River Songs Trivia Quiz

Answer: River Cocker

The River Cocker is remembered as, during the 2009 floods that swept the UK, it, along with the nearby River Derwent, burst its banks and flooded the Cumbrian town of Cockermouth with as much as eight feet (2.4 metres) of river water. Restoration work began in 2014 on the tributaries of the river, with the hope of avoiding such a disaster in the future.

Joe Cocker was one of England's most recognisable vocalists with his distinctive raspy, emotional voice. His first big hit was his cover of the Beatles' track, "With A Little Help From My Friends" in 1968, the year before he performed at Woodstock. Other hits included "Delta Lady" (1969), "You Are So Beautiful" (1975) and his duet with Jennifer Warnes, "Up Where We Belong" (1982) from the soundtrack to "An Officer And A Gentleman" (1982).

The picture is both a dog and a cutie, but is a cocker spaniel.

Answer: River Camel

Camels are quite rare in Cornwall, so it would seem a strange name for the river, but this actually comes from the Cornish language word meaning "crooked one", which aptly describes the course of this, the second longest river entirely in the county.
Like many of England's rivers, the Camel is home to a wide variety of wildlife, and occasionally plays host to some rarer species, as in 2010 an American bittern was sighted and in 2016 a Dalmatian pelican was recorded.

Camel have been performing their brand of prog rock since 1971 and are rightly heralded as influencing many of the neo-prog bands that followed them such as Marillion, IQ and Spock's Beard.
As with many prog bands, success on the singles charts has not been actively sought, but their albums, including "The Snow Goose" (1975), "Rain Dances" (1977), "Breathless" (1977) and "Nude" (1981) are much loved by fans of the genre and brought the band success on album charts around the world.

The plane in the picture is a First World War era Sopwith Camel.

Answer: River Tone

The River Tone in Somerset is a popular site for many people as it is used for many activities. Fishermen enjoy the challenge of the many species of fish found, including chub, carp, roach and pike while nature lovers use the river and the adjacent fields to spot birds such as short-eared owls, merlin and peregrine falcons as well as waders like snipe and lapwing, not forgetting the thriving otter population found on the river. It is also used for paddling excursions in canoes and kayaks, where participants can look on the remnants of the mills that were once plentiful as well as the many beautiful stone bridges that cross the waterway.

Tone Loc seems to be remembered mainly for his 1989 hit, "Funky Cold Medina" but "Wild Thing" (1988) was his first major hit, reaching number two on the Billboard Hot 100 in USA as well as number 21 in UK and number 15 in Australia.

The picture is of course various tones of make up.

Answer: River Sid

The River Sid is one of Devon's smallest rivers but is still home to a diverse list of river species such as salmon and trout, which attract other creatures such as otters and kingfishers. Unfortunately, the river is also home to the invasive plant, Himalayan balsam, with some estimates being that 50% of the river's short length is infested, requiring a large conservation effort by volunteers.

Sid Vicious was a bass player in the Sex Pistols during their brief but eventful lifetime, although he was absent for much of the recording of their only album in 1977, due to being hospitalised with hepatitis caused by his drug use.
Vicious overdosed on heroin and died in 1979, while awaiting trial for the suspected murder of his girlfriend.

I don't know if the dog in the picture is named Sid, but he sure looks vicious.

Answer: River Box

The River Box is in a very rural area of Suffolk, surrounded mainly by farmland. It hit the headlines in the county in 2019, when scientists, testing the water quality for chemicals, found traces of cocaine in freshwater shrimps that had been collected for analysis. The drug is believed to have entered the water system through users of the drug via the sewer system and then into the river.

Mick Box has been guitarist in Uriah Heep since their formation in 1969 and consequently has played on all of their releases including "Lady In Black" (1971), "The Wizard" and "Easy Livin'" (both 1972).
Surprisingly given the band's long existence, they have never had a top 50 hit in their native UK, although they have reached the top ten in Germany, Netherlands, Switzerland and New Zealand where they had a number one single in 1973 with "Stealin'".

Don't you just want to know what is inside that box in the picture?

