A Christmas Quiz

I've recorded a number of picture quizzes on these pages over the years, mostly documenting the quiz that I habitually set for our annual Christmas walk that is attended by around thirty people. This year Covid affected those plans, but a quiz was held on Sunday, thanks to Zoom, my technical guru Jenny, and the submission of some great pictures by participants.

Here are the pictures, together with an abbreviated set of 37 questions. The Sunday version had about 45 questions, and three teams got around 29 points - Sue B, Sue and Phil, and Martin and Jo. Well done to all of them. Prizes will be awarded next time I see them for beer in a pub. (Could be some time.)

How many can you score?

Which Water is this?

How deep is it?

What is this structure known as?

It was built in 1817 to commemorate what?

Where is this?

Of what range of hills is it the highest point?

What is the common name for this Alpine flower?

Name the loch?

Name the mountain?

What is this sculpture in the Pennines?

In which county may it be found?

Name this fine Torridon mountain?

From where was the picture taken?

Name the two closer hills?

Name the castle?

What is behind Richard and Jenny?

What country were they in?

What is this?

Where was the picture taken?

Where is this lunch spot for a walk in Cheshire?

Name the bird?

Which mountain are Keith and Carol ascending?

Name the mountain in the background?

Where is this 1810 structure?

Whose Golden Jubilee does it commemorate?

Name the mere?

Which bird could have taken the picture?

What is this?

Sightings near here of which animal occasionally surprised walkers in post-war times?

Name this flower, that when eaten by cows results in chocolate flavoured milk?

Name the island?

Name the foreground peak (on the left)?

What is Phil not looking at?

What would he find if he went there (within the clump of trees)?

What hill am I looking at?

Which animal features in the middle distance?

Martin’s Xmas Walk Quiz - 2018

Sorry Dot, I know I’ve missed the last couple of days. You wouldn’t have wanted a picture of me trying to deal with a broken router and a printer in which a cassette of black ink exploded, or a picture of me consigning said items to the ‘small appliances’ bin at Altrincham recycling plant.

And now you need a very powerful magnifying glass for this quiz. It was completed by six teams during our Christmas lunch last Sunday, with scores ranging from 17 to two teams on 23 points. The questions, which run left to right in lines downwards, were as follows:

1. Which mountain?
2. Which village?
3. What is this?
4. Who is this?
5. What is this?
6. Name the bird?
7. Where is this?
8. Where is this?
9. Where is this?
10. Where is this?
11. Where is this?
12. Where is this?
13. Where is this?
14. Who is this?
15. The view from which hill?
16. Where is this?
17. Where is this?
18. Where is this?
19. Where is this?
20. Where is this?
21. Which dale is this?
22. What is this?
23. What is this?
24. What is this?
25. Where is this?
26. Which National Trail?
27. Martin’s old car. What model?
28. Where is this?
29. Where is this?
30. Name both hills?

If you send your answers to me at quiz@topwalks.com, I’ll mark your effort and send you the answers – I’ll probably post the answers here in the New Year anyway.

Have fun!

Martin’s Christmas Quiz 2017

As promised, here is my quiz for anyone who is up for a challenge. It’s not my best. Feedback so far has been:

Pictures too small
Too esoteric
Needs to be more generic

(And that’s despite somebody, other than me, at the lunch being present when all but a handful of the pictures were taken.)

So I need to try harder. My excuse is that I left it to the last minute and ran out of time. There were no complaints about the prizes though – everyone was a winner, thanks to Pure Cocoa.
 

Martin's Quiz - 2017

Name____________________________________

41 points available

Taken from which hill?	Where is this Trig point?	Which peninsula?	When and Where?	Which island is Richard on?
Where?	Manufactured by?	*1 see below	1. Name the hill? 2. Date it became a Munro?	1. Valley? 2 Reservoir?
City?	Entrance to which castle?	Lake?	Forest?	Place?
English name for this car?	Which castles are nearby?	Name this band?	1. Name one of the nearby horses? 2. Two relevant dates?	Which mill?
Name the country of which this city is capital?	Where?	Name the hill?	Name the viewpoint?	Name the mountain? (Note the railway.)
What is Paul waiting to do?	Where?	1. Where? 2. When?	Where?	Where?
Where?	Where?	Where?	Where?	Where?

