The hash made a rare visit to the 1100 acres of Bushy Park, named by Henry VIII when he established it as his private hunting grounds which was maybe lucky for us, as this green space was quite special on a bright spring Sunday morning.  The hour change probably enabled the hash to get parked before the throngs arrived, although some did arrive late didn’t they MB and CL?

  Much to enjoy with Chestnut Avenue coming into bloom plus the babbling Longford river which was commissioned by Charles I, presumably before he lost his head, to provide a water supply to Hampton Court when the Thames was little more than a sewer, which would have given even the royal intestines a dose of the shi*ts.

  Many of the progeny of Henry’s venison targets still roam the park with their only enemies now being four legged canines, although Spud and Raffles were well behaved on the day trying perhaps not to emulate Fenton!

  This run was set by the venerable FRB and his assistant Petal who employed the services of FRB’s lovely Cambridge graduate granddaughter Elora, to guide us around the run which basically circumnavigated the park with a distance recorded at 5.5 miles and circa 1.5 hours.  There were few runners really with Simple striding out and Ms Bean and the Blunder in close attendance, although Elora was not allowed to solve the checks and had to watch the hapless hashers go in all directions, except in the correct one.

  We were set off by the departing GM who is obviously getting demob happy as she did not suggest either an RA or a scribe, so this effort is the result of a tap on the shoulder in the pub after a couple of beers!

  There were some interesting checks with solutions not always obvious, as the dear deers were clearly quite partial to a sniff of the white stuff, as were the crows, although fortunately one of the hares came with us phone in hand, to provide some directions, which were not always accurate!

  Many partook of the short cut which basically cut the run in two with the short on in being roughly half way, where the trail retuned close to the on out.  The real trail proceeded with a lovely false car park by the leg of mutton pond, where not a few hashers believed they were home, only to realise that the real car park was still half a mile away.  We saw and heard Skylarks in their natural environment, as we did Uncle Gerry (in the pub) although he did get lost walking from his vehicle to the hostelry [Ed: he was hiding in the WC], which got Mrs G more exercised than usual.

  The circle began in the car park, but soon descended into chaos with cars trying to park in the space occupied by the beer and cakes, so something had to give (the cars).  Eventually organised chaos ensued and we had a sort of circle. We welcomed many visitors which I would have noted with notice, but there were many, including the lovely Elora who was the co-hare although she was not called out [Ed: 2 relatives and a school friend of the GM].

  There were visitors from as far as Trumpland and the more beautiful Lake District.  Linda from Cumbria apparently used to get up to no good in her teenage years with Bonn Bugle when they were running around Bonn together, which must have been a sight, particularly when BB communicated a liking for voyeurism to Petal!  The mind boggles on that one……. [Ed: She was attempting to say she was clairvoyant!]

  So the stand in RA was Simple, who was well researched in miscreants which included Blunder (?) who was congratulated for managing to lose F off Wally, Elora for saying she had only done half a hash despite laying it and inevitably ‘Ard-on Provocateur for being a bore.  Masterbates was also awarded a beer, but I know not why.

  We retired to the very friendly Adelaide pub which was nearby. Somebody asked who was Queen Adelaide ? A smart Alec knew and even quoted the correct year – get a life! [Ed: For those who weren’t there it was the scribe!]  This was a rare foray into the ULEZ zone which no doubt discouraged a few and others may have overslept, but this was a run certainly well worth the effort. Well done the hares!
  On On
  RHUM