Round 1
1a In Autumn 2015 the Met Office starting naming winter storms, what was the first named storm?
ABIGAIL
1b Which artist said of the English water-colourist Thomas Girtin who died aged 27 in 1802 “If Tom Girtin had lived I should have starved.”?
J.M.W.TURNER
2a Which county cricket club has qualified for the T20 finals day in every season from 2010 to 2015 inclusive?
HAMPSHIRE
2b Which fictional village lies just off the B3980 six miles south of Borchester?
AMBRIDGE
3a Who is the only man to have been elected twice to the office of the President and twice to the office of Vice President of the USA?
RICHARD NIXON
3b Which band formed in 1997 features vocalists Tom Meighan and Sergio Pizzomo?
KASABIAN
4a Who has been the M.P. for Buckingham since 1997?
JOHN BERCOW
4b Bullhead, mackerel, carpet and ground are types of which creature?
SHARK

Round 2
1a What is the name of the chalk headland between Filey and Bridlington?
FLAMBOROUGH HEAD
1b In 2002 a statue of Margaret Thatcher in the Guildhall was decapitated by a protester using what piece of sporting equipment?
CRICKET BAT
2a Give either of the Christian names of Field Marshal Kitchener.
HORATIO or HERBERT
2b What is the surname of the nurse played by Louise Fletcher in One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest?
RATCHED
3a Consecrated in 1962 in which UK city is the Cathedral Church of St. Michael?
COVENTRY
3b What was the name of the spoof 007 character created by Russ Abbott?
BASILDON BOND
4a Wide Sargasso Sea was written as a prequel to which book?
JANE EYRE
4b The principle telling us that the simplest explanation is more likely the correct one is known as Occam’s what?
RAZOR

Round 3
1a Who was the German publisher of travel guides who popularized star ratings?
KARL BAEDEKER
1b In the 1980’s which television personality was the advertising face of Everest Double Glazing?
TED MOULT
2a West Country band the Wurzels originally came to prominence backing which singer in the 1970’s?
ADGE CUTLER
2b In Greek legend which nymph detained Odysseus on the island of Ogygia for several years?
CALYPSO
3a Which British general led the successful retreat from the Portuguese port of Corunna in the Peninsular War against Napoleon, a similar ‘victory’ to Dunkirk?
SIR JOHN MOORE
3b The Chisholm Trail was a cattle drive from Texas to the railhead at which town in Kansas?
ABILENE
4a In which sport would you use a besom?
CURLING (THE BRUSH)
4b In the game of Cluedo, Dr. Orchid is to replace which character?
MRS WHITE

Round 4
1a What highly contagious tree disease was first observed in Britain in 2012 and has now affected more that 700 woodlands and forests?
ASH DIE-BACK (ACCEPT CHALARA)
1b Of which Italian state is Genoa the capital?
LIGURIA
2a What are known in cookery as marrons?
CHESTNUTS
2b Which D Day beach had the same name as a US State ?
UTAH
3a Gadwell, ruddy and shoveller are varieties of which kind of bird?
DUCK
3b Which cartoonist noted for drawing fat little girls on fat ponies died in February 2004?
NORMAN THELWELL
4a In the bible what was the first of the plagues of Egypt ?
WATER TURNING INTO BLOOD
4b In which US city is the 1935 Gershwin opera Porgy and Bess set?
CHARLESTON

Round 5
1a Which British tennis player in 2016 became the first female to reach the semi finals of a Grand Slam since Virginia Wade in 1977?
JOHANNA KONTA
1b Which composer born in 1804 wrote the music for the opera Ivan Susanin later changed to A Life for the Tsar?
MIKHAIL GLINKA
2a Britain’s last deep pit coal mine which closed in December 2015 is situated at Kellingley in which county?
NORTH YORKSHIRE
2b Which fictional hotel was actually Woodburn Grange Country Club?
FAWLTY TOWERS
3a Who was the Mayor of New York at the time of the World Trade Centre disaster?
RUDI GIULANI
3b The name of which American rock group was also the term used by Allied pilots in WW2 to describe U.F.O’s?
FOO FIGHTERS
4a Who has been M.P. for Westmoreland and Lonsdale since 2005?
TIM FARRON
4b Ant-loving, striped ground and leaf-rolling are species of which orthoptera order of insects? In Britain the dark and speckled-bush are common?
CRICKETS

Round 6
1a The Isle of Anglesey gives its name to anglesite, a naturally occurring sulphate of which metal?
LEAD
1b How are entertainers Janette and Ian Tough better known?
THE KRANKIES
2a What is the name of the French President’s summer retreat
FONTAINEBLEAU
2b Which Russian nuclear submarine sank in 2000?
KURSK
3a Whose first novel published in 1911 was ”The White Peacock”?
D.H. LAWRENCE
3b Which Oscar winning film was based on the book The Tin Star by John W. Cunningham?
4a Give either of the Christian names of General Gordon ?
CHARLES or GEORGE
4b Which term comes from the Latin for “kidnapper” and means passing off someone’s ideas or writing as one’s own?
PLAGIARISM

Round 7
1a Which was the first motorway service station opened in the UK?
WATFORD GAP
1b What links Gold Hill in Shaftesbury, Ridley Scott, Carl Barlow and Antonin Dvorak?
HOVIS ADVERT (location, director, boy on the bike and composer)
2a In which aquatic sport can a competitor “Hang 10”?
SURFING
2b In 2015 egoportrait was added to the French Dictionary what isthe more popular new English word?
SELFIE
3a The civil war fought in England between 1141 and 1153 known as The Anarchy was fought between two claimants to the throne, name either.
STEPHEN or MATILDA
3b The Pony Express ran from St. Joseph Missouri to which destination in California?
SACRAMENTO
4a Hodges and Peacock are the surnames of which singing duo?
CHAS and DAVE
4b Who is the Greek muse of music and lyric poetry?
EUTERPE

Round 8
1a What is Roxburghe a style of?
BOOK BINDING
1b What is the principal city of the Spanish region of Aragon?
ZARAGOZA
2a Fuggles and Styrian Golding are varieties of which plant?
HOPS
2b In World War 2 which company made the aircraft known simply as the Stuka?
JUNKERS
3a In the Bible which of the 12 judges was the only woman?
DEBORAH
3b Which romantic artist painted Liberty leading the People?
EUGENE DELACROIX
4a Which island with a famous bird observatory lies halfway between the Shetland and Orkney Isles?
FAIR ISLE
4b Jack Good’s late 1960’s rock musical Catch My Soul was loosely based on which of Shakespeare’s plays?
OTHELLO

Spare Questions
1 Who was the first British President of the EU?
ROY JENKINS
2 Which brewery taken over by Coors in 2011 makes Doom Bar Ale?
SHARP’S
3 Which feminist magazine got its name from the story of Eve’s creation?
SPARE RIB