22 November–the Plate away at the Robin Hood

 

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!!

 

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

 

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

 

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