Questions

ROUND 1

1.

Four of the Church of England’s 44 dioceses have double names.  Ripon & Leeds, and St Edmundsbury & Ipswich are 2 of these.  What are the other 2?

2.

What name is given to the feast day celebrated 60 days after Easter?

3.

Of which well known literary work are the following the closing lines:

“They hand in hand, with wandering steps and slow,

Through Eden took their solitary way.”?

4.

Which epic film of the 1960s, starring Stanley Baker, Jack Hawkins and Michael Caine, concerns a group of British soldiers in 1879 defending a tiny outpost?

5.

Where, melodically in the 1960s, did “Terry meet Judy”? 

6.

If you were described as ‘Callipygous’, of which part of your body would you be proud?  

7.

What is the name of the fertile Scottish peninsula sandwiched between the Cromarty and Moray Firths?

8.

Which pop icon is playing a concert at Old Trafford Cricket Ground this summer?

ROUND 2

1.

Which town contains the postcode area ZE1?

2.

Which actress is currently the ‘face’ of Elizabeth Arden on all their adverts?

3.

“Shackle” – “Condition” – “Pasta”

Which 3 consecutive dictionary words are defined thus?

4.

Which well known 20^th century historian wrote The Origins of The Second World War?

5.

Morgan cars and Sir Edward Elgar are associated with which English town?

6.

Flight-Lieutenant – Squadron-Leader – Wing-Commander.  What comes next?

7.

Which former North West football star earned the nickname The Lion of Vienna for his heroics in an International fixture against Austria in the 1950s?

8.

Who has succeeded Alan Titchmarsh as the main BBC TV gardening presenter?

ROUND 3 – ‘A Sainted Round’

1.

On August 24^th 1572, thousands of French Huguenots were slaughtered on the orders of Charles IX and Catherine de’ Medici. What did this event become known as?

2.

The battle of Agincourt was fought on October 25^th 1415, on the feast day of which saint?

3.

Born in 1835 and dying in 1921, this French composer is known for his symphonic poem Danse Macabre.  Who is he?

4.

Born in 1900 and declared missing after a flight in 1944, this French novelist is best known for his story The Little Prince written in 1944. Who is he?

5.

With his feast day on December 6^th, who is the patron saint of children, merchants, thieves and pawnbrokers?

6.

With his feast day on October 28^th, and also known as Thaddaeus or Lebbaeus, who is the patron saint of lost causes?

7.

What is the state capital of New Mexico in the USA?

8.

What is the capital of the Canadian province of Newfoundland & Labrador?

ROUND 4

1.

What word connects: an American TV actor from the 1950s, a former British Ambassador to the USA, and a word for a parrot or a fop?

2.

Which bird is said by some to have a name derived from the Welsh for ‘white head’?

3.

Where will the 2007 Cricket World Cup be held?

4.

Of which literary work are these the opening lines:

“‘Christmas won’t be Christmas without any presents’ grumbled Jo, lying on the rug”?

5.

Dr Richard Taylor, MP for Wyre Forest, is the only Independent in this parliament representing an English constituency.  Which town is at the heart of this constituency?

6.

Starting with the earliest, put the following Dickens novels into the order in which he wrote them: Great Expectations, Pickwick Papers, Bleak House.

7.

In which year (+/- 2 years) did the Mallard achieve the fastest recorded speed by a steam locomotive?

8.

Who is MP for Birmingham Ladywood?

ROUND 5

1.

Two of the Church of England’s 44 dioceses start with the letter ‘P’.  Name them.

2.

What name is given to the feast day celebrated 40 days after Easter?

3.

Of which well known literary work were the following the closing lines:

“And all the discomforts that will accompany my being blind, the good God prepare me!”?

4.

Which epic film of the 1960s was set in the Chinese Boxer Rebellion of 1900 and starred Charlton Heston, David Niven, Ava Gardner and Flora Robson?

5.

Which 1960s pop song started with the words: “The Eastern world, it is exploding”?

6.

What sport was first called Sphairistike in the 19^th century?

7.

Two of the 4 capital cities of the British Isles are on almost exactly the same longitude.  Name them.

8.

Who is this year’s Lancashire County Cricket Club’s registered overseas player who has had to withdraw from the squad due to injury?

ROUND 6 

1.

Which town contains the postcode area PA1?

2.

Which product is currently being advertised by a filmed sequence of precision engineering interactions including shots of a counterbalanced tyre going uphill?

3.

“Mexican dish” - “Doctor” - “Muslim mendicant”

Which 3 consecutive dictionary words are defined thus?

4.

To illustrate the History of Britain in the 20^th century Simon Schama focused his epic TV series on 2 well known Britons.  Who were they?

5.

MG Cars and Morelands beers are associated with which English town?

6.

Lieutenant-Colonel – Colonel – Brigadier.  What comes next?

7.

Which famous North West footballer scored a hat-trick in the 1953 Cup Final?

8.

Who is the BBC TV’s chief media correspondent?

ROUND 7 – ‘A Colourful Round’

1.

In 1896, the U.S. Triple Jumper James Connolly, was the first person to win what prize?

2.

Instituted in 1961, what prize was won by The Black & White Minstrel Show in that year, and by Frost Over England in 1967?

3.

