The All New All New Groundspeak UK Pub Quiz

3.8k · January 7, 2010

I'm sure that's right and forgive me for not being more specific but I was looking just for the coldest weather related outdoor temp.

According to the BBC weather forecast I've just seen it was -27.2 but they didn't say where that was recorded.

January 8, 2010

They just said on the Scotland weather forecast it's -27 in Braemar!

January 8, 2010

To add to my previous post, on last night's news they said that it had got to -20° in parts of Somerset - equalling their previous low from 1982. January is normally the coldest month, so I'll put that with Pharisee's info to give -27.2°C in Braemar in January 1982.

January 8, 2010

DING to Pajaholic for getting all the info in there. We're not far off beating it though, are we.

January 8, 2010

DING to Pajaholic for getting all the info in there. We're not far off beating it though, are we.

I dare say we're not, and the Met Office say we've got another week to ten days of it

TBH, I feel that question was a bit of a team effort - coz there's no way I'd have got the temperature to one DP without Pharisee. So hopefully an easy question:

IIRC, Spike Milligan (or was it Peter Sellers?) once uttered the following poem (which is best recited in the style of the Goons):

Once there lived a Cassowary

To the North of Timbuktu

There he ate a missionary

Bible, Prayer book, Hymn book too!

But who or what is a Cassowary?

1.4k · January 8, 2010

A Cassowary is an ostrich or an emu which lost its passport in a tattoo parlour.

Edited January 8, 2010 by The Forester

1.4k · January 8, 2010

They just said on the Scotland weather forecast it's -27 in Braemar!

Yes, but we're Scottish. We can take it.

The only small problem is that you need to put a quarter pint of gin into a glass of orange juice to stop it from freezing.

January 8, 2010

A Cassowary is an ostrich or an emu which lost its passport in a tattoo parlour.

LOL! That's got to be the description of the month, and well worthy of the DING.

Piccy:

1.4k · January 8, 2010

Recently the world's tallest building was renamed from Burj Dubai to Burj Khalifa in recognition of the fact that Dubai is skint and the sheikh's uncle Khalifa in neighboring Abu Dhabi has had to bail out the prodigal child.

That's in the Eastern hemisphere.

What is the name of the tallest building in the Western hemisphere?

January 8, 2010

Recently the world's tallest building was renamed from Burj Dubai to Burj Khalifa in recognition of the fact that Dubai is skint and the sheikh's uncle Khalifa in neighboring Abu Dhabi has had to bail out the prodigal child.

That's in the Eastern hemisphere.

What is the name of the tallest building in the Western hemisphere?

I'll go for Willis Tower, previously Seers Tower) in Chicago.

1.4k · January 8, 2010

Yup. the Willis Tower.

It's renaming was a very low key affair, mostly to avoid the embrassment of the former owners.

January 9, 2010

Yup. the Willis Tower.

It's renaming was a very low key affair, mostly to avoid the embrassment of the former owners.

Somehow the name The Willis Tower reminds me of Die Hard !!

Ok next question: In The Lion The Witch and the Wardrobe, what present does Father Christmas give to Mrs Beaver?

1k · January 9, 2010

sewing machine?

January 9, 2010

sewing machine?

That's a quick DING to Munkeh!!

1k · January 9, 2010

during the depression in the 1930's the high sheriff of a county took interest in the plight of in the town of Jarrow with its high unemployment rates encouraging the county in question population provide financial and material assistance. What county was it?

January 9, 2010

If I remember Jarrow would have been in Northumberland in the 30's, then I think it was shoved into Tyne and Wear

Edited January 9, 2010 by norsch

January 10, 2010

Wouldn't it have been in County Durham?

Although I'll give that as a guess, I suspect it'll be wrong since if Jarrow was in dire straits the surrounding area would probably be less likely to help than somewhere not connected with shipbuilding.

1k · January 10, 2010

If I remember Jarrow would have been in Northumberland in the 30's, then I think it was shoved into Tyne and Wear

Jarrow was in County Durham but another county gave assistance, and its that county I'm after

January 10, 2010

I'm guessing it will be a reasonably affluent area through which the Jarrow marchers passed, with the northern home counties of the time at the top of my guess list.

So, stab in the dark No. 1: Middlesex

1k · January 10, 2010

wasn't middlesex

3.8k · January 10, 2010

Now I seem to remember doing a cache on the Isle of Wight which focused on an engraved stone that commemorated a march or something some blokes in Cornwall did... So I'm guessing it was Cornwall.

