Nick's Quiz site

LIKE YOU’VE NEVER BEEN GONE

2012-02-09T05:54:00.001-08:00

With apologies to Billy Fury for mutilating the title of his song.

After playing the Albion only last week we were facing them again this week on their own ground – and it must be said that the Albion has changed considerably since our last visit – it is now much friendlier and the one (Robinson’s) ale on tap was in very good condition. After an initial confusion with the seating arrangements the team settled down to their usual jocular selves. But we knew that after last week’s very close result they would be out to win – and to make matters worse Rosie was missing.

The Phoenix got off to a very shaky start and at the end of the Specialist questions were trailing by 10 points with 33 to 43 although the questions were fine; they fared rather better with the General Knowledge but the questions cannot be allowed to go without comment. The lack of E-mail for one of the teams seems to have caused problems with the vetting as there are at least two wrong answers in the GK (both indicated on the questions blog). Whatever did we do before E-mails?

Rosie made a late appearance that perhaps helped the Phoenix claw back some of the lead finishing the GK with 75 to the Albion’s 70. Final score 113 to 108 to the Albion knocking the Phoenix off their shared top spot. Individual scores were Bob 3/15, Wendy 6/12, Nick 3/9 and Tomo 3/12 with 11/14 conferred and 7/13 passovers; the Albion picking up 7/9 passovers.

It was an enjoyable game and the better team won – well done the Albion. Nicely rounded off with a selection of sandwiches – thank you the Albion.

31st Jan–the Plate Quarter Finals

2012-02-02T01:33:00.001-08:00

The Phoenix had been drawn against the Albion, always a tough team to beat, especially when the answers are all conferred. Moreover it was rather discouraging to learn that John of the Albion was probably alone last week in knowing that the horse’s head appearing in the Godfather was called Khartoum!!

Once again the FA had created a distraction with both City and United playing League games but the tension was such that no-one asked about the score at any time. It was a bitterly cold night so the Phoenix grabbed the fireside table forcing the Albion to sit by the draughty door, a bit of gamesmanship that did not go unnoticed!! But we had Rosie and she likes the seat near the fire.

The questions had been set by the Ox Fford and the Cock-A-2 (formerly the Castle) and whilst being generally difficult were equally balanced. Unfortunately the tension got to the Phoenix such that on several occasions they talked themselves out of a correct answer.

The first round of 20 questions set the scene for a difficult game ending with 10 each; round 2 put the Phoenix ahead with 11 to 8; round 3 saw the Phoenix nose ahead with 13 to 12 but slip back in the next round with 15 to 17; the fifth round was 12 each with the last round seeing the Phoenix just edging it with 11 to 10. Final score to the Phoenix with 72 to 69.

It was a great game with lots of laughter and good spirits, well controlled by John from the Cock-A-2 and lubricated by Allgates stunning California ale (named after a Wigan coal mine) a golden beer its taste belying its 3.8% ABV.

Oh and United beat Stoke 2-0 drawing level with City at the top of the League since Everton managed a 1-0 win.

24th January - Away to the Plough Horntails

2012-01-29T05:54:00.001-08:00

ick was not playing in the quiz as he was soaking up the culture of London (including the exhibition of illuminated manuscripts at the British Library – hence the opening character) but with the assistance of a judge they managed to win the game against the Plough Horntails. The questions can be seen here. Hope to show detailed results in the future.

Have now had a chance to look at the results and comments - in a week of generally low results and critical comments, the Phoenix did well. At the halfway stage they were ahead with 49 to 27, and they won the General Knowledge rounds 77 to 63 with a final score of 126 to 90. Tim playing his first game in the League did very well in the Specialist questions whilst Tomo achieved a magnificent score. Individual scores were Bob 3/18, Wendy 9/12, Tim 12/6 and Tomo 12/21; conferred points were 7/12 with passovers 6/8. The Horntails picked up 7/8 passovers.

17th January 2012 Home to the Lamb

2012-01-18T09:19:00.001-08:00

“And the Wolf shall dwell with the lamb”

This was the first game of the second half of the season and the Phoenix were lying second with the Park Taverners snapping at their heels. The Lamb have had some unfortunate results and were holding up the rest of the League – see the link to News & Views aside. It was therefore with a vulpine, confident swagger that the Phoenix gathered on their home turf. Coincidentally Macc Town were playing Bolton in a 3rd round replay of the Cup having drawn 2-2 in the first round – both they and the Phoenix had a lot to live up to!!

The Specialist Questions (set by The Church House Bollington) were different (not to say unusual) with tongue-twisting questions and mathematical symbols. Unfortunately these were far more to the Lamb’s taste than to the Phoenix who finished the rounds 13 points behind (45 points to the Lamb’s 58)!! Only Bob and Tomo got into double figures (12 each) so there was a lot of hard work to do!!

The General Knowledge were more to the Phoenix’ taste and the scoring was pretty steady as they fought to get back into the game. After a couple of beer breaks in which the Magic Rock Curious ale fortified spirits and minds the Phoenix had managed to make up the deficit and get a nose in front eventually finishing the questions with 79 to 51 – a good recovery.

Individual scores were Bob 12/12, Wendy 3/18, Nick 3/12 and Tomo 12/12; conferred points were 12/14 and passovers 3/11. The Lamb picked up 6/3 passovers.

For some reason the game lacked the sparkle we have come to expect and have previously enjoyed with the Lamb and we don’t think it can be put down to the questions. Perhaps it was the pain Nick was obviously experiencing with his neck that spread to the rest of the players’ bums.

Final score then was 124 to 109 – a fine recovery sadly not matched by Macc Town who lost the replay 2-0.

A fine selection of sandwiches rounded off the evening. Thank you Brian and Tracey.

Quizmasters 10th January

2012-01-11T10:54:00.001-08:00

This week the Phoenix set the specialist questions and asked both sets at the four games in the B League – hopefully not as unctuously as Anil Kapoor in Slumdog Millionaire.

There was a special round to celebrate Bob’s 25 years in the quiz league and generally they went down quite well. The big question remaining is which of the quizmasters got the best supper!! Did anyone do better than Nick with chips, sausages in onion gravy and bread and butter??

13th December–away to the Plough Horntails

2012-01-02T03:21:00.001-08:00

From our sports writer Duncan Disorderley

Greetings!

I thought I might pen a few lines to your blog as I met my old friend Bob Langstaff the other day and we got around to talking about the early days of the Macclesfield Quiz League when I was first reserve for the Robin Hood in Rainow. It’s good to see that this old hostelry has a team in the Quiz League once more, trying to do as well as its illustrious predecessors. It’s even better to know that the Robin Hood is still open! This time last year there were three pubs in Rainow and now there’s only the one - The “Rising Sun” has finally set, and the “Highwayman” has robbed his last shilling. Bob told me that my old mate Graham Holt was making a guest appearance for the Tavern against the Plough Horntails so I thought I’d go along for old time’s sake as this year is Bob’s Silver Quizzing Anniversary.

The quiz itself was quite good, but not like the quizzes of yore. Those were the days! – the Quiz League of the 1980s when men were men and so were most of the women. There were guys like Nick Dennis, ex-Brain of Britain who led the fearsome Millstone team and used to insult opponents using the ‘sledging’ like the Aussie cricketers do only in a Cockney accent. His team was so dedicated they used to interview hire and fire! They were all fairly old so they had a young lad who was under instruction during the match to answer only sport and pop music questions (at which he was a master) and confer on all other questions.

Then there was the famous smoking Vicar, David Harrison who gave up the league when he could no longer chain smoke his way through twenty rounds. He once played on the quiz team for one of the little house-pubs – I think it was the Morning Star - and we were neck and neck until we had a specialist round on Saints and he knew the bloody lot! I’m convinced to this day that it was divine intervention. Yes, those were the days, when you had to put up with questions like “What is the only creature besides man that can catch leprosy?” That raised some eyebrows I can tell you. Then there were those team members who came out for a pint and an argument. I won’t name the chief antagonist as he may be still around, but no, it wasn’t Paul Beard – he made PB seem like a choirboy!

The Tavern team did OK. Graham held his corner, Bob has lost none of his charm and good looks and Wendy only made one howler when she said that a Royal Enfield was where the queen kept her chickens. Tommo answered well between bouts of making things disappear and they eventually won the match. Didn’t see Nick though. Somebody told me he was away celebrating his 70^th birthday. I must say he doesn’t look seventy, though he must have done at one time!

And in case you were wondering, nine-banded armadillo’s can also catch leprosy.

Cheerio for now

Duncan Disorderley

6th December Away to the Park Tavern

2011-12-07T04:04:00.001-08:00

Still licking their wounds from the biggest defeat ever, the Phoenix made their way to the Park Tavern.

This pub has not had a team in the League for many years; it has an interesting history having been built in 1825 and after various closures and mergers it became a Robinson’s pub but was allowed to get run down until it eventually shut and it had been empty for over two years. Paradoxically, despite the general decline of pubs throughout the country the revival of real ales has given the Tavern a fresh lease of life; it was bought by the Bollington Brewing Company earlier this year to complement its brewery tap The Vale in Bollington thus securing a presence in Macclesfield. A lot of money has been spent in refurbishment and it is now a very comfortable pub with eight real ale pumps mostly for their own beer but also supporting a guest beer. Brightly decorated and with a very friendly manager and staff the Tavern is a real asset to the town’s ale lovers. All the beers were in top form.

The home team are old friends and we all get along socially – they moved to the Park Tavern when their previous quiz home The Castle closed down.This was also a very special occasion – it was Pete’s 50th birthday!! The small private room where the quizzes are held had been decorated with balloons etc. by the rest of the team and all was set for a most enjoyable evening. Rosie was with us and the Phoenix were buoyant.

Then the questions started.

Mark Twain famously said “All you need in this life is ignorance and confidence then success is sure.” Pah – we soon showed him!!!

The specialist rounds were fairly even with the Park Tavern a nose ahead at the end with 68 to the Phoenix’ 60 – we’ve often closed a gap like that and started the General Knowledge with confidence. Sadly this was misplaced and the Park Tavern continued to draw steadily ahead eventually giving the Phoenix a thrashing for the second consecutive week.

Individual scores were Bob 18/15, Wendy 9/12, Nick 6/9 and Tomo 15/12, with conferred 8/11 and 4/7 passovers. The Taverners picked up 6/11 passovers.

The final score was 154 to 126 to the Park Taverners despite Bob’s and Tomo’s strong scores.

No complaints, it was great fun with lots of laughter, a superb cottage pie presented by the landlord and to round off a most pleasant evening a lovely chocolate cake with 50 candles made by Heather.

A big thankyou to all.

29th November Away to the British Flag

2011-12-01T08:12:00.001-08:00

The British Flag is a longstanding pub just outside the town centre that has recently been purchased from Robinson’s brewery chain although their beer is still the only choice. Nevertheless it is probably the best-kept Robbies house for miles around (rivalled only by The Dolphin) and of particular interest on the night was their new brew Build A Rocket Boys, produced in association with the well-known rock band Elbow who have just released an album of that name.

The team we usually play in alternate seasons as they achieve what the Phoenix aim for, promotion to the A League if only for one season, and this clash was an important one for both teams – equal first at the start of the game with the Flag ahead on points difference. Nevertheless it was a very friendly game with a relaxed attitude to answers overseen with patience and good humour by the question master from the Plough.

The questions whilst pretty difficult were nevertheless well balanced although the body-parts round created problems for both sides. But this is where the men were separated from the boys, with the Flag running away from the Phoenix with the last two rounds of the specialist.

At the half-way stage the Phoenix were trailing by 24 points (58/34) from which they never recovered. Individual scores were Bob 12/9, Wendy 9/24, Nick 3/12 , Tomo 3/9, conferred 4/13 and passovers 3/9. The Flag picked up 11/11 passovers winning by a huge margin of 36 points with 146/110.

No complaints, as a team they just knew more than we did and it shows in the result. It was a very pleasant evening rounded off with a fine selection of sandwiches. Well done the Flag.

22 November–the Plate away at the Robin Hood

2011-11-23T04:54:00.001-08:00

Whilst not exactly under the greenwood the Robin Hood Inn nestles high in the hills above Macclesfield just on the edge of the Peak District. The inn has stood here since 1810 and would have seen many a harvest worker’s thirst quenched.

For most of the team this visit was a first as this is the first season after many years that the Robin Hood has a team in the quiz league. The pub wears its years well and has a welcoming atmosphere, excellent ales well kept and an interesting looking menu – moreover it has expanded with a thriving B&B business in converted stables. It is also Bob’s local.

The home team are a jovial group and we were made most welcome.

There was a wide range of questions set by The Cock and The Harrington Academicals and the scoring was very close, the Phoenix’ early lead being gradually overhauled until the Robin Hood were ahead by a point at the beginning of the last round. Scoring as follows – home team first:

16/17, 13/17, 18/18,13/14,19/12 and the Phoenix just managed to slink in with a 14/20 round – final score 93/98.

A great game, an excellent evening overseen by Dave from the Academicals all rounded off with a fine tray of chips with onion rings with three zingy dips.

Many thanks to the pub and to the team who will be a great asset

15 November–Outnumbered!!

2011-11-20T04:35:00.001-08:00

This week the Phoenix were at home to the Church House Bollington who must have felt seriously outnumbered – not only was our mascot Rosie present, but the Ladies’ Darts were playing and just as you thought things couldn’t get worse it was the 50th birthday of one of their players so the laughter was even more raucous and loud than usual, not to mention the usual noise associated with a popular old-fashioned pub.

The Church House are old adversaries and we have always been pretty evenly matched – a quick look at the previous three years’ results shows each team to have won three games; this time the match got off to a poor start when Bob put the Phoenix’ names as playing first on both the score sheets throwing everything into confusion – various reasons were offered for this slip. Despite all the distractions, the game was played with good humour and lots of laughter

Mention must be made here of the question master Matt Eagles who managed to make himself heard above the noise and other difficulties and who controlled the game and timing with admirable skill whilst retaining high spirits – the star of the night.

The questions were well thought out and it was interesting to see non-Christian beliefs being brought into the quiz along with some Greek and Roman myths. Even a picture round was very different in that each image depicted a different historical incident with additional material looking for the place or other information. It was interesting to see the new grandfather Bob take over from Tomo as the expert on daytime TV and children’s programmes. A minor complaint was that most of the TV questions were from Sky 1 that is not available to everyone.

However, despite the Phoenix liking the questions, scoring was relatively low with only Wendy maintaining her average for the series.

At the end of the Specialist questions the Phoenix had built up a healthy lead of 10 with 53 to 43, and a similar gap in the General Knowledge.

Individual scores were Bob 9/9, Wendy 12/21, Nick 6/6, Tomo 6/3 with conferred points 10/20 and 10/10 passovers; the Church House collected 7/4 passovers.

Final score 122 to 103 – a most enjoyable game finished off with a selection of sandwiches to soak up the excellent ales on offer – many thanks to Brian and Tracey and again a special word of thanks to our battling question master Matt.

8th November –The Local Derby

2011-11-10T03:13:00.001-08:00

The first clash of the two Waters Green Tavern quiz teams for quite some time – both teams on home turf and both teams at full strength – including Rosie (although Nick sullenly nursing a fruit juice because of his medication was a sorry sight).

In sharp contrast to the previous week, the pub was almost tranquil and the quiz proceeded at a fast rate.

Questions had been set by the Park Taverners and the Chester Road Tavern and again showed an imaginative approach with lyrics from the second verses of songs and a geography round based on the Park Taverners’ holiday destinations.

A good guide to the quality of the questions is that nearly all were answered either by the original team or when passed over – very few slipped by and there were no disputes. Moreover it was a very high-scoring game with special mention going to Keith Pointon of the Rams who scored a magnificent 48, only missing a clean sweep of the General Knowledge on the very last question.

Bob, Wendy and Tomo all improved on their season best scores whilst Nick slowly managed to clear his fuzzy brain and take part in the General Knowledge.

Graham from the Park Tavern controlled proceedings with humour and firmness in a thoroughly enjoyable game.

Individual scores were Bob 18/24, Wendy 15/24, Nick 3/18 and Tomo 18/15, conferred points were 7/12 and passovers 6/11. The Rams picked up 3/6 passovers.

Final scores (Phoenix first) were half time 67/47 and full time 171/130.

A great game rounded off with a huge dish of fabulous sausages, onion gravy, chips and bread and butter.

Many thanks to Tracey and Brian and to the Rams.

1st November–Home to The Albion

2011-11-02T05:04:00.001-07:00

The rutting season hits the Macclesfield pub Quiz League as the struggle develops for dominance. At the beginning of the evening three teams lined up with maximum points, and the Phoenix (3rd on points difference) were playing The Albion (2nd). In the traditional manner, as the struggle gets hotter, the air would be filled with the bellows and belches of the competing alpha teams as they strive for ascendancy.

