ROUND 1

1.

Whose first symphony has the nickname Winter Dreams?

Tchaikovsky

2.

What type of fruit are Lancashire Lad and Langley Gage?

Gooseberries

3.

Which British town did the Romans call Corinum?

Cirencester

4.

Which North American city is served by Lester B Pearson International Airport?

Toronto

5.

Which Scottish football team plays its home games in Coatbridge?

Albion Rovers

6.

Which group of artists, based in Munich in 1911, included amongst its adherents, Kandinsky and Klee?

Blauer Reiter (Blue Rider)

7.

Of whom did MP John Bright say: “He is a self-made man who worships his creator”?

Benjamin Disraeli

8.

In the Old Testament, which king consulted the Witch of Endor?

Saul

ROUND 2

1.

Michael Henchard is the character. What is the book?

Mayor of Casterbridge

2.

What is a 100 square metres in square feet?

1076 (allow 10 either way; accept between 1066 and 1086)

3.

Name the first track on the album Parachutes by Coldplay.

Don’t Panic

4.

On Moh’s scale of hardness, if diamond is 10, what is gypsum?

2

5.

Who said, of champagne: “In victory you deserve it, in defeat you need it”?

Winston Churchill

6.

There are 7 wards in the parliamentary seat of Withington.  Name the 3 wards which share a boundary with Chorlton Park

Chorlton, Didsbury West, and Old Moat

7.

Who played the male lead in Dirty Dancing?

Patrick Swayzee

8.

Who is the editor of The Independent?

Simon Kellner

ROUND 3

1.

Although Australia is not a signatory to the Kyoto agreement, it is planning to make a contribution to the reduction of emissions of greenhouse gases by banning the sale of what item?

Incandescent lightbulbs

2.

Between which two cities did the train called ‘20th-century Ltd’ run?

Chicago and New York

3.

Elgar named his famous marches Pomp and Circumstance.  Which eponymous Shakespearean character speaks the line: “Pride, pomp, and circumstance of glorious war!”?

Othello

4.

In his book on Prime Ministers, Harold Wilson cites this quotation: “He always viewed foreign affairs through the wrong end of a municipal sewage pipe”, said by one former Prime Minister about another.  Give the name of either Prime Minister, and whether he said the quotation or was being described by it.

It was said by Lloyd George about Neville Chamberlain (who was Lord Mayor of Birmingham during his political career)

5.

Who is being described here?  He was born in Wales in 1841 with the name John Rowlands.  At the age of 18 he went to the United States and became friendly with a wealthy trader in New Orleans whose name he adopted for the rest of his life.  In the United States he performed military service with both sides in the Civil War.  He later worked for James Gordon Bennett (father and son).  Amongst other things he was indirectly responsible for helping establishing the rule of Leopold II over the Congo.  He eventually became MP for Lambeth North and died in 1904.

Henry Morton Stanley (as the proprietor of the New York Herald, Gordon Bennett Junior sent him to look for Dr Livingstone)

6.

The billhook is a tool that has been used in Western Europe for centuries.  What is the normal purpose of a billhook (i.e. not as a weapon)?

Pruning hedges, saplings, vines, etc.

7.

What has been read intermittently since 1715 in Belize, and most recently in January 2005?

The Riot Act (repealed in the UK in 1973 but still in force in the protectorates)

8.

What dramatic device is shared by Shakespeare’s plays Hamlet, Midsummer Night’s Dream and Taming of the Shrew, and Bertolt Brecht’s play Caucasian Chalk Circle?

They all contain a play within a play (Note to Question Master: If anybody can think of a compelling answer other than this you can give them one mark)

ROUND 4

1.

In L S Lowry’s Going to the Match, which ground are they going to?

Burnden Park (accept Bolton Wanderers’ ground)

2.

Name two of the other three countries in England’s group in the forthcoming one-day cricket World Cup.

(Two from) Canada, Kenya and New Zealand

3.

On which river does Rangoon stand?

Irrawaddy

4.

Who is currently in the top 10 best-selling non-fiction list with the book Born to be Riled?

Jeremy Clarkson

5.

On what date is Candlemas?

February 2nd

6.

Who is a speaker of the House of Representatives?

Nancy Pelosi

7.

