Another Bruiser

Tuesday 11th December, a home game against old adversaries The Cock . This was another game in which points were traded blow for blow; the Wonderers got off to a poor start and at the end of the Specialist were trailing by 15 points and were making desperate attempts to catch up for the rest of the evening. They were not helped by Nick's familiar problem with names, when he had a clear image of Andy Warhol in his mind and blurted out Hockney!!!

The questions were pretty good, but although we generally avoid whinging about balance we did think that they were rather lop-sided, especially in the General Knowledge where repeatedly a very easy question was followed by a much more difficult one - readers can judge for themselves from the link on the right.

Scores were not high with the exception of Bob who played a captain's game with 9/21, Wendy (6/12), Nick (0/18), and Tomo (6/12) all scoring 18.

Conferred points were high with 13 and 12 respectively, but very little was passed over with the Wonderers picking up just 6 and 5 from the two sets of questions.

The final score was 120 to the Wonderers and 123 to the Cock - a well-deserved win and a good well-fought game.

There is now a three-week rest for the Wonderers to lick their wounds and prepare for the second half of the season.

The British Flag 4th December

The British Flag is a Robinson's pub, well known for keeping its somewhat temperamental beer in top condition.

The Wonderers knew this was going to be a tough one - the Flag were unbeaten and have always been tough adversaries. No-one however expected it to be such a hard slug-it-out game. Very little was given away and the questions covered a very wide spectrum each point being fought for vigorously.

There seems to be an equally tough battle at the Ox-fford to get the Cars & Vans 4 U trophy for question setting - an outstanding set of questions were provided by the Ox-Fford C team that made for a thoroughly enjoyable evening, ably assisted by Jackie Hulme from The Cock as question master.

We send our condolences to the landlord of the Flag as a bereavement meant they were unable to be in attendance, but Nick and Bob managed to scramble back to the Tavern in time to nick some chip and sausage butties from their sister team.

The final score was 146 to the Wonderers, 143 to the Flag, individual scores being Bob 12/12, Wendy 9/24, Nick 9/21 and Tomo 9/15. In the specialist, the Wonderers picked up 11 conferred points and just 8 passed over. In the general knowledge rounds another 11 points were conferred with just 5 passed over; very little given away by either side!

The Cup - Sutton Church House

The first round of the Cup we played at the Sutton Church house, despite Nick sending out a note to the team that we would be playing at The Lamb - fortunately this was spotted in time (although Wendy had to get out of the bath to answer the urgent phone call!). The regular team is shown on their home turf.

The Church House is a very pleasant pub with 3 mainstream real ales, and the home team a very jolly lot.

The Wonderers got off to a very slow start, principally because the questions were badly balanced, but made up ground as the questions veered erratically with bias towards one team then the other (see the link at right). The questions were quite good but there were some pretty obvious ones (Northern Rock!). The eventual score was 96 to the Wonderers and 74 to the Church House.

The pleasant evening was rounded off with a good selection of sandwiches and chips.

20th November- Home to The Lamb

The lamb is a familiar team that we have played before, under their old guise The Sutton Club - they have crossed the road to The Lamb.

There was some anxiety that we would not have a full team and would need to play a beer mat (since ashtrays are no longer acceptable) but the vagaries of terms of employment for the Council meant Steve was able to cover for Wendy despite the original bleak forecast.

We started the evening in the rather surprising position of second in the League with a game in hand but did not allow ourselves to fall into a false sense of security.

This was fortunate as it was a very low-scoring game, with a lot of criticism of both sets of questions - as if the guiding principle had been "They won't get this one". They can be viewed from the link at right.

However, we did manage to finish in front with a final score of 125 to 99. Individual scores were Bob 6/6, Tomo 15/12, Nick 3/9 and Steve 9/24 - all below average scores. We also managed to scrape up 16 conferrred and 25 passovers.

Steve played a great game as reserve, but we're a bit worried about Tomo - his in-depth knowledge of daytime TV and board games suggest that he should get out more - but if he did we wouldn't win so often.