Questions for the evening were all set by the Harrington Academicals and were very well received, and special mention must be made of the question master taking the responsibility for the first time, and doing his own timekeeping. This is a hair-raising situation at the best of times, but the situation was made much worse by the ambient noise in the pub – even the Ladies’ Darts were drowned out!! Not to mention the bellows and belches of the two quiz teams!!!But – it’s a pub and a very lively one too so we have to expect that from time to time. So a special word of thanks to our question master.

It was a keenly fought game without getting too serious with a relaxed attitude to several of the questions and answers and many laughs and jokes.

Individual scores were Bob 9/18, Wendy 15/18, Nick 9/12 and Tomo 12/6, conferred points 5/13 with 7/6 passovers; the Albion picked up 7/6 passovers, final score being 133 to 108 in favour of the Phoenix.

The magnificent selection of beers was absorbed with a great choice of tasty sandwiches – thankyou Tracey.

The team in first place was the British Flag who retained their position with a win over the Phoenix’ sister team the Rams.

Oh and there were a couple of minor southern teams playing in the Champions League but nobody showed any interest

25th October–First Round of the Knockout

2011-10-26T09:01:00.001-07:00

The first round of the Cup/Plate and the Phoenix were drawn against the Dolphin Dragons from the upper reaches of the A League – not to worry – we’re good at conferring.

Back to full strength with Bob back from the Lake District and Rosie back in rude health following a rather noisy and messy visit to the vet – and also with the home crowd behind them the Phoenix entered the fray with heads held high.

We found the questions to be very good covering a wide range of subjects with no smart-arse “They won’t get this” spoilers, so a big thanks to the Nag’s Head and the Knot Know-Alls.

It was actually a fairly even-matched game with the lead in each of the six 20-question rounds going from one team to the other as follows (visitors first):

12/18, 20/10, 18/16, 11/19, 23/12 and 17/15 – final score 101/90 a difference of 11.

It was a most enjoyable game with lots of laughter and fun rounded off with a fine selection of sandwiches that included Brian’s famed roast beef and ham. Many thanks to Brian and Tracey.

The Phoenix now march into their rightful place in the Plate with the hope of reaching the final once again.

Oh yes, once again there was a diversion by the FA but Macc beat Bradford 1-0, and United beat Aldershot 3-0.

18th October–Home to the Plough Taverners

2011-10-20T04:28:00.001-07:00

The Plough Taverners are getting quite at home at the Waters Green Tavern since they played there against the Rams only last week – they won that game and not long before that were in the Plate Final so we knew it was to be a strong tussle. They’re a great team and good friends.

Once again the football authorities tried to distract attention from our game by arranging for Manchester United AND City to be playing in the European Cup but we were undaunted – this week we had Rosie!! Bob was unable to play but Steve manfully stepped in to cover.

The question setters had only two or three weeks to prepare the questions and they were perhaps a little uneven as a result with too many ancient mythology but both sets were generally well received. In particular the 7th of the Specialist rounds Nick found very interesting – unusual for a picture round.The home team had an anxious moment when Nick confused Laurence of Arabia with Clive of India but fortunately the team were not put off and managed to keep the point.

The specialist rounds were very close with the lead shifting from one team to the other but the Phoenix eventually managed to finish with a nose in front at 49 to 46. In the General Knowledge set, in which Steve scored particularly well, they managed to consolidate the lead with 80 to 66 and the final result was 129 to 112.

Individual scores were Steve 3/24, Wendy 9/9, Nick 6/15 and Tomo 15/6; conferred points were 11/14, passovers 5/12 with the Taverners picking up 5/5 passovers.

The question master was landlady Tracey who strictly controlled timekeeping whilst changing barrels and other responsibilities as required.

A very pleasant evening was rounded off with a fine selection of sandwiches so extra thanks for Tracey.

Oh yes – the other games:

United beat Galati 2-0 with two second half penalties by Rooney

City were a goal down after 4 minutes, equalised with an own goal then snatched it in the 93rd minute with a good goal from Aguero. Glad to see City win, especially without the usual whinge about Fergie Time.

11 October Away To The Lamb

2011-10-13T00:25:00.001-07:00

The first game of the new season and the Phoenix were away to The Lamb where the landlord is a long-standing member of the quiz team. It has to be said that since he took over there has been a remarkable improvement – as can be seen, the exterior is cheerful and welcoming and the interior is now brighter, the food is excellent and the pub is clearly a social centre for the village – there was a largish meeting taking place when we arrived and another large group enjoying a meal together. Well done Marshall.

The Phoenix made a tactical error before we even got there! We dropped off our mascot Rosie on the way as there might have been problems with so many people dining. It was like playing with a man down! There was some delay starting as Nick spilt his pint over Tomo who must have spent a very uncomfortable evening but eventually we settled down to a friendly but very exciting game.

Along with the rest of everyone in the League we owe a big THANK YOU to Mark who set all of the night’s questions at very short notice, despite all his other responsibilities for the quiz and his work; with customary modesty he said they had been set by the Ox-fford but we all know better!

Having four picture rounds was something of a shock but they were all different and interesting as were all other rounds.

The game was friendly and lively and very close with the lead shifting from team to team throughout so either team could have won it. Mention must be made of Bob’s first score of the season – 36!! Excellent!!

Individual scores were Bob 15/21, Wendy 15/6, Nick 9/3 and Tomo 15/6; conferred points were 9/20 and passovers 2/9. The Lamb also picked up 11 passovers.

Final score Phoenix 130, The Lamb 128 – very close indeed.

The evening was rounded off with a fine chicken dish accompanied with chips – many thanks Marshall and the team - a great start to the season.

27 September 2011–the Plate Final and AGM

2011-09-29T02:22:00.000-07:00

At long last the cold, wet nights of summer are coming to a close and we saw the first stirrings of the Macclesfield Pub Quiz League as the stalwarts of arcane knowledge crept from their hibernation and edged their way to The Weavers and a bitter winter of friendly competition and rivalry.

But what would draw them from their slippers and shawls on this night? Ahhh!!

Manchester City playing Bayern Munich!!!

Manchester United playing the mighty Basel!!

No!!! It is the AGM of the Quiz League and the final of the Plate

An inauspicious beginning – no questions!! They had not been collected from the Waters Green Tavern and an envoy was despatched to recover them. In the intervening 10 minutes the AGM was held, the committee was re-elected, some minor changes proposed and adopted, the statement of accounts accepted and the scene was set. Why can’t all meeting be like this?

The Plate Final was between the Plough Taverners and the Harrington Academicals and served as a prelude to two games in the new season as they will both be in the B League .

The question master as usual was Rick Davies with his characteristic good humour and fairness assisted by Allan Sherratt who kept score and timekeeping. and the questions were very good and showed a lot of thought and care by the Chester Road Tavern and The Lamb.

It was a very close match with very little difference throughout the game but eventually the Harrington managed to hold onto a slight lead and win by 81 to 79 with the plough Taverners kicking themselves for a couple of questions they should have got right.

We now look forward to a new season with optimism and good spirits.

Oh, City lost 2-0 and United threw away a lead to draw 3-3 but no-one was interested by then.

Cup Final 19th March 2011

2011-04-20T02:34:00.001-07:00

Yes it was the other cup final last night.

Unfortunately Nick was not able to attend and looks forward to an account in News & Views, but the questions are available as usual.

Looking forward to next season – thank you for the interest shown in the blog.

Roger Avery RIP

2011-04-07T09:03:00.001-07:00

On Thursday 7th April, 54 year old Roger was laid to rest at the Macclesfield Crematorium. A former member of the quiz teams at both the The Wharf and the Park Tavern Roger played intermittently for the Dolphin over the past two or three years, and was a regular at the Brewers Sunday night quiz. He was a very keen footballer with interests in music and was learning Spanish at the time of his death.

The very well-attended funeral reflected all these interests and among the crowd were to be seen quiz members, fellow footballers and former workmates. The coffin was draped in his football shirt, and was welcomed into the chapel with recordings of the two goals by Teddy Sheringham and Ole Gunnar Solskjær in the dying minutes of the 1999Champions League final (that Roger attended in Barcelona) alternating with music by Clannnad. A board displayed a selection of photographs of his life from the Bollington Cross school football team to his teens.

The service was conducted by a family friend (that was a nice touch) and included music by The Beatles (“In My Life”) and the Rolling Stones (“Tumbling Dice”) and part of the Pastoral Symphony by Ralph Vaughan Williams.

Roger’s brother told of some humorous episodes in his life and other family members paid tribute to his loving nature.

Our deepest sympathy goes out to his Mum and the family – he will be sorely missed.

Ever The Bridesmaid …

2011-03-23T11:10:00.001-07:00

… Never the bride.

The Phoenix were question masters this week and therefore could not improve their score. At 8PM they were top of the B League with the Castle and Nags Head yapping at their heels with the Church House Bollington with the Church House Bollington very close behind.

Bob chaired the meeting between the two teams who will be leaving the B League. and the match was played with much resigned good humour - the result unimportant. Two good teams will be leaving us, but I'm sure this will be a temporary arrangement. The Albion are always a pleasure to play, with the usual good brand of banter from John Hargreaves and Matt Eagles. The Cock have had a weak season by their own standards and Jackie Hulme summed their season up with a wry comment when the match started - "See!, we can't even win the bloody toss!".

Wendy says the game at the Lamb was played with "end of term" good humour. The Lamb won by about 16 points, despite playing with a beer mat as third player for most of the first half. The questions didn't go down too well, though.

Tomo was at the Castle and it was odd in that they did not want promotion , having once been there for 3 seasons. However, one of their team got a clean sweep in the specialist rounds and the joke was that he was trying to scupper their failure! A good natured match, possibly the last ever in The Castle, which is something of a pity as this old pub is something of an institution in the town and the Quiz League.

Nick was question master at the Nags who were playing the Church House - quite a key match and a very interesting game. Both teams had their own scorer and although there was a check at the end of each round it was a very good-natured game and each round happened to coincide with Nick’s tally (which was fortunate). The Nags had a slight lead at the end of the Specialist but the Church House fought back doggedly and with just two rounds to go it was level pegging. Every question was then keenly fought for with the Nags just edging it with a win of only 2 points. The evening was rounded off with a magnificent supper of Italian meatballs, chips and bread and butter. Great stuff!!

So from being top, just two hours later they were third and no promotion. No matter – we’ve had a great time, our sister team from the Tavern will be joining us next season and we look forward to another great autumn/winter.

BREAKING NEWS – FOR THOSE TEAMS SEEKING A NEW VENUE – the Prince Albert in Newton St will next week become a free house and could well be interested in hosting one or even two quiz teams!!

And finally we could not sign off without a massive vote of appreciation to Mark for his unflagging support and hard work throughout the season.

15 March

2011-03-17T01:58:00.001-07:00

Yes, this week is the last appearance of the Phoenix in the 2010/11 season. Next week we will be question masters and closely watching the results as there is a slender chance that we might be promoted to the A League next season.

The final game was against old friends the New Castle and was played with much good humour as the following exchange will illustrate:

Question “What is the name of the soft spot on top of a baby’s head?”

Ans “fontanella” quickly corrected to fontanelle

Graham “When it’s a girl it’s fontanella”

Nick “I thought that was the G spot”

Graham “That’s where you’ve been going wrong all these years”.

This exchange ignited Nick’s usual weak spot (remembering names) although he was confident enough when asked for Boy George’s surname, answering firmly “Dowd” forgetting the O!! One passover there then!

Special mention must be made of the question master for the night Julian who was flexible but firm and gave a lot of insight into the vetting of the questions.

The specialist rounds were particularly good although at the end the Phoenix were trailing 50 to 52; this deficit was recovered in the General Knowledge questions and the Phoenix managed to edge ahead eventually finishing with 79 to 63 the final score being 129 to 115.

Individual scores were pretty good except for Nick who was no doubt pondering his missed biological opportunities, whilst Bob had a storming run in the General knowledge. Scores were Bob 9/24, Wendy 6/15, Nick 6/3 and Tomo 6/18; conferred points were 14/10 and passovers 9/9. The New Castle collected 6/7 passovers.

We’ve thoroughly enjoyed the season and look forward to 2011/12 in the autumn.

The evening finished with a superb supper of sausages in onion gravy with bread and butter and the Tavern’s famed real chips.

Thank you Brian and Tracey for your support throughout the season, the New Castle for a great evening, Julian for running the quiz excellently and our opponents over the season for an excellent series.

Specialist Battering for Pancake Day

2011-03-10T23:35:00.001-08:00

The Phoenix’ penultimate game, at home to the Cock, Henbury who have frequently caused an upset in the League. But this time we were confident – not only did we have Rosie the mascot, but the Cock were having to play with just three players and a beer mat.

Not wishing to waffle on (geddit?) but the Phoenix playing at home were being egged (!!!) on from the bar. However this did not last long as the Arsenal Barcelona game started and the bar were distracted. The Cock lost the toss and the Phoenix went first with the Specialist questions. These were fine, but for some reason the Phoenix were not coming up with the answers and there were no big scores – in fact they were struggling and at the end of the Specialist were losing 43 to 36.

A beer break (Easy Rider!!!) and a check on the football score led into the General Knowledge with the Phoenix playing rather better but again there were no spectacular scores – they managed to overcome the deficit and then inch ahead winning that section by 64 to 37.

All credit must go to the Cock for playing valiantly with the beer mat – they did very well indeed.

Individual scores were Bob 3/15, Wendy 9/9, Nick 3/6 and Tomo 6/9; conferred points were 9/13 and passovers 6/12. The Cock picked up 8/8 passovers. Final score 100 to 80 in favour of the Phoenix.

A very pleasant evening was rounded off with a fine selection of sandwiches – thank you Brian and Tracey, and a big thank you to the question master Matt Eagles and the Cock for a great game with humour and good spirit.

1st March–Home to the Plough Horntails

2011-03-02T03:55:00.001-08:00

As the season is drawing to a close and the top of the League is still very much open with several teams struggling to pick up every point, tonight’s game was bound to attract much interest. And as well as Manchester United playing Chelsea, the Phoenix were playing the Plough Horntails. The tension was unbearable.

The Horntails are old friends and it was good to welcome them to the Tavern, although we did not have our mascot Rosie. This seems to have dented the Phoenix’ confidence as they stumbled through the first couple of rounds; eventually however they regained composure and began to inch ahead.

The Specialist questions were very different to run-of-the-mill questions taken from a quiz book, in particular round 7 that was really four questions in one but was very popular. At the end of the Specialist the Phoenix had edged ahead with 56 points to 41.

The General Knowledge were fine but did not have the “bite” of the Specialist and the Phoenix managed to hang on to their lead winning those rounds with 69 to 68.

The game was overseen with good humour and understanding by Heather from the New Castle and the final score was 125 to 109 in the Phoenix’ favour.

Individual scores were Bob 15/15, Wendy 15/3, Nick 3/9 and Tomo 6/18; conferred points were 10/17 with 7/7 passovers. The Horntails won 7/12 passovers.

A great game rounded off with a generous selection of sandwiches – thanks to Heather, the Horntails and as always Brian and Tracey.

Oh … and United lost – can’t win ‘em all!

22 Feb Cup Semi-Final against the Dolphin Dragons

2011-02-23T05:21:00.001-08:00

Inspired by valiant Crawley giving Manchester United a fright, and encouraged by Everton’s defeat of Chelsea in the FA Cup the Phoenix set off for the Dolphin for the semi-final of the Cup in the Quiz League in buoyant mood.

The Dolphin is a very friendly pub, and keeps the Robinsons beer in top condition – perhaps the best In town. It has two teams both in the A League - we were playing the Dolphin Dragons and the other Dolphin team had set half the questions, with the Plough Horntails the other half. The Dragons have been in the A League for many years and among their number is a former Mastermind winner (the third lady to win) an author who recently appeared on TV in the game between former winners.

However we were not intimidated – we had Rosie the mascot and could take on the world!!

Unfortunately Rosie fell asleep and we lost the first round very heavily with just 10 points to the Dragons’ 21. The rustle of a crisp packet brought Rosie back to life however for the second round that went to the Phoenix with 16 to 9. Dizzy with success and Rosie now very active we won the third round with 12 points to 7 crashing on to round 4 winning by 19 to 15. By now very light headed and after a beer break the Phoenix stumbled in round 5 losing with just 8 points to the Dragons’ 20 followed up in the final round losing 21 points to 10. The final score was 94 to 75 to the home team.

But it was a fine performance, especially by Rosie, and whilst the Phoenix will not be in the final it was a most enjoyable game overseen with good humour by Pete from the other Dolphin team.

The evening was rounded off with a huge cauldron of delicious stew with pickled red cabbage and bread – fabulous.

A big thanks you to the Dragons and to the landlord of the pub for a great evening.

15 Feb Away to the Lamb

2011-02-16T08:16:00.001-08:00

To combat withdrawal symptoms during a whole week between quizzes, the Phoenix as part of a Waters Green contingent took part in a fund-raising quiz at the King’s School in Macclesfield – in fact a total of 22 team members, substitutes, friends and supporters made up three teams with the imaginative team names of Real Ale Madrid, Born To Drink Mild and Tequila Mocking Bird. Although one team was in first position at the half-way mark, none of the teams ended in the first three but it was a great night the only problem being that the beer ran out after about half an hour!! Some familiar faces there and the Hospice made some money – the main reason for the quiz. We look forward to the next one.

