1: When the sixties pop sensation Marty Wilde immortalised Abergavenny in song with the once heard, never forgotten, ‘Taking A Trip Up To Abergavenny,’ what particular kind of people did Marty describe in the lyrics?

2: On what date, month, and year did Nevill Hall Hospital receive its first patient? And how much did the new hospital cost?

3: The first case of the 2001 Foot and Mouth epidemic was confirmed in the local area in March of that year, but where did it occur?

4: What famous musician landed by helicopter on the Abergavenny Thursdays' football ground following an appearance on Juke Box Jury?

5: In October 1996, Abergavenny’s Cibi Walk shopping precinct was sold to private developers, but for how much?

6: Charles I visited Abergavenny in 1645, but when royalty finally returned to Abergavenny many moons later, who were the royals in question?

7: Abergavenny’s Market Street was once known by a completely different name thanks to the actions of Welsh hero Owain Glyndwr, but what was that name?

8: What 1960s folk music figurehead headlined the first-ever Green Man festival at Glanusk Park in 2006?

9: What member of the Nazi party was notoriously housed at Maindiff Court before his subsequent transfer to stand trial at Nuremberg?

10: When Lord Parry opened the Big Pit mining museum in 1983, he had recently had leg surgery, but what was unusual about his visit?

11: Sir Harry Llewellyn and his famous steed Fox Hunter won a Gold at the 1952 Olympics, but in what city were they held?

(For two bonus points, where in the local landscape does there lie a memorial to the heroic horse, and how old was he when he finally passed away?)

12: One of the best-known crime writers in Britain and the USA during the 1930s and 40s was originally from Abergavenny. What was her name and on which street was she born?

(For an extra bonus point can you name the title of her book that was adapted by Alfred Hitchcock for his popular film, ‘The Lady Vanishes’?)

13: Which Abergavenny singer/songwriter released his critically acclaimed album ‘Draw’ in 2001 and headlined a nationwide tour of Britain?

14: John Fielding was born in Merthyr Road and awarded the Victoria Cross, but for which famous battle?

15: What is the ‘timely’ connection between Llanover and one of London’s most renowned landmarks?

16: Which Abergavenny rally ace used to co-drive with Colin McRae?

17: In Poet’s Corner in Westminster Abbey there lies a memorial created by the Abergavenny-born artist Harry Meadows. What is inscribed on the monument and who is the author?

18: Which Abergavenny author was born in Fiji?

19: Local cricketing hero Malcolm Nash will always be remembered for being on the receiving end of a world-breaking six sixes in an over during Glamorgan’s match with Nottinghamshire at Swansea in 1968. Who was the man in bat?

20: Which son of a Pandy railway signalman went on to fight in the Second World War before being famously described as one of the most original thinkers of the 20th century?

21: Alongside Sheffield Wednesday, the Abergavenny Thursdays are the only football club with a day of the week in their title. But do you know how their name originated?

22: The first concrete knowledge of a settlement at Abergavenny relates to the Roman period when a small auxiliary fort was established. What was this fort called?

23: In the year 1177 Norman Baron Williams De Braose invited all the Welsh chieftains and their supporters to a Christmas feast at Abergavenny Castle. Why was the banquet not particularly festive?

24: The Skirrid Mountain is sometimes referred to as the ‘Holy Mountain’, why?

25: It is well known locally that many people were hanged at possibly Wales’s oldest public house the Skirrid Mountain Inn after being sentenced to death by Bloody Judge Jefferies, but do you know on whose instructions the last person to be executed there was hanged, and for what crime?

26: Who is said to have rallied his troops in the cobbled forecourt of the Skirrid before climbing onto the Mounting Stone and riding at their head in the march on Pontrilas?

27: What did a person who is often referred to as the second richest man in history establish in Abergavenny in 1907?

28: The Battle of Balaclava that took place during the Crimean War has long been immortalised in Alfred Tennyson’s ‘Charge of the Light Brigade’, but which local lord was involved in the proceedings?

29: What Abergavenny man and local Dick Whittington became Lord Mayor of London in 1905?

30: What did Richard Burton and Elizabeth Taylor have to eat and drink at the Angel Hotel when they stopped en route to Merthyr on September 4, 1963?

31: Exactly how many metres does the Little Skirrid stand above sea level?

32: Jasper Tudor was once made constable of Abergavenny, but who was his famous nephew?

33: Why was the north face of the Abergavenny town clock once painted black?

34: During the passing years the appearance of Cross Street has changed very little, apart from the disappearance of public houses. Can you name five of them that called last orders a long time ago?

35: According to local hearsay, for what reason did Abergavenny’s Frogmore Street get its distinctive name?

36: Why is Abergavenny’s St. Mary’s Priory Church sometimes referred to as the Westminster of South Wales?

