It's Grim Up North! Trivia Quiz

Answer: Lindisfarne

The "Lindisfarne Gospels" is a famous mediaeval illuminated manuscript normally on display in London's British Library. The folk/rock group "Lindisfarne" were active in various guises between around 1968 and 2004. The island itself is tidal: at low tide, it is joined to the mainland by mud-flats and a more modern causeway for vehicles, but is totally cut off at high tide.

Answer: Angel of the North

The British people don't normally take kindly to "Modern Art", and there was much local opposition to the Angel, with its 177-foot wings, when it was first proposed. But after its completion in 1998 it quickly became something of a local icon, and is now instantly recognisable as a symbol of a modern, go-ahead Tyneside.

Answer: Pennine Way

The Pennine Way was the UK's first "National Trail", and runs from Edale in the Derbyshire Peak District to Kirk Yetholm, just over the border in Scotland, roughly following the line of the Pennine hills. The Peddar's Way is in Norfolk, the Offa's Dyke Path follows the boundary between England and Wales, and the North Downs Way is way down in the south, running through Kent and Surrey.

Answer: Rutland Water

Rutland Water is an artificial reservoir that can be found, as its name indicates, in the county of Rutland, in the East Midlands region of England. Windermere (pictured here) is the largest of the Lake District lakes, while Grasmere is much smaller. Coniston Water is long and straight, and was the scene of a number of successful attempts to break the world water speed record, notably by Sir Malcolm Campbell and his son Donald.

Answer: The longest roller-coaster in Europe

Beamish is described as a "living museum" of nineteenth and early twentieth-century north-eastern life, and its 300 acres contain a range of buildings that have been removed brick by brick from their previous locations, and rebuilt at Beamish, with as far as possible original furnishings and fittings. Similarly historic vehicles and costumed staff complete the picture. The one thing it doesn't provide is such modern attractions as roller-coasters (not even Edwardian ones).

Perhaps surprisingly, the longest roller-coaster in Europe between 1991 and at least the start of 2013 was located in the north of England - more specifically, the 7,442-foot long "The Ultimate", at Lightwater Valley Theme Park, Ripon, North Yorkshire. It was in fact the longest in the world until 2000, when a longer one opened in Japan.

Answer: Durham

The present-day city of Durham dates back over 1000 years, to around 995 AD, when a group of monks settled there with the body of St Cuthbert. The church that they built was replaced by the great Norman cathedral that dominates the city even today. The university, though much more recent (being founded in 1832), also has a strong reputation.

Answer: Fountains Abbey

Many of the monastic buildings that were abandoned up during King Henry VIII's "dissolution of the monasteries" were demolished and their stone used in local buildings. Perhaps because of its remote location, Fountains Abbey survived remarkably intact, and is now a UNESCO World Heritage Site, owned by the National Trust.

Answer: False

The 73-mile long Roman wall between Wallsend and the Solway Firth is Hadrian's Wall, part of which can be seen in this photograph. It is one of the most popular tourist attractions in the north of England, and was designated a World Heritage Site in 1987.

The Antonine Wall is both shorter (39 miles) and less well-preserved, and crosses Scotland between the Firth of Forth and the Firth of Clyde.

Answer: Leeds

Opera North began life in 1977 as a northern branch of the London-based English National Opera, under the name of English National Opera North. It very soon became well enough established to amicably sever its links with its London cousin, and re-named itself Opera North.

It is based at the Leeds Grand Theatre, and also tours regularly to other northern cities such as Salford and Newcastle, as well as making occasional forays both south (to London) and even further north (to Scotland).

Answer: Berwick-upon-Tweed

Situated only two-and-a-half miles from the Scottish border, Berwick is an attractive market town that has at several times during its history been part of Scotland. Indeed, its football and rugby union clubs both play in the Scottish leagues, and the River Tweed on which it lies flows mostly through Scotland.