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The All New All New Groundspeak UK Pub Quiz


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Complete change of topic.

 

How did Mr Norway cross the Atlantic in 1930? Or, as an alternative, what were his Christian names?

 

Edited for spelling

 

Nevil ( or Neville ) Shute went in R100 ( or R101 ) - an airship anyway - when he came home he became a very good storyteller

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That's a quick double Ding (or Ding-Dong) to Civilised.

 

Nevil Shute Norway was the chief stress engineer on the R100 (the one which didn't crash) taking over as chief engineer when Barns Wallace left the project.

 

Thanks for the ding

 

In the first film of what is probably Nevil Shute's most famous novel - who played the commander of the US submarine?

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That's a quick double Ding (or Ding-Dong) to Civilised.

 

Nevil Shute Norway was the chief stress engineer on the R100 (the one which didn't crash) taking over as chief engineer when Barns Wallace left the project.

 

Thanks for the ding

 

In the first film of what is probably Nevil Shute's most famous novel - who played the commander of the US submarine?

 

Well, maybe I was wrong about it being his most famous novel - it's the one about the events after a nuclear war in the northern hemisphere

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For what it's worth, Wikipedia say "On the Beach" is his best-known novel, but I'd only heard of the "other one" - I assume MTH and I are thinking of the same book.

 

On The Beach is the one I'm thinking of - perhaps others might say A Town Like Alice

 

Anyway - the actor who played the submarine commander in On The Beach - well-known American chap - also famous for playing Atticus Finch a few years later

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Sorry for the delay, here's a quickie:

 

Who was Governor of the Falkland Islands during the conflict with Argentina in the 1980's?

 

Ah Ha!! He used to live just down the road from us - that'ld be Sir Rex Hunt.

 

That's a DING for DDD!

 

And according to Wikipedia/IMDB Gregory Peck was American and was born in California....

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Well Agatha Christie wrote "The Mysterious Affair at Styles" which I think was a Poirot story, she also famously went missing for a while and was discovered staying incognito at a hotel in Harrogate which I'm guessing was the Old Swan.

 

That's a mysterious ding to MartyB!!

 

What I forgot to say that "Styles" on Charters Road was Agatha Christie's home.

Edited by dodgydaved
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Ah, this is turning into a Ping Pong game, but I've left it a few days and it's something I know a bit about.

 

He was the chap who bequeathed the prize of "Dogget's Coat and Badge" for an annual race on the Thames for Lightermen, who are the men who once rowed boats back and forth to shore unloading ships on the Thames. The race is still held and I believe is still only open to licensed Thames boatmen and I think it may be the oldest race of it's kind in the world. The red coat and brass badge had to be worn on the river by Lightermen to show that they were licensed to carry on their trade.

 

Dogget's Coat and Badge is also the name of a pub on the Thames where I have attended several London Geocaching events :rolleyes:

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Thanks Dave.

 

Slightly specialist round now.

 

What height (in hands) denotes the difference between a Horse and a Pony

 

(caveat this is a generally accepted classification, there are exceptions such as the Falabella which is a breed much smaller than most ponies but is classified as a horse)

 

Edit: typo.

Edited by MartyBartfast
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Thanks Dave.

 

Slightly specialist round now.

 

What height (in hands) denotes the difference between a Horse and a Pony

 

(caveat this is a generally accepted classification, there are exceptions such as the Falabella which is a breed much smaller than most ponies but is classified as a horse)

 

Edit: typo.

 

I reckon it is 14 for a horse, less than that for a pony.

 

Talking off equines, how many legs does a horse have?

 

Six, two at the back and forelegs at the front.

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Thanks Dave.

 

Slightly specialist round now.

 

What height (in hands) denotes the difference between a Horse and a Pony

 

(caveat this is a generally accepted classification, there are exceptions such as the Falabella which is a breed much smaller than most ponies but is classified as a horse)

 

Edit: typo.

 

I reckon it is 14 for a horse, less than that for a pony.

 

Talking off equines, how many legs does a horse have?

 

Six, two at the back and forelegs at the front.

 

Close enough, it's 14-2" and below for a Pony, anything above is a Horse.

 

Your turn.

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The first (steam as opposed to horse-drawn) railway in UK didn't connect two towns. It carried Richard Trevithick's loco from the Penydarren iron works to the Merthyr canal. That said, I suspect you're thinking of Stockton and Darlington (i.e. Stephenson) even though Stephenson's railway was much later than the Cornishman's ;)

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Thanks. It's often forgotten that Trevithick is the father of high-pressure steam locomotion -- despite Boulton and Watt's best efforts against high-pressure steam.

 

For the next ding, in which year did Trevithick's Penydarren loco first run; and when did the Stockton to Darlington railway open?

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1825 is correct for Stockton to Darlington. As a hint, Trevithick was more than two decades earlier...

 

Don't know but given that I'll have a guess at 1798.

 

One thing I do remember about Trevithick is that one of his engine boilers blew up/burned out when him and his engineer parked it outside a pub and went in for a few pints - sounds like my kind of guy :lol:

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