The brightest spot of the evening was a wonderful tray of sausages and onions with chips and bread and butter - grateful thanks to Brian and Tracey.

The Wonderers also felt that a reminder is due to the questionmasters about the time allowed to answer.

The Three Crowns

For the second game of the season we went to the Holt's pub The Three Crowns where we played familiar faces in an unfamiliar setting - the team recently moved from the St Dunstan.

The questions, set by the New Castle, were rather different and had some quite original rounds in the Specialist subjects. Both teams gave good marks for content and balance. See the link on the right.

The Wonderers managed to maintain their 100% record despite the liability of Nick's memory (among other things he could not remember the name Stephen King!!) - a fact reflected in the scores:

Bob 30, Wendy 24, Nick 18 (!!) and Tomo a very creditable 33. Points from passovers were 5 and 15 for the two rounds, and conferred points (mainly from Nick) 10 and 18. The final score was 153 to 114.

It was a thoroughly enjoyable evening played with humour and good spirit and rounded off with a fine selection of sandwiches.

6th November Questionmasters

The second week of the season and the Wonderers are sitting proudly at the top of the B League - but not for long. This week they were the questionmasters for the B League team and set the specialist questions; General Knowledge questions were set by the Puss Artists. This was particularly difficult with only 2 weeks notice but heroic efforts by Tomo meant we met the deadline and the questions were delivered on time in neatly sealed envelopes. Fortunately Bob and Wendy had transport and were able to venture out into the wilds of Cheshire and cover the distant pubs in Gawsworth (the unforgettable Harrington Arms) and Sutton (The Lamb - a new venue for the Sutton Social Club team). In fact both sets of questions were very well received and got favourable marks by the teams. They can be viewed by clicking on the link at right.

Well, we now have a game in hand that will mask positions until the half-way mark.

October 30th - 1st Game of the Season

At last the season starts - and the first game is against the George & Dragon - a team that over the years the Wonderers have come to regard as their bete noir.

Steve had managed to rearrange his shifts and covered for Nick with Bob, Wendy and Tomo.

They had obviously recovered from losing the Plate Final as they stormed out from the beginning and ended with a remarkable win of 167 to 145 - all four members of the team scoring 30 or over (Steve 39, Wendy 36, Bob 33 and Tomo 30). And the George and Dragon scored highly too.

The questions were very highly rated and the Wonderers look forward to this season with confidence.

The questions can be viewed by following the link on the right.

At Last - The Final

The seconds are out, the gloves are off and the pints are pulled. Yes, it is the final of the Plate!!
The Wonderers felt somewhat apprehensive with memories of last year’s final when they lost on a tie-breaker – they needn’t have worried as history was not to repeat itself.
Question Master Rick Davies introduced the teams pointing out that this was the first smoke-free game ever in the Macclesfield Pub Quiz League, a point welcomed by many in attendance.
Sadly the fresh air seems to have fuddled the Wonderers and at the end of the first 20 questions they were some 15 points adrift. Subsequent rounds showed signs of a fight-back but by the end of the quiz they were still some 8 points behind.
Their opponents the Puss Artists were a very powerful team who played well and with good spirit – worthy winners indeed.
Special mention must be made of Rick Davies who was an excellent Question Master with a light tone but firm decisions. Thanks also to the Sutton Club and Harrington B teams who set the questions.
A most enjoyable evening with the Wonderers once again catching the bride’s bouquet.

Relegation Party

As the long wet summer dragged along, Tuesday nights saw a strange phenomenon in the streets of Macclesfield. Individuals in woolly cardigans, sandals and a profusion of face hair shuffled along the streets looking puzzled and confused. What has happened to the quiz nights?

Even the Wonderers were affected by this strange malady and to break the gloom Nick arranged to have a party to celebrate relegation to the B League where we rightfully belong.

Spirits were lifted (by the glass as well as morally) despite a rainy start to the day but mercifully there was a break in the clouds and we could all sit outside and join in with Steve's songs and marvel at Tomo's conjuring and mind-reading.

