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Last day of work before I drive up to Toronto. But something else was on my mind...
As soon as I knocked off I drove to a village not 10 minutes north, the home of the Gunpowder Plot – Ashby Manor. But I was not here to attempt to restore Catholic England, I was here to attend a rather new village evening festival, only in its second year – the Ashby St Ledgers Bale Push.
As the setting sun illuminated the infamous manor, teams of ≤4 took it in turns to push a large hay bale (one of the round ones) round a circuit strewn with other hay bales, wrapped in plastic and painted by a local artist who paints wheelie bins.
The afternoon had a few kids event, but the races began after 6pm. Initially the ladies teams and the legends teams races. The latter mandating a minimum combined age (which the commentator questioned on occasion).
As the teams wrestled their bales around the course, occasionally bumping into the obstacles, live music rang out, the queue for the beer tent waxed and waned, children played on the hay bales randomly placed amongst the public area and hunted for conkers beneath the horse chestnut trees, and the light slowly faded.
Several local gyms entered several ladies teams, but two impressive teams came from Dubai, several were just groups of friends who were in inappropriate clothing. One team was entered by a sponsor, one of whom did it dressed as the company mascot. (I was hoping he'd slip in the muddy patch but, alas, that bit of entertainment wasn't provided.) One legends team decided to enter last-minute, after meeting in the beer tent, they just got their act together in time.
The ladies' fastest time was 2’7”, the legends' 1’43”, but they only did half the course.
After a short while later the awards were presented - the 3rd place ladies team couldn't be found and only 2 members of the winning team came to collect their medals and goodie bags. The 2nd place team were very enthusiastic about their medals. The legends were similar - one of the 3rd place team happened to be in the area and looked bemused that his team name was suddenly called out. Likewise, not all of the winners turned up and it was the 2nd place team, one of the Dubai teams, who were most enthusiastic.
After dark, the Open category began. The course was at its full length now. The first group was a boxing club (called Rugby Club - they're from Rugby), who looked impressive. 3’37”. Thereafter followed a mixture of serious challenges, fancy dress enthusiasts, hopeful locals and family teams. The races all became a bit samey as the full moon rose higher in the sky, shining through the clouds. The live band played on, the noise of children playing grew fainter. The commentator even seemed to tire of saying the same things every race, starting to talk about the sponsors, previous entrants and the Gunpowder Plot.
The last race was 9:30, the fastest was 2’57”. Once again, one of the teams (2nd place this time) didn't stay long enough to get their cheap plastic medals. And whilst teams took team photos in front of the massive straw teddy bear statue, and all perched upon an unstable bale, I went back to the car.
But as I came to exit the field, the gate was locked. So the way out was to climb over a style and navigate an overgrown footpath, complete with brambles and trip hazards, lit only by the lights from the festival stalls glittering through the trees, and then over another style to reach the road.