Which song-writing duo, who wrote shows for the London stage in the 60s and 70s, amongst many other show business activities, collaborated with John Barry in the writing of the song Goldfinger?

Leslie Bricusse and Anthony Newley

8.

In which town was the composer William Walton born?

Oldham

ROUND 5

1.

Where would you be going if you took Duke Ellington’s advice and took the “A” Train?

Sugar Hill (in Harlem as stated in the song, but accept Harlem - the “A” line runs from Brooklyn through Harlem to Upper Manhattan)

2.

In cricket what name is given to the score 111?

Nelson

3.

On which river does St Petersburg stand?

Neva

4.

Who is currently in the top 10 best sellers non-fiction list with Semi-detached?

Griff Rhys Jones

5.

When is Lammas?

August 1st

6.

Who is the speaker of the House of Commons?

Michael Martin

7.

Which husband and wife wrote the song for the Bond movie Live and Let Die?

Paul and Linda McCartney

8.

In which town was the composer Benjamin Britten born?

Lowestoft

ROUND 6 

1.

Holden Caulfield is the character.  Name the book.

Catcher in the Rye

2.

How many square metres are there in an acre?

4047 (allow 20 either side; accept between 4027 and 4067)

3.

Name the first track on the album OK Computer by Radiohead.

Airbag

4.

On Moh’s scale of hardness, if diamond is 10, what is corundum?

9

5.

Who said: “If penicillin can cure those who are ill, Spanish sherry can bring the dead back to life”?

Alexander Fleming

6.

Which 3 Withington wards have a border with the ward of Didsbury East?

Didsbury West, Withington, and Burnage

7.

Who played the male lead in Truly, Madly, Deeply?

Alan Rickman

8.

Who is the editor of the Daily Mirror?

Richard Wallis

ROUND 7

1.

Who composed Symphony of Psalms?

Igor Stravinsky

2.

What type of fruit are Malling Jet and Wellington XXX?

Blackcurrants

3.

Which British town did the Romans call Noriomagus?

Chichester

4.

Which Asian capital city is served by Narita International Airport?

Tokyo

5.

Which Scottish football team plays its home games in Cumbernauld?

Clyde

6.

What is the name of the artistic movement in Austria and Germany whose principal adherent was Gustav Klimt?

Secession (or Sezession)

7.

Whom did Winston Churchill allegedly describe as: “A sheep in sheep’s clothing”?

Clement Atlee

8.

In the Old Testament, with whose wife did King David commit adultery?

Uriah the Hittite

ROUND 8 – Themed

The theme is revealed after the answer to Question 8

1.

Which composer was nicknamed ‘The Red Priest’?

Antonio Vivaldi

2.

Which 20^th Century artist had a Blue Period, a Rose Period, and painted Les Demoiselles d’Avignon which paved the way to Cubism?

Pablo Picasso

3.

Whose first solo album was entitled Voice of an Angel? (forename and surname required)

Charlotte Church

4.

What word links: a firework; a reprimand; and a type of salad leaf?

Rocket

5.

A World War II pilot awarded the Victoria Cross; his first Foundation Home for the Incurably Sick was opened in 1948; he married Sue Ryder in 1959.  Who is he?

Leonard Cheshire

6.

What is the name of the hills which lie between the A71 and A702 immediately south of Edinburgh?

Pentland Hills

7.

He was deposed after only three months on the English throne in favour of his uncle, who, reputedly, had him and his brother murdered.  Who was he? (full title required)

King Edward V

8.

Which US state is called the Garden State?

New Jersey

Each answer contains the name of a variety of potato, underlined in the answers given above

SPARES

1.

Which book won the recent Costa book award?

Tenderness of Wolves

2.

In which prison was Dr Crippen executed?

Pentonville

3.

Francesco Lo Vecchio, who died recently, was better known by what name?

Frankie Laine

4.

What was Gus Kohntopp’s call sign, which was referred to in the friendly fire incident reported in the news recently?

Popov 36

5.

In which city were the imperial diets (Reichstage) of the Holy Roman Empire held?

Nuremberg

6.

In which regiment is Prince Harry?

Blues and Royals

7.

Which sitcom is being remade as The Minister of Divine in the US?

The Vicar of Dibley

8.

Nicknamed ‘The Robins’, which football club plays at Ashton Gate?

Bristol City