10th December–Home to the Knot Know-Alls

 

This was the last of the Lemmings’ long run of home games in the first half of the season. We were facing our co-promotees, the Knot Know-Alls who had kindly helped us out when we were short of a question master a couple of weeks ago. They are a very friendly group and it is always a joy to play them.

It was also a delight to welcome back to the fold our founder-member and captain Bob looking lean and fit after his jolly in the Everglades and with the expectation that we would enjoy a return to form with his reappearance. He certainly had not forgotten his old jokes,

We liked the questions very much and in fact gave the Specialist the highest score ever; the General Knowledge were not quite as good and there was some concern that a couple required two answers not just one – Nick in particular whined about this as he did not know the date of St Andrew’s Day but shares the starsign (Q62). But there’s always one!!!

The two teams were pretty evenly matched with the Lemmings edging ahead by just 5 points at the half-way stage, 63 to 58. The General Knowledge rounds are usually the Lemmings’ strong point and after a round of drinks returned confidently to the fray.

But it was not to be!! By now the ladies’ darts teams had arrived creating the usual noise problems and this combined with Nick’s whining led to the Lemmings being distracted as they ended the General Knowledge lagging by a shameful 20 points, 105 to 85.

Individual scores were Bob 9/18, Wendy 15/21, Nick 12/15 and Tomo 15/18; conferred points were 5/10 (very low for the Lemmings!) with 7/3 pass-overs whilst the visitors picked up 6/10 pass-overs. Final score victory to the Know-Alls with 163 to 148.

No complaints – they were the better team and fully deserved to win,

The evening finished with hot dogs and onions – a first for the Tavern!! Many thanks Stephen and Brian, and to the Know-Alls and the question master from the Knot-‘Arfs.

And finally, if anyone has got this far, a very merry Christmas to everyone associated with the Quiz League and their families, and may we all look forward to health and fun quizzing in 2014.

CUP ROUND 2–AWAY TO THE BATE TAVERNERS

 

As far as I know this is the first season that the Bate Hall has been in the Quiz League – and they now have two teams!!  Whilst this is a welcome development, it reflects a rather sad fact as both teams were formerly playing for the Plough that sadly now stands empty.

The Bate Hall has a long history having been built in 1525 and served as a coaching house.  There are several reminders of its past in and behind the building, such as a priest hole that sheltered itinerant Catholic priests after the Reformation, medieval walls and a magnificent Jacobean staircase behind the bar. The pub has had its ups and downs in recent years but is now in the hands of a very pleasant young couple who have set strict standards and made the Bate a very welcoming place – and the mannequin monk has been restored to its rightful place on the staircase.

Rosie the mascot was with us but Bob was still absent and Ken stepped in to fill the gap. The Bate Taverners are old friends that we have followed from the Cricket Club and The Plough – it is a pity the Plough has closed as it was always a very friendly pub with generous refreshments. The questions were wide-ranging covering science, fine art, history and much else and question masters were Shauna and Pete from the Park Tavern who controlled the game with a light touch.

The opening rounds were fairly close swinging from one team to the other (home team first 19/17, 18/11, 16/19) with the Bate six points ahead with 53 to 47 at half-time; things then picked up in the second half (17/10, 13/12 and 20/11) giving the home team victory by more than 20 points!!

The evening ended with chip butties – many thanks to the Bate’s new couple, to Shauna and Pete and of course the Bate Taverners for a most enjoyable evening.