Run 876 - Woodcote
Run: 876
Date: Tuesday, 2 June 2009
Venue: Red Lion, Woodcote
Hare(s): Pressganger & Eric
Hounds: Golden Shower, J-Wax, Highlighter, Baldrick, Twitcher, B-Cider, Bootsy, Lonely, CS Gas, Big Stiffy, S/Shoveller, Hutch, Prep-H, Rubber Sole, Lemony Snickett, Wimpy, Hoody, Laurie (Virgin)
Meg K9-1; Hattie K9-2
Scribe: S/Shoveller
A Near Birthday Run but no Near Beer or Real Beer either
Remember a very wet and still raining Oxfordshire Day, when even ducks took cover, two bedraggled and very wet Hares tottered into the car park of the White Horse Pub, Woolstone, to be greeted by only two hashers? Well, those were the words that started the record of last year’s run on Pressganger’s Birthday.
Fortunately today’s run, 364 days later, was blessed with unabated sunshine and warmth.
Having been prevented from parking in the pub car park, most of us sped round the corner to park in the Village Hall car park as there was plenty of space there and it was only a gentle trot across the village green to the Red Lion pub.
Golden Shower called us to order across the road from the pub and the hares described their marks which included a bar check (“baa” said the gathered crowd) – was this to be shades of a Bicester or Baaarkshire Hash trail?
The on-out was down the road towards Crays Pond whereupon Twitcher came upon a “baa” and unexpectedly turned left – now it was clear why one of the hares was whispering into his ear – he had been fed directional info, tut, tut! Up the side of the rec we went and around the corner to find Twitcher lolling on the rqilings in the far corner of the local lads kick about area. The trail went left from here to a check at the T-Junction where the ‘it always goes this way brigade’ (your scribe) went right and right again. Not right at all but wrong! It was right and left – gottit?
Up the hill to another T-Junction and then Lonely and CS Gas were away right towards the Black Horse having bypassed a false trail on the way. From the check at the Black Horse we turned left and rushed down the tarmac towards the check just before the woods. SS and Lonely getting there earlier than most. Into the woods we went – the blobs on the trail to the right petering out with narry a sign of a false trail marker. Lonely was, by this time, hurtling down the other side of the wood to the check at the Motorbike stop-gate. I went left and again the blobs just petered out without any indication of a false trail marker yet I never heard any calls of On-On from anywhere else. I dragged my aching body (which had been gardening for hours earlier in the day) back to the check and found an arrow leading straight on from the check. Catching up with the pack I noticed that confusion reigned as there were hashers spread out all around. The sneaky hares had done a sharp change of direction and we were now heading south west instead of south east. Lovely woodland led to another check and from there the trail continued straight on to the edge of the wood and another check. Was this to be a back check into the woods or a forward run alongside a huge field – forward it was. The regroup at the end of the long grassy footpath was by a pair of gates and soon the younger members of the pack were perched on top of the gates like a row of raucous crows whilst we waited and waited for the hares and walkers to arrive.
The onward trail was across the Goring-Reading road and a bit hairy for crossing it was too with cars flying down the long straight trying to out-do Jensen Button. Round the bend to another check and the right trail was right! This time we ended up at a junction on said Goring-Reading Road with a blind bend to our right – calls of “It’s Ok to cross, no, no, no don’t cross” rang out but we all made it – even Bootsy who stopped to check the tarmac or some flattened frog or whatever in the middle of the race track. We now found ourselves on Long Toll but soon we had Long faces as the proposed beer stop was no longer where it was supposed to be – the cool box and its contents had been ‘nicked’! Only the black plastic bag remained. The thought of a cool beer slowly trickling down my throat had me checking the verge far past the proposed hiding place but there was nothing to be found.
We re-entered the woods through Rogers Fencing yard, then turned right into woodland that I cannot recall seeing on any other run. Oaken Wood according to the map followed by Little Oaken Wood (Little because most of the trees had been felled?) .Emerging onto Eastfield Lane the trail then went right from the check up past a dummy check halfway up the slope – the first blob on the false was 2 yards from the check and there was nothing more on the path that followed. At Pot Kiln Lane Twitcher was on right and at the next check everyone bar the Scribe went left into the wood – everyone but the scribe was right!! Emerging onto the streets of Woodcote Baldrick was off down the right fork, like a rocket, followed by everyone else. Baldrick and SS went right at the bottom of the hill and found flour and false trail markers! Back to the road we had left and a quick sprint in to the pub brought an excellent trail to an end, even managed to find false trail markers near the end!!
Once back in the car park we were treated to more cake from Golden Shower – one has the impression that life for him would not be worth living if he failed to turn up without a cake. Gooey it was – the cake that is. Lovely stuff!
Re-convening on the pub terrace and already the chips were there and they kept coming – I think someone had to say “enough, enough”. Words from Golden Shower led to a rendering of Hashy Birthday to Pressganger. Who’s the next 49er to celebrate a birthday?
S/Shoveller