Dulwich OnView

How many people served as British Prime Minister in the 20th century?
Which team won the UEFA cup final in 2000?
Who sang Great Balls of Fire?

If you’re even close to answering any of these, you might enjoy a good pub quiz. There’s no shortage of pub-based trivia in and around Dulwich. Steve Slack – and selected chums – spent a week in search of the finest.

MONDAY
It’s Monday evening. There’s nothing on the telly. What better way to pass the time than going down the pub? Throw in a few drinks, some trivia and a smattering of hand-picked friends notable for their brainpower and you’ve got one of the finest ways to spend a weekday evening in south London.

So, we head to The Gowlett, a charming and lively pub on Gowlett Road, on the cusp of East Dulwich and the Bellenden renewal area – affectionately referred to by the locals as ‘Peckham borders’.

The Gowlett is famous among locals for its delicious home-made pizzas, changing displays of local art work, a cosy walled garden to the rear and a warm welcome everywhere. It also boasts a healthy range of guest beers, details of which are updated on their website.

The quiz
We form a team of five with a good covering of topics such as history, science and entertainment. Sport isn’t going to be our strong point this evening though. With fingers crossed and our £1 entrance fees paid, we’re ready for the start.

Officially, the Gowlett quiz starts at 8 (for 8.30). But to be honest, there’s no need to worry if you don’t turn up much before 9. So, we wait a bit. And a late start means we have time to visit the bar a few times before Tim starts his questions – would those few drinks kick our grey matter into action? Or does liquor dull the intellectual senses?

Indeed, a little alcohol spurred us on somewhat and by half time (after 30 questions), we were doing comfortably and led the field – fortunately sporting questions are few and far between at the Gowlett.

But then comes a killer round – evil in conception, but a clever means of separating the genius from the merely clever. Four questions in a row have four apparently unconnected answers. But if you can spot the connection between them, there’s six points riding on it. And if the scores are tight, this round can really make or break your game. Alas, we fail to make the connection.

And then there’s the so-called ‘wipeout’ round. Ten questions – a point for each answered correctly. But get any one of them wrong and your score is ‘wiped out’ to zero for that round. (You can skip any you don’t know.) After not spotting the previous connection, we decide to play this one conservatively and only put down four answers.

Clearly our efforts weren’t quite enough – we end up coming third. (Second place wins a £10 bar tab and first prize is £20 cash.) Fair enough, a prize like that isn’t going to go far between a team of five – but we’re still sad to miss out on the glory.

All in all, a reasonable quiz and a good start to the week. We’d rate the questions as ‘fairly tough’, but most all-round teams should be able to achieve a reasonable score. Mustering a solid and balanced crew is the key to success in this quiz.

Here are the details …
The Gowlett
62, Gowlett Road, SE15 4HY
Tel 020 7635 7048
Email info@thegowlett.com
Quiz starts at 8pm on Monday nights (including Bank Holidays).
They even have a poem featuring the Monday night quiz.

Where will our team try next? Come back soon to find out where we end up on Tuesday evening …

And, in case you’re interested, the answers to the questions at the top of this page are: 19, Galatasaray and Jerry Lee Lewis.