The team and reserves were all present along with Mark from Maliwan's Thai restaurant, Brian the landlord of the Waters Green Tavern with Anne, and some neighbours anf former colleagues of Nick. They were later joined by an intrepid group of walkers from the Greenwalks group, another Tavern-based organisation that focuses on public transport in its monthly walks. They seemed glad to have something to eat.

Roll on the final of the Plate.

End of the Season

Although the Wonderers played their last League game of the season, there was still one important event before the close of the season - the final of the Cup knock-out competition between the two teams from The Dolphin.

I will leave it to our highly regarded secretary Mark to sum up the evening and announce the various trophies, and would like to take this opportunity to thank him for a magnificent season's work, and for all his asistance on the occasions we have requested it. He does a truly great job.

"Folks,

Many thanks to all who attended the Finals Night last night. There was an excellent turn-out, the Cup Final was a very closely contested affair and the butties were very welcome too. I have only a small number of trophies left in my possession; I will contact the winners separately.

In respect of the Cup, the Dolphin beat the Dolphin Dragons 114 – 98. Congratulations to all concerned.

Thanks also to Rick Davis and Allan Sherratt for asking the questions and scoring respectively – much appreciated, your fine efforts added to the night’s entertainment as always.

We also presented a Special Award to Alan Hodgson from the Dolphin for his unique 60 out of 60 all the way back in Week 1. We might have set a precedent now, but as it is the first time in over 20 years it has happened, we shouldn’t be breaking the bank just yet.

Alan – well done indeed.

I have attached to this message the following:-

All the scores from the last week of games, Week 18
Final League Tables and Individual Scores for A, B and C Leagues
Final Cars and Vans 4U Ltd Question Setters Trophy scores
Cup Final questions from last night.

Every team has indicated to me they want to carry on next season and it would be good to find a couple more if anyone has any suggestions. Now would be a good time for any new people interested to perhaps “try out” a set of questions in a game against another team. I would be more than willing to supply a “hand-picked” set of questions if anyone wanted one!

The final trophy of this year will be settled at the start of next season as usual. The Plate Final will be: -

Puss Artists v Waters Green Wonderers

This game will be played at the AGM before the start of next season, sometime in September / early October, date and place to be confirmed.

The Sutton Club and the Harrington ‘B’ will assemble questions for this game from those not used for the Cup Final and I have handed all the material to the Sutton Club last night.

If I don’t see you before we start again, have a great summer and I will be in touch.

Regards,

Mark"

The questions for the final can be viewed by clicking on the link o the right.

So we start the next season as we did this - with the final of the Plate!!

Last Game of the Season - and a Champion Discovered

The last game of a most enjoyable season was at the Ox-Fford against the Oxfford C team (in name only!) and from the ashes of relegation arose the phoenix of a champion in our midst.

Having answered a very difficult question for 3 points (see Q60 in the General Knowledge questions from the link on the right) Wendy disclosed that she was the 1969 northern counties champion of tiddlywinks!! What a way to finish the season!!

It was an excellent game with characteristic humour, fun and beer and an outstanding set of questions from the Principals with a finishing score of 158 to 138 to the Ox Fford C.

Individual scores were:

Bob 12/15, Wendy 9/15. Nick 12/18 and Tomo 12/15. Conferred points were 21 with 9 passed over, whereas the Oxfford had 24 and 17 respectively.

We've thoroughy enjoyed our season in the A League and very much hope we can return at the end of next season.

Thankyou the Oxfford C and all the other teams for giving us a great season.

3rd April - We Didn't Lose!

Well at least we didn't lose last night, helped considerably by the fact that we didn't play, having set the questions and aksing them at the three A League venues.

Just one game left now to wind up a most enjoyable season in the A League.

3rd April - We Didn't Lose!

Well at least we didn't lose last night, helped considerably by the fact that we didn't play, having set the questions and aksing them at the three A League venues.

Just one game left now to wind up a most enjoyable season in the A League.

Plate Semi-Final

At home to the Sutton Club!

