1415

Tight Git @ The Cricketers

7.6.11

A jolly party gathering ensued in front of the green for this Tight Git extravaganza. We were sent off into the woods, many still a chattering Epsom Common we thought, but low and behold we ended up in Ashtead Common, a national nature reserve because of its ancient trees. There are 2,300 pollarded oak trees, which are between 300 and 400 years old so there!

Our resident ranger Steve who ran with us tonight, knows all about them, even pointing out a horseradish plant in full splendour! Dishy Dave was seen with a sheepish smile, standing with four delectable ladies…ahem. Ding a Ling was seen talking to everyone it seemed, bit of a butterfly that one! Rachel kept the chatty spirit up throughout the run, as did Spanish Mistress, full of fun! Our hare did not stop the party atmosphere, laying on oodles of chips under the nicely heated tables outside overlooking the stream. Bang on …Tight Git, and a super trail hardly a road in sight! A certain chocolate Labrador made friends with everyone, once the chips arrived…… Did you notice there was a Roman villa on the common too?

1416

Headley’s Hounds @ The Stables AGM & BBQ

14.6.11

Well, an almighty gathering of more than 30 runners turned up here at The Stables, fit and ready to rumble, on this windy hillside. Some fancied the BBQ first, or was that only! Lesley took us off on a cracking trail through hill after hill, down dale, forest and fauna abounded. Our knowledge of large timber enhanced as we sprinted through giant timber yards galore, with the whiff of sawn wood in the air. Good to see Great Bear back, careful! and Little Bear too with Daffy, resplendent in gaily coloured attire as always! Afters, was a ravenous affair, poor Chris slaving at the Barbie, not that Barbie!!... hungry mouths opening at will, meaty burgers, sausages, chicken legs, yummy, and a mouth watering Banoffee from the food palace that is ‘Spanish Mistress…….Thank you XX

Did you know Banoffee Pie was invented by two Englishmen in 1972? Ian Dowding & Nigel Mackenzie, after a trip to America, gave them the idea, to create their own, with bananas not coffee, now a worldwide hit in all top restaurants. An Amusing AGM saw Grand Master Tosser awarding certain smiling individuals with a Golden Cup to cherish for their dubious activities during another famous Weybridge Hash year! Bravo All, let’s keep celebrating more fun, more members, more surprises, next year to! A great year for sure…………On On

***Fascinating facts, at The Stables, we met two gorgeous horses, a white beauty constantly dropping her head as we chatted, and gorgeous Matty , whose grandfather was the great Teenoso who won the 1983 Derby easily ridden by Lester Piggott….no less.. watch it now on You Tube….lightning fast horse. A BIG thank you to Julia for letting us come to The Stables again, and Lesley for organising all, superb.

1417

Butt Plug @ The Crown

21.6.11

The Longest Day. Hare said his run was "rubbish" but what does he know? He escorted us around, marking thru and observing the pack turned upside down a couple of times and everyone said "Magnificent!" – his experience paying off. Runnymede is the driest I can recall (remember Red Lips's King John run in pelting rain in August 2007). This allows more territory to use down by the Thames Path. So having skirted with Coopers Hill we returned to low level and duck boards over firm ground.

Drainoil was a returner and Harvey a visitor from Aberdeen. For Pigpen's summer sartorial show he was modelling a natty, figuring hugging, red bolero. Fortunately his castanets did not get caught in the zip. And from the pub menu, we were treated to chili nachos (a speciality for Sausage), twizzles and chips. A proper gourmet selection. Wonderful.

1418

Great Bear and Neil @ Stephen Langton Pub

28.6.11

Crackling with atmosphere tonight, as we congregated in the Friday Street car park on a wet night, with the drizzle coming down, soon after the off. Our two Hares entranced us with a fabulous trail, up and down hillside’s, across little streams right through every part of the famous Wotton Estate, home of the 17th century botanist John Evelyn, a tree expert’s paradise or what? Even Hornbeam and Beech trees galore. We got wet, but it was exhilarating, running in the rain through such a place, 4,000 acres of green and brown to enjoy! Alas, poor Mary, springer spaniel as I call him, got a bit too springy, and stretched a quad muscle and had to limp back to the car park. Lesson…don’t push it in the wet, not on slippery tree roots, it’s a no go. A healthy pack of 20 or so runners, were rewarded handsomely for their efforts with lashings of chips, sausages and sauces a plenty to delight the palate.

Stephan Langton, you might like to know was in fact ………Archbishop of Canterbury, almost the highest position in the land, he was involved in the making of the Magna Carta in 1215, and he left us for higher pastures in 1226. I think this will always be a special place for us to run, not far from the village of Abinger Hammer, where the novelist E.M. Forster lived from 1925 -1945. On On until our next visit to this Garden of Eden!

1419

Wally& Honeymonster @ Lightwater Country Park

5.7.11

Wally (who is nothing if not irrepressible) seconded 20 odd - variously aged - uninitiated fun runners & also rans - non-hashers and many virgins. Enormous credit for that. Must be done by sheer force of his infectious enthusiasm to come on a "flour run". He spent 5 minutes giving out rapid fire rules - back-check, wait here, wait there, super-check, short-cut, blank-check and bar - to the amusement of the few WH3 regulars - Golden Balls, Sausage, Mother Brown & Pink Pussy. And yes it's Simple from Surrey. But where were the rest? True the M3 had been stationery most of the day but the deluge just before the start was short and sharp.

After a some hilly jogging there is Pig-Pen saying that Tosser is somewhere in the area. And then there is Spanish Mistress & Mark and eventually Butt Plug. Now feels like a WH3 event but with a lecture at every check ("next stop is the watch tower or is it a water tower? Wait when you get there")

We are of course on an Army driving range (no, not golf you fool - for tanks and land rovers) so lots more hills, some really steep. And lots more short-cuts, long-cuts, "must get back before dark", with Honeymonster (apparently he is an apiarist - a farmer of bees) marking through all of them so there is flour everywhere except where you need it.

Back in the car park it is still dripping and the 20 odd fade away never to be seen again. WH3, Wally and his dog go to the Red Lion and find some very fine ale and Alan & Ruth comfortably ensconced on a sofa. Had found enough of the run for their needs and retired.

Keep up the enthusiasm, Wally, but I know I don't really have to say that!

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