5th October – A Double Celebration!!!

  Not only was this the first night of the Macclesfield Pub Quiz League starting at an earlier date than usual, but it also celebrated the long-awaited publication of Bob’s history of the Macclesfield workhouses – a fine work of scholarship – well done Bob!! And contrary to expectations the main workhouse was not as anticipated the old West Park hospital but coincidentally on the Waters Green the home of the quiz team!!

The season started with the loss of two teams to the A League – The Knot, a fine bunch of quizzers who rocketed through the C and B Leagues to the A League where we expect they will stay; and the British Flag who seem to have achieved the Phoenix’ ambition of bobbing up and down between the A and B Leagues.

The first game was away to The Albion, a venue previously not renowned for hospitality, but what a change!! Under new management the beer was in good condition, the staff were efficient and friendly (and attractive!!!) and we got butties. A good setting for a good quiz.

The question master for the night was from The Lamb and since he had not had this onerous task before, he was getting a crash course in the finer points in the Waters Green Tavern before the game;  fortunately the redoubtable Matt Eagles (a quizzer of considerable experience!) had turned up as his former team had dissipated over the summer and he thought he might be able to make himself useful. He very kindly agreed to work with the question master for the evening.

The game against the Albion had been viewed with some trepidation as they had done extremely well in the last season so it was with some mixed emotions that we learned that they only had three players for the night .

Both teams eased themselves slowly into the game with a set of questions that were thought to be very good indeed – even with two picture rounds!! All questions can be viewed here.

The Phoenix played a very steady game giving away very little as can be seen in the individual results:

Bob 18/18 (leading from the front). Wendy 18/15 (a very strong start to the season), Nick 3/15 (a weak start despite his whingeing that he knew all the other answers except his own) and Tomo 15/12 (another strong start); conferred points were 8/8 (mainly from Nick) whilst passed over points came to 6/9. Good team work is indicated by giving away only 4/6 passovers to the Albion. Final score was 155 to 114 to the Phoenix.

But there was more to come!! Matt ended the evening agreeing to join the Albion team making them a real test for the future, and there was a generous selection of butties to finish.

A most enjoyable evening with lots of laughter and fun and a great start to the season – and a very special thank you to the new management of The Albion.