Defiant Despite Everything

The first proper winter snowfall and it all seemed to be going wrong: Becky was supposed to be playing but had had an exhausting day and rang to ask if Sunil could play instead; then Bob rang – he was snowed in up in the hills above town and couldn’t make it. And we were to play the Harrington B team in the lovely old pub the Harrington Arms in Gawsworth – an absolute treasure. Originally a farmhouse it was converted to a pub in 1710 but the farming business continued; for many years it was run by the magnificent Mrs Bailey, herself a Cheshire treasure and the reason there are so many hilarious stories  about visitors to the pub. Following Mrs Bailey’s death the farm business  was detached and it is now a warm friendly pub still belonging to Robinsons brewery.

Fortunately both Sunil and Becky were able to play and Tomo ploughed through the snow to face the home team. The Dizzy Blonde was on top form and a warm welcome awaited us.

The Robin Hood had set both sets of questions that were well received but one question in particular fooled both teams and the question masters as all believed that the division of Korea could not possibly have taken place in 1945 and the given answer must be a typo for 1954 (the answer given by the home team). On checking later however we found the printed answer was correct and there was a hurried rewriting of the scores. All was done in a friendly and humorous atmosphere and it was a most enjoyable evening.

At the end of the Specialist, the Lemmings had slipped ahead with 48 to 41, but did not fare so well in the General Knowledge which they lost with 62 to the home team’s 64 – final score 110 to 106 to the visitors. An interesting point is that there was a surprising number of successful pass-overs with both teams picking up around 20. Individual scores were Sunil 6/15, Becky 6/3, Nick 12/9 Tomo 12/12, conferred 6/9 with 6/14 pass-overs. The Harrington picked up 9/12 pass-overs.

Throughout the game, anxious eyes were kept on the window as it continued to snow but a generous selection of tasty sandwiches set up the visitors for the slalom home Many thanks to the very friendly bar staff, to the home team and to the patient question masters for a most enjoyable game.

13th February Away to the Nags Head

The Lemmings trudged across Waters Green in a biting wind and stinging drizzle to the cavernous Nags Head probably built originally to provide shelter for drovers, shepherds and cattlemen bringing their livestock to market – for many years it has been a popular venue for music and is the meeting place for Macc Bikers – very much a community pub it supports several other activities as well as the quiz team, who are old friends and adversaries.

This time it was Becky’s turn to show how she has settled in to the team impressing everyone when she ran through the whole list of classifications in the animal kingdom.

The specialist questions by the Church House Bollington were clearly the fruit of much thought – naturally there was a round called Valentines but not at all what was expected and all the others were not of the usual run of questions. At the end of the Specialists the Lemmings had edged ahead with 57 to the Nag’s 47.

The General Knowledge were not quite as good and when the scores were  checked during a beer break the Lemmings were trailing with 38 to 41 – not going too well!! Time to buckle down and ensure no points were thrown away. This the Lemmings managed taking the General Knowledge with 74 to 71 taking the game with 128 to 118.

Dave Reynolds from our sister team the Waters Green Rams was the question master with a light touch and good sense of humour making it a very pleasant evening.

Individual scores were Bob 15/12, Becky 12/9, Nick 9/6, Tomo 3/21 with 6/19 conferred and 9/7 pass-overs. The Nags picked up 9/4 pass-overs.

The evening drew to a close with a huge platter of excellent chips with chicken nuggets and bread and butter – many thanks to the landlord, to the Nags Head team, and to Dave for making everything so enjoyable.

6th February–Robin Hood A Broadside Ballad

On a bitterly cold night the Lemmings welcomed the Robin Hood team who had braved the wind and snow in Rainow to reach the Tavern. Whilst the Robin Hood pub has had some ups and downs recently it is a real community pub nestled in the village of Rainow in the Peak District as can be seen from the strength in depth of the quiz team.

It was a very pleasant evening and the question masters from the Harrington kept the game rolling along at a good pace despite the beer breaks – we were finished b y 9.30!!

The questions had been set by the Harrington and one question in particular seemed to surprise everyone – the maximum width in yards of a football pitch – one hundred yards, although accurate, seemed far too much. We thought they were pretty good and marked them quite highly although two rounds in particular would favour older players – one with questions from the Vimto book of knowledge (although Nick scored his only Specialist 3 in that round) and children’s literature. At the end of the Specialist the Lemmings had a nose in front with 51 to 46.

The General Knowledge questions were set by the Park Timers and rolled along pleasantly with no clear indication of which team was ahead – in fact the Robin Hood came out on top with 98 to 93 making the game a draw with 144 each.

Individual scores were Bob 6/21, Sunil 12/18, Nick 3/12 and Tomo 12/15; conferred points were 15/17 with pass-overs 5/10 whilst the visitors picked up 4/7 pass-overs.Sunil obviously hit his stride with the best score of the team on the night.

The evening ended with a fine selection of sandwiches – many thanks to Brian  to the question masters and to the visitors for a very pleasant game and evening.