Tuesday 1 December 2015

QH3 Run 887. VAT and Fiddle, Nottingham.




RUN #887
Date : Monday 30 November 2015
Location: VAT and Fiddle, Nottingham
Hare:Captain Oates
Weather: Mild and no rain
Pack size: 11


BBC Weather forecast for the Nottingham area today was rain, rain, and more rain, clearing up in the evening - they must have based their report knowing that the QH3 were running in Nottingham this evening. They have learnt that our RA is pretty good at holding back the rain.

Captain Oates' trails are always something to look forward to, usually with a surprise or two in store. Excellent choice of On Inn in the VAT & Fiddle, home of Harvest Pale. It had rained all day but, as we now come to expect, the rain had stopped in time for the trail but the hare had still had to cope with a soaking. Would the flour still be there and would it be a Captain Oates special? Numbers were swelled tonight by 3 returning r*nners from Hoveringham (Phil, Cadi and Chris) plus newcomer Jamie.

It was an excellent and well laid trail that took us to parts of Nottingham not usually encountered on a dark Monday night (Meadows included). Plenty of checks at the start with decreasing frequency towards the end. We were never quite sure where we were heading and the twisting back and crossing over trails around Clifton Bridge was very clever. Although there were no sheep on trail, this must be a nomination for trail of the year. The case for this was strengthened by the hare's effort to mark St Andrew's Day by bringing to the On Inn a selection of Scottish food and drink (as determined from the internet). This included whisky, Tunnock tea cakes, homemade deep-fried battered Mars bars, oat cakes, cold porridge and salt, macaroni cheese inserted into mince pie cases (??) and a selection of party gear for the sake of auld lang syne.
To celebrate St Andrew's Day the hare prepared cold porridge with salt

The homemade deep fried Mars bars looked
like something collected off the pavement

We used the room we last used for the Awards Night earlier in the year and the RA Chicki, buoyed up by her continuing success with the weather, let loose with her repertoire of DD songs. If you want to get Chicki something for Christmas then you could do no worse than write her some new songs.

First DD went to Smutley for a welcome back and showing little faith in the RA by turning up in a rain jacket. Another doubting Thomas who was punished was returning newcomer Phil who had earlier asked on Facebook if the trail would be postponed due to heavy rain. A further Hoveringham r*nner (Chris) was punished for referring to us as a 'running club'. Our token 'Scot' for St Andrew's Day was Butt Plug, there being no real Scots present on the hash. A-team checker Durex was punished for pointing out that after a long succession of successful checking he'd taken a break about three quarters of the way around and that's when everything slowed down and nearly went pear-shaped as the newcomers headed off towards Castle Marina. The final returning newcomer Cadi was given a DD for being the first harriette back to the On Inn. Barritone was a late latecomer who admitted he hadn't even tried to find the first check. Smutley got another DD to supplement his calories after much advertisement about his diet. Butt Plug also received as second award to the sound of Hashy Birthday for reaching a landmark 60! 

Captain Oates was thanked for an excellent trail (so good we didn't even need a vote) and the effort he put into celebrating St Andrew' Day. He was given a cold porridge DD! That left two DDs to mop up, one for newcomer Jamie who by now had learnt how to take a DD, and one for Noddy (Not Offered a DD Yet) Malteaser who was not without sin on today's trail. The fact that she 'short-cut' along the low road whilst everyone else took the high road by the river triggered a rendition of the Scottish ditty covering this sin. So if Malteaser was the only Noddy I must have missed when Too Tuf got his DD. And our RA deserved better for the weather and the DD songs.


On On..Durex


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