Alan Edgar (Eggy1948)

1. In which 1984 film did Sean Connery return as James Bond after a 13 year gap? Answer = Never Say never Again 2. What in the building trade is called ‘harling’ in Scotland? Answer = Harling is a rough-cast wall finish consisting of lime and aggregate, notable for its rough texture 3. Who was the first woman to participate in the University Boat Race? Answer = Sue Brown She was the first woman to cox the Boat Race, winning with Oxford in 1981 The result justified her selection. 'I steered extremely badly, but we still won.' She was hardly a novice, in any case, having coxed the British women's four in the 1980 Olympics Games in Moscow. She guided Oxford to victory again in 1982. After taking part in the World Championships, she gave up 'serious' rowing in 1986. 4. In which country was Salman Rushdie born? Answer = Mumbai, India Early Years. Sir Ahmed Salman Rushdie was born on June 19, 1947, in Bombay (now Mumbai), India. The only son of a wealthy Indian businessman and a school teacher, Rushdie was educated at a Bombay private school before attending The Rugby School, a boarding school in Warwickshire, England. 5. What sort of creature is a pipistrelle? Answer = Bat Common pipistrelles feed in a wide range of habitats from grasslands to urban areas. They roost in tree holes, bat boxes and even the roof spaces of houses, often in small colonies. 6. Helleborus niger is better known as which perennial plant? Answer = Christmas Rose Christmas rose, is a winter-blooming evergreen perennial which blooms around Christmas time in warm winter regions, but later ,February or March, in the cold northern parts of the growing range. 7. Which animal is Canada’s official emblem? Answer = beaver The beaver was given official status as an emblem of Canada when “An Act to provide for the recognition of the Beaver (Castor canadensis) as a symbol of the sovereignty of Canada” received royal assent on March 24, 1975 8. Which word meaning ‘divine wind’ describes suicide missions of Japanese pilots? Answer = Kamikaze Cherry Blossoms and Kamikaze. ... Cherry blossom send off. Kamikaze means "divine wind" in Japanese, and originally referred to a miraculous typhoon that saved Japan from a Mongolian invasion force in the 13th century. The Japanese Navy used this term to describe their suicide attack planes. 9. Who, in the bible, was the youngest son of jacob? Answer = Benjamin Though not named in the Quran, Benjamin is referred to as the righteous youngest son of Jacob, in the narrative of Joseph in Islamic tradition. Apart from that, however, Islamic tradition does not provide much detail regarding Benjamin's life, and refers to him as being born from Jacob's wife Rachel. 10. Which letter of the Greek alphabet is the equivalent to T? Answer = Tau 11. The 1969 Eurovision Song Contest ended in a four-way tie between France, UK, Spain and which other country? Answer = Netherlands 12. What is Magnesium Sulphate called when used as a laxative? Answer = Epsom Salts But if you don’t like Epsom Salts go for Laxido I’ll bet you didn’t know …. Oliver Cromwell passed a law forbidding anyone to eat mince pies or Christmas pudding. Answer = I didn’t – but if I was Prime Minister I would bring that law back. Giving liberty to carnal and sensual delights From this point until the Restoration in 1660, Christmas was officially illegal. Although Cromwell himself did not initiate the banning of Christmas, his rise to power certainly resulted in the promotion of measures that severely curtailed such celebrations. Nowhere, they argued, had God called upon mankind to celebrate Christ's nativity in such fashion. In 1644, an Act of Parliament effectively banned the festival and in June 1647, the Long Parliament passed an ordinance confirming the abolition of the feast of Christmas.

I would probably be the same if it wasn't for 'Mad Cow Disease' - BSE = bovine spongiform encephalopathy - 1996. We were a group of 3 couples that regularly ate out on a Saturday evening - Manzil's Indian restaurant, Morpeth. The other 5 had Indian meals and I would have a rump steak, very well done. So when they had to take steak off the menu I was sat in the restaurant one Saturday evening wondering what to try. The staff said they had mild curries that I should try and they recommended chicken tikka for starters and chicken korma for main, I accepted. Chicken tikka Ok, but still toooo warm for me - chicken korma, very mild and creamy and I have stuck with that, as my foreign food dish, for the last 24 years. I was working in London, late 1980's, on an MOD project, with a load of contractors and we used to have a project night out once a month at various restaurants. So we ended up in an Indian's one night and having partaken in a few pints beforehand I decided to be adventurous and go for a starter before my steak. Ordered Mulligatawny Soup - never again has Mulligatawny Soup passed my lips. Nobody else thought it was hot but my mouth was still feeling the taste/heat for the following two days.