The week’s League fixture was an away game at The Lamb in Sutton and we all commented on what a brightly lit and welcoming pub it is now, with a selection of three real ales and friendly staff – not to mention a landlord who was on the opposing team.

The questions were good and the Nags Head in the Specialist even pulled off the difficult feat of each answer leading to the next question in the Geography round – it very rarely works successfully. The Plough Taverners also did a good job with the General Knowledge set (although Nick struggled with his, even getting his soups mixed up).

At the half-way stage the Phoenix had a slight lead of 50 to 52 and the General Knowledge questions were also very tight with the lead swinging from one side to the other – eventually the Phoenix won that set by just one point with 68 t 67 and a final score of 120 to 117.

Individual scores were Bob 9/18, Wendy 6/12, Nick 12/3 and Tomo 12/6 with conferred 9/18 and passovers 4/11. The Lamb picked up 5/5 passovers.

The home team have always been known for a good nosh for refreshments but they excelled themselves on the night with cheese baked potatoes, excellent herby sausages and chips – superb!!

Thank you Marshall (the landlord) ,the Lamb team and and the question master from the Nags Head for a great game and an excellent evening .

Tension in The Happy Valley 8th February

2011-02-10T01:40:00.001-08:00

This week the Phoenix were playing away at the Church House Bollington. This is a very pleasant pub with a fine reputation for food but has still retained a pub atmosphere with three hand-pumps on the bar with beer kept in good condition.
Once again we knew this would be a tough competition – the Church House were placed 3rd, one above the Phoenix but with a game in hand – and their team held first and second place in the individual scores.
And once again a first-ever incident – in the Sports round, each Phoenix member scored three – never before has that happened (especially with Nick playing!) – this put the team in a strong position early on and also illustrates that all the questions were the sort that suit the team, particularly the rounds on comics and the arts. The Phoenix went on to play steadily with a slight lead at the end of the Specialist questions of 53 to 48.
The General Knowledge questions were also very good and the scoring was very tight again but the Phoenix managed to creep ahead with 77 to 73 with a final score of 130 to 121.
Individual scores were Bob 9/18, Wendy 6/15, Nick 12/12 and Tomo 12/6; conferred points were 6/16 and passovers 8/10. The Church House picked up 4/7 passovers.
A very pleasant evening with laughter and even an improvised limerick from Bob, rounded off with a fine selection of sandwiches.
A big thank you to the Church House team and staff.

1st February–The Nags Head Butt

2011-02-02T10:02:00.001-08:00

It is good to see that after their wanderings the Nags Head quiz team have found a stable and friendly home at the very lively Nags Head.

The Nags has a rich history being recorded in the 1790’s as a brew pub that would have been very busy with the market outside in the Waters. After some changes in ownership the pub was bought by Bells brewery (taken over by Robinsons in 1949) in 1882 and in 1887 they presented plans to demolish the original structure and build the existing building, a typical market pub with three floors and stabling. Following a fairly recent refurbishment it is a remarkable building standing proudly on the original site with a delightful interior displaying ceiling roses and a fine staircase. It is a very lively pub with a tradition of good bands playing. Interestingly during depressed years laid-off and unemployed weavers would gather here to be addressed by their leaders from the pub window.¹

Following their defeat at the Castle in the last game, the Phoenix had slipped to third place with the Nags easing up to second with just two points separating the three teams – this was to be a toughie! The Phoenix arrived to a pub throbbing with excitement – it was quite flattering really to see much interest in a quiz game, but it turned out that the attraction was really football on the big screen in particular Manchester United’s game against Aston Villa. We were playing upstairs in a room familiar to Bob from the folk evenings he had attended years ago.

As a Robinsons pub the beers were the usual choice but they were all in excellent condition especially the Dizzy Blonde, and the staff were helpful and friendly.

The questions had been set by the Castle and the Knot Know Alls and were fine – balanced, imaginative and testing. Sadly they did not go the Phoenix’ way – in particular for Nick who for the first time in memory failed to score at all in the General Knowledge. At the end of the Specialist the Phoenix were trailing 58 points to 52 and the General Knowledge where they usually catch up they lost 60 to 52 – final score 118 to the Nags and 102 to the Phoenix.

Individual scores were Bob 12/12. Wendy 6/3, Nick 6/0 (!!!) and Tomo 9/9; conferred points were 15/16 and passovers 6/10. The Nags also got 6/10 passovers.

A good win by the Nags rounded off with a good selection of sandwiches – with chips!!!

Thanks to our question master, to the Nags team and the Nags landlord and staff.

^1. For historical information I am indebted to The pubs and Breweries of Macclesfield in two volumes.

Home to the British Flag in the Quarter Finals of the Cup

2011-01-26T06:48:00.001-08:00

A warm welcome back to The Waters Green Tavern to the British Flag who left the B League for the the A League at the end of the last season.

We have met on several occasions and knew we were in for a a tough fight. We are however at our strongest when conferring and looked forward to a closely fought battle.

But before the game began there was some discussion on the previous week’s GK questions – see my comment 3 on last week’s blog. Tomo was also able to reconnect with his former maths teacher.

We were very impressed with the questions and felt it was unfortunate that they could not be marked in the same way as the League matches – it was clear a lot of time and checking had been done.

Just how close it was going to be was shown n the first round of 20 questions that ended 19 to 18 in the Phoenix’ favour; the next round however the Flag fought back and crept ahead with 15 points to the Phoenix’ 12; in the third round the Phoenix made up the deficit with 15 points to 13 and held the Flag to 16 each in the next round. Level pegging. The fifth round the Phoenix slipped back with 18 to the Flag’s 20 but recovered in the final round with 19 to 17. End result – a dead heat!!! 99 points each – a tie-breaker was required!!

But even that created problems – both teams put in the same wrong answer to the tie-break!! It was only on the second try that the Phoenix managed to get closer to the right answer and took the game.

It was a most enjoyable game overseen with good humour (and even a little lesson on the off-side rule) by Heather and Shauna from the New Castle. Many thanks to them, and to the British Flag for an excellent game and finally to Brian and Tracey for a generous selection of sandwiches.

18 Jan–Away to The Castle

2011-01-22T04:38:00.001-08:00

This clash raised many expectations – the last meeting had resulted in a draw and at the beginning of this week’s contest The Phoenix and The Castle were equal top in the B League. A real battle of the Titans.

The difficulties faced by The Castle pub have been outlined before – there is no proper landlord and the pub remains closed except on Tuesday evening when the caretaker-landlord opens the doors just to the quiz teams and provides bottled beer. However the arena had been well prepared with a very warm heater and the Castle team had been kind enough to purchase a selection of meat pies for the game – much appreciated. The question master was the very experienced Allan from the Church House Bollington.

The scene was set for a very pleasant evening – could anything go wrong? Sadly yes – the questions.

The Specialist were OK if a little eccentric (a whole round on the Black Sea???) but the General Knowledge were not at all impressive – a pity really as several of the questions were valid but would have been improved had they been reworded – for instance give the Chinese names in the question rather than expect us to remember or even pronounce them. And some answers were just incorrect – two have been pointed out in the questions published (Churchill’s quote and the Talbot) and others open to question.

It is unfortunate really because the obscure reference to News and Views after the heading represented a good idea that may not have been recognised (certainly not by Nick until he was publishing the questions) – several answers were the names of pubs or players in the League - even the Fenix along with Baths, Albion, Harrington etc and Hargreaves, Bogey and so on – but at the same time created problems – Kafka’s The Trial is also about K battling bureaucracy.

Probably the biggest criticism of the General Knowledge questions is the huge number of sport questions – quite disproportionate!!

Normally the vetting teams would be held responsible for the shortcomings but it seems their comments were ignored.

It will be interesting to see how the questions were marked – certainly in our game they had a deadening effect, so much so that no-one showed any interest in hearing the supplementaries.

Except for Tomo who again played a good game the scores were low, being:

Bob 6/12, Wendy 9/6, Nick 9/3, Tomo 12/15 with conferred points 9/11 and passovers 6/6; The Castle picked up 7/7 passovers. They won the Specialist 59 to 51 and the General Knowledge 66 to 53 winning the game with 125 to 104.

Many thanks to the home team for their hospitality and we very much hope that the future of the Castle is soon resolved.

Home to The Albion

2011-01-14T04:45:00.001-08:00

After three weeks of excessive celebrations for Christmas and to welcome the New Year, the Macclesfield quiz teams slowly gathered to start the second half of the competition.

After what the Phoenix freely admit was a very lucky string of games against under-strength teams they had finished the first half at the top of the league with the slenderest of leads (1 point more than second and third – see News and Views link at right) but with three of the team in the top ten individual scores

This time we were up against a full-strength team from The Albion who seemed none the worse for the lay-off. After three rounds, the Phoenix were 21 points behind and struggling!! At the end of the Specialist they had managed to pull back only 4 points with the score at 62 to 45.

The Phoenix fared rather better in the General Knowledge rounds that ended 80 to 65 in the Phoenix’ favour – but that was just 15 points pulled back and they lost by 2 points.

No complaints – the questions were fine, pretty well balanced – they just did not come our way in the Specialist. The Phoenix played in a very disciplined manner – in fact I don’t recall a single wrong answer!!

Individual scores were Bob 6/9, Wendy 9/15, Nick 6/15 and Tomo 9/12; conferred/passovers were 10/5 and 19/10 with The Albion picking up 8 and 6 passovers.

It was a great game with lots of laughter ably controlled by the visitors from The Lamb and ended with magnificent refreshments of burgers and onions in gravy with Brian’s renowned REAL chips and bread rolls – a superb feast.

Thankyou Brian, and thanks to The Albion for a good game.

14th December–Whoops!!

2010-12-15T06:28:00.001-08:00

I feel we owe the teams who played last night something of an apology. Owing to a catastrophic telecommunications failure our own questions were printed very late and not checked properly, and the Harrington B did not see the comments we made having vetted their questions. As a result there was one missing question and several answers that were quite wrong. Very sorry – won’t happen again!!

I have left the questions as presented on the night and not changed any of the answers so they are not to be taken as correct without checking if used again.

Nevertheless despite the above the questions were generally well received - perhaps Christmas has kicked in early.

It was the last game before the Christmas break so to all who read this blog we wish you a very merry Christmas and all you hope for in 2011, in particular happiness and health.

Away to the New Castle

2010-12-09T03:43:00.001-08:00

The plight of the Castle was mentioned some time ago - it has been put up for sale and although an emergency landlord has been installed it seems the uncertainty has affected custom and the pub does not open. Except that the two quiz teams have made an arrangement with the landlord that he will open only on Tuesday nights so that the games can take place - a fine piece of diplomacy!

Nevertheless the occasional hours do leave their mark - there is no draught beer!!! - but the landlord had arranged to have some bottles of Marston’s Pedigree (made Nick’s head hurt) and Tomo was delighted with the quality of the bottles of red wine.

The New Castle are old friends and the Phoenix really look forward to meeting them in the League. This was no exception and it was a very close and good-humoured game, with the lead switching from one team to the other throughout the match. The Specialist questions we thought were particularly good and both sets were well balanced and “gettable”. The only disappointment was that the New Castle brought to an end the Phoenix’ run without losing a game!! We were particularly pleased with the question master from the Plough Horntails in what despite the rather gloomy surroundings turned out to be a very pleasant evening.

Tomo led the individual scores with a magnificent 36 closely followed by Bob with 30, a break up of the scores being:

Bob 9/21, Wendy 9/9, Nicki 9/12 and Tomo 12/24; conferred points were 9/10, passovers 8/7 whilst the New Castle pi8cked up 5/9 passovers.

Final score 143 to 139 to the New Castle – worthy winners.

30th November–Away to The Cock, Henbury

2010-12-01T03:26:00.001-08:00

The last day of November and the first day of heavy snow for the winter.

Bob had managed to tunnel out of the Rainow drifts and struggle down to town where he picked up the very grateful remainder of the team from the Tavern to set off to the far end of the town for the night’s clash with old adversaries The Cock at Henbury. It must be said that the Cock looked very welcoming indeed being brightly lit with Christmas decorations and lights - a very pretty sight with welcoming staff.

Part of the Robinson’s empire, the Cock follows that company’s odd tradition of offering a guest ale that is always brewed by Robinson’s but costs more. The evening’s offerings were Unicorn (the standard bitter), Dizzy Blonde (a tasty lighter summer ale) and Battering Ram a rather heavy, stronger(4.5%) premium dark ale best avoided during a quiz.

The Phoenix got off to a very poor start and at the end of the five mandatory rounds were pitifully trailing with just 22 pints to the Cock’s 40 although they had played in a disciplined manner – the questions just did not come their way (maybe we should have gone second!). The last three rounds however were kind to the Phoenix and at the end of the Specialist the lead had dropped to 58 with 52 to the Phoenix. This despite Nick’s appalling error in identifying Charlie and Craig Reid as The Pretenders (a very pleasant and musical rock band) and not The Proclaimers (‘nuff said!).

During the drinks break before the General Knowledge questions Bob told the Cock a couple of jokes and this seems to have sapped their energy and dented the will to live as the Phoenix began to assert themselves.

The General Knowledge questions were well-balanced with some interesting twists (see for instance Q49).

The question master was John from The Albion who joined in the laughter but maintained control.

Except for Bob who played a storming game the scores were not particularly good and wild guesses to improve them had the opposite effect – individual scores were:

Bob 21/18, Wendy 6/9, Nick 3/12 and Tomo 6/6; conferred points were 10/20 with 6/10 passovers. The Cock picked up 4/7 passovers. Eventual score 121 to the Cock and 127 to The Phoenix – a really tough game that the Phoenix were very lucky to come away with!!

The evening ended with a large selection of heavily loaded sandwiches that nicely rounded off the Cock’s warm hospitality. A great game with the quiz team and top marks to the Cock for the welcoming atmosphere.

Cup Match against the Ox Fford

2010-11-24T02:16:00.001-08:00

The Phoenix’ first appearance in this year’s knock-out competition – and they were drawn against the Ox Fford, currently two points behind the A League leaders – but with two games in hand!!

The Phoenix gathered in the Tavern for a tactics meeting but all they could come up with was to lock Mark in the boot of the car – and even that was denied them as Mark was out of town on business. So with the words Lambs and Slaughter drumming loudly in their ears they set off across town to the Ox Fford.

The Ox Fford (the name probably comes from a now-culverted stream that passes nearby) is a pleasant local pub with three Marston’s hand pumps – the EPA was in particularly good form.

The questions had been set by The Albion and the Plough Taverners and were very well received being well-balanced and challenging.

The game was very tight with very little difference between the two teams at the end of each of the six rounds:

13/16, 15/15, 13/10, 10/14, 18/15 and 12/17 (home team’s score shown first) – yes, the Phoenix had done it 81/87!!

It was a very pleasant evening with laughter and a fine selection of sandwiches afterwards. one regret – it has broken our run of Plate finals!!

Thanks to all!!

16th November Away To The Plough Horntails

2010-11-18T01:48:00.001-08:00

In the winter months, The Plough is enveloped in a spectral green glow that belies the warm and friendly atmosphere within. Drawn as moths to a flame the Phoenix made their way across town to a contest with old friends the Horntails.
The Plough is a large pub with three handpumps including a Phoenix favourite Copper Dragon’s Golden Pippin; the staff are welcoming and friendly and the pub is a real local focus.
The Specialist questions had been set by the Prince of Wales and were rather quirky – geography took on a strangely historical aspect and the sport questions were certainly different as was the round on Latin words and phrases. However they were to the Phoenix’ taste and at the end of the Specialist they had edged to a 10 point lead.
The General Knowledge questions were set by The New Castle who now look forward to being question masters or playing away as the Castle pub seldom opens its doors. Again they played to the Phoenix’ interests and whilst there were no massive scores Wendy, Bob and Tomo who all appear in the League’s top 10 scorers put in solid performances.
Individual scores were Bob 9/18, Wendy 3/18, Nick 9/6 and Tomo 12/15; conferred points were 11/13 and passovers 6/14. Since the Phoenix kept their cards very close to their chest the Horntails collected 3/7 passovers. Final score was a 134 to 111 win for the Phoenix.
The question master had just the right mix of firmness and humour and it was a most enjoyable evening rounded off with a splendid chicken curry with rice and chips.
Thankyou the Horntails, Pete the question master and especially The Plough for their warm welcome.

