On my last day in Boston, Sally and I popped into Goodwill so I could look for Halloween costumes and I found this bright combination: a new football jersey and used candy corn leggings.
The West London Halloween Hash was a fitting way to end my crazy year of hashing in nine countries around the world (in chronological order): The Netherlands, Korea, Belgium, Australia, Sweden, Scotland, Germany, America and, finally, England.
Although we managed to get lost and missed the final bits of trail, we thoroughly enjoyed running through parks and neighborhoods in Wandsworth. The high point of the night was when Opee decided we should go trick or treating at a house decorated for the occasion. Imagine our surprise when we were greeted by a mini-Trump. And imagine his mother’s surprise when two Americans, one in an American flag tie, just happened to stop by to beg for some candy. She said he was a big hit when they circled their neighborhood, posing for lots of photos.
The hash started and ended at Ram Brewery, the UK’s oldest continuously operating brewery which opened in 1581, but is now mostly abandoned. This was formerly the stables and now houses the men’s loo.
Dinner was pizza and I was sure to grab a few slices for Opee as he got stuck on a business call just as the food was delivered.
While the brewery officially closed in 2006, the lead brewer, John Hatch, who has worked there for 31 years (18 years for Young’s and 13 years on his own), got special permission to operate as a nanobrewery until the area is fully redeveloped. Thus he can still make hand-crafted beer, but can’t sell to stores or restaurants. Apparently he made two of the beers with the hash in mind: Laughing Juice...
...and Any Old Fool. We thought down-downs were hilarious despite not knowing very many of the hashers. We had planned to leave shortly thereafter, but is often the case, the beer was flowing and we got into some interesting conversations. At 11 p.m., John kicked us all out and we headed back to the overground station with a bunch of hashers.
The nearest Tube station to our hotel was closed for the weekend, so we walked from London Bridge Station which gave me a chance to try my hand at some night photography along the Thames...
...of Tower Bridge...
...and the Shard.
Even caught a glimpse of some fireworks in the distance.
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