You Will or You Won't Trivia Quiz

Answer: You Will See It

The Proms, more officially designated the Henry Wood Promenade Concerts, is a series of concerts held over an eight-week period every summer. Most of the classical music concerts are held in the Royal Albert Hall. The event started in 1895, and (following the death of Robert Newman, the original impresario who named the series after the original conductor) has been sponsored by the British Broadcasting Corporation since 1927 - so now the full name is Henry Wood Promenade Concerts Presented by the BBC, but most people just call them the Proms.

Originally a promenade concert was one held outdoors, in gardens where the attendees could stroll around during the performances. The Proms kept that name, although they are indoors, because they used the idea of an informal concert with inexpensive access, and a more casual atmosphere than is usual for classical performances. Performances include around a thousand standing tickets, available on a first-come basis on the day of the performance (but with full-season buyers getting in before the season starts), which entitle holders (called Promenaders) to access one of the designated areas - either on the floor of the concert hall (standing in front of the orchestra) or high in the gallery levels.

The Last Night of the Proms is the concert that is most familiar to those who cannot attend in person, and must rely on the radio and television broadcasts to be familiar with the events. For those who cannot get tickets to this night, there are now many Proms in the Park events around the United Kingdom, with local musicians performing some of the music traditionally played on this night. The BBC broadcasts sometimes include segments from these various venues, as well as those in the Royal Albert Hall.

Answer: You Won't See It

Ascot is a racecourse where you will see many prestigious thoroughbred races, both on the flat and over jumps. The Royal Ascot meeting, in June, is one of the social highlights of the year for those who are so inclined. However, it is not the site of the famous Grand National - that is held at Aintree, near Liverpool.

The Grand National is one of the most prestigious events in jumps racing, both because of the length of the course and the height of the jumps. And then there is the prize money. This was the race in which the fictitious character Velvet Brown finished first in the 1944 movie 'National Velvet'. She had to pretend to be male in order to compete, as women jockeys were not allowed in the Grand National until 1977. It is also the race which made Red Rum a legend, after he won the race three times in five years from 1973 through 1977, with second place finishes in the other years.

Aintree Racecourse was first opened in 1829, as a flat track. In 1836 the first steeplechase track was set up, and the Liverpool Grand Steeplechase was run. Some people consider this to have been the first Grand National, but others consider that the first proper Grand National was held in 1839. This event was run cross country, with the route starting and finishing on the racecourse proper. Currently there are three tracks at Aintree: The Grand National course, a steeplechase course with smaller fences, and the original oval track which has hurdles on the straight sides.

Answer: You Won't See It

The Lake District in northwest England is famous for its lakes, mountains and beautiful scenery, and it contains England's highest point (Scafell Pike) and its largest lake (Windermere), but Stonehenge is located on Salisbury Plain, well to the south of the Lake District.

Salisbury Plain is a large chalk plateau, located mostly in Wiltshire but partially in Hampshire. As well as being the site of several significant archaeological features, large parts of it have been used as a military training area since the end of the 19th century, meaning a significant area of grassland remains undeveloped. Those with an archaeological bent can spend time checking out the barrows and Roman roads, not to mention such chalk figures as the Westbury White Horse. But most tourists head straight to Stonehenge.

I am not even going to try to provide full information about Stonehenge here - it needs far more space than is viable. A collection of massive sandstone and bluestone rocks, some standing on edge to form vertical columns, some resting horizontally across the tops of the uprights, they were assembled between 3000 and 2000 BCE. The original structure's details and purpose can only be speculated on, since it has long been in ruins. Spectacular ruins, and full of mysteries. How did the rocks get there, where did they come from, exactly what happened there - these questions are still being explored.

Answer: You Won't See It

While Brighton is a seaside resort, located on the East Sussex coast south of London, and does have a funfair on the Brighton Marine Palace and Pier, it is in the Lancashire city of Blackpool where you will find the Pleasure Beach amusement park.

Blackpool has been a popular resort since the middle of the 19th century, when a connection to the railways made it easy to get there. Piers were built, originally simply as places to walk, where visitors could see and be seen. Later activities such as arcades, dance halls and funfairs were added. In 1896 the amusement park called Blackpool Pleasure Beach was established by A. W. G. Bean and John Outhwaite. It started small, with a few small rides and stalls, but expanded to become one of the notable British amusement parks. It has a number of record-holding attractions: its four wooden roller coasters are more than any other British venue; the steel roller coaster called The Big One was, when it opened, the tallest and steepest in the world, and the longest track in Europe; Pleasure Beach was the first site in Europe to install a fully-inverting roller coaster. For those who prefer a slightly more gentle experience, Sir Hiram Maxim's Captive Flying Machine, a rotary swing ride that opened in 1904, is Europe's oldest amusement park ride.