This World Heritage Site and U.S. National Park is renowned for its sequoia trees.  What is it called?

4.

This French town and World Heritage site is renowned for its Roman theatre and triumphal arch.  What is it called?

5.

The actor Henry Fonda only ever won one Oscar.  What was the name of the film in which he won his Best Actor Academy Award?

6.

Although nominated for 3 Oscars (Spencer Tracy for Best Actor, John Sturges for Best Director, Millard Kaufman for Best Screen Play) it failed to win any.  What was the name of the film?

7.

In the 10^th Century, he explored the Greenland coast and founded Norse colonies there. His son landed in ‘Vinland’ (often identified as America) in about 1000 A.D.  What is the name of this explorer?

8.

The pirate Edward Teach was killed off the coast of North Carolina in 1718.  By what name is he better known?

ROUND 8

1.

What word connects: a current cabinet minister, a violent 1971 film set in Cornwall, and a means of gaining an early opinion?

2.

What particular feature earns the secretary-bird its name?

3.

In which city are the 2006 Commonwealth Games to be held?

4.

Of what literary work are these the opening lines:

“The past is a foreign country; they do things differently there”?

5.

With which English town do you associate Ray Mallon?

6.

The three Brontë sisters were born in 1816, 1818 and 1820. Starting with the oldest, name the sisters in order of their births

7.

In which year (+/- 2 years) did Louis Bleriot first cross the English Channel in an aeroplane?

8.

Who is MP for Maidstone and the Weald?

SPARES

1.

In which geological era do we live?

2.

From which 2 ports in Britain can you catch a ferry to Rosslare?

3.

By what name is the Duke of Rothesay better known?

4.

What was the first name of Wainwright, the author of the series called The Pictorial Guide to the Lake District?

5.

Who has created and written the BBC1 drama series Servants?

6.

Marina Mowatt, 36, is currently in the news for claiming housing benefit and income support.  Who is her royal mother?

7.

Actor, Tom Hollander, is currently appearing as Guy Burgess in BBC1’s drama series Cambridge Spies.  Earlier this year he appeared in BBC1’s The Lost Prince.  Which character did he play?

8.

Which Queen of England married her brother-in-law?

Answers

ROUND 1

1.

Bath & Wells; Sodor & Man

2.

Corpus Christi

3.

Paradise Lost by John Milton

4.

Zulu

5.

Waterloo (Station) (from Waterloo Sunset by The Kinks)

6.

Buttocks (literally it means ‘having beautiful buttocks’)

7.

The Black Isle

8.

Bruce Springsteen

ROUND 2

1.

Lerwick (in the Shetland Islands)

2.

Catherine Zeta Jones

3.

Fetter – Fettle - Fettuccine

4.

A J P Taylor

5.

Malvern

6.

Group Captain

7.

Nat Lofthouse (of Bolton Wanderers)

8.

Monty Don

ROUND 3 – ‘A Sainted Round’

1.

The St Bartholomew’s Day Massacre

2.

St Crispin (and for those remembering Shakespeare’s Henry V, accept St. Crispian)

3.

Charles Camille Saint-Saens

4.

Antoine Marie Roger de Saint-Exup¾ry

5.

St Nicholas

6.

St Jude

7.

Santa Fe

8.

St John’s

ROUND 4

1.

Jay (Jay Silverheels who played Tonto in the Lone Ranger, Peter Jay, a popinjay)

2.

Penguin

3.

West Indies

4.

Little Women (by Louisa M Alcott)

5.

Kidderminster

6.

Pickwick Papers (1837), Bleak House (1852), Great Expectations (1861)

7.

1938 (1936 - 1940)

8.

Clare Short

ROUND 5

1.

Peterborough; Portsmouth

2.

Ascension Day

3.

Samuel Pepys’ Diary

4.

55 Days in Peking

5.

Eve of Destruction (by Barry Mcguire)

6.

Lawn Tennis

7.

Cardiff & Edinburgh

8.

Harbhajan Singh

ROUND 6

1.

Paisley

2.

Honda Accord

3.

Fajitas - Fake - Fakir

4.

Winston Churchill and George Orwell

5.

Abingdon

6.

Major-General

7.

Stan Mortensen (of Blackpool)

8.

Torrin Douglas

ROUND 7 – ‘A Colourful Round’

1.

An Olympic Gold medal

2.

The Golden Rose of Montreux

3.

The Redwood National Park

4.

Orange

5.

On Golden Pond

6.

Bad Day at Black Rock

7.

Erik the Red

8.

Blackbeard

ROUND 8

1.

Straw (Jack Straw, Straw Dogs, a straw poll)

2.

Tufts of feathers at the back of its head resembling pens stuck behind the ear

3.

Melbourne

4.

The Go-Between (by L P Hartley)

5.

Middlesbrough (he’s the so-called ‘Robocop’ who was elected Mayor)

6.

Charlotte (1816), Emily (1818), Anne (1820)

7.

1909 (1907 - 1911)

8.

Ann Widdecombe

SPARES

1.

Cenozoic (or Tertiary)

2.

Fishguard; Pembroke

3.

Prince Charles

4.

Alfred

5.

Lucy Gannon

6.

Princess Alexandra

7.

King George V

8.

Catherine of Aragon (wife of Henry VIII and previously married to his brother Prince Arthur)