Don't remember it from the 1960's when I used to pass that way. There again in the 1960's I wouldn't eat Chinese, Indian, - in fact I wouldn't eat any foreign food. I'm the same now apart from progressing to the English version of Indian food = chicken corma and eve that,on occasions, can be tooo spicey for me 😰

I used to enjoy a pub quiz, with a few mates and their wives. Good company - good beer - good food and very little success. These days I don't retain the knowledge - actually it was the same in my school days. Back at school I just knew where to find the answers = less to remember and I could get outside with more time to play. and today Google has reduced the the number of reference books I acquired. I didn't really buy books for me, they were for the kids to look for the answers i couldn't give them. Now maths, up to 'O' level, was simple. No need to read, once you had learned the basics = 2 to 10 times tables the rest was easy and if the answer didn't come automatically you could work it out wit a pencil - no need to stare into the depths of the memory hoping the answer would jump out. I only passed maths 'O' level. Not because I didn't retain sufficient info, it was because back in 1965 they deducted 1/2 a mark for every spelling mistake. I remember in the Mock GCSEs the English teacher said - Edgar you passed then we deducted the spelling mistakes, you failed.

@Sean Arkless - I had a search on the Facebook 'Public Group' - Morpeth History Matters and used the search facility to look for posting containing the words 'Bertha Burns' They may not be of any help to you but these are the images that my search returned :-

@Vic Patterson - I checked on the Facebook group - Morpeth History Matters. The group is a 'Public group' so non members can view the content and use the search facility. Bertha Bunrs was on Bridge Street, next door to Smails.

1. Who was the first American to orbit the earth? Answer = John Glenn - February 20, 1962 John Glenn became the first American to orbit Earth. From Cape Canaveral, Florida, John Hershel Glenn Jr. was successfully launched into space aboard the Friendship 7 spacecraft. 2. Who was the ‘fastest mouse in all Mexico’? Answer = Speedy Gonzales Speedy Gonzales was fast enough to travel a 30 meter run in about 3 seconds. That's 22.3694 MPH. 3. With which branch of medicine is Mesmer associated? Answer = Hypnotism 1968 – I was hypnotised, on stage, at the Domino night club but I can’t remember the name of the guy – David ?????? 4. What colour is a moonstone? Answer = Adularescence OR a wide range of body colours = white, grey, brown, pink, orange, green, yellow and colourless. 5. Which Irish county is Blarney in? Answer = Cork Did you know that after you do kiss the Blarney Stone, also referred to as the Stone of Eloquence, legend has it you will be bestowed with the gift of gab? People have been visiting Blarney for over 200 years to kiss the Blarney Stone. 6. What do deltiologists collect? Answer = postcards = sadness + stamps 7. What type of tree is a Pirus Malus? Answer = deciduous ( apple ) 8. What is a labret? Answer = stud 9. A pearl wedding celebrates how many years of marriage? Answer = 30 10. In which town do the Flintstones live? Answer = Bedrock 11. Which football player advertised Brut in the 1980s? Answer = Kevin Keegan – alongside Henry Cooper. 12. If B is Bravo and N is November, what is S? Answer = Sierra I’ll bet you didn’t know …. The custom of carrying a flaming torch from Athens to the site of the Olympic Games was started by Adolf Hitler in 1936. I didn’t. The Olympic flame was introduced to the modern Games in 1928 when it burnt atop a pillar above the stadium in Amsterdam. Four years later the same was repeated in Los Angeles. At both of these events the flame was lit on site at the stadium. Carl Diem devised the idea of the torch relay for the 1936 Summer Olympics in Berlin that was organized by the Nazi Party under the guidance of Joseph Goebbels. The process was ratified by the International Olympic Committee and has been repeated at all the Games that have followed.

@Sean Arkless - you may struggle to get an answer from the three members you messaged. There hasn't been a lot of activity within the group over the last year or more. When you click/select a member's Id the system shows you info on that members activity within the group. I selected the three members you 'messaged' and this extract, from each members activity, shows the last time each member visited = logged into - the group.

We have had to go the opposite = no modern machinery = astro turf and gravel. I can't manage any gardening and Mrs Eggy, Jacquie, who had never gardened before we moved into this bungalow, now has to tend to some small borders but unfortunately she refuses to wear her specs when gardening and what she plants one week gets removed whilst weeding a fortnight later☺️

@Vic Patterson - you will have to blame me 🙂. As the world was coming out of 'Lock-down' I suggested that Canny Lass had a rest from quizzing, after the last one, and returned to tending to her expansive landscape - rather than staying indoors searching the www, and her memory, to keep us occupied on a Friday night.