*1 -Rock formations, mineral springs and catacombs. What else is this Cycladic island famous for?

If you fancy having a go, paste the table above into a word document, fill in the answers, and send it to me at xmasquiz@topwalks.com. There may even be a prize!

Have fun!

Tuesday 14 March 2017 – A Surprise ‘Victory’

Well, that was a surprise!

After their ‘reserves’ finishing at the bottom of the pile last week, ‘The San Marinos’ found themselves coming about 12th out of 14 teams in last night’s quiz. But much to our surprise we managed to avoid enough pitfalls (including both the quiz master’s and Bev’s assertion that ‘Rubber Soul’ was a Rolling Stones album!) to arrive at the winning square in the ‘Snakes and Ladders’ contest involving the final 25 questions. It was our 13th and last correct answer that got us there.

John dutifully split the winnings between last night’s four team members. We will spend wisely…

Another Quiz

Last Saturday night we enjoyed an evening with our regular ‘Spinners Quizzers’ aka ‘The San Marinos’ and some of their better halves. The seven course meal that was assembled from contributions from the eight quizzers was delicious, but it did require a bit of a break between the chicken tagine and the soufflé. I’d come prepared though – that time was taken up with the above picture quiz. You just need to identify the image.

Out of 24 points, Lyn, Louise and Bev scored 13, nearly 4 points ahead of John, Robert and Stuart. That was in about 20 minutes, with no references to the internet etc, as per pub quiz rules.

Can you do better? Answers by email to martin@topwalks.com. [Click on the image to get a bigger version – there’s a magnifier at the top right of the screen.

Have fun!

Martin’s Christmas Walk Quiz 2016

I promised this earlier. (Click on the image, or here to get a larger version that you can ‘Save as’ and open in a version, eg in Picasa, that you can magnify.)

Just for a bit of fun, some readers may like to see how many of the above pictures they can identify. If I get ten comments, I’ll provide the answers….

Line 1 - Name the flowers

Line 2 - Name the birds, the mountain, the pass and the viaduct

Line 3 - Name the locations

Line 4 - Name the bands

Line 5 - Name the countries (bonus points for city, region, park, region and glacier)

Line 6 - Name the cities (bonus points if you can name the subjects)

40 points available

Have Fun!

2 to 6 December 2016 – Center Parcs, Jazz, and an Unexpected Quiz Result

Sue and I missed Robert and Lyn’s annual visit to Center Parcs in Sherwood Forest last year due to our South American trip. This year we were fortunate to receive an invitation for the entire weekend, rather than the normal day pass that we’ve had since the early 2000s. Our recent visits are recorded here. Earlier visits involved the entire weekend, accompanied by legendary figures such as Maureen and Trevor.

889 Pine was a spacious, luxurious sort of place, with an upstairs living room and games room, and a handy sauna in which to wind down after the day’s activities.

This year the team was Sue and me, Robert and Lyn, Stuart, Roger and Louise.

On Saturday morning we tripped past the singing reindeer to the sports hall.

I’m almost totally incapable of hitting a badminton ball, but Sue is a bit better at it. I just finish up with a jarred shoulder and ‘Nil Points’.

Lots of people use bikes, but Sue and I enjoy walking between venues, especially in the good weather that usually follows us to Sherwood Forest.

This dove somehow got inside our chalet!

But we managed to keep this chap at bay.

Saturday’s ‘hydro bikes’ activity had been cancelled, so we instituted a photographic competition in its place. Up to five images from each attendee will be collated and independently judged, the results to be published here in the next week or so. So I’ll leave any slideshow until then.

Then we went swimming, before adjourning for an excellent meal and a ‘Patagonia’ slideshow.

Sunday morning started with squash. Can you spot the ball?

Cars are mainly tucked away in a big car park. Tourist traps can be utilised by those without bikes or serviceable legs.

‘Short’ tennis (an indoor variety with a soft ball that is hard to miss) triggered a thirst, so we sat outside and were entertained by a brass band.

