Major Highways of Britain: The A38, Part 2 Quiz

Answer: The Cotswolds

The Cotswolds are rated as one of the most outstandingly beautiful scenic areas in England. The scarp edge runs for about 90 miles, reaching its highest point (1,083 feet or 330 metres) at Cleeve Hill, just outside Cheltenham. The whole area of rolling hills covers about 800 square miles, from Stroud in the west to Oxford in the east, and from Bath in the south to Chipping Campden in the north.

The area's Jurassic limestone bedrock is not only very fossiliferous but also gives rise to a lovely honey-coloured building stone. It also supported a large population of sheep in the Middle Ages, rendering the area very prosperous. Thanks to high levels of tourism the area remains prosperous: house prices in certain villages are astronomical and unemployment in the area is among the lowest in the country.

I holidayed in this area when I was a small child, staying with an aunt and uncle. We walked up Cam Peak and the other hills around Dursley and went to Slimbridge and the Forest of Dean - it was all wonderful.

Looking at the incorrect answers, the Brecon Beacons are in Wales, the Trossachs are in Scotland and the Mountains of Mourne sweep down to the sea in County Down, Northern Ireland

Answer: Laurie Lee

Laurie Lee was born in Stroud and spent his childhood in Slad. He visited Spain in 1935, and then returned to fight for the International Brigade in the Civil War. Later he returned to England and became a full-time journalist, writer and poet.

His main interest in writing was his volumes of poetry, but these were not particularly successful. He's most famous for his autobiographical works "Cider with Rosie" and "As I Walked Out One Midsummer Morning"; the former has sold over six million copies world-wide.

Answer: "Fantasia on a Theme by Thomas Tallis" by Ralph Vaughan Williams

The "Fantasia on a Theme by Thomas Tallis" by Ralph Vaughan Williams, also known as the "Tallis Fantasia", is a one-movement work for string orchestra. It's based upon one of nine tunes that Tallis wrote for the Archbishop of Canterbury's Psalter of 1567.

It's the most glorious piece of music, about 15 minutes long. The four chords of the Tallis work are broken up and interspersed with a "swaying chord" motif; it's austere but beautiful, and it's hard to tell whether it's very old music or very modern music. The audience of the British classical music radio station Classic FM have repeatedly voted the work into the top five of the station's "Hall of Fame".

The "Fantasia" was used to great effect in the 2003 film directed by Peter Weir, "Master and Commander", when a sailor is left behind in the water clinging to some wreckage while his ship sailed on in a dreadful gale and stormy waters. The sombre and spacious sound enhances the film's atmosphere and portrays the vastness of the pitiless sea.

Answer: All three of these died

The Lancastrian army lost all three of its key commanders at Tewkesbury; Edward the Prince of Wales and the Earl of Devon were killed in action while the Duke of Somerset was captured and immediately executed.

The battle began when the Yorkists attacked the Lancastrian line to the south of the town; they advanced over rough, boggy ground but they were better supplied with arrows and guns, and started to prevail. Rising to the occasion Somerset attacked on the right wing, but his men were driven back; he then rode back to his army's centre division and asked its commander, Baron Wenlock, why he hadn't supported his advance. According to legend he didn't wait for an answer but straight away dashed out Wenlock's brains with a battle-axe. Understandably, this led to a collapse in morale. The Lancastrians were routed; both armies were of more-or-less equal size - about 6,000 men - but the Lancastrians lost about 2,000 men.

With the death of Henry VI a few weeks later the Lancastrian royal family was rendered more-or-less extinct, and Somerset's House of Beaufort was almost exterminated. The country now knew peace until Edward IV's death in 1483 and the subsequent usurpation of Richard III.

Answer: Malvern Hills

The magnificent Malvern Hills run north to south for about 8 miles between Great Malvern and Colwall. The highest point of the hills is the Worcestershire Beacon at (1,394 feet or 425 metres) above sea level; it's said that travelling due east from the Beacon then the next highest point of land is the Ural Mountains.