January 10, 2010

It's the sort of thing the Cornish would do, but the Cornish had their own march which that engraved stone might have commemorated. I refer to the Cornish Rebellion of 1497, when the Cornish marched on London in a war against unjust and illegal (under Stannary Law) taxation that was levied to fund the war against Scotland.

So just in case Pharisee is wrong, my second stab in the dark is Hertfordshire.

January 10, 2010

Well the sherrif of Nottingham can't always have been bad so I'll go for Nottinghamshire

1k · January 10, 2010

no sorry

January 10, 2010

OK more seriously I think this is maybe something to do with scrapping ships, possibly the Olympic which was owned by an MP called Jarvis who I thought was from the Newcastle area. Anyway did he buy ships and take them to Jarrow for scrapping to provide employment for the locals?

6.2k · January 10, 2010

I seem to remember that they were provided with replacement boots by the shoe makers of Northampton, so I'll guess that it was the sheriff of Northants.

1k · January 10, 2010

OK more seriously I think this is maybe something to do with scrapping ships, possibly the Olympic which was owned by an MP called Jarvis who I thought was from the Newcastle area. Anyway did he buy ships and take them to Jarrow for scrapping to provide employment for the locals?

your on the right lines, the olympc was owned by white star, it was the sister ship to the titanic and bits of it can be found in houses and hotels here abouts, Jarvis is the person in question and was responsible for bring the Olympic to jarrow to be broken, this is just one of the things he did in order to create jobs and was mayor of jarrow but prior to being mayor of Jarrow, he was mp for a town located in the county in question and high sheriff of the county

January 10, 2010

your on the right lines, the olympc was owned by white star, it was the sister ship to the titanic and bits of it can be found in houses and hotels here abouts, Jarvis is the person in question and was responsible for bring the Olympic to jarrow to be broken, this is just one of the things he did in order to create jobs and was mayor of jarrow but prior to being mayor of Jarrow, he was mp for a town located in the county in question and high sheriff of the county

FWIW, I stumbled on the answer earlier today while looking up something about a conspiracy theory (some say it wasn't the Titanic that was actually sunk by an iceberg) when I found some Hansard archives about this guy, who in 1935-38 at least was (as Munkeh wrote) also MP for a town in said county. Since I stumbled upon the answer while using an Internet search, I declare I'm ineligible for the ding. However, I have some links from the Hansard archives that show what a remarkable fellow Jarvis was that I can post after Munkeh's question has been "legally" answered. OT this thread is perhaps, but it just goes to show how you can learn from geocaching - even when off-topic!

Geoff

(edited to remove Freudian typo)

Edited January 10, 2010 by Pajaholic

January 10, 2010

My guess is Hampshire...Southampton...ships???

1k · January 10, 2010

nope!

January 10, 2010

Pajaholic got me very interested there, conspiracy, Titanic, etc. Yes we all know that it was the iceberg that sank, but that wouldn't have been a good film.

So sorry I had to look and I too now know the answer.

1k · January 23, 2010

ook answer was sir john jarvis and the county was surrey

next question

who introduced the current calender system to this country

January 23, 2010

I'll go for the Romans since the current calendar is Christian (as indicated by AD and BC).

More importantly, I'll use this post to give that link I promised: From the Hansard Archives - take a look at DEBATE ON THE ADDRESS from 1935 in particular. IMO Sir John Jarvis really was a remarkable person.

Geoff

Edited January 23, 2010 by Pajaholic

January 23, 2010

pope Gregory

1k · January 23, 2010

pope Gregory

the pope lives in britain?

January 23, 2010

pope Gregory

the pope lives in britain?

If you want a British person then I will try George 11

6.2k · January 23, 2010

One Pope was born in Hertfordshire... A question for another time perhaps. I'm going to guess it was a little earlier than George II's time, so I'll take a stab with George the First

January 24, 2010

Lord Philip Stanhope got it passed by Parliament

1k · January 24, 2010

parliament wasn't around in the 8th century, this man also calculated the length of the british coast line and was only a few miles out

no popes where harmed in the anwsering of this question, but this bloke was not a pope

Edited January 24, 2010 by Munkeh

6.2k · January 24, 2010

Hang on, I thought you were talking about the switch from Julian (Roman) calendar to Gregorian ('the current calender system') in this country around 1750... Mandelbrot's famous for his calculations of the length of the coast of Britain, but he's 20th century. I don't think you can 'calculate' it without accurate maps, which didn't exist in the 8th century, so your mystery person could either i) guessed the length of the British coast or ii) Surveyed the length of the British coast...? Anyway, Bede is the only multi-tasker I know from that early in our history.

