ROUND 1

1.

Where is London’s new international railway terminus station being built?

St Pancras

2.

What is the longest river wholly in Wales?

Towy

3.

Name all 4 chemical constituents that each account for at least 0.03% of the earth’s atmosphere?

Oxygen, Nitrogen, Argon & Carbon Dioxide

4.

Which pub in Whitechapel Road, London, is famous as the site of Ronald Kray’s murder of George Cornell?

The Blind Beggar

5.

Seven members of the Shadow Cabinet - Francis Maude, Archie Norman, Bernard Jenkin, Lord Strathclyde, Peter Ainsworth, Oliver Letwin and David Willetts - all made the news on the same day in October 2000.  Why?

They all admitted they had smoked cannabis (as students of course!)

6.

Which physical feature is known to Maoris as ‘Aoraki’ (‘The Cloud Piercer’)?

Mt. Cook (NZ)

7.

Who was the vocalist on Gary Moore’s 1979 hit Parisienne Walkways?

Phil Lynott

8.

What are Cumbria’s only two racecourses?

Cartmel & Carlisle

ROUND 2

1.

What 3 words immediately adjacent to each other in the dictionary mean:

·    a quantity of paper

·    a peculiarity of character

·    a traitor who aids an enemy occupying force?

quire, quirk, quisling

2.

Who directed the film The English Patient that was awarded 9 Oscars this day in 1997?

Anthony Minghella

3.

Which hospital, situated 20 miles west of London, claims to be Britain’s leading hospital for heart-and-lung operations?

Harefield

4.

Who was the original narrator, in 1984, of the Thomas the Tank Engine TV series?

Ringo Starr

5.

With 11 dismissals, which test bowler took Steve Waugh’s wicket more often than any other?

Curtly Ambrose

6.

What is the name of the all-enveloping garment worn by Muslim women?

Burka (accept Chador)

7.

In a TV studio, what is a dolly?

A mounting for a camera

8.

In which town are the administrative HQ of Cornwall?

Truro

ROUND 3

1.

Who was the Right Hon. James Hacker’s Private Secretary, played by Derek Fowlds?

Bernard Woolley

2.

During 2003, Ben Curtis won which major sporting event?

Open Golf Championship

3.

In 1995 Roy Jenkins was awarded the Whitbread Prize for his biography of which 19th century Prime Minister?

William Gladstone

4.

Which French phrase incorporated into the English language means the aristocracy should behave honourably?

Noblesse oblige

5.

Which country has borders with China, Vietnam, Cambodia, Thailand and Myanmar (Burma)?

Laos

6.

Which politician has written a novel entitled The Clematis Tree?

Anne Widdecombe

7.

Anagrammatically connect an Anglo-Saxon kingdom and a region adjoining the Black Sea.

Mercia and Crimea

8.

Which later Prime Minister took part in the Battle of Omdurman?

Winston Churchill

ROUND 4

1.

An American city standing on the river James, and an English town standing on the river Swale share the same name.  Which name?

Richmond

2.

What name is given to the dark gap between rings A and B of Saturn?

Cassini’s Division

3.

To within 5 years give the year of death of the artist Henri Matisse.

1954 (allow 1949 to 1959)

4.

Of which Jane Austen novel is Anne Elliott the heroine?

Persuasion

5.

What is the only English anagram of the word ‘grandiose’?

Organised

6.

Which 22 year old was saved from drowning by his assistant Mr Beamish on 22nd January 1828?

Isambard Kingdom Brunel

7.

In which country is the city of Dakar?  (please spell out Dakar for the teams)

Senegal

8.

“Roxanne drives her mother crazy.  Maurice never speaks to his niece.  Cynthia has a shock for her family.  Monica can’t talk to her husband.  Hortense has never met her mother.”  Which 1996 Oscar nominated film was advertised with this tagline?

Secrets and Lies

ROUND 5

1.

Which state-owned organisation, celebrating its 150th anniversary this year, has recently moved, with its Cray supercomputers, from Bracknell to Exeter?

