UL Treasure Hunt 2014

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There once was a ringing society
Who had trouble maintaining sobriety
With lots of tours through the year
There is cause for good cheer
As I relate one of an energetic variety!

Twas on a morning all dreary and grey
In Limehouse we started the day
Given route maps and questions
We followed directions
And tried to pick up points on the way…

Unfortunately inspiration and any rhyming talent dried up after that!

By Mariko Whyte


(whilst waiting for a 2014 version, an alternative 2013 version was written instead… enjoy!)

…or “Peter’s Peal Ringing and Barn Dancing Day While Some Other People Did the UL Treasure Hunt”

Apparently I am supposed to be writing up the treasure hunt report for the event that happened on 7th June 2013 (in reality it was actually held on the Saturday, 8th June 2013, but as you will see that is the most minor problem with this report!). This date is particularly poignant to me because I believe this was the first and only treasure hunt since Chris Kippin came up with the concept that I did not go on, but despite my protestations that I am not best suited to write this event up, I still get nagged on a regular basis to do it, so today I finally gave in to the nagging and wrote it up so here goes:

It was a gloriously hot day and I got up early from the college where I was living while I did my PGCE to wait for the Oxford Tube at St Clements to make the epic journey to London. Upon arriving I headed straight for Battersea church where we rang a rather lumpy peal of Rutland, but seeing as it was almost an entirely local band attempt following a colossal failure the year before for the Diamond Jubilee, we were quite proud of our attempt. We retired afterwards to a pub on Battersea High Street that I cannot quite remember the name of (not the Castle or the Woodman, the next one down on the right hand side, Blackbird or something rings a bell) to celebrate.

Later on that day, either Chris Rimmer or Tom Nagel or perhaps both (who had both rung in the peal) left to join in with a treasure hunt team as they could get a train direct from Clapham Junction to Waterloo to meet up. I think Jenny Willis might have tried to telephone me to ask for help in the clues, but by that point my memory and probably ability to help was fading! Besides, I had an OUS Barn Dance to go to so after several pints in Battersea I navigated myself back to the Cowley Road where I joined the OUS for an excellent Barn Dance. After that, a good collection of OUS members went for more beer at the James Street Tavern and played Cards Against Humanity until the early hours. So early in fact, that I believe I had to be helped back to get past the college security system because it involved putting a code into a keypad and I had lost fine motor skills by then.

All in all it was a lovely day, I am sure the treasure hunt went well too and was followed the next day by the picnic (which I also did not attend, but can probably cobble together a report if called upon)! Thanks I am sure for everyone who did attend to whoever it was who organised, I am sure an excellent day.

Peter Jasper