A WELCOME RETURN

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.