The Britannia from the outside seemed a bland 1960's Estate pub but was easy to locate and had good parking. While I was doing up my laces, Roger asked for a scribe, so I was somewhat surprised when I stood up to find that the rest of the hash had stepped back 20 paces! Sooper was the hare and dispensed with much of the usual chit-chat with a cursory "off you go".
Hashes in built-up areas require more checks than in open country so we progressed at a modest pace; all the same we were shocked when the long/short split was announced almost immediately. Heading north we reached countryside and encountered a long upwards incline, sadly not quite steep enough to justify walking. However in the absence of the A-team (Ant & Andy) the pace continued to be reasonable and checks became places to chat.
There was even a minor outbreak of old jokes including 'Nostalgia is not what it used to be'. Matthew Rayner suddenly appeared amongst us, arriving in that somewhat mysterious and slightly unnerving way. Sooper's and Paul's daughters were, exceptionally, allowed out on a school night and they scampered excitedly back and forth like two young fawns; oh why did they make cross-country seem so dull when I was at school? Winding in and out of the woods the Glittering Lights of Marlow were occasionally seen below. We headed towards Marlow Bottom and at a certain moment Sooper asked us to pass a warning by Chinese Whisper to Simon that there was a razor wire across the route and that it might trouble one as tall as he. Fortunately he survived the hazard because by the time it got to him the message had become something about going to a dance. The weather was incredibly mild for January and runners could be seen stripping off superfluous layers, it was great night to be out running.
Arriving back at the Britannia it turned out that the interior had been thoroughly modernised and was quite delightful. We had an end to ourselves and there was an elderly live band playing Rock Classics from groups such as Dire Straits, Status Quo and The Who which I for one very much enjoyed. The music prevented Roger from doing his words to the great disappointment of ... Roger, but he still presented T-shirts to three hashers who celebrated an incredible total of 600 runs: Sarah 300, Des 250, and Livvy 50. Jessica passed around eagerly-accepted 'kids' sweets in a multi-section Tupperware bowl. As I left the pub to the sound of the Who's Substitute it seemed to me that Nostalgia was what it used to be!