Ashes to hashes (From Dorset Echo)

Ashes to hashes

11:21am Wednesday 30th January 2008 in News By Ian McDonald

WHEN runner Geoff Kirby's 'fun-loving' mother-in-law passed away he and his wife Sandy came up with a novel way of using her ashes.

Geoff runs a local 'hashing' group which involves runners following a trail through the Dorset countryside before heading for drinks at a local pub.

The route is normally laid with flour but the Weymouth couple decided to use some of the late Mrs Stevie Wood's ashes to mark out the special memorial run.

And the event took place on land once home to RAF Warmwell - which was fitting as Stevie served in the air force during the Second World War. Geoff, secretary of local hashing kennel Hardy's Hash House Harriers, said: "Me and Sandy left the trail using a mixture of flour and her mum's ashes.

"It was a bit emotional because Stevie had only been cremated a few days before.

"But Sandy's mum was fun-loving and it was fitting given the RAF link.

"She loved the countryside and I'm sure she would have approved.

"I'd already decided I want my ashes used for a hash trail so she's beaten me to it."

Stevie, whose real name was Gladys Stevenson Wood, died aged 84.

Her funeral was delayed because Sandy's brother Malcolm, an oceanographic surveyor who lives in Brazil, was working in the South Atlantic.

Sandy, 58, of College Lane, said it was a family decision between her, Malcolm and her sister Caroline to use her mum's ashes.

She said: "Geoff and I had already light-heartedly suggested it because mum loved the Dorset countryside.

"So when it came to it the three of us all agreed. Mum knew quite a few of our hashing friends and they knew her. She was a Geordie by birth and good fun. She was always the last to leave a party."

The remainder of Stevie's ashes were scattered around a tree planted in Weymouth to commemorate Sandy's dad.

The Hardy's Hash House Harriers meet every Sunday at different Dorset pubs and set off on their non-competitive hashes, which are marked out by 'hares' to suit various fitness levels.

Dorset County Council worker Sandy said it was fitting the 'Stevie Wood Memorial Hash' took place on the former air force site.

"It's all been dug up now but you can see some of the old buildings and carvings on the trees from people who were there," she added.

"Mum was an RAF girl, she was in Singapore towards the end of the Second World War, so it was a great coincidence.

"She loved her time there, it was a big part of her life. Having the hash there was a lovely way of remembering her."