Temple Heelis quiz team (episode two)
2017 was a vintage year for the TH quiz team with a late run of three straight victories.
It was also the year the team really became more of a squad. Gone are the days when the same few regulars would be the only ones to answer the call and now it has become a case of first come first served.
Places go faster than Rolling Stones tickets these days.
With events often limiting entries to 4 or 5 people a bit of Jurgen Klopp like squad rotation is inevitable and some are left disappointed. Requests for TH to put in two teams are now being refused by organisers who are quickly realising that it is bad enough for one set of lawyers to do quite well, but to risk having two TH teams battling for a podium finish would be too much to bear.
Worthy of particular mention in most recent outings are Yasmin Blamire who helped her blank faced colleagues when spotting the connection between lip balm , Australia and an obscure fruit and Richard Moore, who stood his ground against much resistance insisting he knew his Field Marshall Montgomery from his Lord Mountbatten .
Also Trainee Solicitor Lauren Bowness demonstrated the level of accuracy that has just earned her a training contract with TH , identifying the type of orange used in Earl Grey tea.
For the curious, it is Bergamot , by the way. You learn something useful and important every day , so they say.
Stalwarts Peter Dodd ( who knows exactly how long the fastest Grand National took to run) and Andy Hill ( who knows his Cheddar Gorge when he sees it) keep churning out ( mostly right) answers .
Trophies ,umbrellas, mugs and even cash ( quickly converted into cakes and chocolates for the office) are being brought back regularly.
In the last 5 outgoings TH have outperformed about 60 teams.
The team did though come a not very close second at the first outing of 2018, the Russell Armer Charity quiz at Kendal Golf Club, beaten by a red hot Lake District National Park Authority “A team “. However, there was an immediate reaction to this and bounce back as the response to defeat was to make a late entry to the NFU South Lakes event a few days afterwards and ,getting “straight back on the horse” as it were was the right strategy , as the team took away first place.
In the reminder of 2018, is there no fact too obscure , no trivia too trivial , no tea ingredient too unknowable for the lawyers of Temple Heelis ?