Home to The Lamb

2010-11-11T09:16:00.001-08:00

It was good to welcome The Lamb following their excellent season and promotion last year. Familiar faces that it is good to see again. and as ever the game was played with a light heart and much laughter. We were fortunate that Marshall was able to tear himself away from his new responsibilities as acting landlord at The Lamb and we hope all outstanding problems will soon be sorted out.
The night’s questions had all been set by The Dolphin and were of a very high standard indeed; however, the Phoenix have come to realise that their tactics must now take into consideration Nick’s cock-ups that take place every week and not his originally allocated one per season. The night’s gaffe came in the picture round that consisted of details of well-known paintings with the name of the artist required; despite Wendy’s desperate efforts to turn the picture the right way round, Nick insisted on looking at it upside-down thus transforming Turner’s Fighting Temeraire to Monet’s Impression Sunrise and gifting a point to The Lamb and reducing the Phoenix to silent incredulity. The evening had started badly anyway – the Phoenix were lucky to have Wendy playing as she had had an operation on her shoulder only a few days earlier and her arm was in a sling – Nick’s welcoming hug was not only painful but ran the risk of reopening the wound!
Each of the Specialist rounds was out of the ordinary and thus refreshing and challenging with the teams closely matched, and it was something of a surprise to find that the Phoenix had edged to a 10 point lead with 59 to 49. The Lamb came fighting back in the equally stimulating General Knowledge round and clawed back much of the lead with the result depending on the last couple of questions.
Individual scores were Bob 12/12, Wendy 15/21, Nick 12/18 and Tomo 9/12; conferred points were 8/13 and passovers very low at 3/7. The Lamb picked up 5/7 passovers and showed remarkable team work with 11/25 conferred points. Final score victory to The Phoenix with 142 to 137.
A great evening, a close contest rounded off with a huge selection of refreshments of which special mention must be made of the pork and pickle pies – thank you Brian and Tracey.

Home to Church House Bollington

2010-11-04T03:01:00.001-07:00

The evening began with news that the Church House had recruited a new reserve – Ed’s wife had had a baby that day – congratulations to both.

The Church House are old adversaries and we have enjoyed many a tussle over the years. This was to be no exception.

The picture above may be a bit of a puzzle to some but it was provoked by questions 7 and 8 in the Sport specialist section: “Where are the World Bog-Snorkelling championships held?” was bad enough but to then go on to ask “Who is the current Bog Snorkelling world champion?” nudged Bob’s memory of what until then had been the worst question ever asked in the Macc Pub Quiz League: “What animal other than man can catch leprosy?” with the answer the nine-banded armadillo – no leeway!!!

Whilst the other sport questions were not as bad as these, nevertheless no-one from either team scored throughout the round.

At the end of the specialist the Phoenix had nosed ahead with 45 to 39 and finished with 120 to the visitors’ 102, no doubt distracted by the happy news and absence of the proud father.

The scores generally were low throughout the evening but the General Knowledge were marked higher than the specialist. Tomo had a particularly good evening despite some very severe marking that provoked sympathy from the Church House.

Nick has already overstepped his quota of cock-ups by thinking that the Merry Wives Of Windsor feature in Shakespeare’s yet-to-be written play The Sisters of Bath.

Individual scores were Bob 9/9, Wendy 9/9, Nick 6/9 and Tomo 12/21 with conferred points 4/19 and passovers 5/8. The Church House picked up 2/10 passovers.

Jackie from the Cock ruled with an iron hand and timekeeping was good.

A great game rounded off with a generous selection of sandwiches – thanks to all.

26th October – Cup/Plate Questions

2010-10-27T01:31:00.001-07:00

The Phoenix had a bye for the first round of the knock-out competitions earned by setting half of the questions, expertly drawn together by Wendy – the first half of the questions were set by the Sutton Church House who clearly had some difficulties but rose to the occasion and all questions were ready by Monday night.

There were some issues raised during the game at the Waters Green Tavern where Nick was acting as question master but it must be said that several questions where the answer was challenged were in fact correct: the River Bollin flows into the Mersey not the Weaver as was generally thought, and the three towers at the Palace of Westminster are correctly identified.

However it will be seen in the questions that Q33 was omitted and there were two Q100’s – the questions have been left as presented to the question masters.

Comments on the experiences of others are welcome below.

19th October Home to The Nag’s Head

2010-10-20T02:20:00.001-07:00

Another toughie!! We have played this team under several different guises as they have had to move several times over the past few years, having now settled at the Nag’s – they have rejoined us from the A League and after two games were running top of the League.

All the questions had been set by The British Flag and probed some hitherto untouched areas one being of particular interest (A&E Q7 see picture above). This has an odd background revealed by Simon Schama in his own inimitable style: “… the androgynous idol of English pop, Cliff Richard, on whose floppy pompadour Hockney desperately doted. The title of “We Two Boys Clinging Together was both an allusion to his literary hero Walt Whitman and a giggly reference to a newspaper headline about stranded hikers that proclaimed “TWO BOYS CLING TO CLIFF ALL NIGHT” (in Hang-Ups). Other questions were less oblique and very enjoyable.

Nick is allowed to make one complete cock-up per season and unfortunately it has come early this year – he forced Venetian citizenship onto Vasco Da Gama and added a couple of centuries to his age when trying to guess the name of Venice’s airport.

Notwithstanding it was a very close contest with the Phoenix trailing at the half-way stage with 42 points to the Nag’s 44. Playing safely the Phoenix managed to close the gap but the lead kept shifting from one to the other in the General Knowledge with the Phoenix eventually scraping home with 81 to 77.

Individual scores were Bob 6/9, Wendy 6/15, Nick 0/18 and Tomo 9/15; conferred points were 13/16 with 8/8 passovers. The Nag’s picked up 6/7. Final score 123 to 121.

It was great to have a question master who was firm on timing and the evening ended with a generous plate of sandwiches and pork pie – thank you Brian and Tracey.l

Home to The Castle 12 October 2010

2010-10-13T07:59:00.001-07:00

The Castle is a popular pub in the centre of town with a lot of activities: there are two quiz teams and it is known as a venue for folk music on a regular basis.
Sadly The Castle has not fared well in the economic crisis and has been up for sale for some time now; the popular landlord left the premises on Monday and the future of the pub looks uncertain.
The Castle quiz team has also had problems – this was only the second game of the season and already they have used seven (yes seven!) players. We very much hope that all difficulties will soon be sorted out.
This proved to be a very closely fought game and at the end of the specialist rounds the Phoenix had a slender lead of 7 but The Castle hit their stride with the General Knowledge and began to catch up.
Again Nick had trouble with the Specialist questions (no complaints – just not his kind of question) erring perhaps on the side of caution. There was some imbalance in the questions (frequent cries from the Phoenix of “”Wish we’d had that one!!”) but by and large they were pretty good.
Neither team threw away points with wild guesses and the Phoenix worked together well scoring 18 points with conferrals – an odd statistic being that it is the same amount that the Castle got in passovers which is surprising since the Phoenix did their best to keep the questions on the table.
Individual scores were Bob 15/6, Wendy 9/18 (maintaining her high scoring rate), Nick 0/15 and Tomo 9/12; conferrals were 6/12 and passovers 5/5 showing much discipline by The Castle.
And the surprise of the night was a draw with 112 each!!
Questions were handled deftly by Ed from the Church House Bollington and a most enjoyable evening finished with a generous selection of sandwiches – thank you Brian and Tracey.

5th October – A Double Celebration!!!

2010-10-07T00:52:00.001-07:00

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.

The Plate Final!!

2010-09-30T03:41:00.001-07:00

Rosie the missing mascot!!

Hello there.

DUNCAN DISORDERLEY here, making a guest appearance because Nick had swanned off on holiday leaving his Waters Green Phoenix team-mates to cope as best they could in the Plate final.

I can’t say I was happy when Nick rang me. I retired from this reporting game ages ago and he still hasn’t paid me for last time. I was not having a very good morning anyway. I’d just heard that my old friend Charlie, who had always said that he wanted to die under the wheels of a steam-train finally went and did it. We are all a bit sad but not Charlie – he was chuffed to bits. Then a man came to the door and asked if he could come in and talk about my carpets. I thought “Bloody Hell, that’s all I need – a Jehoover’s Witness!”

Anyway, I goes over to the Weaver’s to do my report and it turns out that the opposition was the Harrington Arms. Now I haven’t been in there since the days of the old lady – can’t remember her name but she had a part-time job push-starting jumbo jets at the airport. Face like a bulldog chewing a wasp and wanting to know what the hell you were doing in her pub. Never went there again, though I believed
things have improved. I hear that they’ve even changed the 15watt light bulbs for 40watt!

Then there was the question master, a guy called Rick Davies who did very well with his impersonation of that guy who used to do quizzes on telly who had an IQ of 300 and green pubic hair – Bamber Grassgroin.

The Tavern team looked a bit lost without their spiritual leader who was no doubt getting very spiritual in Norway at the time. There was “Tommo” Thompson who is a well-known magician I believe, but not so good at business. He was the one who founded a website called origami.com but it folded after a week. Steve Berwick was
telling me he was going to release a single soon which is bound to be a hit. Watch out for it, it’s called “I Used To Kiss Her On The Lips But It’s All Over Now.” Wendy Brown is still in denial about having been the 1972 All-Merseyside Ladies Freestyle Wrestling Champion, and was feeling some pressure as she had forgotten to bring the team mascot, her dog Rosie. Then there was Bob Langstaff, who, if I remembered rightly from the last quiz I saw him in, reckoned that Wat Tyler is a bathroom design magazine.

The quiz started OK but scores, I have to say, remained suspiciously close. This was still the case after three rounds and as I glanced round the room I could see the fear in the eyes of the Committee. Results fixing is all over the newspapers and everyone was fearing the worst. I listened carefully to some of the hushed comments from the audience – “It’s a bit bloody close”; “It’s your round”, “Give us a crisp” “What’s the football score”, etc. Then someone reported that there was a Bookmaker from Pakistan in the other Bar and he was immediately detained. It turned out that he wasn’t a bookmaker from Pakistan, he was a Book-keeper from Patricroft, so he had
to be placated with a double brandy and allowed to continue watching his football match.

That was about the end of the excitement. Things went a bit downhill for the Tavern – the “eternal bridesmaids” - and they eventually lost…

I thought the questions weren’t too bad, and the Tavern got the best of them anyway, so I have to congratulate the Harrington (bastards!). Forty watt light bulbs obviously concentrate the mind. The questions weren’t to everyone’s taste though. When I was
taking a farewell pee the guy next to me said “There’s nothing like a good quiz, and that was nothing like a good quiz.” But I am mentioning no names, so your little secret is safe with me Robin.

QUIZ PARTY

2010-07-19T01:36:00.001-07:00

Although the start of the quiz season is still some months away, the spirit is kept alive by the Waters Green Phoenix who hold a party every year. The origins go back to the team’s promotion to the A League some years ago, followed the subsequent year with a party to celebrate relegation back to where we belong. Mid table mediocrity has been the reason for subsequent parties.

Nick’s home was the venue and refreshments were a wide selection of Indian dishes and a magnificent Thai starter kindly provided by Maliwan from her restaurant. Two barrels of beer kept the atmosphere lively for which we are indebted to Brian the owner of the Waters Green Tavern.

Steve (wearing stetson) brought along his guitar and entertained with a selection of songs soon to be joined by John with his squeeze box and Nathalie on guitar and even a mandolin played by neighbour Peter.

Bob the grand old man of the team (but by no means the oldest) read from his book Untold Tales of Rainow ending with the now forgotten BR slogan We’re Getting There:

Boadicea

The Queen of the Iceni nation

lay underneath St. Pancras Station

proud and serene, she lay in state

still –waiting for the 12.08

Two fearsome daughters and their Mum

had come to sack Londinium.

they'd done the job and had a feast

and all-triumphant, headed East.

The Queen consulted her adviser

which form of transport was the wiser?

"My Queen", he said, "we're sitting pretty-

just put your trust in Inter-city!"

Her chariot of gold was sped

down to St. Pancras engine shed.

She checked the times and bought a seat,

first-class return to Watling Street.

The hours passed, she lost her daughters

who'd wandered off in search of porters.

The Queen, her ladies, and her men

were never to be seen again.

The centuries they came and went

until some antiquarian gent

whilst studying her erstwhile race

confirmed the old Queen's resting place.

B.R., with keen anticipation

decided on an excavation.

This find would guarantee their fame-

they'd even have a change of name.

They'd call it Boadicea Station

the latest travellers sensation!

The crowds would flock from near and far

to the "Scythe and Chariot Burger Bar'.

They dug beneath the London clay

and found where Boadicea lay.

Around her head, a golden band,

a London Saver in her hand.

The station-master, passing by

came to look, and gave a cry.

'Dear dear" he said "now don't you worry

we'll have this sorted in a hurry.

We've cleared the blockage on the line,

the train will leave at half-past nine

and as you've had a lengthy wait,

we'll only charge you off-peak rate".

The dig had been a huge success

with lots of pictures in the press.

They took her from her hallowed ground,

she left her grave, museum bound.

The Queen of the Iceni nation

has now moved three miles from the station.

Two thousand years, but don't despair –

with British Rail - WE'RE GETTING THERE.

Tomo delved deep into the future with his tarot cards and all the food, all the beer and many bottles of wine were all finished by the end of the evening.

Many thanks to all who attended and a special thanks to Neela who worked very hard to produce the food, to Brian and Tracey for their support throughout the year, to Maliwan and to friends who came from London to attend. And perhaps most of all to Marion who had to put up with Nick’s stress-induced temper in the preparations for a hugely succesful event.

East Cheshire Hospice Quiz

2010-06-14T02:26:00.001-07:00

Whilst not a fixture of the Quiz League, some of the Phoenix took part in the annual East Cheshire Hospice quiz, where several familiar faces were spotted.

It was a very good quiz drawn up by two members of the League; teams were limited to 8 but as 10 people from the Tavern and their friends and family had volunteered, two teams of five were set up: Quiz Team Aguilera (gerrit?) and Nick Clegg’s Horse Trading Company. Whilst it was strictly for fun, there was naturally friendly rivalry between the two teams, with Quiz Team Aguilera keeping a slender lead until the last round, but the questions fell right for the horse traders and the two teams eventually ended up with a dead heat – but not the winners. From memory I think they were 7th out of 40.

There were the usual blunders – and as usual it was Nick who made them. He insisted that “I wandered lonely as a cloud” came from Intimations on Immortality and the team foolishly accepted this – at least the poet was right!; but revenge was sweet when the team refused to accept his answer of Nadia Comaneci but probably because they could not spell it.

It was a most enjoyable evening with supper thrown in (including chips!!!) and we look forward to next year’s quiz.

For the moment it is on to the 18th July

The Other Cup Final

2010-04-17T09:00:00.001-07:00

Brushing aside the offer of using Wembley’s impossible-to-stand-on pitch the Macclesfield Pub Quiz League opted to use the cavernous bar of The Weaver for the Cup Final. The last gasp of the 2009/10 season, this was the final of the knock-out competition for the two teams who had been victorious throughout the season (there is also a Plate competition for teams knocked out in the first round that might be expected to go further but had the misfortune to come up against one of the strongest teams).

For the second year running, the competing teams were the Dolphin and the Ox-Fford C. All teams in all Leagues had been asked to submit questions that had been selected by Graham of the Weaver and John of The Castle for the night.

There was a healthy turn-0ut for the event with most teams being represented and the quiz started in an expectant atmosphere. Once again Rick Davies was the question master showing his light touch and humourous asides ably assisted by Alan Sherratt keeping time.

Many questions had the competing teams and audience scratching their heads but they were fair and balanced and a good selection for the last game of the season.

The eventual result was Dolphins 106 to the Ox-Fford 97 after a closely fought contest.

The quiz was followed by the trophy awards for the season and an appeal to all present to try to engage other pubs in the area that have weekly quizzes but do not participate in the league.

A great end to a magnificent season due in no small part to the secretary Mark and the committee.

After a summer of padding the streets on Tuesday nights with nothing to do the League will start the next season with the Plate final (in which the Phoenix will be taking part) and the AGM.

Well done the Dolphins, well done Mark and the committee and we look forward to meeting old friends and adversaries next season.

Home to the Horntails

2010-03-24T12:01:00.001-07:00

The Phoenix were buoyant turning out for the last game of the season: playing at home, no distractions from other activities (darts etc), the best beer in town and sitting joint second behind the Knot. A win tonight with a good score against the Horntails who were facing relegation could mean promotion to the A League – a long-held ambition. We had lost when we played the Horntails on the first leg but we then had a soggy beer mat playing for Wendy; Wendy was now with us – BUT she had not brought the team mascot Rosie. Nevertheless we were hungry with ambition.

The Specialist questions had been set by the Horntails’ sister team the Plough Taverners and were quite original with a good spread for most topics. Scoring was a bit slow for the Phoenix and at the end of the Specialist they were trailing by just two points with 51 to 53.

The General Knowledge questions, sealed since January when the snow meant the games could not be played, had suffered with the passage of time and many of the original questions had since been asked, so wisely they were allowed to revise the questions. This held no problems for the Phoenix who usually pull up from behind on the General Knowledge questions – sadly this was not to be – at the end of this set of questions they were behind by another 10 points 56 to 66. This meant that they lost 119 points to 107.

No complaints – we marked the questions highly, there were no wild guesses and points wasted – just that on the night the Horntails were the better team. So no promotion this season but as Hemingway said “You know what makes a good loser? Practice”.

