Pub Quiz Night
18th September 2007

By Roger Tunsley
Who knew that a tindaloo beat a vindaloo in the “phew” category for curries? Not us. And who knew that the Schofield scale measured the heat value for chilly peppers? Well actually, Susan Dugdale did. That was just one of the questions that helped the team “Roses and Thorn” – so named because your author was the lone male thorn among a table of delicate feminine roses – to triumph at the BCS Pub Night.

The latest BCS social gathering convened on Tuesday 18th September at the British Beer Company in Walpole. For those that have not attended one of these establishments, the BBC has a huge selection of British beers – bottled, draft, and well-kept cask-conditioned ales. They also have an extensive menu selection that includes bangers and mash, proper fish and chips, shepherd’s pie, and so on.

With a room set aside just for us, and our own dedicated wait staff, we were well set for a great social evening. About 25 people attended and proceeded to sample the full range of the beer menu. When the conversation volume reached the correct level, we all sat down and ordered dinner. Eating did little to reduce the noise level, but once dinner was over, Guy Bennett brought the room to order and introduced that good old British tradition, the pub quiz.

Each person put in a massive stake of $2 to make the evening worthwhile. The size of the stake perhaps indicated the confidence we all felt. The first task was to agree on team names and that was the last easy question of the evening. Questions were presented in several categories – history, geography, food and drink (everyone did particularly well in that round), movies, and literature. Roses and Thorn lagged badly during the first rounds of the quiz, but in spectacular come-from-behind fashion we triumphed by two points in the final. We celebrated in typically understated British fashion, by cheering and pumping our fists in the air. There were mutterings from the other tables suggesting that we had been video-taping them from the sidelines, but no-one could prove a thing.

So we all had a great night. The BCS became around $50 richer from donation of the stake money. We were all well fed and watered. And we now know about tindaloos and Schofield scales. Life is good.

Special thanks are due to several people. Anthony Goodman and Jane Kelly drew up the quiz and did sterling work during the evening adjudicating and marking the various team’s answers. Guy Bennett put aside his usual reserved persona and ran the quiz as expertly as Vanna White. Peggy Hunter and Jane Ollerhead organized the whole thing. When can we do it again?