The B and C teams battled out a game of table tennis. Sue and I were undisputed champions at that. (The standard was dismal!)

Five of us enjoyed a bout of floodlit night tennis. As usual, woolly hats and gloves were needed, but it was good fun.

After that we adjourned to the beach for the traditional carol singers and fireworks display.

And that’s it really – excepting more sauna, more good food, a few games, a good night’s sleep, and Monday morning tennis of various sorts before slipping off for a short rest at home.

Then Sue and I joined Reg and others for Eagley Jazz Club’s annual Christmas dinner, with the excellent Tame Valley Stompers on stage.

Tuesday saw us enjoying another Christmas dinner, this time at the Spinners with Stuart, Lyn, Bev and John, and Hugh and Sue.

Unfortunately, Stuart was taken ill during the meal and left in a hurry. We were able to start with a round of free drinks, having won the quiz (this is a Very Rare Event) last week. Hugh and Sue’s annual visit to the team generated a few extra brain cells this week and although we scored 16 points fewer than last week, by some dint of fortune we managed, after a nail biting tie break involving the number of minutes in The Full Monty, to reclaim the vouchers that we had spent earlier! Unbelievable really, and John had to be reminded of his campaign to give winning teams a handicap of 5 points for the next week’s quiz, as he gets fed up with the same teams winning week after week. I can remember winning once before, probably several years ago…

Well done everyone. You are geniuses. See you next week.

A Christmas Quiz

Those who attended our Christmas walk and lunch on 20 December may remember this. Others may like to see whether or not they can match the ‘Bah Humbug’ team’s tally of 21½ out of 30. Here are the questions.

1 Which hill?
2 Which Castle?
3 Which long distance walk?
4 What type of duck?
5 Who is this?
6 Which mountain range?
7 Which Hall?
8 Name this tractor
9 Where is the sculpture?
10 Name the mountain
11 Name the flower
12 Where?
13 Which event in May 2015?
14 Which loch?
15 Name the valley
16 Name the crag
18 Which island?
19 Name the flower
20 Where is this wreck?
21 Which summit?
22 Which cave?
23 Of which university was this the main building?
25 Name the city
26 Whose pigeon tower?
27 Which regular Saturday event?
28 Which 'lake'?
29 Where is this?
31 Which lakes?
32 Which mountain?
33 Which loch?

A larger version of the image has been uploaded here. Click on the collage image and zoom…

If you email your answers to me at quiz@topwalks.com, I’ll let you know how you got on. Note that some of the other people attending the walk contributed some of the images.

Sunday 14 December 2014 – A Christmas Walk from Trentabank, and a Quiz

20 of us set off promptly from the car park at Trentabank. Well, 19 – Andrew having set off earlier due to his ‘broken leg pace’. He still managed better than Alan R and Sheila, who had to abandon due to Alan’s poorly knee, and regrettably Don and Liz failed to make it due to exhaustion following a 19 hour journey home from Turkey.

Some of us had entered the ranger’s office, despite the ‘Grumpy man’ notice on the door. Whilst there are various information boards within the office, the inmates took a dim view of those of us who had not used the £4.50 car park, and they certainly fulfilled the ‘Grumpy man’ image by chasing members of our party out of the warm room!

Anyway, no matter - in unexpectedly dry weather, we soon emerged from the forest onto the paving that leads to Shutlingsloe's summit.

The fog was down as we mounted the steep steps that lead to the 506 metre summit.

We milled around for a while, waiting for the view to clear.

Joddrell Bank telescope can be seen from the summit, but today we had to rely on radio waves to pick it out.

Our objective for lunch, the Cat and Fiddle, was also on the horizon. Unfortunately unseen today, it does appear in the slideshow, as does Tittesworth Reservoir, which sometimes shines in the sunlight beyond the Roaches, from this lofty summit, ‘The Matterhorn of Cheshire’.

The mist was down as we descended to Banktop for elevenses, after which, suitably gorged with shortbread, we moved on to negotiate a bridge over the raging torrent of Clough Brook.

