At last the time had arrived.  The promised and long-awaited Great North Pie R*n was upon us and in all the excitement the weather forgot to bring its clouds along.  Naturally the Septics went to the wrong pub and had to phone for directions.  This is standard practice by now when Bitter and Twisted hare.  With virgin Arleen, a good number of Hashers set off from the Saracen’s Head with high spirits, pie thoughts and the promise of spending some time on the beach.

After a few miles of tarmac and tidal dike pounding it was clear that this was going to be no wimps’ trail.  Sure enough there was no wimps’ split, the hares having trashed the earlier r*n plan.  So at a suitable point of interest an informal re-group was taken overlooking the salt marsh in bright sunshine and brisk chilly breeze off the sea.  The trail then followed the estuary shore looking across to  Fleetwood dock.  This was our beach visit as promised by the hares, though the amount of tide line litter gave it more of a landfill feel.  The tide being high, trail marks were patchy along this section, some now being under the sea.  Desperate for biscuits and beer, the pack meandered finally across the golf course to a windy but welcome beer stop by Knot End ferry terminal.

The in trail followed the north shore with great views across to the Lakes and bemused pensioners engaging us in Sunday afternoon conversation.  The hares had promised a fish hook on the way in but we were so eager for pie that it went unnoticed and we dribbled back to the car park in ones and twos.  The landlady was eager to dish up the cooking so a hasty circle saw downies for Arleen, who refused to take off her new shoes so had to drink from somebody else’s, Morticia for getting her legs out, Wednesday and Bedside Manner for losing the trail by a mile while gassing and White Noise for crashing.  Thunderdick got his downdown for rubbing out the fish hook on the Sedbergh r*n so he could get off early.

The pies lived well up to expectations but there was a distinct lack of good beer, it being the proprietors’ last week before moving on, so stocks had been run down.  The question is, will there be a 2009 Great North Pie R*n?