1k · January 24, 2010

Hang on, I thought you were talking about the switch from Julian (Roman) calendar to Gregorian ('the current calender system') in this country around 1750... Mandelbrot's famous for his calculations of the length of the coast of Britain, but he's 20th century. I don't think you can 'calculate' it without accurate maps, which didn't exist in the 8th century, so your mystery person could either i) guessed the length of the British coast or ii) Surveyed the length of the British coast...? Anyway, Bede is the only multi-tasker I know from that early in our history.

ding bede

Born in about 673, Bede was placed under the care of Benedict Biscop, Abbot of Wearmouth, at the age of seven. A few years later he was sent to the foundation of Jarrow under Abbot Ceolfrid and there he remained, learning, teaching and writing for the rest of his life. He is famous for writing the History of the English Church and People which earned him the title the 'Father of English History'. However, as well as historical and biographical works, he also wrote scriptural commentaries and treatises on grammar and science. The major work of this manuscript is Bede's treatise of 725 On the Reckoning of Time. Amplifying his earlier work On Times, the book was intended to provide Bede's students with a theoretical outline to increase their understanding of computation and the calendar.

January 24, 2010

Hang on, I thought you were talking about the switch from Julian (Roman) calendar to Gregorian ('the current calender system') in this country around 1750... Mandelbrot's famous for his calculations of the length of the coast of Britain, but he's 20th century. I don't think you can 'calculate' it without accurate maps, which didn't exist in the 8th century, so your mystery person could either i) guessed the length of the British coast or ii) Surveyed the length of the British coast...? Anyway, Bede is the only multi-tasker I know from that early in our history.

ding bede

Born in about 673, Bede was placed under the care of Benedict Biscop, Abbot of Wearmouth, at the age of seven. A few years later he was sent to the foundation of Jarrow under Abbot Ceolfrid and there he remained, learning, teaching and writing for the rest of his life. He is famous for writing the History of the English Church and People which earned him the title the 'Father of English History'. However, as well as historical and biographical works, he also wrote scriptural commentaries and treatises on grammar and science. The major work of this manuscript is Bede's treatise of 725 On the Reckoning of Time. Amplifying his earlier work On Times, the book was intended to provide Bede's students with a theoretical outline to increase their understanding of computation and the calendar.

Hardly the modern calendar as Bede's reckoning made March 21st new years day

January 24, 2010

Hardly the modern calendar as Bede's reckoning made March 21st new years day

I've got to agree. Pope Gregory XIII, who gave his name to the Gregorian Calendar we now use, didn't make the decree that created the calendar until 1582. Only four countries initially adopted it, and we didn't until 1752 - over a millennium after Bede. (link)

Geoff

6.2k · January 24, 2010

Anyway! Moving away from the Jarrow area, what's next in this series? A circus, a street, an arch, a gate...

January 24, 2010

Mentioning Bede, it is worth remebering-

Fore ðæm nedfere nænig wiorðe

ðonc snottora ðon him ðearf siæ

to ymbhycgenne ær his hinionge

hwæt his gastæ godes oððe yfles

æfter deað dæge doemed wiorðe

January 24, 2010

Anyway! Moving away from the Jarrow area, what's next in this series? A circus, a street, an arch, a gate...

A park

1k · January 24, 2010

a bush

1k · January 24, 2010

Hardly the modern calendar as Bede's reckoning made March 21st new years day

I've got to agree. Pope Gregory XIII, who gave his name to the Gregorian Calendar we now use, didn't make the decree that created the calendar until 1582. Only four countries initially adopted it, and we didn't until 1752 - over a millennium after Bede. (link)

Geoff

so what you are saying is that bede introduced it to this country

January 24, 2010

Hardly the modern calendar as Bede's reckoning made March 21st new years day

I've got to agree. Pope Gregory XIII, who gave his name to the Gregorian Calendar we now use, didn't make the decree that created the calendar until 1582. Only four countries initially adopted it, and we didn't until 1752 - over a millennium after Bede. (link)

Geoff

so what you are saying is that bede introduced it to this country

No. What I'm saying is that it was impossible for Bede to have introduced the Gregorian calendar to this country because that calendar didn't exist during Bede's lifetime. Bede lived approx 672 to 735 AD; the current calendar was created by papal bull of Pope Gregory XIII in 1582 - about three quarters of a millennium after Bede died. While Bede gave instructions for calculating the date of Easter, AFAICT he used the Julian calendar, not the current system.

HTH,

Geoff

Wiki links:

Gregorian Calendar

Bede

Julian Calendar