THE Harwich Society monthly quiz nights have gained a reputation for being a fun night out with the annual Christmas Quiz being the highlight of the year.

The Christmas quiz, written by Alison Calver, is made up entirely of questions about Christmas time.

The popular annual event took place on Monday at the Royal Oak pub in Main Road, Dovercourt.

Questions such as ‘Which make of motorbike is named in Hark the Herald Angels Sing?’ (Triumph) soon had the 14 teams laughing loudly and quiz master, Colin Perry, dressed up as the largest Christmas fairy in the world to ensure that no one was in any doubt that this was not a quiz to be taken seriously.

The proceeds from the Christmas Quiz go towards the upkeep of Bobbits Hole, the Harwich Society’s nature reserve adjacent to the Royal Oak. The quiz raised a total of £287.

The regular quiz teams decorate their team names for Christmas and this year’s winners were the Chrimbo Bimbos with Snow Answers, usually known as the Questionable Ladies.

Alison Calver first had the idea for a quiz entirely about Christmas in early 2005 and this year’s event was the 12th annual Christmas Quiz.


One particularly popular feature is a half-time rendition of Fairy Tale of New York in which all of the men sing the Shane McGowan part while the women sing the Kirsty McColl lyrics.


This year’s rendition was extremely raucous and made a great accompaniment to the half-time mince pies and sausage rolls.


The quiz ended with a 20 song music round made up entirely of Christmas songs and songs that have been a hit at Christmas time.


Society chairman Colin Farnell said: “From the moment Colin Perry appeared in his fairy outfit everyone was laughing and they didn’t stop until it was time to go home.


“The Harwich Society Christmas quiz certainly got the festive season off to a very good start.”