Welcome to autumn! After the temperatures endured recently, the rain came as a welcome change; it now feels like a change from the rain would be welcome. Of course, by the time you read this, things are bound to have changed again. Not much else to say about the season, really. Mists and mellow fruitfulness are so old hat these days and the leaves have been falling for weeks, owing to the lack of rain.
So let’s just get on with the pain and suffering commonly referred to as number puzzles.
- 5 BCB by F
- 68 P is the P of a SCPS (currently)
- 5 M for S
- 1710 C of SPC
- 3,628,800 is the P of the NO to T
- 3 is the N of BES
- 74 is the AN of T
- 5 F by the B
- 24 C is PG
- 18,915 T was the D of GE
As usual, I was wondering what to do for 5BY4 this time and suddenly (from where, I know not) National Parks crept into the old frontal lobes (Who writes this tosh? Oh… I do!). At first, I thought about the dates when they came into being but when I looked the first batch were all so close together that it would have to be a real nerd (not just an aspiring one) to separate them. The first four were inaugurated between April and October 1951, so I decided to go for size. Also I decided to do just the national parks in England as, conveniently, there are (currently) ten of them. So, here they are; can you sort them out?
A. South Downs1. 1 17 square mile B. Lake District2. 2 24 square mile C. Dartmoor 3. 268 square mile D. New Forest 4. 370 square mile E. The Broads 5. 405 square mile F. Peak District 6. 554 square mile G. Northumberland 7. 555 square mile H. Exmoor 8. 634 square mile I. Yorkshire Dales 9. 841 square mile J. North York Moors 10. 885 square mile
You may have noticed that I have swapped the numbers and letters for the lists. This is to make the solution in the next Drinker look more logical and easier to follow. I could have put the areas as the first list but I thought that would look very odd, so I didn’t.
And so, with an air of awful inevitability, we come at last to Trivial Knowledge. As I type this, the BBC Proms are in their final week and, as I attended my last prom on Monday (Mahler’s First Symphony – excellent), I thought I would see how many questions I could wring out of them. I managed four before I dropped back to anniversaries (centuries, half-centuries and one sesqui-centenary) to avoid getting too esoteric (or rather, boring and unanswerable). So, here we go:
- The annual season of Promenade Concerts moved to the Royal Albert Hall in 1941 when its original venue was destroyed by an incendiary bomb during the Blitz. What was the name of that (2,500 seat) venue and where was it?
- In what year were the first Promenade Concerts held, organised by impresario Robert Newman and conductor Henry (later Sir Henry) Wood?
- For a number of years, chamber music Prom concerts have run on Mondays (at 1pm) through the season. In 2022, these were held at a different venue each week, in locations around the country. What was the regular venue for these lunchtime proms until 2021?
- (Assuming you know the answer to question 3), what was the original function of this building when it first opened in 1907? And in what year did it reopen as a concert hall, after refurbishment?
- What iconic motor car was launched at the Motor Show in November 1922? It was subsequently built under licence by (among others) Rosengart in France and BMW (as the Dixi) in Germany.
- 10 October 2022 marks the fiftieth anniversary of whose appointment as Poet Laureate?
- The author Thomas Hughes was born 200 years ago on 20 October 1822 in Uffington, Berkshire. For what novel is he best known?
- Licences, at a cost of 10 shillings (50p) per year, for the use of what were introduced on 1 November 1922?
- Which actor was born on 13 November 1922 in Ehrenfiels, Pennsylvania as Charles Buchinsky?
- 150 years ago, on 30 November 1872, the first international football match took place, between Scotland and England. What was the final score?
So there we are for another couple of months. Now to get back to sorting out the finances for the relocated [plug alert!] Twickenham Beer Festival (see advert). Next time we shall be on the run up to Christmas! Who Knows Where the Time Goes? – to steal a line from the greatest folk song of all time (as voted by Radio 2 listeners) and, of course, the great (and greatly lamented) Sandy Denny. Until next time . .
Andy Pirson
As usual, here are the solutions to the puzzles set in the August/September Idle Moments column.
Number puzzles
- 9 is the L of a B
- 20 N in a D
- 8 L of an A
- 30 is the P of the FTPN
- 1 C of the RT in the LM
- 4 A of H in a M of M
- 9 P in a BT
- 20 H in a T
- 2 ME on a DHM
- 6 RQ in an IG
5BY4: (London MPs)
- Camberwell & Peckham – Harriet Harman
- Chipping Barnet – Theresa Villiers
- Hackney North & Stoke Newington – Diane Abbott
- Hayes & Harlington – John McDonnell
- Holborn & St Pancras – Sir Keir Starmer
- Islington North – Jeremy Corbyn
- Islington South & Finsbury – Emily Thornberry
- Kinston & Surbiton – Sir Ed Davey
- Sutton & Cheam – Paul Scully
- Twickenham – Munira Wilson
General knowledge
- The chestnut is a nut; the almond is a drupe and the peanut is a legume.
- The Sabre engine, used in the Hawker Typhoon and Fury, was produced by D Napier & Son.
- A mosaic and bronze installation replicating Jonathan Edwards’ world record triple jump at the 1995 World Championships is in Ilfracombe.
- The bronze statue of the Bee Gees is on the promenade in Douglas (IOM).
- Apart from the Beatles, the 1960s rock star commemorated by a statue on the Liverpool waterfront, near to Albert Dock, is Billy Fury (aka Ronald Wycherley).
- Also in Liverpool, but away from the water, the statue in Mathew Street is of Cilla Black.
- The seaside town where you will find statues of characters from Alice in Wonderland is Llandudno.
- The Scallop (not actually a statue), Maggi Hambling’s monument to Benjamin Britten, is on the beach at Aldeburgh.
- ‘Conversation Piece’, a collection of 22 bronze figures, with round bottoms (often called the Weebles), created by Juan Munoz in 1999, is in South Shields.
- And of course, we have to finish off with Anthony Gormley’s installation of 100 cast iron men. It is called ‘Another Place’ and it is at Crosby Beach in Merseyside.