Individual scores were Bob 12/9, Wendy 6/12, Nick 9/3, Tomo 9/15 conferred points were 10/12 and passovers 5/5; the Horntails picked up 5/13 passovers.

A great game with lots of fun and laughter, a superb season and we’re looking forward to the Plate finals and another great season in the autumn.

The Knot will now go up to the A League and we wish them every success tinged with sadness – they’re a great team.

Well done the Horntails, and many thanks to Brian and Tracy for their support over the season and an excellent selection of sandwiches.

17th March – Question Masters

2010-03-17T09:09:00.001-07:00

This penultimate game of the season saw the Phoenix asking the question in the B League having set the General Knowledge set. The only game outstanding now is the postponed game from the snowy depths of winter when most teams were unable to tunnel out of their homes to get to the venues.

Positions in the League are very tight – at the start of the evening, the Phoenix were top of the League with 20 points but only ahead of the Church House Bollington because of total game points scored, and the CHB had a game in hand.

Also with a game in hand were the Knot on 19 points and the British Flag on 18 points; and still in the running were the New Castle and The Albion so the tussle for 4th place in the Premier league looks rather small beer compared with the mighty conflict in the B League of the Macclesfield Pub Quiz League.

The results of the evening’s games are awaited with bated breath and it will also be interesting to see how our peers viewed the questions on the night.

Home To The New Castle

2010-03-10T09:25:00.001-08:00

Our opponents this week are old friends who were sorely missed last season when they sojourned in the A League – this season they have been tussling with the Phoenix to reach that coveted 1 or 2 position for promotion.
This was the last game of the season for the Phoenix (except for the postponed fixture) and much hung on the result. The Ladies’ Darts team were not playing so the game took place in a comparatively monastic atmosphere.
This was to be a game with some firsts: the questions had been set by The Nags Head and set off well, the first few rounds being well received but they then sagged into trivia mode; the Phoenix generally got less than their usual scores and Nick had a first – 0 in the Specialist and just 3 in the General Knowledge. A personal worst hopefully never to be repeated. In fact the fist question he answered was Q51 about Belle De Jour the high-class prostitute, which perhaps tells us something about him. Consequently the scores for the questions were very low – another first.
The question-master from The Knot also scored a first – he had not done it before! He coped very well.
At the end of the Specialist the Phoenix had nudged ahead with 52 to 38, but the New Castle fought back hard in the General Knowledge that eventually finished with equal points 62 to 62. Final score 114 to 100.
Individual scores were Bob 15/12, Wendy 12/15, Nick 0/3 Tomo 12/12, conferred 8/11 and passovers 5/9. The New Castle picked up 5/9 passovers too.
As always with the New Castle it was a very cheerful evening with much laughter rounded off with a huge tray of sausages with onions and bread and butter. Many thanks Brian and Tracey and to the New Castle for a pleasant evening despite the questions.

Home to The Pack Horse Bowling Club

2010-03-04T02:10:00.001-08:00

This was the return leg of the League against a team that narrowly beat us when we last met. They are old friends and it was good to come up against them again.

Playing at home has benefits but also some drawbacks; being a very successful pub (and rightly so!!) the Tavern is very busy and this was no different. A group of young people had gathered to celebrate something or other – no complaints, it is a pub! - but much credit must be given to the question master Dave from the Plough Horntails who managed to make himself heard whilst at the same time controlling the timing for the questions. Not only that, he had also assumed responsibility for vetting and printing the questions – definitely the star of the evening!

The questions have been described as being a bit “boys own” (in particular the Specialist) and (perhaps because I have no interest at all in this) I must admit that a round on WWII aeroplanes is a wing too far. But the rounds on musicals and Macclesfield’s history were different and were perhaps to the Phoenix’ advantage. At the end of the Specialist questions the Phoenix had a lead of 57 to 37, and took the General Knowledge rounds 86 to 77.

Individual scores were Bob 15/12, Wendy 6/21, Nick 6/15, Tomo 15/18 conferred points were 5/11 and passovers 7/9. The PHBC picked up 3/10 passovers.

The final score was 140 to 114 after a very pleasant game finished with a selection of fine sandwiches – thank you Brian and Tracey and the PHBC for a great evening.

Lashing By The Knot

2010-02-27T05:34:00.001-08:00

This was always going to be tough one - despite some bad luck recently, the Knot were still top of the League and Art was top of the individual scores.
The Phoenix were in second place just one point behind, and with Bob and Tomo both in the top 10 individual scores. Our mascot Rosie (shamefully not credited last week!!) was unable to attend – a bad omen!!
The Harrington Academicals had set the questions that were fine and the questionmaster Graham from the New Castle was firm on timing which has been something of a problem this season.
The Phoenix played with great team discipline and there were no silly answers or points thrown away, but they were up against a very powerful team. Brian for instance scored a remarkable 45 with 18/27. Nevertheless there was much laughter and fun lubricated by the fine ales in the Tavern.
At the end of the Specialist questions the Knot had a lead of 61 to 52, and although the Phoenix fought back hard the Knot won the General Knowledge rounds with 89 to 78, the final score being 150 to 130.
Individual scores were Bob 12/18, Wendy 6/15, Nick 9/9 and Tomo 12/15; conferred points were 9/16 and passovers 4/5. The Knot picked up 6/9 passovers.
The Knot seem assured of promotion now having only failed last season because only one team went up – they are worthy of the A League and I don’t think they will come down at the end of the season.
Congratulations to the Knot and all the best next season. It was a great game!!

Thrills – Milan or Waters Green?

2010-02-16T23:57:00.001-08:00

We sat down for this game with the knowledge that Manchester United were 1-0 down to AC Milan after only two minutes. But we knew the real excitement was to be in the Waters Green Tavern with the Phoenix playing the Plough Horntails in the semi finals of the Plate.
The questions are arranged in six groups of 20 and as all questions are conferred peer pressure halts any breakaway answers.The Phoenix took a small lead in the first two but scored very badly in the third spending the next two rounds trying to catch up. The penultimate round ended with the Horntails one point ahead and the last round was won by the Phoenix by just one point leaving the score a tie.
Scores for each round were as follows (Horntails score first):
13/17, 10/16, 14/5, 11/16, 18/11,17/18 making the scores 83/83.
As usual, the answer to the tie breaker was a finger in the air job and the Phoenix just managed to clinch it. A very exciting game and although one or two of the questions caused some discussion it was played in good spirits rounded off with a selection of sandwiches from Brian and Tracey.
Oh, and United won 3-2 with Rooney playing a blinder. David who???

AROUSAL AT THE PLOUGH

2010-02-11T03:48:00.001-08:00

The Plough Taverners are old friends with a long history in the League. This was the second leg playing away from home.

Sadly Wendy was ill with bronchitis and could not make it, but Steve was on one of his very rare Tuesdays off and was able to step in as substitute at short notice.

The questions by the Lamb and the Church House Bollington were fine and very much the sort the Phoenix like, although there were some raised eyebrows. When Nick was asked “What is the common name for acetylsalicylic acid?” had answered with a confidence bordering on manic “Viagra”!!! (Should be aspirin). This led to a theme for the rest of the evening of ribald jokes (“so that’s why it doesn’t work!! etc etc). Steve rose in everyone’s estimation by scraping “The High Chapparal” from the inside of his skull.

At the end of the Specialist rounds, the Phoenix led by 61 to 52 and found the General Knowledge also to suit their interests, with Tomo continuing his streak of scores over 30.

Individual scores were Bob 9/9, Steve 18/9, Nick 12/15 and Tomo 15/18; conferred points were 4/11 and passovers 3/11. The Taverners picked up 5/14 passovers. Final score 134 to 101.

It was a most enjoyable game with lots of laughter and fun expertly handled by the questionmaster Ed from the Church House Bollington all rounded off with a very generous massive platter of chips with bread and butter.

Thank you The Plough and Wendy – get well soon.

Stonewalling at the Flag

2010-02-03T01:42:00.001-08:00

Playing away this week at the British Flag, a well-established Robinson’s pub beloved of sports fans because of the large screen. Hull’s draw against Chelsea on the night did not intrude into the quiz but brought cheer to the Manchester United supporters. The sole ale, Unicorn, was in good condition.

The Phoenix were still licking their wounds following defeat last week largely due, as Tomo pointed out on Facebook, to not following “team rules” – a three-line whip tonight!!

Following last week’s defeat the Phoenix had slipped to 4th in the League and the Flag were just two points behind but with a game in hand – an important game.

The questions were pretty good but there were no big scores in the Specialist subjects except for Tomo whose orange juice fuelled brain clocked up 15 points. Nick on the other had had scored nothing at all by the last specialist round, and was so anxious to break his duck that he broke ranks and gave a wrong answer – when a moment's thought would have given the correct one!! Custer’s first name, for chrissake!!!

At the half-way point the Phoenix were trailing 51 to 46.

The General Knowledge questions were more to the Phoenix’ liking and they slowly clawed back into the game with no further transgressions eventually finishing with a slight lead – 124 to 136.

individual scores were Bob 9/15, Wendy 6/21, Nick 0/15, Tomo 15/12; conferred points were 11/18 and passovers 5/9. The Flag picked up 5/7 passovers.

An enjoyable evening finished with a tasty selection of sandwiches.

Bad News from Happy Valley

2010-01-27T01:47:00.001-08:00

It was good to be back upstairs at The Church House in Bollington – the pub has gone through some difficulties but is now firmly back on course having returned to its former owners (the Robinson family) after the Enterprise pub chain allowed it to run down. It is quite an old building dating back to Bollington’s growth as a cotton town and is making a name for itself for excellent food and real ale – the specials board looked particularly attractive last night and the three ales were all on top form, especially the Bearskinfull brewed in nearby Congleton (known locally as Beartown).

This was the return leg of the competition and the Church House were keen to make up for losing the first leg played at the Tavern. The two teams were practically neck and neck at the start of the game sharing second place in the League.

We thought the questions were very good if rather hard and scores were lower than usual. Nevertheless it was a very pleasant atmosphere with lots of laughter and friendly banter.

Special mention must also be made for Jenny from the Albion who acted as questionmaster – in addition to joining in the merriment she was very good on tiimekeeping which comes as a welcome change - recently some teams have taken advantage of sloppiness on the part of the questionmaster to gain extra time to sort out the answer. Well done Jenny!!

At the end of the specialist round the Phoenix were struggling 10 points behind (38/48) but began to make up lost ground until at the end of the penultimate round they had a slight lead. But then their luck changed with the final round which just did not go their way. Although they won the general knowledge rounds by 70 to 67 the final score was 115 to 108 to the Church House. Congratulations and thank you for a most entertaining game.

Individual scores were Bob 6/15, Wendy 3/12, Nick 3/6 and Tomo 6/9; conferred points were 13/16 (good teamwork ) and passovers 7/12 – the Church house picked up 6/11 passovers.

A very pleasant evening ended with a generous selection of chinese chicken wings, meat pies, sausage rolls and well-filled sandwiches – thank you to the Robinsons and well done the Church House.

QUARTER-FINALS – HOME AGAINST THE COCK

2010-01-21T00:24:00.001-08:00

This would be a tough one!! The Cock currently top of the C League, looking for promotion and Jackie heading the individual merits. Fortunately we were on our home turf with an outstanding selection of real ales to fortify the mind.

The selection of ales has made the Tavern a very popular venue and it is busy every night; but this time the numbers were swelled by football fans watching the Manchester derby (City playing United in the Carling Cup) and the Ladies’ darts team playing at home. It must be said this had its drawbacks as the visitors (in particular) had difficulty hearing the questions.

With a couple of exceptions the questions were very good (objections were raised to questions that required two answers) and it was a very close game. Before the last set of 20 questions the Cock were ahead by just 3 points with 74 to 71 and it all hung on the last round. Split up into the six groups of 20 questions the scores were (the Cock results first as the guests):

16/14, 11/18, 14/14, 12/15, 21/10 – the final round score was 12/19 and the Phoenix won by a whisker (86/90).

Sadly the tensions generated by the close competition and noise problems meant that the game lacked the fun and laughter we usually enjoy - challenges to the questionmaster’s scoring always create bad feeling.

But the beer was excellent and went down well with the fine selection of sandwiches offered by Brian and Tracey.

Hard luck the Cock – it was a great contest!!

2010-01-13T08:02:00.000-08:00

"Albion rose from where he labour'd at the Mill " - Blake.

The Albion Hotel stands close to the deserted mill that was once Hewetsons, a major force in the town. Specialising mainly in embroidery the firm steadily grew from 1898 until it was employing some 1,000 workers at the end of the 'Fifties and was a great influence in the town's football club. It then steadily declined until it finished trading in 1993.
The Albion Hotel dates back to Victorian times and would have seen the fortunes of the mill change over the years. It is a Robinson's pub and the Unicorn bitter was well kept. It is now home to a quiz team that has followed a similar trajectory over the years but has now settled down to a consistent and strong team that at the half-way point was one of the teams in joint second along with the Phoenix (see link to News & Views at right).
This should have been the second game in the second half but the previous week's games had to be postponed as half the teams were either snowed in or were inaccessible. It was bound to be a tough game - in the first leg The Albion had won by 15 points and John Hargreaves was standing top of the individual merits.
All questions had been drawn up by The Dolphin Dragons and were well received; the Phoenix gained the edge in the Specialist rounds finishing with a slight lead of 53 to 48. In the General Knowledge the Phoenix hung on to the lead with Tomo in particular playing a very strong game. All the questions can be seen here.
Individual scores were Bob 12/12, Wendy 9/18, Nick 15/9 and Tomo 12/18; conferred points were 3/10 and passovers 2/9 - both teams had played a very close game and the Albion's passovers were remarkably similar at 2/10. Final score was victory for The Phoenix with 129 to 104.
A strong start to the second leg and we look forward to further challenges.

15th December - Questionmasters

2009-12-16T08:38:00.000-08:00

This week was the exact half-way point in the Quiz League and whilst The knot were pretty secure at the top of the B League three teams were jockeying for second place - News and Views (see link at right) will carry the details next week.

As the Phoenix had vetted the questions we thought some were hard and some easy but the balance was very good and did not affect the scoring. Al the questions can be viewed here.
We look forward to the second half of the season.

A WELCOME RETURN

2009-12-09T07:04:00.000-08:00

This week the Phoenix played away to the New Castle at the half-way point in the fixtures; we have not seen them for some time as they have spent the previous two seasons in the A League so it was bit of a reunion - they are a very pleasant and fun-loving team and it was great to play them again.

Moreover we were playing away at the Castle Inn probably one of the oldest buildings in the town said to have had links to the original castle that stood nearby.It is a beautiful old building with many sectioned-off rooms decorated with brass hangings, beamed ceilings and walls with a warm welcoming atmosphere. The beer is Theakstons, with just the bitter available on the night.

A curious coincidence arose with the questions in that both the Specialist and General Knowledge were set by the two teams from Staffordshire: the Knot who have made a strong impression since joining the Macclesfield League and the Royal Oak enjoying their first season and setting their first questions.

The questions in both sets were challenging and enjoyable; Nick was particularly looking forward to the "Knot Quite In Cheshire" round, expecting questions on Rudyard Lake, Leek and even the revived Knotty (North Staffordshire Railway). Sadly it wasn't like that and he pathetically spent the rest of the evening whingeing that his question had been one on sport!!! They were actually quite difficult with everyone scoring less than usual except Bob who chalked up a storming 33. Individual scores were Bob 12/21, Wendy 9/9, Nick 3/6 and Tomo 12/9; conferred points were 6/14 whilst we picked up 7/12 passovers. The New Castle collected 8/7 passovers. The Phoenix scraped home by just 9 points.

All the questions can be seen here.

The question master from the Knot was Andrew Bogie who joined in the fun and laughter and exercised his judgement with authority.

A most enjoyable evening rounded off with extremely tasty sandwiches - thankyou questions setters, question master, the New Castle and The Castle Inn.

BOWLED OVER

2009-12-03T11:11:00.000-08:00

This was the Phoenix' first visit to to the Pack Horse Bowling Club, new home of the peripatetic quiz team that spent some years at The Beehive, then moved to The Baths until that closed down (now reopened with a new quiz team) when they moved here. We very much hope they stay here for many years to come as it is a warm, welcoming place serving well-kept real ale. The team are well-known to the Phoenix as we have had many games together over the years enlivened with humour and good spirits. This was to be no exception.

Again there was a different slant on the specialist questions and whilst playing to the Phoenix' love of real ale and food in two of the rounds at the end of the Specialist the Phoenix were lagging by 12 points.

There was a spirited fight back in the Specialist questions particularly by Tomo who had a great run of 3's
whereas the questions just did not fall right for Nick who scored just 3.

The final score was 139 to 136 - the Phoenix lost by 3 points.

Individual scores were Bob 12/21, Wendy 12/15, Nick 9/3 and Tomo 6/24. Conferred points were 9/14 with 2/9 passovers. The home team collected 6/5 passovers.

A pleasant rounded off with a lovely selection of sandwiches and pork pies apparently provided by the team itself - many thanks.

