Hash 1528

We gathered in the car park of the Three Horseshoes near Marlow Bottom on a beautiful autumn evening. The Wing Commander, our honourable hare Zebedee declared that the hash would be both long and short and up and down. Also adding that it would be set in an unorthodox manner on the left?

We set off in fair weather and that’s as far as our luck held out. To avoid casualties on the race track that is the back road to Marlow, Zebedee very kindly pointed us in the right direction over the road and across the field. At the far side of the field we then hopped over the style and entered the twilight zone. The hash crossed safely through to the other side and took a sharp left down to the village of Marlow’s Bottom. Again Speedbump was late to the hash but this time he went the correct way. He must have remembered from the last two hashes which way to go once he crossed the field.

We continue merrily trotting along the valley out of Marlow Bottom enjoying the light dappling through the beech forests feeling like it was Groundhog Day, “I feel like we’ve been here before”.

Into the field at the top we ran by the unusually named wood "Reading Shaw" before hanging a right and heading down the dirty great hill to Hollyhill Wood and the highlight of the evening. A right along the valley bottom and a steep left up the hill took us along a tranquil path to a secret series of Buddhist monuments (stupas). These stupas had been hand built by Tina Choules who lived a simple, self-sufficient way of life in the house in the woods with no electricity, television or washing machine.

Stupas are the oldest of all Buddhist monuments, actually predating Buddhism by several centuries when they were mounds of stone and earth to mark the burial of (it is claimed) a king. Siddhartha Gautama (Buddha's real name) asked for his relics to be placed under a stupa at a crossroads to remind people of the awakened state of mind. After this time stupas evolved into monuments that honoured the living and offered them the seed of enlightenment (they are also said to have developed into pagodas, with the stupa acting as a finial on top).
To round off a cracking hash our hare arranged plenty of chips and a rock cake competition between Lawrence and Mia. Who won? They were both extremely tasty for different reasons. I think maybe we need a re match with score cards.
We all fondly listened to the dulcet tones of our GM and discovered the answer to Hells Bells and Aaron’s hash weekend away question. Other things were mentioned and I’m not sure many of us were enlightened but it was safe to say that most of us were in a stupor by the time the GM had finished.

Some jokes about Marlow bottom, well mainly just bottoms

• Which side do bums always want to be on? The back side
• What do you get if you swallow uranium? A nuclear bum
• Why did the man carry a bottom into the elevator? He was bringing up the rear