British Trivia Part ll Trivia Quiz

Answer: Birmingham

Gravelly Hill Junction is the correct name for this part of the M6, but it's universally known as the Spaghetti junction. Work began in 1968 and when it was finished four years later Britain had its first ever free flow interchange. Such is its presence that the Birmingham Cathedral has incorporated it into a motif on the vestments of the cathedral.

Answer: Devon and Cornwall

The river Tamar forms a natural border between the two counties. It rises only four miles from the Atlantic and flows to the English Channel. There are only thirty seven areas of Britain designated as 'areas of outstanding beauty' and the beautiful Tamar valley is one of them.

Answer: all of them

The caves wind twenty miles into the Kentish countryside. They are divided into three sections, Saxon, Druid and Roman. Chalk had been mined there for 8000 years until the 1830's. In WW1 the caves were used as part of the Woolwich arsenal to store ammunition.

When Britain was at war again in WW11 many Londoners escaping the bombing of the capital city sought refuge in the caves, over 15000 people lived there and soon a community formed, each family with their own living space, there was also a medical centre and even a theatre.

Answer: York

Thought to be the oldest medieval street in Europe, it is mentioned in the Doomsday book and has been in constant use ever since. The name comes from the old english fleshammels meaning street of butchers. Nowadays you are more likely to find antique shops, jewellers and many up-market shops rather than butchers.

Answer: Shropshire

Scrobbesbyrigcer was the old English name for the area we now know as Shropshire, however the Normans , not surprisingly, found this rather difficult to pronounce so changed it to Salopescira, over the years it became shortened to Salop and then to Shropshire.

Answer: Isle of Wight

From Alum Bay you can see the Needles, three chalk stacks rising to 140m above the sea. They are accompanied by a red and white lighthouse guarding the entrance to the Solent. The Isle of Wight is regarded today as a holiday resort, yet his history stretches back through countless centuries. If you want to find dinosaur fossils then go to the Isle of Wight. Traces of our earliest ancestors can be glimpsed by the Neolithic axe heads. Bronze age and Beaker people have both left tantalising clues to their existence, in fact the Isle of Wight is chock full of history, much more than its small size would have us believe.

Answer: Tunbridge Wells

The Pantiles a pretty colonnaded group of specialist shops, open air cafes and restaurants is probably the best known image of Royal Tunbridge Wells. The town became famous in the 17th century as a spa town. It's fame was due to a happy accident, it's claimed that in 1606 a local nobleman returning home, a little the worse for wear, stopped at Chalybeate Spring to take a drink, almost instantly he felt much better.

It was discovered that the water of the spring was rich in natural iron, and for a while Tunbridge Wells rivalled Bath in attracting royalty and the aristocracy to 'take the waters'.

Answer: Blackpool

With the advent of the railways Blackpool grew from a small fishing village in the 1820s into the brash and breezy seaside holiday resort it is today. With its own version of the Eiffel Tower and countless amusements it's said the Golden Mile is measured by 'a laugh a minute'.

Answer: Northumberland

Lindesfarne is separated from Northumbria by a tidal estuary and is only accessible at low tide. Maybe this was one of the reasons it was chosen as a place of Christian worship and learning, it's isolation being a natural retreat. When the Normans built a church there they built it on the remains of an Anglo Saxon church that had stood there since 635AD.

However not all was peace and tranquility for it was here in 793AD that Britain saw the first, of what was to become many Viking raids.

Answer: The Eden Project

The Eden project was the brainchild of Tim Smit who had the idea to tell the story of the relationship between humans and plants. The domes are planted with every environment from rain forest to the hot dry Mediterranean. The whole project has been a huge success, earning the name of the eighth wonder of the world.