Geologically the Hills are very old, dating back about 680 million years to the late Precambrian period. The rocks are mostly igneous and metamorphic rocks, and are some of the most ancient in England. One of the results of the area's geology is the abundance of springs of very pure water: it supplies the numerous spas in the town of Great Malvern, and it's bottled and sold world-wide.

Looking at the incorrect answer options, Bodmin Moor is in Cornwall, The Long Mynd is in Shropshire, and Cranborne Chase is in the Dorset, Hampshire and Wiltshire area.

Answer: Cromwell defeated Charles II

Rarely has the outcome of a battle been so decisive as Cromwell's defeat of Charles II at Worcester. Cromwell, with 28,000 men, attacked the Royalist and Scottish force of about 16,000 men holding the city. Cromwell displayed tactical mastery by dividing his force into three divisions, two to attack Worcester and the third to block the Royalist line of retreat (there's confidence for you!). Moreover, going against all normal tactical thinking, Cromwell's divisions were separated from each other by the River Severn and the River Teme.

The day ended with a few hundred Parliamentarians dead while the Royalists lost about 3,000 dead and 10,000 captured. About 8,000 Scottish prisoners were deported to New England, Bermuda, and the West Indies to work as indentured labourers.

The battle brought an end to the Civil War. After hiding in an oak tree at Boscobel House Charles II fled to France, while Cromwell ruled England as Lord Protector until his death allowed the restoration of Charles II.

A small trivia fact - Cromwell's two greatest victories were Dunbar on 3 September 1650 and Worcester on 3 September 1651, and he also died on 3 September in 1658.

Answer: Cadbury

John Cadbury set up a chocolate factory in central Birmingham in 1832, but when in 1861 his sons George and Richard wished to expand the business they moved to a greenfield site at Bournbrook Hall, four miles from the city centre. They renamed the area "Bournville", and over the years developed a new town with excellent housing and many recreational facilities. There are now 7,800 homes on 1,000 acres of land, with a further 100 acres of parks and open spaces, and it's frequently rated as "one of the nicest places to live in Britain".

There is still a large Quaker presence in the town; indeed, Bournville is a "dry" town with no alcohol allowed to be sold within the estate boundaries. The Quaker Meeting House was built in 1905, but as it was intended also to serve other Christian denominations it was equipped with an organ, which is unusual.

Looking at the incorrect answer options, Fry - another Quaker family - manufactured Fry's Chocolate Cream (the first mass-produced chocolate bar, launched in 1866) and Fry's Turkish Delight; they were taken over by Cadburys and eventually closed in 2010. Rowntree - yet another Quaker family - manufactured Kit Kat bars in York, while Mackintosh - not a Quaker family - manufactured toffee and Quality Street chocolates in Halifax.

Answer: Warwickshire County Cricket Club

Warwickshire CCC and their subsidiary limited-overs teams, the Birmingham Bears and the Birmingham Phoenix, play their home matches at Edgbaston.

The ground was opened in 1986 and has been a popular venue ever since, not only for county cricket but also for Test matches, One-Day internationals and Twenty20 internationals; in fact, Edgbaston has hosted the T20 Finals Day more frequently than any other cricket ground. It holds 25,000 spectators, making it the fourth-largest cricketing venue in England after Lord's, Old Trafford and The Oval. In terms of overall quality it's said to be the second-best ground in the country after Lord's, and the spectators are known for being the most hostile in England towards visiting teams.

Looking at the incorrect answer options, Birmingham City FC play their home matches at St Andrew's, Solihull Barons play at Solihull and Moseley RFC play - not surprisingly - at Moseley.

Answer: Toys

The company that was to become Chad Valley started making toys in Birmingham in the early 19th century but later moved to the Chad Valley district from which it took its name. They expanded their range to include soft toys before World War, and in 1938 received a royal warrant as 'Toymakers to H.M. The Queen'. WWII interrupted their production so they shifted to making war-time necessities such as cases for the barrels of anti-aircraft guns, hospital beds and electrical coils and starters.

