Nine pie munchers mustered in rather overcast conditions, then headed south west to Ashill to sample a trio of small pies from G. Morris & Sons. The weather turned decidedly wet during the journey. However, as we arrived at the community centre at twelve O'clock, the rain stopped as predicted on the weather forecast! After ascertaining that we would not get locked in, we set off westwards, on a non-crossing figure-of-eight walk.
Our first stop was at the church of
St. Mary, Houghton-on-the-hill, by a field of black cows and calves. Finding no scratch dial, we continued on to South Pickenham, taking in a short stretch of the Peddar’s Way and the Norfolk Coast Path, then
crossing the clear waters of the River Wissey on the way. Here we took lunch at the church of
All Saints, with it's north facing porch and no scratch dial. Four gents took up residence on the seat in the shade, looking like a scene from "Last of the Summer Wine",
while the rest of us perched on the church wall in the sun. We left the church for a half mile walk along a quiet road, passing Pickenham Hall, where we no doubt became movie stars on the closed circuit surveillance system! From here we made our way back to Ashill, our route
taking us past a field of young rapeseed plants whose leaves had collected large water droplets from the earlier rain. Three and a half scratch dials were found at
St. Nicholas
church, Ashill - well three definite dials and one possible. We had hoped to have a pint at the "White Hart" but it was undergoing refurbishment, so we pressed on back to the cars, pausing by the pond to see the ducklings. In fact there were ducks in many of the gardens too. Today's feast: peppers stuffed with goats cheese, again were the first course, but the peppers were much hotter than last week. The pies, baked in foil cups, were sliced, no aroma or jelly being present. The pies had a crisp crust with a smooth meat filling, the latter not having a great deal of flavour. The pie munchers had widely differing views on these pies, from a lowly score of 4 to high scores of 9's - resulting in the average score of 6.77778 with a very high standard deviation of 1.58333. Organic Scottish Shortbreads then followed. Finally, chocolate "
Munchers" were provided for the pie munchers.
It was then decided that we should head on to the “White Hart” at Hingham for refreshment, with a stop at Saham Toney to check out the church. The church of
St. George failed to yield further scratch dials, so we headed for Hingham. At the “White Hart” we enjoyed pints of Tolly Phoenix and Morland Original Bitter where we took over the salubrious lounge, after making friends with Boris and Charlie, two springer spaniels, in the bar.
Nine pie munchers mustered in rather overcast conditions, then headed south west to Ashill to sample a trio of small pies from G. Morris & Sons. The weather turned decidedly wet during the journey. However, as we arrived at the community centre at twelve O'clock, the rain stopped as predicted on the weather forecast! After ascertaining that we would not get locked in, we set off westwards, on a non-crossing figure-of-eight walk. 
Our first stop was at the church of St. Mary, Houghton-on-the-hill, by a field of black cows and calves. Finding no scratch dial, we continued on to South Pickenham, taking in a short stretch of the Peddar’s Way and the Norfolk Coast Path, then crossing the clear waters of the River Wissey on the way. Here we took lunch at the church of All Saints, with it's north facing porch and no scratch dial. Four gents took up residence on the seat in the shade, looking like a scene from "Last of the Summer Wine",
while the rest of us perched on the church wall in the sun. We left the church for a half mile walk along a quiet road, passing Pickenham Hall, where we no doubt became movie stars on the closed circuit surveillance system! From here we made our way back to Ashill, our route 
taking us past a field of young rapeseed plants whose leaves had collected large water droplets from the earlier rain. Three and a half scratch dials were found at St. Nicholas
church, Ashill - well three definite dials and one possible. We had hoped to have a pint at the "White Hart" but it was undergoing refurbishment, so we pressed on back to the cars, pausing by the pond to see the ducklings. In fact there were ducks in many of the gardens too. Today's feast: peppers stuffed with goats cheese, again were the first course, but the peppers were much hotter than last week. The pies, baked in foil cups, were sliced, no aroma or jelly being present. The pies had a crisp crust with a smooth meat filling, the latter not having a great deal of flavour. The pie munchers had widely differing views on these pies, from a lowly score of 4 to high scores of 9's - resulting in the average score of 6.77778 with a very high standard deviation of 1.58333. Organic Scottish Shortbreads then followed. Finally, chocolate "Munchers" were provided for the pie munchers.
It was then decided that we should head on to the “White Hart” at Hingham for refreshment, with a stop at Saham Toney to check out the church. The church of St. George failed to yield further scratch dials, so we headed for Hingham. At the “White Hart” we enjoyed pints of Tolly Phoenix and Morland Original Bitter where we took over the salubrious lounge, after making friends with Boris and Charlie, two springer spaniels, in the bar.