Inspired by the team's recent performance, Bob set off on a long-distance walking holiday - obviously the pressure's getting to him. His place was taken by Tony who is our regular reserve and always plays a great game.

So this was it - were we going to end up in the final again, to finish dead level and to lose with a cliff-hanger once more? Who could say. The Sutton Club are a well-respected team but were lacking the advantage of a home game. The Wonderers on the other hand are riding the trough of a wave with a hardly-dented record of repeated losses.

The questions were very good indeed and since they were all conferred (it has been noted that conferring is Nick's specialism) there was no opportunity for individual glory and the playing field was levelled.

So, defying predictions, continuity and trampling tradition into the dust the Wonderers managed to scrape home by winning 4 of the 6 rounds by a narrow margin in a game that was most enjoyable, broken by sufficient beer breaks and lightened by much humour, overseen by a flexible but fair question master from The Baths.
Thankyou Sutton Club - it was a great game.

We're moving towards the end of the season now in which the Wonderers have thoroughly enjoyed the challenge of playing in the A League - next season we're back in the B League but maybe for just one season - if we continue to be promoted/relegated each year we'll be vey happy.

Castled and Rooked

Having rested the previous week, the Wonderers swaggered into The Castle looking refreshed , sporting a rather attractive blue tan from their action-filled journey from the Waters Green Tavern. Only about 50 yards but the howling wind and driving hail made every step an adventure.

Ah, The Castle - promoted to the A League with the Wonderers at the end of last season, and now precariously hanging onto their position one above the wonderers (i.e. next to bottom) despite having won three games. This was to be a game with no holds barred, no punches pulled, no quarter given. The Wonderers were at full strength with the added advantage of a groupie again (Nick's son Rah).

The tactics adopted were the same - allow The Castle a small advantage in the Specialist rounds confident of steaming ahead in the General Knowledge. This is a tried and tested formula that has consistently led to victory - for our opponents! And last night was no exception.

Final score was 156 to 115 with individual scores as follows:

Bob 15/12, Wendy 9/12, Nick 6/3 (pathetic - his son is looking for another team to support), Tomo 13/12.

Again good conferred points 12/11 (mainly thanks to Nick!) but little picked up from our opponents 2/3.

Ah well - the semi-final of the Plate next week - our more determined readers may recall that we began the season losing the Plate final on a tie-breaker setting a pattern that has been adhered to rigidly with just two lapses - consistent defeat with good humour and lots of beer.

The Castle is a wonderful old pub steeped in history, selling real ale (Theakston's) and with a very generous spper of hot meat pies.

A most enjoyable evening and for the most selfish of reasons we hope The Castle get relegated with us next season. Thankyou.

Duncan Steps In

As I've been away for a week, the news on the league has not been up-dated. Fortunately Duncan Disorderly the local minority sports writer was on hand to fill the gap.

By the way, an astonishing development - if you look at the Comments on the questions for 6th March (link on right) you will see that our obscure scribblings in this tiny corner of Cheshire were picked up by a scholar in Idaho who gently corrects an answer!!

WHERE DID IT ALL START TO GO RIGHT?!

A report on recent earth-shattering events by Macclesfield Minority Sports reporter Duncan Disorderly

Just when I thought that I had finally extricated myself from the purgatory of reporting the utterly predictable defeats of the Waters Green Wonderers, all hell seems to have broken loose. Following the defeat by the Dolphin I insisted on an interview with my Editor, R Supwards, and insisted on being reassigned from the Macclesfield Quiz League. I told him that I had covered the Wonderers for half the season and my penance had been duly served, and that I never meant to prang his bloody car in the first place. The going had been tough and I had completely lost the will to live.

After gloating a bit he took pity on me and got me off the case. I couldn’t tell you how relieved I was. In the intervening two weeks I covered the quarter-finals of the Macclesfield one-hand freestyle crochet championships and the preliminary rounds at the Pott Shrigley Noughts and Crosses Festival, both of them much more exciting than listening to the Waters Green Team muttering that they were alright really….. keeping a stiff upper lip….the experience was good for them…even enjoying it in a funny kind of way….when all the time they were devastated and making their packets of crisps soggy with their loser’s tears. I say packets of crisps because that’s all that Tracey and Brian will provide for them until they buck their ideas up.

