Shrewsbury
The Annual OSH Day, including The OSH v RSSH Run, Saturday 26th November 2022
OSH Day is a busy day because it includes The Annual Run, The Tea & Presentations, The AGM and The Annual Dinner.
It started as a dull damp November morning, after a week of rain, but by the time members of The Old Salopian Hunt and The RSSH arrived on The Drum, beside Mr. Darwin’s Lizard, the brightness of the assembled company made for a more exciting mood. After much hand-shaking and chat, it was time to take some photos, beginning with The OSH Team of eleven. From the left are James Adney (Rb 1991-96), Phil Robinson (Dayboys Hall 76-81), Ed Booth (PH 2002-05), Ed Hector (PH 91-96), Ed Mallett (S 08-13 & Huntsman) in front of Pete Beer (Ch 91-96), George Mallett (S 07-12 & H’man), Liv Papaioannou (EDH 14-16 & Huntswoman), Oli Mott (Rb 98-03 & H’), Henry Exham (R 97-02 & also Oldhams Housemaster), Adam Booth (PH 95-00 & H’). Then it was the turn of all Huntswomen & Huntsmen present (numbering eight) to smile, with George, Sophia Urquhart (EDH) in front of Ed Mallett, then Liv, Oli, Adam, Will Painter (R ‘71) and myself, Peter Birch. Finally, we lined up all winners of The Tucks, where from the 1980s onwards, the rules changed that allowed all Hunt Officers to compete, showing here Ed Bolland (I. 81-85), George, Ed, Liv, Oli, Adam and also Ian Haworth (Hunt Coach), claiming his win too!
The time of 2.30pm arrived and Sophia gave The Huntswoman’s Cry to start The Run, with encouragement from Salopians, new & old, along Central, as The Pack made its way towards the Moss Gates and Ashton Road, whilst the supporters dispersed either towards Oldhams Gap or The Queens Terrace to catch sight of the athletes as they passed viewpoints. Ed and George established themselves as leaders of the pack early on and received applause as they traversed the path below Queens Terrace, followed by our Captain, Oli Mott, before their progress down Canonbury, to take a right into the field that takes runners on to cross the Rad Brook, which wasn’t too deep this afternoon. Daylight was beginning to dim on Central and then the crowd waiting around the finish funnel started to applaud as Ed arrived in 19 mins. 31 secs. and quickly followed by George, 13 seconds later and then Oli came in at 21:10.
Illness and a clash of events prevented this season’s Joint Huntswomen and Huntsmen, Sophia, Iris Downes (G), Kristian Tung (I) and Will Singleton (R), from competing today, who are all amazing athletes, but The Hunt still produced a team that made for a good competition, with Dom Weilds (Rb) taking 4th Place and the first counter for The RSSH.
Ed Booth, Adam’s younger brother, made his first visit for this run and showed how fit he is, finishing in 5th Place, while Adam was 10th, and with Pete Beer right behind, being our sixth counter. Liv was the first female finisher in 15th. *
It must be said that there was excellent marshalling by many young Hunt members, who stood out in the cold to direct runners, as well as many course marker ribbons, expertly placed by the Ground Staff and grateful thanks go out to them all.
By 3.15pm we had all transferred to the warmth of The Quod for tea and cake before appreciation was expressed to Ian Haworth, who stepped down as Master-in-Charge of The RSSH at the end of the summer term, having looked after The Hunt for the last six years, and was presented with a superbly decorated “Gentleman of The Runs” Baton. Frank Tickner, the new Master-in-Charge, then announced that The OSH won the event by 14 points, and Ian presented The David Loake Memorial Trophy to our Captain, Oli. Then Ian presented The Will Ramsbotham Cup to Ed Mallett for his third consecutive year Kill and The Peter Middleton Cup went to Liv for her win, for a second year. We are grateful to Frank for finding the elusive PJM Cup, which had hid itself for a couple of years!
Not long afterwards, eleven of The Old Salopian Hunt Committee went to the Hardy Room of Kingsland House, to carry out The Annual Committee Meeting & AGM, which was started with two Toasts, in memory of previous Hon. Secretary & Treasurer, Mark Mortimer and also previous Chairman, Bob Parker, who both were extremely important members of this Club, as well as the Salopian community. This year, we held Elections in our Meeting and, notably, Oli Mott passed on his captaincy to Ed Mallett.
That evening, we welcomed diners at 7.30pm into The Peterson Room for our Annual OSH Dinner, where 16 of us enjoyed an excellent 3-course meal, with wines and good company, including our guests, Huntswoman Sophia, Huntsmen Kristian and Will, as well as T (R), Ellie L L (MSH) and Brad Keay (R).
We are grateful to The RSSH & The School for welcoming The OSH back to The Site, enabling everyone to enjoy being amongst friends for the day, once again. We look forward to being able to do it all again in 2023 and invite all, of any era, to come along to be part of the gathering.
Peter Birch. OSH Chairman. (Dayboys Hall 1966-71)
Some images from the day can be found in the gallery below:
.jpeg&command_2=resize&height_2=85 "Rain stopped play but not the party!")
.jpg&command_2=resize&height_2=85 "Old Salopians take on the 'toughest race on earth' for charity")
