As usual I did not economise on fuel in order to get to the run in time from Hertfordshire. So I made the run but missed the briefing from Ken. This time being last person to assemble resulted in the GM asking me to be scribe in the absence of last week’s hare.
I also missed a viewing of Helen’s damaged rear on account of a skiing accident.
We left the pub away from the town to the M40 but we may have confused the On-In with the Off-Out and so there were several crossings of the bridge over the M40. Tracey used her mobile phone to try to locate Audrey. Once we got back to the main Stokenchurch road, however, we were temporarily back to one group, and we went round the edge of the north side of the main road in the direction of Wycombe.
There were many on-checks (none of them bounced) and many of us were surprised at how many streets there were to cross to get from West to East Stokenchurch, even those with a better knowledge of the town than me. As we reached the edge of town we started getting dispersed, despite the spontaneous request for a regroup: it may have been the effect of the low-hanging golden moon – a similar-looking moon was seen at Picnic at Hanging Rock. Or it may have been the fantastic smell of curry from a nearby Indian restaurant.
We eventually get together as we moved out of Stokenchurch towards The City. But then, we had a Long/Short split. The Longs were in the minority which may reflect an ageing hash population or post-Christmas torpor. As for me, I could sense from The City a mood of low bonuses and everyone watching their backs, so I declined to go in that direction with the Longs and instead joined the Shorts to Water End.
Just after Water End we joined Wycombe Road and we had a Medium/Short split. The Shorts went up the road to the pub but given that I was doing the write up, plus Ken was with us, and he promised that the route would be interesting, I joined the Mediums. Also with Ken and I, if I remember correctly, were Jo, Jane, Ros, Tracey and Natasha.
We went to Beacon’s Bottom and we confirmed, despite Jane’s suspicions, that there was no livestock in the Tesco online shopping delivery van. Then we went through East Wood and it nearly made my day when the mud was deeper than Cassie. Ken advised us to keep right but mind the two holes, which we more or less did.
By the time we arrived at the B482 on the South East of Stokenchurch, we couldn’t see the wood for the trees and it was 9.25pm. We were however, still ahead of the Longs, who had got lost at one point and who also went through East Wood. But we did beat them back to the pub by 5 minutes (9.40 v 9.45). We had been a bit lost just before we hit the B482 but once there it was fairly straightforward. The Longs covered 6.5 miles (FRBs 65 miles); Mediums covered 5.5 miles and Shorts 3.5.
The pub was very good: excellent chips, friendly landlord and a roaring fire. Better than friendly fire and a roaring landlord. Shorter runs have been known to man but it was very interesting to a non-local to see the landscape around Stokenchurch, and the absence of rain and a clear sky made it a good hashing evening. Cheers, Ken!