London H3 #2794

This was my first time running with the London H3, and it was an exceptionally special 80th birthday event, as our lead hare for the day was Thunder Thighs, who has been on the London Hash for 47 years. Through her and her proxies, they set an excellent 7 km trail through the streets of Wood Green.

Near the end, there was a drink stop that turned into a birthday party, with a raffle, drinks, all sorts of nibblies (cheese, meat, crackers, chutney, etc). From there we wandered back to the pub for circle and about 3 more hours of socialization amongst hashers. This has been the third hash this week that was a birthday celebration, as the Brighton H3 on Monday was the 80th for Psychlepath. Tuesday, it was the 77th for Wurzel at the Weybridge H3, and then today again for Thunder Thighs’ 80th. We’re all getting a bit grey on the roof, but glad to see these stalwarts still getting out to the hash and contributing.

I have been in the UK for 11 days now, and have run 10 hash trails, and have 5 more trails lined up for the next 4 days. Gotta love hashing in and around London!!

Here is the brief history of the London H3 . . .

The British capital finally got a hash club on 7 Apr 1976, when Ian McGregor founded the London H3. Ian had been hashing in Hong Kong before the advent of circles and singing, and it would not be until 1984, that down downs became a part of the London H3. The LH3 had other unique issues in their early days, as described by ‘Wet Blanket’ in a 1985 hash article, when he states . . .

“It is fair to say that LH3 in its early years showed certain idiosyncrasies that marked it out from other Hashes. This largely sprang from [Ian] McGregor having announced the inaugural run only in the Bulletin of the Inter-Varsity-Club – a worthy organization (of which I was and remain a member) but, it must be admitted, not particularly in tune with some aspects of ’traditional’ hashing! . . . The result of this initial entanglement with the IVC was that the great majority of runners in the Hash’s early days were IVC members and as such not particularly concerned with Hashing ‘traditions’ or with making much of an attempt to attract a wider membership. Culture clashes occurred when unsuspecting IVC joggers were confronted by the occasional visiting ex-pat, talking of such arcane mysteries as down-downs and beer wagons.”

It appears that by 1985, London H3 had gained a stronger footing with seasoned hashers. More recently, the London hash ran on Monday evenings in the summer, and Sat/Sun in the winter. They now run consistently on Saturday, meeting at noon for a 1230 run start.もっと詳しく