Bathampton!

The Three Degrees about to launch into an eye-watering version of "Whence Will I See Ye Againe, Hey Nonny?"

Do you like the picture above? Taken at the Mistletoe Fayre at Barrington Court last Saturday where you can see me with Diane Collings and Zarrina Bull either side of me in their smashing frocks! Tuesday evening found me back on Pub Quiz territory as my friends from Barrington Court (Rachel Brewer, Anthony, Sarah and another couple we met at the NT quiz last Friday) took on all comers at the monthly quiz at the Phelips Arms in Montacute. We thrashed the lot of them and will be back sometime in the future for another bash at this popular and tricky quiz.

It was back to the schools again today, and on a day of closed schools and much frothing at the mouth by some people about the public sector strikes, I was booked at a school that seemed completely untouched by the industrial action. It was to be a half day at Bathampton Primary School in, surprise surprise, Bathampton on the eastern outskirts of Bath. This is a lovely spot and I arrived in bright early morning sunshine in this small quaint town, with the school tucked away in a quiet lane next to the Kennett and Avon canal, complete with long rows of brightly coloured narrow boats, some of which had early morning smoke rising from their chimneys. Dotted around were gently rolling hills and it all seemed terribly pleasant. The school itself was absolutely lovely. A slowly expanding old Victorian building with various bits being added to it, including a brand new area for the reception classes that I was to open today. I was very warmly welcomed by the head teacher, a very friendly charming man who kept referring to me as a celebrity - I think he needs to get out more! I was with a nice class today, mostly year 3's with a few year 2's thrown in to keep me on my toes. The opening talk was fun, loud and enthusiastically received. Loads of laughs and some fun ad libs as people made surprised unscheduled appearances in the hall. After the mid morning tea break I was then called upon in my "celebrity" status - I had been asked to cut the ribbon on the opening of the new reception class rooms. I was very honoured to be asked to do this and was introduced to the crowd before making my entrance. There was a big group of dignitaries including most of the Governors I would imagine and the local vicar, as well as all of the children from the other classes. I made a quick speech and then cut the ribbon as various cameras flashed away. The children then sang me a song, which was very nice, before I was presented with a thank you card from the reception class and a bottle of wine! I could get used to this celebrity malarkey! After this interlude I was back in the hall with my group for the Tudor quiz before we launched into a very loud and enthusiastic jousting tournament. It was close all the way, but ended with the Gents storming to a well deserved victory. This makes the score:

GENTLEMEN 9 - 10 LADIES

Good stuff. The children then sang me another couple of Tudor songs and one little lad showed his early talent by playing Greensleeves on the piano, and then that was that! I packed away and headed for home while the children got stuck into a Tudor banquet. What a fantastic lovely friendly school! The drive home was pleasant and relatively quick. Tomorrow I am going to be up and early for another return visit to Dean Close Prep School in Cheltenham. Should be fun. But to Bathampton, thank you for a really memorable and pleasant day.

Riverside Junior, Hereford and a quiz...

Good King Hal (left), trying to flog some second hand stocks to an innocent Visitor Services Manager at Barrington Court. This was shortly before the aforementioned VSM tried to drink all world stocks of Burrow Hill Cider in one evening and fell asleep on his sofa.

Hereford. Do you know how the city of Hereford got it's name? Apparently it comes from where people would ford the river and a place was put on maps actually saying "you can ford here", which became "Here Ford". Hereford! What a mine of useless information I am sometimes. The last time I had been in Hereford was back in 2003, just after I had left Skandia Life in Southampton, and just before I embarked upon a year of stifling boredom at Debenhams in Taunton. Amanda, James and I had holidayed just outside Hereford staying in a big old half timbered house along with my parents, my sister Cathy and her husband Julian, and Julian's brother Ged, his wife Mimi and their son Elliot. We had a lovely holiday, but rather worryingly I simply cannot remember the name of the place we stayed, so if anyone who was on that holiday can remember, can you remind me and let me know!

I was visiting a school today called Riverside Junior, summoned there by the lovely Emma Shearer, formerly of Coalway Junior in Coleford in Gloucestershire. It was lovely to see her again and in such a wonderful school. Brand Harry Spankers (i.e. new) as they say and still not completely finished. It will be hugely impressive when done. The children were a group of about 50+, year 4's, a bit quiet and reticent to begin with, but got more confident and lively as the day progressed. A good morning was followed by a lively lunch in the staff room with some hilarious teachers - great fun. In the afternoon a rip roaring Jousting finale saw yet another victory for the Gents! They really are an improvement on last year! This now makes the score:

GENTLEMEN 5 - 3 LADIES

Emma had very graciously allowed me to finish half an hour early today as it is a two hour drive back to Somerset from Hereford, and in the evening it was time for the 4th Annual National Trust South Somerset Pub Quiz. Once again I was host for the evening and question setter. Which is a bit like a red setter, only slightly less slobbery. For a change this year, instead of at the pub (which was booked) we had the evening in the restaurant at Barrington Court. At first it seemed like hardly anyone was going to turn up, but eventually a number of people arrived and we ended up with four teams ranging in sizes from 4 in one side up to 7 in another. It was great fun and was won by a team helped, or possibly hindered, by Graham from Montacute House.

