A Little Bit of British Geography Quiz

Answer: Scafell Pike

Most of England's highest mountains are in the Lake District, in Cumbria, which is located in the north west of the country. Scafell Pike is the highest of all, standing at 978 metres (3,209 feet). It is close to Scafell, which is the second highest and only a few feet lower. Helvellyn and Skiddaw are also in the same area.

Despite the similarity of the name. Snaefell is not in England, but on the Isle of Man, which isn't part of the UK at all. Its height is just under 621 metres, equal to around 2,040 feet.

Answer: Scotland

The waterfall is in the Highlands of Scotland, in the historic country called Sutherland. The name is in Scottish Gaelic and means 'waterfall of the beautiful tresses'. Don't visualise it as anything like Niagara or Victoria Falls - it's more like a long stream of water from several open taps (faucets), especially from a distance.

To see it close up entails hiking six miles (ten km), so that rules this author out, but online videos show that it looks more impressive when you're standing above it. If the walk wasn't enough, vertigo could put you (and me) off as the drop is about 660 feet or over 200 metres.

Answer: Wye

Plynlimon is part of the Cambrian Mountains in mid-Wales. The Wye runs from here forming much of the border between England and Wales. Hereford is the only city on its route. It merges with the Severn estuary near Chepstow, back in Wales.

The Severn is Britain's longest river, taking a different route further into England, with Shrewsbury, Worcester, Tewkesbury and Gloucester among the places it flows through. The Rheidol is a much shorter river and flows westward from Plynlimon, before reaching Cardigan Bay at Aberystwyth, entirely within Wales.

Answer: Antrim

Lough Neagh, near Belfast, has an area of nearly 150 square miles (380 square km) and is about 19 miles (30 km) long with a width of nine miles (13 km). The river Bann flows through the lake, known as the Upper Bann as it enters and the Lower Bann at its exit. As a freshwater source, it provides around 40% of Northern Ireland's drinking water. It is also the largest lake on the whole island of Ireland.

England's largest lake by area is Windermere in Cumbria, Scotland's is Loch Lomond and Wales's is Llyn Tegid, also known as Lake Bala.

Answer: Somerset

The Mendips are limestone hills extending from the Bristol Channel, south of the city of Bristol, eastwards towards Frome. Limestone wears away readily, so the hills have numerous caves and cliffs to explore. The well known Cheddar Gorge is part of the Mendips with the village of Cheddar giving its name to the popular cheese.

Erosion caused by underground rivers means the region has numerous caves, with Wookey Hole, near the city of Wells, being particularly easy to access, meaning it is open to the public as a local attraction. Many other caves can only be accessed by experienced cave divers.

Answer: Loch Morar

As the name tells you, Loch Morar is located in Scotland. It is in the Highland region, and is the deepest lake in any of the countries that make up the United Kingdom. At its deepest, it reaches 1,017 feet (310 m). By comparison England's deepest, Wastwater, reaches only 258 feet, or 79 metres.

By volume of water, Loch Ness is the largest, containing more fresh water than all the lakes found in Wales and England combined. No wonder Nessie has found plenty of places to hide. Lake Morar has its own monster too, called Morag.

Answer: Spring

The cave system was discovered relatively recently, in 1946. It is located in the upper part of the Swansea Valley, which runs from the Brecon Beacons National Park to the coast, at Swansea. The area is around Penwyllt, which was known for its quarries at the height of the Industrial Revolution. When the quarries closed, the South Wales Caving Club moved in and it was their members who first discovered the caves.

Created by water running through limestone, the maximum depth of the cave is 900 feet (274 m), and the system covers a known 31 miles (50 km) length. This makes it the second longest Welsh cave system after Ogof Draenen in Monmouthshire.

Answer: Lagan

The Lagan covers just over fifty miles (86 km) from the mountain called Slieve Croob before reaching the inlet of the Irish Sea known as Belfast Lough. Its course forms the boundary between County Down and County Antrim, and the river is much used by anglers and rowing clubs.

The Liffey and Shannon are rivers in the Republic of Ireland, while the Bann runs from the south east to the north west of Northern Ireland and is the longest river in that part of the UK.

Answer: Hadrian's Wall Path

Hadrian's Wall was originally built on the orders of the Roman emperor Hadrian as a defensive measure during the Roman occupation of what they called Britannia. It stretched the width of the country and parts of it, mainly the footings and some of the forts which were positioned along it, are still visible centuries later. The footpath mainly follows the original wall and stretches for 84 miles (135 km) between Bowness-on-Solway in the west to Wallsend, near the River Tyne, in the east.

Offa's Dyke is an old earthwork running along the border between Wales and England, dating from the eighth century. The path follows much of the route and runs between Prestatyn in the north and Sedbury, near Chepstow, in the south. The Cotswold Way is primarily in Gloucestershire, extending into Somerset at the southern end. The Pennine Way reaches from Derbyshire to the Scottish border, following the line of the Pennine Hills.

Answer: Dunnet Head

As you've probably worked out, Dunnet Head is in Scotland. It is a peninsula in Caithness with Easter Head being the name of the northemmost point. Dunnet Head has the Pentland Firth to the east, which is part of the Atlantic Ocean, with Dunnet Bay to the southwest. It is located about ten miles (17 km) west of John o' Groats, which is the destination for long distance walkers, and runners, who start at Land's End in the far southwest of England.

The Royal Society for the Protection of Birds has a nature reserve there, where birds such as razorbills, guillemots and puffins are attracted to the cliffs in the area.

Lizard Point, in Cornwall, is the southernmost point, while Corrachadh Mor, also in Scotland, is the most westerly. Ness Point, in Suffolk, is the most easterly - all of these refer to the mainland, not any islands which are part of the UK.