Q 01/05

Which river, Britain's longest at 220 miles, rises on Plynlimon in Wales and flows past Worcester and Gloucester?

A) Wye

B) Avon

C) Severn

D) Great Ouse

Answer · why

C) Severn

The Severn has a tidal bore: on big spring tides a wave runs upstream past Sharpness, and the water level keeps rising for about an hour and a half af...

Q 02/05

Which river is called the Isis where it flows through Oxford, before passing Windsor and London on its way to the sea?

A) Cherwell

B) Thames

C) Avon

D) Medway

Answer · why

B) Thames

The Thames is the Isis at Oxford because Victorian mapmakers insisted the whole river kept that name down to Dorchester, where it meets the Thame to b...

Q 03/05

Which Scottish mountain, 1,345 m high, carries the ruins of a weather observatory that was staffed from 1883 to 1904?

A) Ben Nevis

B) Ben Macdui

C) Braeriach

D) Cairn Gorm

Answer · why

A) Ben Nevis

Ben Nevis was only confirmed as Britain's highest mountain in 1847, ahead of its rival Ben Macdui, and a stint at its summit observatory inspired C. T...

Q 04/05

Which Scottish lake, 230 m deep, holds more water than every lake in England and Wales combined?

A) Loch Lomond

B) Loch Awe

C) Loch Shiel

D) Loch Ness

Answer · why

D) Loch Ness

Loch Ness is only the second-largest Scottish loch by surface area, behind Loch Lomond, yet its depth makes it the largest body of fresh water by volu...

Q 05/05

Which city, granted city status in 1905, was proclaimed the capital of Wales only in 1955?

A) Swansea

B) Cardiff

C) Newport

D) Bangor

Answer · why

B) Cardiff

Cardiff became capital through a Commons answer by Home Secretary Gwilym Lloyd George, and the Encyclopedia of Wales says the choice owed more to its ...