Annual Hash results

Slap on the back and a kick on the shin.    June, 2013                

We have come to the end of our 14^th year of Bridgwater Towpath Hashes: runs 693-743.         

Having hashes cancelled was a novelty this year and for the first time ever, forced upon us by the awful weather of an 11½ month winter.  It is now time to hand out the plaudits and mutter insults based on the weekly scoring.  The lowest turnout of hounds was 7 and the highest was 25.  In the 12 months, only two scores were below 90 with the lowest being 85 so is it a mistake for the hare  to choose an area where it is raining on the same evening that the pub is full (or empty) and the beer tastes like vinegar?...it’s hard to say really…

A strong contender for hearty cuddles was Phantom despite us having to pound the Tauntontarmac under the streetlights but the Leslie Avenue food, for 15 hounds, was delicious.  She was edged out on the scoring by Grasshopper’s lay in the dark at Kingston St Mary, also with lashings of food for 15.  It would appear that food is the major influence but, no…  Sorceror’s Apprentice led the eleven-strong pack through horses, keeping everyone chirpy in a sweep around Ash Priors from Combe Florey and back. This brought high scores but was still edged out by Brush Off with his meandering trail from Fyne Court which was attended by 20 happy hounds in daylight, then on down to the Travellers Rest.  With the year nearly completed, Chris achieved the highest score with his run from the Babbling Brook atShurton.

So Chris is this year’s Jolly Good Chap.

Now for the deep end…  An early rush to the bottom was made by Down in the Woods with her downy-uppy wend that led the pack of 16  down from the Rising Sun to cloudy Terhillthen eventually regrouping near the summit of Bagborough Plantation in the gloomy drizzle; very high scores from some, very low from others.   She didn’t need to worry as Dormouselaid a trail from Lydeard St Lawrence in bad light on long, wet grassy hills with washed-out and non existent flour where the hare got lost in one very dark field, along with a 15 strong pack.   A definite loser, but…even Dormouse was saved from ignominy by the resourcefulMartini who chose a windy, Kingscliffe Woods on a starless night to create a trail of mayhem through mud, debris and fallen trees.  The mediocre scoring was a bit harsh as most of the trees probably fell after he’d laid the trail.  Down at the Globe, North Petherton, Martini might have saved the day with free crisps all-round whilst reciting a few lines from Macbeth or perhaps Kenneth Williams’s opening lines from Carry On Nurse, “Infamy! Infamy! …”