City of Exeter Hash House Harriers

What a grey day today remarked Tail Lamp as we all waited for the bewitching hour of 11.00 hrs and as we gazed up to the heavens he was right, with Larks Vomit adding its not raining though.
Soon the hares FF and PP appeared in their hare-mobile, we, like all good packs, circled up and listened to our hares giving loads of information, one hasher, Blobhoblin, appeared to think there was going to be a written test following on from the info so he tried to hide at the back of the most orderly pack.
We set off with a pack of 19 putting on a good show as we headed down the high street to the first check whereupon the show ended and mayhem took over until at last the trail was found.
The route led us down a narrow footpath were X-bitz suddenly found the need to give us and Itsybitz a range of farmyard animal noises which, so I am informed, were very good, but she was still fined for being "all animal". What on earth was going on in the sherrifs head! Horny Woman was also pushing …

Despite a clear and sunny day this was not to be one of Blobhoblin's starring appearances - was it sunstroke perhaps or just a vey heavy "night before"? His day did not start well: Groucho called Blobhoblin at 8.30 in the morning to check that he would be able to help with the hash to which Blobby replied: "Don't worry I'll be there at 8.30!". Heart afflutter Blobhoblin raced to meet Groucho at the car park only just remembering the sweets in hand. Added heart anxieties were then caused as Slipshod entered the car park nearly mowing Blobby down as he went for a vacant parking space. [There are some hashers who try and park their car in spaces that are already occupied. This is generally best avoided as the costs of car repair are not insignificant!]

Well as a mottley selection of 23 hashers circled up, bedazzled by a strange shining thing in the deep blue sky, we received our instructions for the coming trail: in flour (with a strange reddy/pink hu…

16 braves, including 3 lamed wastrels bemoaning winter colds and sneezes, appeared through the cold and the drizzle for this New Year's hash hosted by Groucho and the inimitable Ms Twin Peaks (quite a pair those two!). After circling up in a shivering and shuddering mass we were reminded of the new scoring system and received our instructions: laid in flour, 3 and on, 2 long-shorts and the first three whenever we were to come across a fish-hook.
Groucho pointed us to a nearby check but perhaps it was his old age that meant he had forgotten he had put the next check right by the entrance to the farm as we drove in - on, on that way then! Clearly not content with letting the drizzle chill us to the core, the hares decided we needed frosting even further and pushed us on through the river: first knee deep and then rather sneakily laid a false trail through a waist-high stretch of river - we do wonder whether Boots In Puss will ever be the same again!
On on towards the railway line we …

Well what a jolly (cold) lot we were braving temperatures of -10C (well it was -10 in Exeter) despite Spocky's protestations that it was really warm out there - but he had just laid the trail, so it was of no consolation to us standing around freezing our Odd Bitz off. Body temperatures suffered still further as a number of attempts at a hash flash delayed proceedings still further - first Freewheeler, then Odd Bitz and then Isosceles all wanted a picture of the vision of white loveliness (it certainly couldn't have been of the hashers).

The hare duly did his business and briefed us on the days order of play - one and on, fishhooks, long shorts with todays special treat being a trail laid in blue paint (an idea he had stolen from FF and PP). Anyway seemed to work a treat with only one lost hasher on the way (but more on that later).

On on was called down towards the woods and onto the first backcheck of the day. Must confess it wasn't too hard to find the trail...footprint …