Answer: You Will See It

The Oval is a cricket ground in south London which is the home ground of Surrey County in domestic cricket, and one of the country's major sites for international matches - the last Test of each summer is traditionally played there. The first Test cricket match played in England took place at the Oval in 1880, when WG Grace scored a century in his first match for England, helping his team achieve a five-wicket win over Australia.

The Oval is also the venue where the competition between these two countries, known as the Ashes, got its name a few years later. After a spectacular English batting collapse in their final innings snatched defeat from the jaws of a certain victory, a newspaper published a mock obituary declaring that English cricket had died, and the body would be cremated before the ashes were to be taken to Australia. The next time the English toured Australia, they declared that they were out to regain the ashes, and when they won the series, they were presented with a small (10 cm high) urn to signify the return of the ashes. Subsequent Test series have therefore been part of the Battle for the Ashes.

Answer: You Won't See It

Lord's is a famous sports venue, but it is considered the home of cricket, not tennis.

If you want to watch tennis, you should plan to go to the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club in Wimbledon in late June and early July, where The Championships, the oldest of the four Grand Slam events in tennis and the only one still played on grass, are held. Then again, tickets are hard to get, so you may need to join the overnight queues to buy the show court seats that are held in reserve from the prepurchase programs.

Wimbledon, as tennis fans refer to the tournament, is renowned for its traditionalism, harking back to the last century or the one before that. The competitions are for Gentlemen and Ladies, who wear white clothing (although in recent years small amounts of colour have been allowed) and spectators indulge in eating strawberries and cream. The winner of the men's tournament receives a silver gilt trophy with the inscription "All England Lawn Tennis Club Single Handed Championship of the World", while the women's winner receives a silver tray known as the Venus Rosewater Dish, decorated with mythological figures. Both trophies remain the property of the club; winners take home a replica.

Answer: You Will See It

The Eden Project is located in a repurposed clay pit near the south coast of Cornwall. The purpose of the project, which opened in 2001, is to make people more aware of the relationships between people and plants, and the importance of reducing human damage to the environment. It consists of large domes that enclose artificial biomes that allow the growth of a range of plants not normally seen in England. The domes are made of steel frames covered with inflated plastic cells that resemble a large-scale version of the bubble wrap children love to pop after its use to protect the contents of a package in transit has been finished.

The larger dome complex contains a rainforest biome (the world's largest indoor rainforest) and the smaller one a Mediterranean biome. Outdoors there are gardens representing various temperate climates. In 2005 an educational complex was added, to provide a facility for lectures and displays.

Answer: You Will See It

The original Wembley Stadium was the spiritual home of Association Football (aka soccer) from the time of it opened in 1923 until it was demolished in 2002, to be replaced in 2007 by the current stadium on the same site. In 1923 the first FA Cup Final was held at Wembley; in 1966 the English won the World Cup in a final played there against Germany. This is probably the best-known football stadium in the world.

Wembly has also been the venue for rugby, motorcycle speedway racing and stock car racing, as well as being the main competition venue for the 1948 Olympic Games. The opening and closing ceremonies were held there, along with the track and field events, the finals of the hockey and football tournaments, the Prix des Nations equestrian event, and a demonstration lacrosse match.

Answer: You Won't See It

Stratford-upon-Avon is the birthplace of William Shakespeare, and you can go there to see the Royal Shakespeare Theatre, originally conceived in 1864 for the 300th anniversary of his birth. The original theatre opened in 1879, but was destroyed by fire in 1929, and the current structure was completed in 1932, incorporating what remained of the original theatre as part of its design.

Bath, as its name suggests, is the place to go if you want to see Roman baths. During the first century CE, a hot spring held sacred to the goddess Sulis by the local people became the site for a Roman temple to Minerva (whom they conflated with Sulis), and the bath complex developed from there. The site fell into ruins after the Romans left, but the remains were discovered in the 18th century, and became a site of interest. They are now enclosed in Neoclassical buildings constructed then, with the original baths underground. Next to them is the Grand Pump Room, where visitors can sample the water pumped there from the spring.

Answer: You Will See It

You could also go to Windsor Palace to see the ceremony in which the Foot Guards on duty outside the royal palace hand over the job between shifts. But it was the ceremony at Buckingham Palace that AA Milne made famous in his poem 'Buckingham Palace':
"They're changing guard at Buckingham Palace -
Christopher Robin went down with Alice.
Alice is marrying one of the guard.
'A soldier's life is terribly hard,'
Says Alice."

The ceremony dates back to the time of Henry VIII, when it was instituted as a show of royal authority in the face of somewhat unruly subjects. The soldiers involved wear traditional uniforms including scarlet coats and black hats called bearskins. It takes a full bear pelt to make each hat, which may provide a sobering thought as you watch the pageantry.