{"id":3675,"date":"2023-07-22T12:37:43","date_gmt":"2023-07-22T12:37:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/londondrinker.camra.org.uk\/wordpress\/?p=3675"},"modified":"2023-07-25T17:29:12","modified_gmt":"2023-07-25T17:29:12","slug":"idle-moments-aug-sept-2023","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/londondrinker.camra.org.uk\/wordpress\/index.php\/2023\/07\/22\/idle-moments-aug-sept-2023\/","title":{"rendered":"Idle Moments – Aug\/Sept 2023"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\n

August for the people and their favourite islands. Daily the steamers sidle up to meet the effusive welcome of the pier. <\/p>\n(W H Auden \u2013 Look Stranger! 1936)<\/cite><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

That conjures up images of summer holidays, doesn\u2019t it; takes me back to days out going up and down the Clyde in 1970. I started growing a beard on that holiday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hello and welcome to August. Well, it\u2019s actually 1 July as I\u2019m sitting here typing this but you know what I mean. We\u2019ve already had the hot weather; some of us have a hose pipe ban as well. Who knows what it will be like by the time this appears on your screen?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Let\u2019s have some number puzzles (that should dissipate the jollity):<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    \n
  1. 12 LS of JH<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  2. 1 ER for a N in C<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  3. 8 PA in the TC<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  4. 10 C in a L of the RA<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  5. 97 is the HPN with TD<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  6. 5 G of KC the T<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  7. 3 NOH by LD<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  8. 143 is OS of a G<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  9. 1 C on the E of a C in the A<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  10. 8 C on a D<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n

    This time for 5BY4 I thought of giving you a random array of saints\u2019 days to sort out. But then, when I looked past the four UK patron saints (and maybe St Swithin), I thought nobody\u2019s going to know (or give a monkey\u2019s) about them. Consequently, after a bit of wasted research, I settled on the ten English counties with the highest high points. Then, reckoning you couldn\u2019t be expected to know the elevations of lots of hills all over the place, I decided to give you the counties and the elevations of their major prominences (oo-er, get him!) and see if you could identify their names. I think you might get a reasonable number of these and then try to fill in the gaps. Anyway, see how you get on with them:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    \n
    \n
    Cumbria (978m)
    Northumberland (815m)
    Durham (788m)
    North Yorkshire (736m)
    Herefordshire (703m)
    Derbyshire (636m)
    Lancashire (628m)
    Devon (621m)
    West Yorkshire (582m)
    Cheshire (559m)<\/td>    		A. Kinder Scout
    B. Black Hill
    C. Green Hill
    D. Mickle Fell
    E. Shining Tor
    F. Scafell Pike
    G. The Cheviot
    H. Whernside
    I. Black Mountain
    J. High Willhays<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

    Having gathered all this information from a certain on-line encyclopaedia, I thought that a couple of other fascinating (?) facts would ease us gently into the Trivial Knowledge questions. Then, after that, I thought I would just carry on with other stuff of a geographical nature.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

      \n
    1. Two counties are listed at 28th equal with their high points 261 metres above mean sea level. The two high points are Whitehorse Hill and Ebrington Hill; in what county is each situated?<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    2. I\u2019m not sure why but in the table of high points (on a certain web site), the City of London is defined as a ceremonial county. It\u2019s high point (the lowest in England) is High Holborn. What is its elevation?<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    3. Still on matters geographical, the world\u2019s largest currently operational tram system has 250 kilometres of double track and runs a fleet of 493 trams over 24 routes. In what city is it located?<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    4. Another biggest: what is the world\u2019s largest reservoir by volume at 180.6 cubic kilometres and where is it located?<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    5. Back in February I asked you to sort the UK\u2019s ten longest rivers by their lengths. Now, what UK river has the greatest discharge, with a mean flow of 179 cubic metres per second (about142 million gallons per hour)?<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    6. A few days ago (as I write this) it was reported that Jamie Aarons has set a new record by scaling all of Scotland\u2019s Munros in 31 days, 10 hours and 27 minutes, an improvement of over 12 hours over the previous record (and 45 days better than the previous women\u2019s record). How many Munros (mountains over 3,000 feet) are there?<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    7. The first person to complete the \u2018bagging\u2019 of all of the Munros was A E Robertson; in what year did he achieve this feat?<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    8. We all know (don\u2019t we?) that the highest Munro (and mountain in the UK) is Ben Nevis at 1,344 metres (4,409 feet) but what is the second highest peak and the only other one over 1,300 metres (1,309m\/4,295 ft)?<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    9. Which is the largest National Park in the United Kingdom, with an area of 4,528 sq km (1,748 sq mi) and so designated on 6 January 2003?<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    10. And which is the smallest National Park at 303 sq km (117 sq mi), designated by its own act of parliament on 1 April 1989?<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n

