My Drive to Work Trivia Quiz

Answer: Ironside

The Battle of Assandun took place on 18 October 1016. The Danes were victorious. King Canute showed mercy and allowed Edmund to remain as ruler of Wessex, while he took over the rest of the country. The provision was that when either king died, the survivor would become sole ruler. Edmund died on 30 November 1016.

The cause of his death is not clear, but it may have been from wounds received in the battle. Then again, it may not!

Answer: The Beeching Plan

Dr Richard Beeching became Chairman of the then British Railways Board in 1961. His brief was to make the railways pay. "Beeching's Axe" in the form of his report "The Reshaping of British Railways" led to the closure of over 2,000 railway stations and the loss of more than 4,000 miles of railway.

Answer: White Hart

The stories in "Tales From The White Hart" were written between 1953 and 1957. The White Hart pub in the book is modelled on the White Horse pub in London, which was once the meeting place of London Science Fiction fans.

"The White Hart" is a common pub name. King Richard II had a white hart as his emblem.

British pubs were often named after the emblems of royalty and other dignitaries. The Red Lion was an emblem on the royal banner of Scotland. When James VI of Scotland became James I of England many landlords thought it diplomatic to hang the sign outside their pubs. It is the UK's most common pub name. The white boar was the emblem of King Richard III. After Richard lost the Battle of Bosworth many pub signs of the white boar were hastily painted blue, as the blue boar was the emblem of The Earl of Oxford, a loyal supporter of Henry VII.

Answer: Pegasus

A Pegasus crossing is very similar to a standard light-controlled pedestrian crossing, but has a button at a higher level so it can be reached by a rider. The red and green man is also replaced by a horse and rider.

Of course, if one were really riding Pegasus there would be no need of a road crossing, as according to mythology he had wings. Bellepheron was a person rather than a horse and, according to legend, tamed Pegasus with a golden bridle. Champion was "The Wonder Horse" and Khartoum was the name of the unfortunate racehorse in "The Godfather".

Answer: The Limes

Lime trees are known as linden trees in the US.Rather confusingly, they are no relation to the citrus bearing lime trees. In Germanic mythology, the lime tree is associated with the goddess Freyja. As Freyja was the wife of Thor, god of thunder, legends say that the lime tree cannot be struck by lightening.

Quercus is the Latin name for the Oak, Ulmus is the Latin name for the Elm and Fagus is the Latin name for the Beech.

Answer: Queen Elizabeth I

Queen Elizabeth I reigned from 1558 to 1603. She succeeded her half-sister Mary to the throne. Both Elizabeth and Mary had been declared illegitimate by their father, King Henry VIII.

King Henry V reigned from 1413 to 1422. Queen Anne became Queen of England, Scotland and Ireland in 1702 and became the first sovereign of the Kingdom of Great Britain after the Act of Union in 1707, and ruled until her death in 1714. George III was king from 1760 until his death in 1820.

Although half timbered houses are typically associated with the Tudor era, the techniques used are thousands of years old.

Answer: Badger

Badgers belong to the family mustilidae. The old English name for a badger is brock. Did you know that the badger's jaws are articulated in such a way that they cannot yawn?

The Latin name for the European otter is lutra lutra, the red deer is cervus elaphus and the grey squirrel Sciurus carolinensis.

This sign troubles me. What are they going to do - hurl themselves at my car? Hold me up at gunpoint? Why should I worry about badgers specifically - does this mean it's OK to run over other forms of wildlife?

Answer: St Lawrence's

St Lawrence was a deacon of Rome. He was martyred in 258 by being burnt to death on a gridiron.

Answer: Punto

Other cars that might be displayed on a Fiat dealer's forecourt are the Bravo, the Panda and the Sedici. "Fiat" stands for Fabbrica Italiana Automobili Torino, or Italian Automobile Factory of Turin. The Punto was first manufactured in 1993.

The Galaxy is made by Ford, the Accord by Honda and the Tigra by Vauxhall.

Answer: The Shrimpers

As Southend is a seaside town, all the nicknames listed could have been used. Anyone who has attempted to walk across Southend beaches when the tide is out could be forgiven for thinking that The Mudskippers would be a more appropriate name.

Southend United are also less imaginatively known as "The Blues", after the colour of their strip rather than from any musical preference.

Well, I hope you've enjoyed the tour of my local area. I should warn that I have taken artistic liberties with place names and the actual route - anyone attempting to follow this route may well disappear up their own exhaust pipe!