Answer: River Dee

The River Dee rises in Snowdonia, Wales and as it enters England, it flows past Eaton Hall, the seat of the Duke of Westminster, before heading to Chester and on to the Wirral, where as the Dee estuary it forms the natural border between the two countries.

Kiki Dee may be best remembered for her 1976 duet with Elton John, "Don't Go Breaking My Heart", but she has achieved solo success with tracks such as "Amoureuse" (1973), "I Got The Music In Me" (1974) and "Star" (1981) , all of which were top 20 hits in UK.

The picture shows a pre-decimal UK penny, from the days of pounds, shillings and pence, or £sd, the "d" being the penny.

Answer: River Brock

The River Brock may be small but it is mighty enough to form boundaries on both the west and north sides of Preston, between the city and Beacon Fell. It is a very steep sided river, so not particularly prone to flooding, apart from as it approaches its confluence with the River Wyre, but this area is mainly agricultural with few residential areas.

Dave Brock has, since he formed the band in 1969, been the only constant member of Hawkwind. Despite their long history, the band have never achieved chart success, other than "Silver Machine" (1972) which reached number three on UK charts. Other tracks such as "Back On The Streets" (1977), "Needle Gun" (1985) and a revamped "Sonic Attack" (2014) featuring Brian Blessed have all been well received by space rock aficionados but not by the chart buying public.

The picture shows a badger, the male of which is commonly known as a brock, especially in UK.

Answer: River Ray

Up until 2003, the River Ray was a neglected drainage channel fed by the sludge beds of Swindon sewage works until work started on restoring the waterway. It has now been transformed by volunteers and is home to a large variety of wildlife, including snipe, teal, green sandpipers, herons and moorhens as well as wild flowers such as ox-eye daisies and ragged robin. It also features a fish tunnel, which reduced the drop in one of the river's weir pools from 18 inches to just four inches, allowing fish to swim the whole length of the river.

Johnnie Ray was a teen heart throb of the 1950s who had an American number one on the Honor Roll of Hits in 1951 with "Cry" as well as a top 20 hit with "Hernando's Hideaway" (1954) in UK and USA, again on the precursor to the Billboard Hot 100, the Honor Roll of Hits.
"Cry" (1951) was his only number one in USA, but in UK he hit the top with "Such A Night" (1954), "Just Walkin' In The Rain" (1956) and "Yes Tonight Josephine" (1957).

The picture is a stingray and this picture seemed a better choice than one of Troy Tempest. Although I suppose I could have used a Corvette Stingray.

Answer: River Allen

Until a devastating outbreak of Crayfish Plague in 2014, this small river had the largest population of white clawed crayfish in Dorset. It is home to many fish species, including brown trout, salmon, roach and pike as well as the critically endangered European eel, which may all be flourishing as fishing is limited due to the majority of the river's banks being privately owned.

Lily Allen burst onto the music scene in 2006 when her debut single, "Smile" went to number one in UK as well as reaching the top ten in New Zealand. She had a further UK number one in 2008 with "The Fear", which charted highly in many other countries, reaching the top 20 in Australia, France, Germany and Switzerland.
In 2013, she achieved her third UK number one, and first French top ten hit with a cover of "Somewhere Only We Know", originally a hit for Keane in 2004.

A picture of Allen keys accompanied this question.

Answer: River Swift

The River Swift gives its name to the Swift Valley Nature Reserve near Rugby, which is home to birds of prey such as hobby, kestrel and sparrowhawks and was opened in 2003 by well known UK botanist David Bellamy. The river itself is a favourite of many fly fishermen due to its healthy trout population.

Taylor Swift's first hit was "Tim McGraw" (2006) which was a top 40 hit in USA on the Billboard Hot 100 and she has followed that with a host of American top 20 hits, including "Love Story" (2008) which was also a number two hit in UK, "Out Of The Woods" (2016) and the number ones "Shake It Off" and "Blank Space" (both 2014) and "Cardigan" (2020).

The picture for this question was a swift, a bird often confused with a swallow, but actually a member of the same family that includes hummingbirds.