The questions can be viewed by clicking here

27th November Cup and Plate

2009-11-28T08:48:00.000-08:00

The Phoenix were not playing as they had secured a bye to the next round, but they had to provide one question master. The plan was to make it a social gathering in the Tavern but due to various family and work commitments just Nick was left to ask the questions. Fortunately Tomo arrived just in time to keep an eye on Nick and his repeated scoring cockups.
As one set of the questions had been considerably delayed the two sets had not been vetted as was obvious when the questions were read out: there were two questions on China's longest rivers (does anyone know the third longest? It's actually the Pearl river), there were two questions on the British Prime Minister at the time of the Suez War, some questions could have a variety of answers (Fitzroy, who accompanied Darwin on the Beagle did a lot more than give his name to a shipping area and the Met Office) or were incomplete (the Ganges Delta whilst partly being in India, has two-thirds of its extent in Bangladesh where the floods cause most damage).
The questions can be seen by clicking here
The quiz was in good spirits and it was good to see the Phoenix sister team win despite their grumbles. A fine selection of sandwiches rounded off an evening of quizzing and fine ales.

Away to The Knot

2009-11-18T23:49:00.000-08:00

Please click here for the questions -
We thought we had seen the last of The Knot when they finished 2^nd at the end of last season (having beaten the Phoenix both at home and away!!) and were eligible for promotion to the A League. But then Fate intervened and as two teams dropped out with just one new team signing up it meant that only the team in first position was promoted. Undeterred by this setback, The Knot have started the season with a great run of 5 wins out of 5 games and are sitting comfortably at the top of the League. Nevertheless the Phoenix made up 30% of the top ten scorers, with Bob, Wendy and Tomo all making an appearance.
.
Wendy had volunteered to do the long drive to Rushton Spencer and was very keen to show off the heated passenger seat, despite Nick’s constant anxiety about the effect the warm seat might have on his cold body (he believes putting cold feet into hot water gives chilblains and was drawing uncomfortable parallels …).

The Knot is a large pub originally built in 1853 next to the newly-built station on the North Staffordshire Railway, later a victim to Beeching’s destruction. It offered a warm welcome and a choice of three real ales.

The Specialist questions had been set by the New Castle who were kind enough to send two lovely young ladies as questionmaster and timekeeper. The questions were very well received, with a different slant being given to the five mandatory rounds and inventive questions for the remaining three. At the end of the Specialist the Phoenix were ahead with a score of 67 to 48.

The General Knowledge questions had been set by The Cock and were of uneven quality – some were very easy bog-standard questions and others terribly obscure. At the end of the rounds, the Phoenix had increased their lead with a score of 77 to 68. If there was an imbalance in the questions it was clearly to the advantage of the Phoenix. The final score was 144 to 116 in favour of the Phoenix. I feel it is probably true to say that the Knot had called on their strength in depth and did not necessarily turn out their strongest team - there were dark murmurs of pantomimes etc.

Individual results were Bob 15/18, Wendy 15/12, Nick 12/9 and Tomo 12/18; conferred points were 5/13 and passovers 8/7. Obviously the top three scorers were determined to hang on to their places in the top ten doing so with strong team work as The Knot only picked up 3/5 passovers.

At the end of the quiz the landlord showed why they have built a good reputation as a food pub with a selection of generously stuffed sandwiches.

A very pleasant evening - thankyou The Knot, the team and the landlord.

November 10th -Home to the Plough Taverners

2009-11-11T07:32:00.001-08:00

Last weeks comments were rather reticent but having now seen the full results for all Leagues it seems proper to add a little detail. Bob's magnificent score of 39 whilst being equalled by the Albion's John Hargreaves was otherwise only beaten by Mark Watson's astounding 54 and Liz Horrocks' 42 in the A League. The overall score of 144 beat all teams in the B and C Leagues and whilst being equalled by one in the A League was only beaten by 2 in the A League. A great game for the Phoenix.
Despite this result the Phoenix gathered on 10th to play the Plough Taverners with some trepidation - whilst being third in the League, it was actually 3rd equal with the Albion and our opponents for the night both of whom had a game in hand - and without being too cynical that means 5th!! Nevertheless we had the benefit of a home game with the (rather noisy!!!) home supporters and no distraction from football. The Specialist questions were something of a tour de force by Rick Davies of the Church House Bollington and put a fresh slant on the categories (so much so that the Lamb vetoed the Science round which sounded interesting). At the end of the Specialist rounds the Phoenix had managed a slight lead of 46 to 41 - nothing to get complacent about there!
The General Knowledge questions were by The Lamb and were well received - again the Phoenix ended the rounds with a slight lead of 80 to 70. Wendy maintained her high-scoring rate but this week was overtaken by Tomo with a very strong 30.
All the questions can be seen by clicking here

Individual scores were Bob 9/12, Wendy 6/21, Nick 9/6, Tomo 12/18 with conferred points 3/13 and passovers 2/10; the Taverners picked up 9/5 passovers emphasising the strong team work of the Phoenix who eventually won by 126 to 111.

It was a most enjoyable evening with old friends and adversaries overseen with humour and tolerance by the Church house questionmaster, rounded off with a generous supper of sausages, onions, chips and bread and butter. Many thanks to Brian and Tracey and the Plough Taverners.

2009-11-06T08:16:00.000-08:00

To see the night's questions click here

The Phoenix were at home this week playing against the British Flag, a team we have met on several occasions with fluctuating results. It was therefore with some trepidation that the Phoenix took their places with the Tavern's excellent ale and cider. However, the questions suited the Phoenix and by the end of the specialist rounds they had edged ahead with a lead of 51 to 35. With confidence bolstered the General Knowledge rounds were tackled with more of the Tavern's refreshments and the lead was increased with a score of 93 to 80.
The questions we felt were balanced and the specialist in particular unusual; the Phoenix played a very disciplined game keeping all the questions “on the table” and allowing the Flag little chance to pick up pass-overs.
Bob and Wendy set a fine example while Nick and Tomo played a strong rearguard defence, individual scores being Bob 18/21, Wendy 9/21, Nick 3/18 and Tomo 3/18; conferred points were 12/9 and passovers 6/6. That the Flag only picked up 7/5 passovers is testament to the fine team play of the Phoenix
A most enjoyable game rounded off with a fine selection of sandwiches.

Problems accessing the questions

2009-11-01T06:01:00.000-08:00

I've had some correspondence with Google and think I may have cracked the problem.

In future the link will be in the text as Questions and clicking on it should work.

Still need to work on the funny layout

Any problems please the Comments

First Round of the Cup - Away to the Dolphin Dragons

2009-10-28T02:07:00.000-07:00

The Dolphin is a very pleasant and friendly pub well known for keeping its Robinson's ales in top condition - not only was the fearsome Old Tom on offer (8.5% ABV, voted the world's best ale) but also the relative newcomer Dizzy Blonde an excellent quaffing beer. It is also well known for the quality of its two quiz teams both sitting comfortably in the A League - but the Phoenix know no fear and strode confidently to the Windmill St inn.

Unfazed by the unfamiliar surroundings and choice of beers, the Phoenix stormed into the fray and emerged from the first round of 20 questions with a slender lead; sadly this seems to have got them a little light-headed as they slipped behind in the next four rounds until the final round when a final rally saw them take the final round. Sadly this palindromic style of play was not enough to save the game and the final score was 113 to 86 to a very strong Dolphin Dragons team.

Graham Bailey did a great job as question master in a game marked with laughter and good cheer and the evening finished on a particularly high note with a huge supper of chillie con carne with chips and garlic bread.

Congratulations to the Dragons and good luck in the next round - and very special thanks to the Dolphin Inn for the generous hospitality.

Home to Church house Bollington

2009-10-26T02:20:00.000-07:00

Nick could not make this game so no full report this week.

The Phoenix broke their duck with a good win against a strong team, individual scores being:

Bob 18/15, Wendy 9/15, Steve 6/18 and Tomo 12/12; conferred points were 9/15 and passovers 7/7. The Phoenix only passed over 4/6 points ending with a win of 143 to 101.

Well done all.

'Fraid not Shakespeare!!

2009-10-14T03:28:00.000-07:00

""Then shall the realm of Albion / Come to great confusion"" (King Lear).

The Albion have made a storming start following promotion to the B League last season. Last week they narrowly lost to the British Flag who were formerly in the A League. This week the Phoenix were to face them.

Fortunately Wendy managed to turn up this week and we did not need the dirty old beer mat we had preserved from last week. The questions were set by our sister team the Waters Green Rams and the British Flag who asked the questions for our game. We felt they were good even though at the half-way stage we were trailing by 21 points; we recovered a little in the general knowledge questions (particularly Wendy) picking up six points but the Albion had played very well and were worthy winners.

Individual scores were Bob 3/6, Wendy 6/24, Nick 9/9 and Tomo 3/3; conferred points were 13/11 and passovers 1/12. Final Score 115 to 100. A surprising point is that although there were no bloops or wild guesses, the Albion still picked up 4/14 passovers.

A great win by The Albion, and we have no excuses - everything was in our favour: home ground, Wendy back, Rosie the mascot and the best beer throughout the League. A tasty selection of sandwiches rounded off an evening of laughter and head-scratching - thanks to the Flag representatives who conducted the evening with good humour.

Turned Over By The Plough

2009-10-07T04:14:00.000-07:00

Apologies to The Plough teams - see footnote

As the long wet summer succumbed to what promises to be a long wet autumn and winter, furtive figures emerged from the shadows of Waters Green and shuffled into the Tavern; hollow-eyed from a summer of swotting up on American capitals, collective nouns for obscure animals and various ologies they sheepishly approached the table stacked high with official looking envelopes. Yes the Macclesfield Pub Quiz League started last night and the question masters were collecting the night's questions.

The Waters Green Phoenix were playing away at The Plough against the Plodders - old friends over many years. Anxiety began to mount as the team assembled as there was no sign of Wendy and frantic phone calls failed to get a response.

Eventually the depleted team set off in Bob's car and drove until the luminous green lights of the Plough cut through the mists and drizzle. The Plough is now blessed with two teams and is a very warm and friendly pub with two real ales on offer and a third in the cellar. Wendy's absence was covered by a dirty beer mat we found on the floor and the game began.

The questions were of a very high standard (set single-handedly by Mark secretary of the Leagues) and were thoroughly enjoyed by all - see link at right). At the end of the Specialist the Taverners trailed by six points that they were never able to make up as they slipped gradually behind.

There were no serious bloopers but lots of laughter and enjoyment. The Plough eventually finished on top and the evening was rounded off with a fine selection of sandwiches. They were worthy winners.

Individual scores were Bob 15/24, Tomo 15/9, Nick 12/12 and the dirty beer mat scored nothing individually. Conferred points (including the beer mat's contribution) were 11/16 and just 2/7 passovers. The Plough picked up 3/7 passovers with a final score of 150 to the Phoenix' 123.

An enjoyable evening but there are challenges ahead for the Phoenix.

When I first wrote this blog, I welcomed the new team at the Plough that had moved from the George & Dragon because of uncertainties for its future; according to the fixtures we played the Plough Plodders but when I looked at the result sheet we had played the Plough Horntails so I removed the reference to the G&D. Then I realised that the Plough Taverners had asked the questions so we hadn't played them!! So to put the record straight, we played the Horntails who were worthy winners; the questions were asked by the Plough Taverners who did the job with good humour. And I'm sorry I cocked up!!!

Mike Bennett R.I.P.

2009-07-14T06:27:00.000-07:00

This week saw the funeral of Mike Bennet a very popular quiz team member from the George & Dragon in Higher Hurdsfield.

The Crematorium was absolutely packed with standing room only at a service conducted by Rev Stella Coles, with a light touch that did not distract from the solemnity of the occasion. Many familiar faces from the Quiz League were seen along with friends, family and colleagues.

A long-standing friend who had shared many escapades and pints gave a fulsome tribute to Mike's life: a classical scholar, a chartered surveyor, a knowledgeable quiz player and a devoted family man. After his retirement he lightened the burden of shopping at Sainsbury's with his humourous comments on the PA system.

He will be missed by many, not least his fellow quiz team players throughout the League. We wish him well in that super league in the sky.

Keith Arnold R.I.P.

2009-07-06T05:42:00.000-07:00

This blog normally restricts itself to the erractic wanderings of the Waters Green Phoenix quiz team with a long hibernation through the summer.

We have broken with that tradition following the sad loss of Keith Arnold, a founder member of the Church House Bollington quiz team who sadly passed away on 24th June after a battle with liver cancer.

His funeral took place in St Oswald's parish church in Bollington Cross, a rather austere building but enliveneded with hangings from the local school and residents. Conducted by Revd. Veronica Hydon with a eulogy by a distant relative (first cousin once removed?) Canon Roy Arnold who emphasised Keith's love of sport in general and in particular Manchester United. The church was absolutely packed with standing room only reflecting his warm character and the respect he has earned from collegaues, fellow sportsmen and quiz members.

A separate tribute was paid by Allan Sherrat another founder member of the Church House Bollington quiz team and long-time friend with an amusing and untimately very touching account of some of their escapades particularly with the Bollington cricket team.

Another great loss was the death of Mike Bennet within days of Keith's passing details of which are still awaited.

The League will greatly miss them both

Last Game of the Season 28th April

2009-04-30T00:33:00.000-07:00

Duncan Disorderley writes:

As blogmeister extraordinaire Nick is on holiday in Spain he has asked me to make a special guest appearance to write about the final night of the 2008/09 season, even though I officially retired from being a famous celebrity ages ago. I have been trying to keep a low profile to avoid certain people to whom I owe money (Nick has promised me that this will be a paid job). I have tried hard to find a good job with plenty of brass to keep the credit crunch at bay and to keep certain people away from my door. All the jobs have turned out disastrously. I applied for a job at the new East Cheshire Council and they offered me what they said was a prize job with no less than two thousand men under me! I was over the moon until they told me I would be cutting the grass in the local cemetery. The last job I tried was a disaster. It was as an entertainments officer in a nudist camp. They asked me to organise their Sports Day which I did. Things went very well at first, especially the nude sack race using transparent polythene sacks. The trouble came when I started the men’s nude 4 x 400 baton relay race. It was pandemonium at the second baton change. One poor chap was dragged 200 yards before we found out what the problem was.

Anyway enough of my problems. The last match of a good season was played against the Puss Artists. The redoubtable Steve Berwick, of whom Magnus Magnusson once said “Who?!” was standing in for Nick. Right from the word go there was a definite ‘end of term’ flavour about the night, tolerated – even encouraged by the excellent quiz master Mike Vickerstaffe. I do like a quiz with a laugh and a joke and the B League is certainly the place for that. The specialist rounds were tough, but with some interesting questions. In an entertaining round called Location, Location!, on famous addresses we were asked who was the Downing of Downing street fame? Even though it disappointingly turned out to be just the landlord it was nevertheless one of those questions that you didn’t know the answer to but probably should. The scores at the end of the specialist round were close – 45 to the Artists, 49 to the Phoenix.

The General Knowledge rounds undoubtedly favoured the Waters Green team, who pulled away about a third of the way through and eventually won 121 to 63, with a final match score of Waters Green Phoenix 170; Puss Artists 108.

So a good season came to a very entertaining end. Time now to thank the organisers, particularly the indefatigable and always cheerful Mark Watson for his Herculean task (and also congratulation to him on his team’s winning of the A League and his own personal scoring feats!).

For the Waters Green Tavern – another excellent and enjoyable year. Many many thanks to Nick for the blog and the wisdom of age; substitutes Ra, Steve, Tony and Eric and in particular to Rosie, our official mascot. Thanks to Tracey and Brian and all at the WGT.

See you next year.

FINAL STATISTICS FOR GAME

Tommo 36

Wendy 21

Steve 27

Bob 33

21 April

2009-04-26T00:45:00.000-07:00

The penultimate game of the season against old friends the George and Dragon playing on their home ground in Higher Hurdsfield.

The pub had two real ales on, Bombardier that is the regular offering plus one from the newly established Wincle Brewery that are all named after local characters.

As always with the G&D this was a lively and good-humoured quiz despite Nick's rather questionable poem on the origins of the camel's hump and and the sphinx' smile.

The evening was rounded off with a generous tray of sausage and toasted baguettes for which we were very grateful.

Individual scores were Bob 15/18, Wendy 6/12, Nick 3/12 and Tomo 12/9, Conferred points were 11/13, Passed over 8/11 whilst the G&D picked up 3/7 passovers - final scores George & Dragon 86 Waters Green Phoenix 130

Apologies

2009-04-23T00:43:00.000-07:00

Sorry about this but I've been getting left behind recently - am away now for a couple of weeks but on my return will publishthe semi-final questions, subsequent questions and comments on last weeks' game - in the meantime Church House Bollington have been kind enought to supply last week's GK questons that have been published as normal

Semi Finals

2009-04-09T01:22:00.001-07:00

What a night this was to be!! Manchester United playing Porto, Arsenal playing Villareal and the semi-finals in the Macclesfield Pub Quiz League Cup and Plate knock-out competitions including the mighty Phoenix against the Oxford C (highly placed in the A League) with the formidable Alice Walker (formidable only in the extent of her knowledge, as she is a charming and fun-loving player); and Haydn who is high in the competition for the individual placings in the A League.

