The Chewed and Rewed Treasure Hunt 21st May 2007

Event Organised by Lewis Bird and Martin Baker
Report by Martin Baker

First, a word regarding the title of this event. The start was in Keynsham, the town at the mouth of the River CHEW. The route then took in Queen Charlton, the very bottom of Whitchurch, Norton Malreward, North Wick, East Dundry, CHEW Magna, Stanton Drew (crossing thee River CHEW to get there), CHEW Magna (again), CHEW Valley Lake, CHEW Stoke (are you getting the idea yet?), Littleton, Hounsley Batch, Regil, and Winford to a finish at Felton, which is a wonderful place for plane-spotters. The “Rewed” bit – well, read it as “rude”, as some of the answers to the route questions fell into this category. Not that we set out with this intention – honest! – it’s just surprising how many cocks, nuts, tits and asses can be found in this part of North Somerset if you look hard enough!

The event attracted six starters, including two new members on their first proper encounter with BPMC. Kieron and Spence were out in the newly acquired DPS, which might have been fun if it had rained… As it was the weather remained kind, and the “Special” came into its own when it came to climbing up banks to negotiate oncoming traffic. We didn’t ask for any treasure to be collected this year, the trade-off being questions located on obscure bus-stops and grit bins/pipeline markers partly hidden by the undergrowth.

Having set our competitors on their way we set off for dinner at the finish pub, the George and Dragon, no longer under the stewardship of ex-Rovers player Stuart Taylor as it was when last visited many years ago. We shared the restaurant with a small birthday party who were engaged in a wide ranging discussion on a vast variety of trivia. We were able to contribute to the debate about the Charlie Drake version of “Please Mister Custer” being a cover, but nobody could remember who recorded the original, sadly.

After an eventual dinner we retired to a sort of lounge area to await our crews. They all arrived within the time limit, so no penalties incurred for lateness. There were the usual complaints about visibility and accessibility of clues, especially the very small safety notice on the tank at Hounsley, together with the expected smattering of insults. We learnt that very few people can read a bus timetable, and some can’t deduct 1,828 from 2,007. However, although it was close at the top, we got a result, and as ever, awarded prizes obtained from a well-known retail chain. Scores (out of 138) and positions were –