyone went right into the ever decreasing width of footpath. The next check was straight on and then the front runners, CS Gas and Finger Flasher, looped around to the left. Being slightly behind I crossed the woodland and jumped the stream to see Finger Flasher disappearing from view several hundred yards ahead. The track led round and into Aston Street, then left before passing through the churchyard and on into Baker Street and a last dash right to the pub.
An excellent and invigorating trail – much of it on new ground for your scribe.
A quick change and into the pub where prices seemed to be a bit higher than we usually get. Sitting outside in the sun was fun and soon some excellent chips were being devoured.
S/Shoveller