The evening started with a surprise - the Phoenix were following the tradition of gathering at the Waters Green Tavern for a talk on tactics lubricated with some of Brian's finest ales before moving on to the venue (the Ox Fford) when in walked Alice!! There had been a mix-up at the Ox Fford and what with the football and crib and what have you the quiz could not take place there.

A hurried consultation with Brian quickly resolved the situation and the venue was changed to the Phoenix home ground - many thanks Brian. But obviously there would be no butties. There was some delay whilst the rest of the Oxford team were gathered and shepherded to the Tavern along with the question master who had not long since left with the questions. The Phoenix tried to take avantage of the situation by claiming a 40 point penalty for the inconvenience, late start and anything else we could think of but it was quickly rebuffed, despite Tomo passing the time amazing Alice with his conjuring and mind-reading skills.

The knock-out competitions take the form of 6 rounds of 10 questions to each team and the Phoenix fought hard narrowly losing the first two rounds 17/14 and 20/14 and even drawing in the third at 16 each. Whether the questions then changed, or the lubrication took effect is difficult to say but the next rounds went to the Oxford 19/11, 16/8 and 23/10 the game finishing at 111/73 to the Oxford. So the Phoenix would only just have won if they had been given the 40 penalty points!!

No complaints about the questions or the balance - the Oxford were the better team and it showed on the night.

So to sum up the night: United lost the lead with a last minute goal from an unmarked Lisandro after a lacklustre display, Arsenal also drew with a spectacular overhead kick from Adebayor and the Phoenix came away second.

But the night was not yet over! A huge tray of chips appeared with a plentiful supply of baps - Brian had arranged it with Tel of the Waters Green Chippy!! Many thanks fo Brian and Tel.

So we now look forward to next year's knock-out competition, and wish the Oxford C every success in the semi-final.

Garrotted By The Knot

2009-04-01T07:21:00.001-07:00

This was the return match against The Knot, currently jostling with the Puss Heads for the number 1 spot in the League (awaiting formal results).

The Phoenix were without their top-scoring member Bob but were confident of victory by calling on their mascot Rosie. Sadly Rosie was out for walkies, and we had to call on our second-string mascot Rah, Nick’s son.

The Knot on the other hand demonstrated their strength in depth by allowing Brian (who did so well in Mastermind recently) to help the question-master with the scoring and to take no part in the team.

The specialist rounds had some out-of-the-ordinary questions, in particular a spelling bee that was a severe test of memory without a spellchecker to help! It was a keenly fought contest and at the end of the specialist rounds it was level pegging at 42 each. The General Knowledge were equally challenging and it was here that The Knot’s strengths were brought to the fore as they strode ahead to beat us by over 30 points (see link at right for the questions). This is brought into even higher relief by the number of pass-over points they picked up (see below).

Individual points were:

Rah 3/0, Wendy 6/9, Nick 12/9 and Tomo 6/9; conferred points were 10/15 with 5/6 pass-overs. The knot on the other hand gathered 6/18 pass-overs!!! Final score was 90 for the Phoenix to 122 for The Knot.

Rah’s score is not an accurate reflection of his contribution – as a beginner in the quiz he was rather over-cautious on his own questions but was extremely useful in all the conferred discussions. We look forward to his participation again in the future.

Well done to the Knot – worthy winners in a good-humoured game and we wish them well in the title race.

The evening was rounded off with a fine selection of sandwiches – thank you Brian and Tracey. We do not blame the excellent selection of beers for the defeat although it was the Phoenix drinking the Easy Rider, whilst The Knot acted it out.

24th March - Question Masters

2009-03-25T03:12:00.000-07:00

This week it was the turn of the Phoenix to ask the questions in the B League. It is amazing that the questions can be scrutinised by both teams (the Church House Sutton set the Specialist) and then on the night you are confronted by something that is so obviously wrong and you thought you had removed it (Winter Q6); that, and the fact that one question was omitted altogether (GK76). Apologies for that.

Other than that, it seems the questions were regarded as balanced if rather obscure - the results will tell a truer story when published.

Nick covered the Pack Horse Bowling Club, the new home of The Baths team following the pub's closure. It is a very large and comfortable building selling Hyde's ales that are well kept and it is good that the quiz team found this haven. Other teams in the League can help them stay there by taking advantage of the bar giving good reason for the quiz team always to be made welcome. Perhaps with time the Club will go so far as to provide refreshments that are currently provided by the team themselves.

Comments below from other teams are welcome, if with some trepidation.

EXORCISM AT THE CHURCH HOUSE

2009-03-18T09:27:00.001-07:00

The demons of the Phoenix (to win every game in the second half of the season) were decisively rooted out by the Church house Bollington. It was all prophet and big loss.

The Church House is a highly respected pub with a good reputation for food; there were three real ales on the bar including the almost-local Beartown Kodiak Gold - most welcome. It has had some ups and downs over the past couple of years but has now settled down with a firm customer base - and a very strong quiz team.

The questions by the Ox-FFord were very good indeed and will no doubt see some big scores this week - including the Phoenix; the Specialist rounds saw some new ideas (see link at right) but just did not fall the Phoenix' way - by the half-way mark the Church House were winning by 87 to 54!! We've never been so far behind at this stage before.

The General Knowledge questions saw a more even contest but the Phoenix were unable to make up the deficit with a final score of 182 to 147 - the Phoenix tally of 147 is enough to win most weeks but the Church House were so enthusiastic about winning points they even started to answer the Phoenix' questions at one stage!

The departed spirits were soon replaced with a selection of sandwiches, pork pies and sausage rolls and the Phoenix returned home bloodied, de-spirited but unbowed.

Individual scores were Bob 15/24, Wendy 9/18, Nick 9/18 and Tomo 9/15; conferred points were 10/15 and a wretched 2/5 passovers shows the strength of the home team who garnered 9/8 passovers.

A great game by the Church House - well done!!

Third Meeting With The Plough - this time at home

2009-03-11T05:42:00.000-07:00

Getting rather incestuous this! The return match with the Plough in the League, we played them in the Cup and Granville has asked the questions at the Tavern the previous two weeks. A great bunch with equal amounts of knowledge and humour but this time we had our mascot Rosie!

The Specialist questions were set by The George & Dragon with some new twists on the rounds, in particular the History and Geography - see link at right.

However, although the Phoenix enjoyed the questions and marked them quite highly, there were no big scores - in fact at the end of the Specialist the Phoenix were trailing by 51 to 42 and Nick had scored 0!! So it was with some trepidation that the Phoenix settled down for the General Knowledge questions.

Our fears were justified - it is hard to believe that the laid-back and friendly guys we had met only the previous week could produce such a set of questions - is it really the same team? By question 20, two questions were already vying for the title of the most ridiculous of the season: would it be "What is the fastest ever recorded speed of someone travelling on a jet-powered skateboard?" (Q5) or "What is macropocide?" (Q19) - if anyone is interested the answer to the second one is the killing of kangaroos!!!

Nevertheless, the questions allowed the Phoenix to slowly make up the difference and gradually overtake the Plough eventually finishing with 114 to 93 - it is a sad irony that the questions that we judged very harshly and gave (for the first time I can remember) 0 marks were what allowed the Phoenix to save the day.

Wendy continued with her strong performance this season, with Tomo scoring a good 24 but otherwise the questons just did not fall our way.

Individual scores were Bob 6/3, Wendy 9/12, Nick 0/9 and Tomo 9/15; conferred points were 10/15 with passovers 8/18. The Plough picked up just 6/5 passovers evidence of very strong team work by the Phoenix.

A fine spread of sandwiches rounded off the evening - thank you Brian and Tracey

3rd March - The Cup Quarter Finals

2009-03-04T04:55:00.001-08:00

For the quarter final of the Cup, we were drawn against The Albion currently top in the C League with John Hargreaves the top scorer in the individual merits. It certainly would not be The Fall of Albion as foreseen by William Blake (Albion dancing aside).

Steve was making a welcome appearance in Wendy's absence and for the second week running the genial question master was Granville from The Plough Taverners.

The questions were quite good but the importance of balance meant there were a large number of follow-on questions - i.e. consecutive questions taking the same form. (See link at right)

Since all questions were conferrred there are no individual scores, and the Phoenix managed to win most of the six rounds with a small margin. Final score was 102 to 82, a well-fought contest.

This means that the Phoenix will now go forward to the semi-final to play one of the teams from the Ox-Fford or The Dolphin who are towering above the rest in the A League - bring it on!!

A well-lubricated evening ended with a lovely selection of sandwiches - thank you Brian and Tracey.

24th Feb - Home to the Puss Heads

2009-02-25T02:26:00.000-08:00

We knew this was going to be a tough one - the Puss Heads top of the League and with a huge total points lead.

The Phoenix were intent on not letting the visitors get any passovers and played very cautiously - probably a little too cautiously. There were no moments of high drama and Nick refrained from his usual faux pas - there were a couple of Specialist questions he should have got but his usual problem with names meant they were conferred.

Except for Wendy's magnificent equalling of her PB it was a low-scoring game but the Phoenix played solidly as a team managing to get 27 conferred points of which maybe 3 or 4 could/should have been 3's.

No complaints about the questions that were balanced, but there was some confusion at the end of the game when the question master's scoring was challenged and several questions were rerun. Eventually it was decided that the visitors won by 121 to 120.

Individual scores were Bob 6/12, Wendy 15/15, Nick 0/12 and Tomo 3/15 - conferred points were 12/15 and passovers 9/7; The Artists picked up 9/9 passovers.

The evening was rounded off with a generous selection of sandwiches - thank you Brian and Tracey

The Cock - But No Bull

2009-02-18T06:50:00.000-08:00

A return match against the Cock (a Robbie's pub outside town) and this was bound to be a close call.

Bob of the Phoenix and Jackie of The Cock were tied for second place in the individual scores and they each had something to prove. Moreover the Phoenix were again without a mascot and Bob's daughter had still not produced her baby. The tension!!

At the end of the specialist rounds the Phoenix were a nose ahead with 47 against The Cock's 44; The Cock kept up the pressure in the General Knowledge questions just losing by 67 points to 66. Final score was 114 to 110 to the Phoenix. A very close and most enjoyable match.

Nick had learned the lessons from previous mistakes and this time thought about his answers instead of blurting out the first thing that came into his head; so when asked "Which crime-fighting duo had the first names Christine and Mary-Beth?" he scratched the inside of his skull for the answer eventually coming up with that little-known series Cagney and Makepeace!!! The groans could have been heard at the Tavern!

We felt the questions were pretty good and balanced even though the two question setters had not been able to vet each others' questions.

Bob and Wendy continued to get high scores with Bob easing in front of Jackie in the individual merits; individual scores were Bob 15/15, Wendy 9/15, Tomo 9/6 and Nick 6/9. Conferred points were 2/17 and passovers 6/5. The Cock picked up 7/3 passovers.

A very pleasant evening with a good selection of sandwiches - perfectly rounded off just before midnight with Bob's daughter giving birth to a baby daughter.

A good night all round.

The Baths Are Empty ...

2009-02-11T04:28:00.000-08:00

... but the quiz team remains buoyant.

Yes, The Baths pub is one of the casualties of the financial crisis and its doors have closed.

The quiz team however continues and last night The Ox-Fford were good enough to allow us to use that pub as neither of their two teams was playing at home. The team are continuing their search for a new venue. It was good to be back in the Ox-Fford with memories of our sojourn in the A League, and there was a selection of Jennings and Wychwood beers that were welcome.

The Phoenix were under some pressure - not only were both mascots missing, but Bob's daughter is about to go into labour which was something of a distraction.

The questions by the Oxford C we thought were very good (see link at right) and the twist on the picture round (nations' flags in black and white) was certainly different.

The Baths raced ahead to an early lead of about 13 and at the end of the Specialist were ahead by 51 to 43. The Phoenix fought hard to get back and managed to win the General Knowledge by 76 to 75 the final score being 126 to 119 in favour of the Baths. It was a very hard-fought game and very few points were given away - no complaints, well done The Baths. The able and affable question master was Brian from The Knot.

Individual scores were Bob 15/12, Wendy 9/18, Nick 3/15 and Tomo 6/9; conferred points were 7/17, passovers 3/5 with The Baths picking up 9/5 passovers.

Well done The Baths and thankyou very much to the Ox-Fford who prepared a plate of varied sandwiches that were very welcome.

February 4th - Home To The Puss Artists

2009-02-07T01:32:00.000-08:00

A first meeting with the Puss Artists, the second team from the Puss In Boots, who had a bad start to the season losing the first three games but who have made steady progress since, winning the subsequent four.

Our mascot Rosie was back again but seemed to take more interest in the radiator pipe under the seats than the game itself.

It was a very tight game with the Artists showing the wide range of knowledge that has brought them such good fortune. It was made even tighter with two of the Specialist rounds being out of the ordinary, Round 3 in particular allowed Tomo to display his encyclopaedic knowledge of daytime TV. The other unusual round was a picture round. The challenge enabled two of the Phoenix (Wendy and Tomo) to attain personal bests for the season and Bob put in a very steady 27. Nick unfortunately once again showed off his loose canon trick on two questions that a moment’s thought would have given three points rather than 1 to the Artists. Rosie was in danger of being dragged from her warm spot to be replaced by Nick.

However there were some questions that caused some comment, in particular:

1. A question about the width of the standard gauge asked for the nearest inch – but gave the answer with a fraction of an inch and no leeway shown. (GK Q13)

2. The first name of Dubya Bush’s younger brother was requested with the answer shown as Jeb (or maybe Jed - apparently they are interchangeable) but in any case his first names are John Ellis. (See Round 8 Q3)

For both these questions and throughout the quiz the question master stuck strictly to the rules and insisted on the answer shown, similarly with time-keeping. We felt he did a very good job indeed. The responsibility for both difficulties lies with the vetting, as did the imbalance of questions in the General Knowledge.

Final scores were Bob 6/21, Wendy 15/15, Nick 3/9 and Tomo 15/15; conferred points were 5/18 with Passovers giving 6/3. The Artists got 10/6 passovers.

The evening finished with a splendid supper of sausages, onions, chips and bread and butter. Thank you Brian and Tracey.

A Close Shave At The Plough

2009-01-28T03:34:00.001-08:00

Once again the Phoenix were at The Plough, this time in the knock-out Cup/Plate competition (See Week 4 2nd December). And The Plough were out to avenge their close defeat at the previous meeting.

Once again there were serious distractions - Manchester United were playing West Bromwich Albion and Macclesfield were playing top of the League Wycombe; to compound the problems the Phoenix were without either of their lucky mascots.

It was a keenly-fought match with the lead swapping from one to the other team with pretty good questions. There was lots of laughter and fun and The Phoenix eventually scraped through with 66 points to The Plough's 64.

The game ended with a splendid assortment of sandwiches and particularly a bowl of pickled onions. Excellent!!!

Oh and United won 5-0 and Macc achieved a goalless draw.

Home To The George & Dragon

2009-01-21T01:54:00.000-08:00

Good to be back home for the quiz this week with an amazing selection of fine real ales to bolster our efforts.

This was to be a very interesting week as the standings from last week show that there were 4 teams tied for 3rd place - including the Phoenix and the George & Dragon.

Our opponents have been friends and adversaries over many years and the game was bound to be good-humoured and fun.

There was a major change in the Phoenix side - Nick's son was dropped as the team mascot and replaced by Wendy's Jack Russell Rosie. Sadly this did little to improve Nick's performance - last week he confused Scotland and Ireland, this week he surpassed himself confusing Dvorak's New World Symphony with Holst's Planets Suite. There is serious consideration being given to replacing him with Rosie.

The Specialist questions (see link at right) showed a lot of thought and ingenuity with rounds that were not at all familiar (i.e. not the usual textbook questions) and it was a keenly fought battle with the Phoenix eventually finishing ahead by just one point at 51/50.

General Knowledge were not quite as good but were well received and allowed the Phoenix to pull slowly ahead, mainly led by Bob's brilliant score of 39. Final score was 140 to 126.

Individual scores were Bob 18/21, Wendy 9/18, Nick 3/15 and Tomo 6/15, conferred 10/16, passovers 5/4 and the G&D picked up 9/5 passovers.

A very pleasant evening with the Bollington Church House question masters taking part in the fun. Many thanks to Brian and Tracey for a superb spread of sandwiches.

13th Jan - Choked by The Knot

2009-01-14T01:33:00.000-08:00

The Phoenix braved the Cheshire-Staffordshire border and its multiple speed traps to play away at The Knot in Rushton Spencer. We were met by a roaring fire giving out enormous heat and a very friendly team that has done extremely well over the last two seasons. Three real ales were available (Jennings, Black Sheep and Bombardier) which is always welcome.

The Specialist questions were very well received and although there were no big scores someone answered just about every question, and there was very little to choose between the two teams. It was clear that a lot of thought and imagination had gone into the questions and at the end the scores were 37 to the Phoenix and 38 to the home team.

