Central Branch Quiz, Hackthorn, 12th November 2011

It was another successful evening at what has now become a regular Central Branch event. I am speaking of course of the Central Branch Quiz at Hackthorn Village Hall.

I arrived quite early (about 18:45) with one of our young ringers from Washingborough. We made our way to the church, where there was to be some ringing prior to the quiz. We were the first ones there, but after about 10 minutes, some more ringers arrived and we made our way up the tower and rang the bells up.

There only being half an hour before the quiz, there was just enough time to ring some Rounds and Call Changes and a couple of plain courses of Plain Bob Doubles, before finishing. We left the bells up at the request of the local representative and made our way to the village hall, stopping briefly at the cars to collect assorted goodies for the faith supper.

In the Village Hall, the bar was already open and people were already enjoying a refreshing pint. The pool table in the end room had been turned into a very serviceable buffet table (there was a cover over it!) and we placed our food on it along with the rest. There was a goodly assortment of foods ranging from sandwiches and sausage rolls to pork pie and stuffed olives, plus an assortment of cakes and desserts.

Once we had purchased some raffle tickets, we settled down for the quiz. There were 8 teams with an average about 5 people to a team. The quiz was run by Mick and Betty Stracey and was in seven rounds, these being (in order), Geography, Music & Entertainment, Sport, Pot Luck, Science & Nature, Food & drink and Dogs. Before any of these rounds, a team could play it's "Joker", to double the points scored in that round. There was also a picture round where you had to identify 20 classic British cars and a Dingbat round. The running scores were helpfully displayed on a large screen at the front of the hall, courtesy of some computer technology provided by Robert Harvey.

The members settle down for the quiz
Members enjoy the faith supper

There was a break just after the Pot Luck round where we helped ourselves to the buffet. Also some of the raffle prizes were drawn and later at the end of the quiz, the 100 club draw was drawn along with the remaining raffle prizes.

The winning team was announced and was the "Waterfallen", a composite team consisting of Robert Harvey, Colin Ward, Susan Waterfall, Martin Pearson and Jeremy Wheeldon. They were awarded with their prize.

The losing team (which was mine!) got a consolation prize of chocolate money.

The branch photo competition was also judged, there being 10 or so entries. This year's theme was "Something found in a churchyard within the Branch" and the winner was Mr. Colin Ward. He was awarded with the highly coveted "Onion Trophy".

The evening finished at about 22:00 and we helped to pack the tables and chairs away before departing for home.

A very good evening, enjoyed by all present. Many thanks to Mick and Betty for organising the quiz, Robert Harvey for providing the computer graphics and the Hackthorn ringers for the use of the Village Hall and their bells.

Jonathan Clark (webmaster)