After the quiz when all the other groups had cleared off, a hardcore of Barrington-ites hung around drinking cider and having some laughs. It was great fun, Matthew Applegate was on such good form that he ended up sleeping on the sofa that evening, apparently, but it was also nice to see the lovely Rachel Brewer, her charming other half Anthony, and their friend, the deeply wonderful Sarah from Dorset. What a nice evening!

Right, I am off to Kent now for a corporate do at Leeds Castle tomorrow and then up to Taverham in Norfolk on Friday for a return visit to that lovely school.

Pub Quiz and Parkfield

Good King Hal, Good Queen Bess and Will Somers from page 462 of the new Kays Catalogue.

For the third year running I was hosting the annual South Somerset National Trust Pub Quiz at the Royal Oak Pub in Barrington. The first year I ran the quiz I was very proud of my questions thinking they were good and hard. At the end an elderly lady came up to me from the audience, shook my hand and thanked me for making the questions so easy. I was miffed. I was annoyed. My male ego had been pricked. The following year I really went for it - some of the questions were practically impossible. By halfway through the quiz some members of the audience had actually attempted suicide rather than go on with the brain cell hammering they were receiving. At the end some of the audience complained about how tough the quiz was. So for the third year I had to pitch it at just the right level, and after the show ended I think I got it about right. The winning team and second place were only one point apart at the end. The winning team's score was 85 points - however there was another team of youngsters from the kitchens at Barrington Court and their final score was 14. Bless. Matthew Applegate and co seemed very pleased. Even the Visitors Services Manager from Montacute seemed impressed, but I still have about as much chance of beating Usain Bolt over 100 metres as I have of this bloke giving me a chance to do a show at the House.

Wednesday morning had me up and early off into Taunton for a return visit to Parkfield Junior and it's wonderfully original Head Teacher - Mr Sides. It was great to see everyone again and we had a really wonderful time with some great children. Their costumes were all brilliant and they had some fabulous knowledge of Tudor times. Everyone seemed to have a good time, and after a very pleasant lunch we launched into the afternoon session. Much noise, lots of shouting and laughter, and the jousting session was another great one. Once more the ladies sealed a memorable triumph which makes the scores now:

GENTLEMEN 3 - 8 LADIES

Parkfield is one of my favourite schools - great kids, lovely teachers and one of the most idiosyncratic Heads you can meet anywhere. Wonderful. Half term now - taking James to stay up at my parent's in Wales for a few days then back with a trip to the Isle of Wight in early November!

South Somerset National Trust Pub Quiz 2008

For the third year running I hosted the annual South Somerset National Trust Pub Quiz at the Royal Oak Pub in Barrington. With teams from Barrington Court, Montacute House, Lytes Carey and all points in this vicinity it was obviously going to be a hard fought contest.

My arrival at about 7.30pm was greeted with ironic cheers by a packed function room. It turned out that though Matthew Applegate had told me to arrive for an 8pm start, he had told everyone else 7pm! No wonder they were somewhat miffed with their long wait. There were six teams who ranged in knowledge and ability from pretty good to plain embarrassing. One team of drunken youngsters didn't exactly cover themselve with glory and if they ever did get a question right, they tended to shout the answer out before they wrote it down, rather giving the game away to the opposition. Mind you, I managed to shout out an answer when I was supposed to be giving a question at one point, much to my huge shame.

The winning team only just scraped home by half a point at the end in a tense finish. But it genuinely seemed like everyone had a nice time and I was warmly thanked for my hard work in putting the whole quiz together and doing the question master routine. Well, it was a pleasure and I would be delighted to do it again. A horrible note to finish with - we had a huge pile of sausages on platters and piles of chips to dig into during the half time interval. It was all very nice until I bit into one of my sausages - and it promptly burst in my face, covering me with warm fat. I must have looked a bit like John Hurt in the Alien movie with the face hugger on him. So THAT'S what happens when you don't prick a sausage before you cook it. Perhaps it was where Ridley Scott got his inspiration from for the original film. One unpricked hot sausage and Sigourney Weaver has a career sorted out. Life hangs by such slender threads.