The Meteorological Office

2.

What is the second highest peak in the UK?

Ben Macdui

3.

On the pH scale measuring acidity and alkalinity, what point is pH neutral?

7.0

4.

Which pub, in Hampstead, London, is famous as the site of Ruth Ellis’s murder of David Blakeney?

The Magdala Tavern

5.

Which former editor of The Spectator became a Tory MP in 2001?

Boris Johnson

6.

How do the Australian Aborigines refer to their mythical past?

Dreamtime

7.

Which Neil Diamond song was a 1983 hit for UB40?

Red Red Wine

8.

What are the only two Welsh Racecourses?

Chepstow & Bangor

ROUND 6 

1.

Anagrammatically connect a large aquatic bird and a major European river?

Heron and Rhone

2.

Who directed the film Titanic that was awarded 11 Oscars this day in 1998?

James Cameron

3.

Which pioneering hospital is situated in Aylesbury in Buckinghamshire?

Stoke Mandeville

4.

Who is the voice of the children’s TV character Bob the Builder?

Neil Morrisey

5.

Which cricketer played for England against the West Indies at Manchester in 1976, when aged 45?

Brian Close

6.

Who would wear a cope and carry a crosier?

Bishop

7.

What 3 words immediately adjacent to each other in the dictionary mean:

·    a soft wet area of land

·    any of various, small, old world game birds

·    attractively unusual, especially in an old fashioned style?

quagmire, quail, quaint

8.

In which town are the administrative HQ of Derbyshire?

Matlock

ROUND 7

1.

Where did Miss Tibbs and Miss Gatsby live?

Fawlty Towers

2.

In 2003, which Canadian became only the second left-hander to win one of golf’s major championships?

Mike Weir

3.

In 1993 Andrew Motion was awarded the Whitbread Prize for his biography of which poet?

Phillip Larkin

4.

Which German word, incorporated into the English language, means ‘malicious enjoyment at the misfortune of others’?

Schadenfreude

5.

Which country has borders with Libya, Sudan, Central African Republic, Cameroon, Nigeria and Niger?

Chad

6.

Which politician has written a novel entitled The Devil's Tune?

Iain Duncan Smith

7.

What is a TV studio’s chief electrician called?

Gaffer

8.

Who was English king at the time of the Battle of Crècy?

Edward III

ROUND 8

1.

A town on the Isle of Wight standing on the river Medina, and a town in Wales standing on the river Usk share the same name.  Which name?

Newport

2.

What name is given to the brilliant points seen around the Moon just before and after a total solar eclipse?

Baily’s Beads

3.

Give to within 5 years the year of death of the artist Marc Chagall?

1985 (allow 1980 to 1990)

4.

In which Dickens novel does Susan Nipper appear?

Dombey & Son

5.

What is the only English anagram of the word ‘bargained’?

Gabardine

6.

Which poet, historian and politician died in 1859, the same year as Brunel?

Thomas Macauley

7.

On which river does Rangoon stand?

Irrawaddy

8.

“A lot can happen in the middle of nowhere”.  Which 1996 Oscar nominated black comedy was advertised with these words?

Fargo

SPARES

1.

What is the name of the photographer whose exhibition called Eye to Eye is currently running at the Richard Goodall gallery in Manchester?

Graham Nash (ex Hollies, and Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young)

2.

Grenadine is a liqueur made from which fruit?

Pomegranate

3.

Britain is symbolised by the female figure Britannia.  What is the name of the female figure who symbolises France?

Marianne

4.

How many elements constitute the Noble gases?

6

5.

Which year did Queen Elizabeth II describe as an “annus horribilis”?

1992

6.

Which Italian city won the bid to stage the 2006 Winter Olympics?

Turin

7.

Which horse has won most Cheltenham Gold Cups?

Golden Miller (5 times)

8.

What is the name of the lake behind the Aswan Dam?

Lake Nasser