History

The History of the Newcastle Full Moon Hash

The NFMH3 was founded on 20 December 1999 by Abdul as a highly illegal but in the end, successful means of getting heaps of free piss (beer) at InterHash 2000 which was held in Hobart Tasmania. More on this "cunning plan that was sure to succeed" can be found on the History page.

The First Reflection

NFMH3 150th Reflection - Lostock.

The 150th was held on the weekend of the 9th to the 11th of December 2012 and attended by 30 members and visitors. The following expenditures were made:

130 stubbies of Tooheys New beer
89 stubbies of Tooheys Old beer
107 stubbies of Light beer
51 cans of various soft drinks
7 bottles of rotgut red wine
5 bottles of white wine
13 bottles of bubbly
35 stubbies of cider
47 bottles of water
$540 worth of food - other than that, that came in bottles
$330 for accommodation

History of the Hash House Harriers

The "Hash House"

The "Hash House" was the mildly derogative nickname given (for its unimaginative, monotonous food) to the Royal Selangor Club Chambers in Kuala Lumpur, by the British Civil Servants and businessmen who lived and dined there between the two World Wars, when it had become something of a social centre of the times. Situated close to and behind the present Selangor Club, its function changed after independence and it became an office for the Water Board.

Sadly, the "Hash House" was demolished around 1964, to make way for a new highway, Jalan Kuching, although the buildings housing the original stables and servants quarters are still in existence.

The Ancient Harriers

The idea of harriers chasing paper was not new to Malaya in 1938, as there had been such clubs before in Kuala Lumpur and Johore Bahru, and there were clubs in existence in Malacca and Ipoh (the Kinta Harriers) at the time. "Horse" Thomson (one of the KLH3 founding fathers) recalled being invited on a run, shortly after his arrival in Johore Bahru in 1932, which chased a paper trail and followed basic Hash rules every week but was so magically organized that it had no name. The club flourished in the early 1930's but is believed to have died out around 1935.

The other branch of our ancestry comes from Malacca, where A.S.("G") Gispert was posted in 1937 and joined a club called the Springgit Harriers, who also operated weekly under Hash rules and are believed to have been formed in 1935. Some months later, "Torch" Bennett visited him and came as a guest on a few runs.

The Hash House Harriers

By 1938, "G" Gispert, "Horse" Thompson,and "Torch" Bennett had all moved to KL and, joined by Cecil Lee, Eric Galvin and H.M. Doig, they founded their own club, following the rules they had learnt elsewhere. Gispert is credited with proposing the name "Hash House Harriers" when the Registrar of Societies required the gathering to be legally registered. Other early members included Frank Woodward, Philip Wickens, Lew Davidson, John Wyatt-Smith and M. C. Hay.

After 117 runs, KLH3 was forced into temporary hibernation by the arrival of the Japanese. Sadly, Gispert did not live to see his extraordinary creation revive, being killed in the fighting on Singapore island on February 11th, 1942.

Post-war Rebirth

It took nearly 12 months after the war for the survivors of the HHH to reassemble. Bennett put in a claim for the lost hash mugs, a tin bath and two old bags from Government funds, and run No.1 was a trot around the racecourse in August 1946.

The Hash Spreads Out

Strangely, it took another 16 years for the second H3 chapter to be founded, in Singapore in 1962, followed by Kuching in 1963, Brunei, Kota Kinabalu and Ipoh in 1964, Penang and Malacca in 1965.

Perth, Australia was the first "overseas" Chapter, formed in 1967. Even in 1974, when KLH3 had run No.1500, the HHH was only 35 chapters worldwide. Now the Hash world has over 1200 active chapters, in some 160 countries, and this despite the total absence of any central organization.

We are unique !

This article was written in 1992 by Mike Lyons from research material prepared by John Duncan.

The History Of InterHash

Since first held in KL 1978, InterHash has brought Hashers together from all around the globe every two years.

The first attempts at an Interhash get-together were the K.L. 1,000th post-war run in 1966, and the spectacular 1,500th run in 1974, when attendance was something over 300. The first genuine InterHash, in 1978 in Hong Kong broke new ground, with an attendance of around 800.

Subsequent InterHashes were in:

1978 Hong Kong -- April (Att: 800+-)
1980 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia -- April (Att: 1200+-)
1982 Jakarta, Indonesia -- October (Att: 1300+-)
1984 Sydney, Australia -- April (Att: 1400+-)
1986 Pattaya, Thailand -- March (Att: 2143)
1988 Bali, Indonesia -- 1 to 4 July (Att: 3600+-)
1990 Manila, Philippines -- March (Att: 1600+-)
1992 Phuket, Thailand -- 3-5 July (att 2700 +-)
1994 Rotorua, New Zealand -- February (Reg; 3,847, Att: 3400+-)
1996 Limassol, Cyprus -- 7 to 9 June (Reg: 3302, Att: 2992)
1998 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia -- 2 to 4 October (Att: 5800+-)
2000 Hobart,Tasmania, Australia -- 25 to 27 February (Att: 3800+-)
2002 Goa, India -- 27-29 September (Att: 2600+-)
2004 Cardiff, Wales -- 23 to 25 July (Att: 5600+-)
2006 Chiang Mai, Thailand -- 27 to 29 October (att: 5800+-)
2008 Perth, Australia -- 21 - 23 March (att 4500)
2010 Kuching, Sarawak -- 2 -4 July (att TBA)

The History of Australia's NashHash

Every alternating year from InterHash, NashHash is held in Australia. Large numbers of Australian and International hashers gather to wreak havoc on an unsuspecting public and put a serious dent in the local beer supply. The next is planned for 2013 in Brisbane, Queensland. See the Aussie NashHash 2013 website for more details.