T'was the night after the clocks went forward and 16* Hashers plus canine regular 'Lost Lad' gathered at the Three Merry Lads to see what kind of route could be crafted from this familiar ground.
*At the time of writing it was not clear whether mudslide had joined this evening. She was duly represented by her recruit / new hasher Keith.
Nice Crispie, now a veteran Hasher and Hare, was leading us on this fresh Spring evening. The carpark yielded some surprises in the form of Madj and Shrimper - joining us for their biannual outing and futile attempt at dodging the diary, born again hasher Tree Hugger - made it three in a row and finally Copper Job made a long awaited appearance - hashers duly queued up to book in their long overdue boiler services.
Reunions complete off we trotted back towards Lodge Moor then across the road through the car park and into Ye Olde POW camp, it was nice to see it in daylight and we followed a nice if not boggy woodland path towards Redmire Conduit.The evening yielded and abundance of flour and checkers, so staying middle of the pack provided a comfortable ride.
The conduit led us passed Wyming Brook Farm (South), where a kids party seemed to be raging, then on in to the plantation. Since our last visit a settlement had sprung up around the old water works, though this was not a community of van life, nettle soup and singing by the camp fire, these were serious dwellings with room on the drive for a a Merc and a Porsche.
A sharp turn led us around the bottom reservoir and up towards Fulwood booth where a well floured X marked a false trail so back down the contours we went to skirt the reservoirs. Fantastic pictures of this part of the trail later appeared.
Head Torches Optional
Lost lad sensed something great was coming and shoulder barged his way up towards the old quarry, pushing hashers into the tick infested marshes without so much of a guilty look. At this point Madj also took a tumble but styled it out with perfection and hopefully avoided the sharp bits of the trail.
The FRBs had found the snacks and were tucking in by the time we all caught up. The snacks were nice, crispy and possibly award winning. There was plenty to go round and it took a great act of willpower to resist a fourth piece.
An interesting chat about 50 year old men's health servicing requirements took place between a medically knowledgeable hasher and 50 year old specimen, it was concluded that with a bit of instruction a DIY prostate examination would be theoretically possible but not recommended.
Tummies full we headed towards Redmires Road where an ominous check awaited us. Surely NC would not lead us towards Stanage Pole? We all knew that the next turn off was in another county so waited nervously until the checkers had done their work and duly confirmed it was on on down redmires road.
Our glaring torches highlighted that romance was not dead and many a startled couple glared at us from their reclined car seats as we passed by.
Hashers began checking paths out of suspicion, a new concept, signalling an overstaffing in the checking department. The level headed amongst us followed the flour down the conduit and across Ash Cabin Flat.
After a short regroup in Wyming Brook carpark we headed down a muddy bank towards the new and in some Monday night, loosely organised running groups, divise, stepping stones. Whilst they did ensure dry feet they were fairly brutalist in design and didn't look very welcoming to the falling hasher - the jury is still out...
Thereafter it was a fairly brisk, short chase back to the pub, the HH sign (possibly visible from space) soon appeared and the pack scrambled up the bank and began pouring into the pub.
We were greeted by Nice Crispie and Captain Colon, the latter of whom had made the trip to get his name in the diary - that's commitment!
There was a roaring fire in the pub and our group of 18 easily filled a corner, there was a certain nostalgia about the evening's gathering, maybe the return of old friends, the familiar setting or just the end of another winter, either way it was a great route and night !!
On on,
Sticky shaft
PS are you there mudslide?
Madj & Shrimper celebrating the absence of the diary