At the end of WWII they shifted production to tin plate toys, with much success. Sadly, however, from a peak in 1960 when the company had seven factories and employed over 1,000 people, the 1970's brought many reverses. The company was taken over by Palitoy in 1978.

Something I never knew: the wonderful radio broadcaster Kenneth Horne spent 25 years appearing on BBC radio shows like "Much-Binding-in-the-Marsh" (1944-1954), "Beyond Our Ken" (1958-1964) and "Round the Horne". However he was also the Chairman and Managing Director of Chad Valley from 1956 to 1958.

Answer: Samuel Johnson, aka Dr. Johnson

Samuel Johnson, aka Dr. Johnson (1709 to 1784), was according to the "Oxford Dictionary of National Biography" "arguably the most distinguished man of letters in English history". His great work was "A Dictionary of the English Language" (1755), but he produced all sorts of plays, poetry and essays. He was known the range of ailments he suffered from, and it's possible that he was afflicted with what's now called Tourette syndrome.

Looking at the incorrect answer options, Noah Webster produced his "American Dictionary of the English Language" in 1828, James Murray was the primary editor of the "Oxford English Dictionary" from 1879 to 1915, and Peter Mark Roget compiled the "Thesaurus of English Words and Phrases" in 1852.

Answer: Three medieval cathedral spires

The "Ladies of the Vale" are the cathedral's three medieval spires, between them reaching from 190 feet to 253 feet. They're built of Mercian red sandstone. The Roman statues are to be found above the cathedral's south doorway.

Answer: Icknield Street

This Roman road is Icknield Street, also called Ryknild Street. It runs from south-west to north-east, from Bourton on the Water in Gloucestershire to Derby, although some ancient texts state that it runs from St David's in Wales to Tynemouth. At Littleover on the outskirts of Derby the road is very straight and still well raised, by two to three feet in places, an example of a Roman road still in use today.

Looking at the incorrect answer options, Watling Street runs from Dover to Wroxeter, Fosse Way runs from Exeter to Lincoln and Ermine Street runs from London to York.

Answer: Beer

Burton has been famous for its beer for hundreds of years, probably due to the high quality of its main ingredient - the local water. However in the early 18th century of the River Trent allowed it to be sent to Hull and thence exported; as a consequence production increased dramatically, and at one time it's estimated that a quarter of all the beer brewed in England came from Burton. This success was facilitated by the invention of a process called Burtonisation by which beer could be specially brewed to keep during the long sea voyage to India; this was known as India Pale Ale.

Changing attitudes to drinking and the increased availability of alternative products such as wine, however, led to diminished sales and production, and now there are only the three companies - Bass, Ind Coope and Marston's - still brewing in Burton.

Answer: Hardwick Hall

The house is Hardwick Hall, built for Bess of Hardwick, the Countess of Shropshire. She was the richest woman in England after the Queen, and the house was intended a statement of her wealth and power. The windows are huge, leading to the phrase "Hardwick Hall, more glass than wall" - even from the M1 it looks wonderful. Surprisingly, unless you're a lover of tapestry, the inside is in my opinion a bit of a let-down. The restaurant is good, though!

Looking at the incorrect answer options, Chatsworth House is the huge property near Bakewell that's been the home of the Cavendish family (the Dukes of Devonshire) since 1549. The other two options are connected - Lyme Park in Cheshire was used for the exterior shots of Pemberley in the 1995 TV production of "Pride and Prejudice" while Sudbury Hall in Derbyshire was used for the interior scenes.

Answer: 292 miles

The 292 miles from Bodmin to Mansfield is a drive of about five-and-a-half hours. The fastest train from Bodmin Parkway to Mansfield Woodhouse takes about seven and a quarter hours, changing at Derby and Nottingham.