It being Easter Sunday, all good hashers had to pray together at the outdoor shrine of Melling, a lot closer to home than the threatened excursion to Longridge – a fate to be endured the next time Twit and Twot set a run.

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To stave off our boredom Twot handed out Easter Eggs to all runners with firm instructions to return them home intact or face a down down. These eggs were not chocolate but the raw uncooked chicken variety and were issued to each hasher in an already cracked condition. Or that is my excuse!

There was ample opportunity for cheating as the trail passed numerous henhouses and chicken runs which would enable anyone clever enough to gain an unlimited supply of fresh eggs. That is the only reason identifiable for the surprisingly high success rate at the end of the trail.

The trail was long and hard and that was the Wimps route. I have no knowledge of the Rambos route, but Chemical Alley tells me it was even longer.

Shiggy came in all types and sizes including a recently ploughed field which slowed us all down just before the beer stop.

It came in so many varieties that a degree course in Shiggy has been set up at Lancaster University and one of its students was duly christened Shiggy Pop after her third run.

Further down downs were given to hares, failed chicken egg keepers and trail fowlers in the usual manner.

Then we all returned to The Black Bull in Brookhouse for a slap up meal, there being no pubs in Melling of course.

On On to the next one