So you can imagine the torment when I was summoned back to the office from a particularly exciting heat of the Upton Priory Shove-halfpenny Fest. “Grab your pen”, cried my frantic Editor, “the Wonderers have turned the corner”. His enthusiasm turned out to be a little premature. It was true that the Wonderers had won – they had beaten the Bath in the Plate (or was it the plate in the bath). I knew the Bath team well – at least the only one of them that turned up. This team used to be the Beehive, one of the Wonderers favourite opposing teams – many a good night spent in combat and all that - but they were so under-strength on the night it wasn’t true. One of the team had only popped into the pub to ask directions to Buxton, and the other was a passing Pork-Scratching salesman. But heigh-ho, a win is a win, and the team left the venue with something I hadn’t seen before – the smiles of winners. I was not convinced that the team had at last turned the corner and I turned up the following week fearing the worst. To save time I had already written the report – how their Plate win had been a complete fluke and they had been crushed by the second best team in the whole League. And then the unthinkable happened. They won! At the end of the match, both teams were reduced to a stunned silence for very different reasons, I had to rip up my notebook, sandwiches and pork pies replaced the bags of crisps, and the look of hope shone in the eyes of the beleaguered Wonderers.

All this, of course, was a slap in the face to Billy Prattlefaggit, who is currently putting together a rival team. He suddenly became a little quieter, particularly about the clandestine offer he had made to Tommo to poach him from the Wonderers. He had offered our rising young star as many Twiglets as he could eat and a guaranteed Saturday Night audience at the Hurdsfield Darby and Joan Club whenever Tommo felt the urge to do his magic tricks. I have heard on the grapevine that the other Waters Green players got wind of this illegal approach and had a meeting with Tommo to discuss the situation. It was made clear to him that if he as much as thought of jumping ship, Wendy would break his pencil, Bob would break his legs, and Nick would show him a magic trick involving a large disappearing cucumber.


Come the next week though, all was well. They were thrashed by the best in the land. They have reverted to type and I am stuck with reporting their antics again.
Still, Mark Watson does a brilliant job of e-mailing fixtures and results, so I am saved the arse-ache of doing all that. Mind you, I still think he should be concentrating on the current crime wave. One of my mates in the Pig and Ball Bearing was telling me about these two youths who were terrorising his neighbourhood. One was drinking battery acid and the other was eating fireworks. The police charged one and let the other off.


Be brave and remember – if you think nobody cares about you, try missing a couple of mortgage payments.

Duncan Disorderley

Lightning Does Strike Twice

Despite folkore, the Waters Green Tavern proved last week that lightning does strike the same place twice.

Not only did the Wonderers win their first League game of the season, but their sister team the Rams also won their game. both teams thereby breaking their duck.

This week the Wonderers returned to form in an enjoyable game against the Dolphin the final scores being 153 to the Wonderers' 106. Tomo was at a book-signing in London and could not play but Wendy's husband Ken stepped in and played a strong game, particularly in the conferred questions.

Individual scores were Ken -/6, Wendy 9/18, Nick 6/9 and Bob a worthy 15/15.
An enjoyable game with the usual excellent supper provided by the Tavern

Infamy, Infamy, They've All Got It ...

Not content with destroying the bookies' anticipated gains last week with an unexpected (highly improbable in fact!) win in the Plate competition the Wonderers rubbed salt in the wounds with another win this week.

Do tradition and history count for nothing?

Playing a strongly fancied team from the Principals (second in the League) the Wonderers looked in a very shaky position as they were unable to find a question-master and would have had to play with a team of three. Then at the last minute, due to the largesse of Stockport Council with their leave arrangements, Steve became available - a welcome return and a strong performance.

The Wonderers played their usual game - a fun evening with plenty of laughs and beer breaks, a tradition carried with Nick to the Questionmaster's chair.