Then through a field to Clough House, albeit one of the party was found to be moving in the wrong direction after losing a tenner.

With the Cat & Fiddle now signposted, faster/thirstier members of the group could forge ahead up Cumberland Clough, without the need to worry about anyone getting lost.

Cumberland Clough is the home of Cumberland Cottage and a plethora of small birds – tits, nuthatches, pigeons, jays, etc.

The rough track, excellent for mountain biking, led to a waterfall in Cumberland Brook, after which we continued up the brook, rising beside the torrent through Danesthorn Hollow.

The good track to the Cat and Fiddle is well signposted at the top of the path and when it's sunny the Cat and Fiddle can be seen from afar. In cloudy conditions like today’s, it appears out of the mist as if by surprise.

Bags were dumped, beers were purchased, crackers were pulled, hats were donned, jokes were swapped and rain lashed against the windows. Alan and Sheila had made it to the pub, despite Alan’s poorly knee, and the next three images are reproduced courtesy of their cameras.

There was a quiz. It’s a tradition. Sue and Alan made easy work of the questions….

... and of their lunches. Head chef Adam produced a Christmas lunch that matched our requirements perfectly. Thanks Adam, and Vienna, at The Cat.

Eventually it was time to mark the scripts - 28/35 was a pretty good winning score, with indulgent prizes for the winners.

Soon, well – not that soon, we spent two and a half hours in The Cat - it was time to brave the elements, albeit the rain had subsided by now.

Our colourful selection of waterproofs was perhaps the brightest feature of the day, apart from everybody’s jolly demeanour.

Then we trudged off, beside the A537 road.

Shutlingsloe seemed some way off, with sunshine even further away.

We soon left the road, to enjoy excellent paths all the way back to Trentabank.

By the time we got to Bottom-of-the-Oven, the light had diminished to the extent that a tripod might be needed for further pictures.

When we reached Macclesfield Forest’s chapel it was nearly dark. Andrew left to walk back along the quiet road, but beyond the chapel, a superb woodland walk, with lighting provided by a giant torch, saw us through the northern fringe of Macclesfield Forest.

On the way, we passed a tree, laden with Christmas gifts for children and fronted by a large wooden box for donations etc. Wonderful!

The Leather's Smithy was soon reached, followed by a stroll alongside Ridgegate Reservoir to regain our cars under the beady eyes of the resident little grebes and cormorants. Whilst some had used torches, others amongst us found the ambient light quite sufficient to illuminate our way to a 4.30 pm finish.

I enjoy this route, I hope others agree that it’s a good one.

Here’s where we went – 16 km, with 700 metres ascent, taking 7 hours (including 2.5 hours in the pub).

There’s a 59 image slideshow, including pictures from a sunny day a couple of weeks earlier, here. Click on the first picture, then click ‘slideshow’. [Those pictures may appear here later this week, following our evening walk up Shutlingsloe on Thursday (18/12) – starting from Trentabank Car Park, 7.30 pm, all welcome.]

In case anyone is interested, here’s the quiz – click here for a larger version that you can magnify:

Martin's Christmas Quiz 2014

All photos taken within the last six months.
10 Bonus Points

1	Who is sitting next to Julie? When did he die?
2	Name the Flower
3	Name the Abbey? Order of which saint?
4	Name the Hills
5	Name the Water? Picture taken from?
6	Where is this? Name of Guide?
7	Name the Hill
8	Name the nearest Pass
9	Name the Flower
10	Name the Property
11	Name this Animal? Where can it be found?
12	Name the Island? The high peak in the picture?
13	Name the Flower
14	Name the Hill
15	What is this? Where?
16	Who and Where (Country)? Island?
17	Name the Flower
18	What is this?
19	Name the Waterfall
20	Name the nearest Town - the person in the picture is Julie (see 1)
21	Name the Canal? The Pub?
22	Who is the 'Head of State'? Official Position?
23	Name the Flower
24	Where is this Chapel?
25	From which former County does this cottage take its name?

If anyone would like to have a go at this, feel free to do so – I’ll send a small prize to anyone scoring 30 or more by 31 December – entries to 2014quiz@topwalks.com.