AutumnGathering - Pinkery, Exmoor - 24-26th October 2014

Pinkery quite remote and we were glad to be following a camper van with an "on-on" sticker in the back window for the last few miles, as the road wound upwards into low cloud and mist. Once there, we found ourselves free from the modern trappings of wi-fi and mobile phone reception, which was great until we found ourselves in need of communication with the outside world as Paperwork wasn't feeling too well.  There was a proper phone in the building for use in emergencies, but it was soooooo quiet that Paperwork and Sorepoint found it difficult to hear what was being said, but the outcome was that paramedics were dispatched to sort him out.  Fortunately, following a precautionary ECG, all was well and the evening continued with a bring and share supper, lots of beer, Karaoke and chat.
On Saturday morning, there was orienteering and after lunch it was the main Hash of the weekend with a long and short option.  The long ranged anywhere between about 10 and 13 miles, depending who you spoke to and the short  6 to 7 ish.  It was muddy and hard going in places, with the shorts managing to do a double loop of a field due to people in the know (with maps) insisting that they were going in the right direction, when they weren't.  All part of the fun.  Eventually we reached the pub where we had tea before shuttles back to base.
"Cocktails" was the fancy dress theme of Saturday evening.  There were down downs celebrating the shenanigans of the weekend so far (plenty for Oddbitz who was celebrating his 71st Birthday) and generally the evening was quite civilised, mainly because everyone was tired and the beer had run out due to overconsumption on Friday evening.
Everyone appreciated the extra hour in bed on Sunday morning, except for those with children for whom Sunday was just a long day.  We went to Simonsbath for the usual City of Exeter Sunday morning trail, joined by some old faces and some regulars who had travelled up from the home patch.  Again, it was picturesque scenery as the trail took us through woods and along the river, before heading back to the car park for the final circle of the weekend, with cherryaid down downs -  particularly appreciated by Titbitz who had mixed her drinks a little too much the previous evening and was feeling rather delicate.  Finally there was a naming for Katie, Arthur and Josh, who became Fancy Liquor, Tearaway and Armless respectively.  Groucho also received his 70th Birthday card from the hash.
We finished the weekend with a roast dinner in the pub before saying our goodbyes.  Thanks to Spocky and team for organising another enjoyable Autumn Gathering.
On On!