Scores were Waters Green Wonderers 130, Principals 116.

Individual scores were bob 6/12, Wendy 12/6, Steve 9/15 and Tomo 21/15 - Tomo looks set to climb even higher in the top 10 scorers league.

Conferred points were 10/10 (good team work) and passed overs 10/4.

At the beginnning of the game the visitors asked if they could have the questions but had lost interest by the end - make your own mind up by clicking the questions link on the right.

Tradition Trampled Underfoot

In an astonishing reversal of fortunes, the Wonderers last night slithered through to a surprising victory in the Plate competition.

The Baths were badly hit by absentees from their regular team and had roped in some reserves, but were no doubt confident after studying the form of the Wonderers. Yet despite thrashing the visitors in one of the four rounds the Baths were not able to sustain the attack and the Wonderers were able to advance through to the next round. No doubt the appearance of two groupies for the visitors affected their performance.

It should be pointed out that the Baths are top of the C League and in fact have scored about the same number of points in the League as the Wonderers.

The Baths was very pleasant, with real ales and a fine supper provided. A very pleasant evening with lots of laughter and fun.

Thankyou - we look forward to playing you in the B League next season.

Half Way to Purgatory.- Duncan's Take

Well, the half way stage of the season has come and gone and still the Wonderers haven’t a point to show for their efforts. Last week’s display at the Dolphin reached an all time low when Bob got the question “what kind of animal is a Red Poll”. Misty-eyed he remembered the days when he would look at the farm entrance next to his sister’s house and see the sign “THE LONGDENDALE HERD OF PEDIGREE ATTESTED RED POLLS”. Imagine the poor man’s feelings when he was informed that it was a bleedin’ parrot. Things then went from bad to worse. Nick got a question in a round called “Name the Dead Person” or something – “A famous Lancashire contralto singer” etc. The answer should have been Kathleen Ferrier. What readers need to know is that Bob founded the Kathleen Ferrier Society. This is an international Society. This is the Society that runs the country’s main bursary competition for undergraduate singers. Bob is the CHAIRMAN of the Kathleen Ferrier Society. Nick answered Joan Sutherland, who was (a) not a contralto, (b) not from Lancashire, and (c) not even English, and (d) still alive for all I know. Bob met this slap in the face with typical Biggles fortitude. His bottom lip trembled slightly, and that was that. Nice to see that Nick came clean in his report.



Typical of the good soul that he is, Bob has not even mentioned it to the rest of the team.



Nick was suitably mortified and vanished to Wales for a winter break. I don’t blame him. I hate bad weather, and coming out once more to report another defeat is so wearying and not doing my professional career any good. Last time I sent a report in the gales were at their height. I left the house and went to the car only to be met by the farmer who lives nearby. He told me that it was so windy that one of his hens had laid the same egg three times. When I parked up in Waters Green I got out of the car and saw what I thought was a rubber glove quivering in the road. It was, in actual fact, a dog that had blown inside out. Anyway, Tuesday was no exception. They lost again. Tracy and Brian had gone on holiday, obviously to escape the humiliation of hosting the only two teams in the Macclesfield Quiz League without a point between them. They all did their best but nothing was coming across the table to them. No crumbs from the poor man’s table. The opposition was kind to the Wonderers and didn’t giggle too much. I hear that their captain, Mark, a leading light of the Quiz League organisers, is a law enforcement officer of some kind. Perhaps he should disband his team, hand all their points to the Waters Green Wonderers and tackle some of the crime I am hearing about at down at the Pig and Ball Bearing in Rainow.



I heard that thieves had actually broken into the Macclesfield POLICE STATION and stole the toilet seat! The police say that they have nothing to go on. Also, a gang of thieves were being sought for breaking into the pharmacy at Tytherington and stealing 48 bottles of California Syrup of Figs. Police are looking for three men on the run, and the public are advised not to ‘have-a-go’ unless they are wearing their wellies.



All this is so depressing.



Never mind, cheer up everybody and remember, space isn’t remote; It’s only an hours drive if you go straight up.



Duncan Disorderley