      Well, there we are then. I hope you found a nice cosy\/cool corner of the pub\/garden to sip your warming\/cooling pint of porter\/golden ale [delete as appropriate] to solve these puzzles\/curse the compiler [ditto]. Have fun until the next lot comes along to plague you!
      Andy Pirson<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

      Answers from the June\/July edition<\/strong>
      As usual, here are the solutions to the puzzles set in the June\/July edition:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

      Number puzzles:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

        \n
      1. 3,032 Miles is the Mean Diameter of Mercury<\/li>\n\n\n\n
      2. 4 Chambers in the Human Heart<\/li>\n\n\n\n
      3. 2 Stations on the Waterloo and City Line<\/li>\n\n\n\n
      4. 8 Engines on a Boeing B Fifty Two Bomber<\/li>\n\n\n\n
      5. 201,168 Millimetres in a Furlong<\/li>\n\n\n\n
      6. 6 Strong Breeze on the Beaufort Scale<\/li>\n\n\n\n
      7. 2 Separate Terms as President of the USA by Grover Cleveland<\/li>\n\n\n\n
      8. 4 Underground Lines at Waterloo Station<\/li>\n\n\n\n
      9. 2 Points for a Cannon in Billiards<\/li>\n\n\n\n
      10. 17 is the Atomic Number of Chlorine<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n


        5BY4 (Recycling Codes):<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

          \n
        1. 50 \u2013 Wood<\/li>\n\n\n\n
        2. 04 \u2013 Polyethylene (low density)<\/li>\n\n\n\n
        3. 70 \u2013 Glass (clear)<\/li>\n\n\n\n
        4. 22 \u2013 Paper<\/li>\n\n\n\n
        5. 09 \u2013 Alkaline battery<\/li>\n\n\n\n
        6. 41 \u2013 Aluminium<\/li>\n\n\n\n
        7. 12 \u2013 Lithium Battery<\/li>\n\n\n\n
        8. 06 \u2013 Polystyrene<\/li>\n\n\n\n
        9. 20 \u2013 Corrugated cardboard<\/li>\n\n\n\n
        10. 01 \u2013 Polyethylene terephthalate (PET)<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n

          General knowledge:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

            \n
          1. Pogonophobia is a fear of beards.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
          2. A Triskaidekaphobe is frightened of the number thirteen.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
          3. If you suffer from\u2026 Hippopotomonstrosesquippedaliophobia, you are frightened of long words. I don\u2019t know what you call somebody frightened of irony.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
          4. Acrophobia is a fear of heights.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
          5. Before King Charles III, the country\u2019s oldest monarch to be crowned was King William IV, who was 66 years old at his coronation on 8 September 1831.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
          6. The earth tremor felt in Westminster Abbey on 2 February 1626 occurred during the coronation of King Charles I.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
          7. Although slightly clouded by history, it is believed that the first monarch to be crowned in the Coronation Chair was King Edward II (in 1308)<\/li>\n\n\n\n
          8. Still thinking of things royal after the coronation, the person currently fifth in the line of succession to the throne is Prince Andrew, the Duke of York.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
          9. On the morning of the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II, it was Matins the Abbey cat who was found asleep on the cushion of the Coronation Chair.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
          10. Lastly on the royal theme, the building which is the most senior royal palace in London (and London residence of the Prince of Wales etc.) is St. James\u2019s Palace.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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