bat the rat...aka mr vince atherton of croston...lancashire

just what is bat the rat?????? it is money making machine cunningly contrived by a certain vince atherton of croston...lancashire......it is literally wheeled out @ and on various calendar dates in the life of the said village....it is a curious contrivance involving 2 wheels....some plastic drainpipe....a conglomeration of sundry bits of wood....exquisite lettering.......not like the narrow boat tradition....its more home spun......it is always acompanied by the forementioned mr atherton...attired in a bowler hat and patriotic waistcoat...and trousers...and shoes.....harmless you might think....this is an invention that requires great skill in mastering its content....especially when you have an operator that is not quite trustworthy.........he also plays the bagpipes....at the drop a hat.....i digress......mr atherton poses as a friendly local resident...he has in fact been a part of village life since he was released from............on this recent outing which was bastille  day celebrations on the village green......yes its about france.......many years ago at the local secondary school a french....english exchange was set up for school children which eventually morphed into an adult exchange as well..........so its obvious mr atherton gets his rats out......at this point perhaps i should explain the workings of this phenomena.....mr atherton holds a fabric rat...that is made from fabric with a little tail...a fabric tail...he warns the contestant who has been lured into the web...that he ...mr atherton with release the rat into the plastic drainpipe....the unsuspecting participant is armed with a short stick with which to trap or more correctly.....bat the rat..........there is an old english phrase about  a rat up a drainpipe...this has got absolutely nothing to do with this scam.....the contestant waits in eager anticipation.....nerves jangle........powers of concentration focused....little do they know that the operator is sneaky....he often drops the rat but catches its tail briefly thus slowing the delivery of the prey...the contestant strikes...to early ...the rat then pops out.......mr athgerton smiles innocently....who me?????? another of his tactics is tp throw the rat  down the guttering....the participant is caught unawares....again there is a benign smile....or more like ...you cant beat me smug look........he is extremely plausible this mr atherton.....people form queues  around the village green in an attempt to bat the rat.....there is only one winner the rat aka mr atherton...........and here he is....