The General Knowledge were less well received but that is not the reason The Knot began to nose ahead to eventually finish 122 to 108.

Final individual scores were Bob 9/12, Wendy 6/15, Nick 3/9 and Tomo 3/12, Conferred points 10/15, Passovers 7/7 whilst The Knot picked up 6/7 passovers. The knot is a very strong team ably captained by Brian Bogie whom many of us admired on Mastermind a few weeks ago.

A very tight and most enjoyable game rounded off with a generous selection of sandwiches.

An Epiphany

2009-01-07T01:37:00.000-08:00

January 6th saw the valiant members of the Macclesfield Pub Quiz League battling through ice and snow to play their games.

It was the turn of the Phoenix to ask the questions in the B League in Rushton Spencer (The Knot), Bollington (Church House) and in town the Plough and Puss In Boots.

The results will have to await the News and Views (see link at right) but the questions (see link) were very well received in Bollington and the Specialist rounds especially gained high scores. In the General Knowledge there was some discussion about a couple of questions which were substituted by Supplementaries: Q34 as it was unclear if the question meant mainland Scotland or the islands, and Q48 that should have referred to the Liberal Democrats not the Liberals.

The evening was rounded off with a splendid selection of sandwiches, pork pies and hot pizza - many thanks.

All the question masters from the B League report that the questions were well judged.

9th February Home to The Church house Bollington

2008-12-11T10:09:00.000-08:00

We were pleased to welcome the Church House Bollington to the Tavern following their promotion from the C League last year. It is a team that has been around for some years with many changes – both to the team and to the Church House itself!

The Phoenix won the toss and opted to go first in the Specialist rounds. Sadly the toss was about the only thing we won on the night.

The Specialist rounds were very obscure, reflected in the scoring (conferred and Passovers not included):

Round Phoenix Church House

Sport 0 3

Geography 0 3

History 3 0

Science 6 6

Arts & Entertainment 6 0

Lest We Forget 0 6

Music 6 6

Answer Lies In The Soil 9 6

In each of the first three rounds, only one person managed to score a 3 – the purpose of the quiz is not to show how clever the question setter is!

The Specialist were better but were sometimes irritating with attempted “balance” i.e. consecutive questions on capitals, castles etc.

At the end of the Specialist, Phoenix were trailing by 10 points and although they made up some of the gap the final score was 112 to 107 to the Church House.

Individual scores were:

Bob 6/12, Wendy 6/15, Nick 6/9 and Tomo 12/6. Conferred points were 6/5 with 13/11 passovers. The Church House picked up 11/11 passovers. A very high number of passovers that sheds some light on the questions.

No complaints about the winners – it was a keen game in a relaxed atmosphere and the Church House questions were no easier than those of the Phoenix – well done.!!

Once again there was serious distraction from another sporting event - this time of even greater import!! The Waters Green Ladies' Darts team!! You don't mess with them!!

The Phoenix were able to draw comfort from the roaring fire and hefty sandwiches provided by Brian. A very pleasant evening.

P.S. It must be emphasised that the above comments are those of just one member of one team and it will be interesting to see the reactions of others,

Week 4 2nd December

2008-12-03T03:06:00.000-08:00

The first snows of the winter saw the Phoenix making their way to The Plough, a well-established pub with a quiz team well-known and respected from their previous home at The Cricket Club.

Once again there was a sporting diversion with the Burnley v. Arsenal cup tie being televised and, more importantly, Macclesfield playing away to top of the League Wycombe.

The four draught ales available however provided more interest than the TV and the game proceeded smoothly.

The Specialist questions (see link at right) were much appreciated and lent themselves to the Phoenix as they crept ahead to a 51 to 37 lead. In particular the rounds on old toys and symbols were original and interesting.

The General Knowledge questions allowed the Plough Taverners to stage a comeback but finished with a close score of 61 to 63 to the Phoenix. This also saw a first in the Quiz League with Nick scoring absolutely nothing!! A very lonely furrow at the Plough!

Final scores were Bob 12/12, Wendy 3/18, Nick 9/0 tut tut!!! And Tomo 9/12. Conferred points gave the Phoenix 11/15 and Passovers 7/6. The Plough Passovers scored 6/11. Final overall score 114 to the Plough 98. Tasty sandwiches were very welcome before stepping back into the cold after a very pleasant evening.

Oh, Burnley won 2-0!! But Macc lost 4-0 – can’t win ‘em all!

First Round of the Cup

2008-11-26T08:24:00.000-08:00

This week saw the first round of the knock-out competitions Cup and Plate (for those knocked out of the Cup competition in the first full round).

The Phoenix were at full strength and were drawn against the Chester Road Tavern; this is a team we have often met over the years in a friendly pub selling real ales. There is a strong interest in sport in the pub so there are several TV screens to cover various sporting events.

Unfortunately the night of the quiz coincided with two minor events involving Manchester United (against Villarreal) and Celtic (against Aalborg). It would seem that these lesser events were of more interest to the regulars than the quiz and at times audibility was rather difficult.

The questions (see link aside) were set by the Ox-fford C and The Church House Bollington and thought to be of a high standard; the Phoenix managed to win each of the six sets of 20 but only by a narrow margin and the final score of 109 to 83is rather misleading as to how close the two teams were.

A very pleasant evening was rounded off by a selection of tasty sandwiches, black pudding and pork pies. Much appreciated. And although United did not score they go through to the knockout stage of the Champions League.

Puss Heads no Pussy Cats!!

2008-11-19T07:12:00.000-08:00

The Puss Heads moved this season to join the Puss Artists at the Puss In Boots pub on the Buxton Road. They are old friends having spent many years at the St Dunstan in Langley before moving briefly closer to town prior to this latest move.

The pub is very comfortable with large rooms and whilst good food is served it does not overshadow the fact that this is a pub; well-kept real ale is on sale (Brains inter al) and the staff are friendly and helpful.

The quiz was hotly contested with questions generally thought to be different and good. The Puss Heads had a small lead at the end of the Specialist rounds (51 to 45) and neither side gave much away in the General Knowledge. However the Puss Heads slowly pulled away with a finishing score of 130 to 111 - worthy winners in a well-fought contest.

Individual scores were Bob 12/9, Wendy 9/15, Nick 6/18 and Tomo 6/6; conferred points (demonstrating good team work) were 6/14 whilst passed-over questions from the home team gave just 6/4. Passovers to the home team gave them 7/7.

Well done the Puss Heads - no complaints - they were good.

The evening was rounded off with a fine selection of sandwiches.

The Phoenix Rises

2008-11-18T05:26:00.000-08:00

Despite having good scores, the Wonderers narrowly missed promotion last season; undeterred, they gave notice of intent with a change of name to the Waters Green Phoenix.

Then if there is no promotion this season they will drown their sorrows with beer from the brewery of the same name.

They started well with two home games each with excellent support from a reserve.

Game 1 was against The Baths, old friends and adversaries with a lot of experience in the League. This was a taut and highly contested game with what are generally thought to be very tough questions set by The Knot and Chester Rd Tavern (see link at right). The Phoenix were a nose ahead at the end of the Specialist rounds, but The Baths came back fighting hard and the final result was a narrow victory to the Phoenix with 111 points to 108. It is good to report that three of the team scored 21 points each and 27 valuable points were scored with conferred questions. Just 16 were passed over.

Game 2 was again against a familiar team from The Cock at Henbury with both sets of questions set by the Harrington Academicals generally thought to be very good. Again the scores were very good with Bob getting 36, Tomo 30, Wendy 24 and Tony 21 – final score 155 to 111. Coincidentally conferred points were again 27 with 17 passed over to The Cock.

New Season 2008/9

2008-11-01T04:05:00.000-07:00

As the cold winds and heavy rain of the summer gave way to the darker, colder winds and heavier rain of autumn mysterious figures shuffled out of the bleak, black night of Macclesfield into the welcoming arms of the Weavers. Yes the Macclesfield Quiz League was shuffling off the sloth of summer and getting into prime condition as the AGM heralded the start of another season.

First off was the Plate final which pitted the Principals against the Knot – the former is a long-established team with a healthy record in the A League for many years whereas the Knot have had a remarkably strong first season coming top of the C League winning promotion to the B League and getting to the final of the Plate.

As usual the question master was Rick Davies who conducted the question with a fine blend of authority and humour.

The Knot put up a spirited performance but in the end the experience of the Principals won through.

I hope to publish the questions at a later date.

All was not bad news through the summer – once again the Wonderers had their annual end of season party celebrating with Indian food, music by Steve and Tomo’s miraculous conjuring tricks. As usual Nick had chosen one of summer’s few fine days (well in advance!) and the team’s numbers were swollen by friends.

To greet the new season and express their intentions, the team will be known as the Waters Green Phoenix (we can always fall back on the name of the brewery!)

22nd April - Belated report

2008-05-07T04:02:00.000-07:00

The final match of the season, Nick was swanning around in Spain and Wendy was struck down by some fearful disease and could not play. Eric once again stepped into the breech and after running up a hefty telephone bill Bob managed to get Dave, one of his mates to play - apparently he was more interested in drinking the real ale in the Waters Green Tavern than the quiz itself.
There was much to play for - not only were the Wonderers fighting to stay in the top half of the League but both Bob and Tomo were neck and neck in the individual scores and it was every man for himself.
At the end of the Specialist rounds, the Wonderers were a nose in front with 51 against the Plough Taverners' 43; the gap grew wider in the general knowledge with the Wonderers' 90 to 63 by the Plough Taverners - a final score of 141 to 106.

Tomo managed to beat Bob in the individuals with a hefty 36 to Bob's 27; Dave gave the lie to the malicious suggestion he was only there for the beer with a magnificent 21 on his debut appearance whilst Eric scored his personal best with a solid 18.

The questions (see link at right) were very good indeed - a fine way to end the season!

Calling All Quizzers

2008-04-20T09:17:00.000-07:00

Well, the end of the season is upon us and through the summer months Macclesfield will see Tuesday nights transformed as the streets are filled with sandalled and bearded men in woolly cardigans shuffling through the town with dazed expressions on their faces - what to do on a Tuesday evening?

But all is not lost - to break up the out-of-season dullness the East Cheshire Hospice has arranged a quiz to brighten those bleak summer evenings. Details can be found here

http://www.eastcheshirehospice.org.uk/default.asp?id=94

Most quiz team members will have had personal experience of the hospice and the magnificent work that they do and will no doubt wish to show their appreciation and support by entering a team on 27th June - not only a quiz but supper is also included.

So for a fun evening and fund-raising for a truly wonderful institution in the town let's see how many teams we can bring together - but you have to be quick. The Wonderers tried to muster a team last year but were too late with their entry form - don't let it happen to you. Entry forms are available at the above link.

So get your applications in for a great evening and raise funds for a really worthy charitable institution - the East Cheshire Hospice.

See you there!!

Refurbished Harrington Fails To Put A Shine on Wonderers

2008-04-16T06:02:00.000-07:00

The Harrington Arms in Gawsworth, just outside town, is a charming Queen Anne building frequently described as the best pub in Cheshire. Until recently it was a part of a working farm and until her death some years ago was run by the fiercely independent Mrs Bayley who fought a running battle with Robinson's Brewery and their attempts to modernise the pub (i.e. install handpumps etc.). After her death the pub was open but its future uncertain until recently when a new manager took over. The pub has been renovated whilst retaining its charm with lighter paint on the walls and the old 20 watt light bulb replaced with a brighter one.

There are two quiz teams based at the pub and the fortunes of the Harrington Academicals mirror the changes taking place at the pub - at the start of last night's game they were in an unassailable 2nd position and guaranteed promotion to the A League. But this did not lead to any relaxation in their combativeness.

They stormed into an early lead with the specialist questions at the end of which the Wonderers were trailing by 23 points (67 to 44). The General Knowledge brought about a change of fortunes, but the visitors were unable to close the massive gap, finishing with the same margin of 23 points (147 to 124).

The questions were fine, especially the Specialist into which a lot of thought and ingenuity had gone (see link at right).

Bob and Tomo put in excellent performances fully justifying their positions in the top 10 scorers of the League (see the News & Views link at right), individual scores being Bob 15/18, Wendy 3/12, Nick 6/3 (pathetic!) and Tomo 9/27. The conferred and passed over points tell their own story - in the Specialist we got 9 and 2 respectively, whilst the home team picked up 8/11. The visitors did a little better in the General Knowledge with 11/9 against 13/7.

An excellent dish of sandwiches finished off the evening and we wish the Academicals every success next year in the A League. Thanks and best wishes to the new landlady of the Harrington.

Back In The Swim With The Baths

2008-04-02T01:33:00.000-07:00

This week we played at home to The Baths - old friends and adversaries.

The Baths went storming into the lead on the Specialist questions and the Wonderers were soon trailing by something like 20 points. However, they proved to be strong finishers towards the end of the Specialist and eventually pulled back to 47 points against the Baths' 54.

Chastened, the Wonderers played steadily with very few wasted points eventually picking up a total of 128 to the visitors' 116. Individual scores were Bob 12/15, Wendy 9/12, Nick 6/15 and Tomo 6/12. Conferred points were 8/12, and passovers 8/9; significantly the Baths got an astonishing 26 passovers, 15 from the Specialist rounds where the Wonderers really struggled.

Despite not knowing the answers we thought the questions were imaginative and interesting and marked them highly.

An inexperienced Louise from The Lamb was question master and carried her duties with aplomb and good humour. A pleasant evening out.

Stuffed By The Cock

2008-03-19T02:16:00.000-07:00

Getting very consistent now - all the teams we beat in the first half of the season are now beating us. This time it was the turn of The Cock who played us at home. And despite the advantage of the home crowd the Wonderers once again managed to come second.

We thought the questions were pretty good, no quibbles about blanace and so on - in fact there is no excuse.

Individual scores were pretty good: Bob 15/12, Wendy 12/15, Nick 12/9, tomo 15/12 conferred 8/12, passovers 8/9. All in all pretty good - 20 points won on confers, and 17 with passovers. The Cock scored: conferred 12/3 passovers 15/11 - we gave them 26 points despite conferring well!!

Even mid-table is not looking secure now! Following the link at right for the questions.

REVENGE IS A DISH BEST SERVED COLD

2008-03-12T02:44:00.000-07:00

Again, the full team, playing on our home turf with home support - oozing confidence!! What had we to fear with this return match aganst the British Flag?

But the Flag very quickly showed why they have only lost one game this season (even if it was to us!). By the end of the Specialist questions the Wonderers were trailing 74/38 and made little headway in the General Knowledge losing that round 92/79. We found the questions for both Specialist and General Knowledge to be very good and do not blame them for our poor performance.

Individual scores were Bob 9/18, Wendy 6/12, Nick 9/12 and Tomo 6/21; conferred points were 8/10 and passovers (very telling!!) 0/6. The Flag had 24 conferred points and 22 passed over.

Final score was 166 to 117 - our dented pride soothed with excellent sandwiches and pie. An enjoyable evening.

4th March, Away To The Lamb

2008-03-05T10:39:00.000-08:00

At full strength again, playing away at the Lamb in Sutton Lane Ends. there was some irony in that the questions had been set by the Church House in Bollington, probably mainly by Rick Davies who used to play for the Lamb when the team played under a different name.
The questions we thought were very good, especially the Specialist (see link at right) which were very different and innovative if perhaps a little hard (several rounds went by with no-one scoring a 3).
Bob returned to top form with what is probably a season's best and Tomo maintained his good run both justifying their position in the top 10 scorers of the B League. Personal scores were Bob 12/21, Wendy 9/9, Nick 6/12 and Tomo 3/21. In the Specialist we scored 5 conferrred points and picked up 7 passovers, in the General Knowledge 10 and 11 respectively. Unusually we gave away 8 passovers in the Specialist rounds but pulled it all together with just 2 in the General Knowledge. After what seems like the years of the locust, the Wonderers eventually won, the final score being 126 to 109.

A good quiz with lots of laughter was rounded off with a selection of sandwiches and chips with bread and butter.

Cup & Plate Round 3 26th February

2008-02-27T00:19:00.000-08:00

Buoyant from last week's result (we didn't lose!) we swaggered confidently into the Tavern - everything was going for us: the full team, playing on home ground. Just one thing stood between us and moving on to the next round - The Dolphin from the A League. Hmmm.

The questions we thought were quite good (see link at right) and it is interesting to look at the scores round by round:

Round 1 The Dolphin 12, Wonderers 15
Round 2 The Dolphin 22 Wonderers 4
Round 3 The Dolphin 14, Wonderers 17
Round 4 The Dolphin 23 Wonderers 8
Round 5 The Dolphin 16 Wonderers 11
Round 6 The Dolphin 24, Wonderers 7

So in fact whilst the final score of 111 to 62 looks pretty damning, in fact the Wonderers won 2 of the six rounds which is quite creditable.

So we can now look forward to having a couple of Tuesdays off (subject to being question masters) - every cloud ....

The Dolphin were worthy winners and we wish them luck in the next round of the Cup.