37: By what name was Neville Street originally known and why was it named so?

38: In what Abergavenny pub did famous tramp W.H. Davies once stay and write, “O what a merry world I see, before me through a quart of ale.”

39: In Llanfoist there once existed the old ‘Fever Hospital’, an isolation hospital for people suffering from Diphtherea. What was significant about the site it was built upon?

40: In what year did the last commercial traffic pay a toll on the Brecon and Abergavenny Canal, after which boating for pleasure purposes started to become popular?

41: In 1404 Abergavenny was declared what by the illegitimate son of Owain Glyndwr?

42: What is an ‘Abergavenny’ in Cockney rhyming slang?

43: London-based hip-hop artist Roots Manuva, mentions Abergavenny in his song Get U High from his 2006 album Alternately Deep. What is the exact lyric?

44: What connection does the book ‘Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban’ have to the local area?

45: In the Danger Mouse episode, ‘The Four Tasks of Dangermouse’ it is mentioned that a fellow character has an aunt in Abergavenny. Can you name the character in question?

46: The village of Raglan shares its name with a small beachside town in which country?

47: In a concert film interspersed with fantasy sequences, what famous lead singer once lived out his Arthurian-style fantasies by riding a horse around Raglan Castle?

48: What is Usk Priory allegedly haunted by?

49: From where is the name Crickhowell taken?

50: Which famous son of Crickhowell reached the highest peak of fame a person can achieve?

51: The river Usk has the highest estimated what of any river South of Cumbria and the Scottish Rivers?

52: The Usk has also been rated as the best for what in Wales?

53: Crickhowell’s seventeenth-century stone bridge spanning the river Usk has odd arches. Exactly how many are on one side and how many are on the other?

54: What renowned Admiral of the Royal Navy lived and died in Llangattock?

55: What famous British singer from the 1950s was killed in a car crash at Glangrwyney on May 6, 1971?

56: It is a popular misconception that the Sugar Loaf Mountain is what?

57: he Sugar Loaf was given to the National Trust by Margaret Haig Thomas, also known as Viscountess Rhondda, in 1936. However, what was the Viscountess previously sent to prison for?

58: The term “the three castles” is used to collectively describe which local castles?

59: The name ‘White Castle’ was first recorded in the thirteenth century, how did it get its name?

60: Alfred Russel Wallace who was born near Usk in 1823 was the co-originator of which theory?

61: Exactly whose grave does the tall granite pillar situated in the graveyard at Llanfoist Church mark?

62: in Clydach Gorge, there is a bridge that was said to give which famous bard inspiration for one of his plays?

(For two bonus points can you name the bridge and the play in question?)

63: Below the waterfall that flows through the Devil’s Bridge there is a pol called Pwll y Pwcca. What is the English translation?

64: The tranquil setting of the Punchbowl on the northeast side of the Blorenge mountain was once used as a sort of hillside amphitheatre for what?

65: Coldbrook House, situated in the folds of a hill on the left bank of the River Usk, about one mile south of Abergavenny, was originally the home of Sir Richard Herbert. Which famous war did he fight in?

66: Abergavenny was once famous for making what of a quality unequaled anywhere else in the land?

67: What was once described as the ‘spiritual citadel of Gwent?

68: The distinctive gash on the side of the big Skirrid was said to be made by what according to a certain local rumour?

69: Giraldus visited Usk in 1188 and offered to pardon those in prison if they joined him in what?

70: William Marshall who once owned Usk Castle, was still leading men into battle when he was over 50. His fame was assured when on his death in 1219, the Archbishop of Canterbury said what about him?

71: The SAS often send would-be-recruits to Pen-y-Fan to participate in a punishing run nicknamed what?

72: When was the Abergavenny Chronicle founded and by who?

73: Abergavenny’s Pentre House was famous for a notorious robbery back at the beginning of the 19th century when the family silver was taken. Where did said silver turn up and what happened to the guilty party?

74: The Sugar Loaf vineyard harvests how many acres of grapes each year?

75: ‘Steel’s Memorial’ which is now submerged in the river Usk, with only the railings surrounding it left above water due to bank erosion, was ironically built to commemorate what in the 19th century?

76: Llangorse Lake boasts what distinction?

77: According to one local tale what once stood on the site of Llangorse Lake, and what happened to it?

78: When the water is rough on Llangorse Lake the old church bell from the drowned village is said to chime and cause what to happen?

79: Crickhowell’s Table Mountain is a hill fort which in Welsh is named Crug Hywel. Who was Hywel?

80: What famous eccentric and poet bought the Llanthony estate and priory ruin in the early 19th century and undertook a doomed agricultural project to plant 10,000 trees and import Spanish sheep before writing a poem which begins, ‘Llanthony! An ungenial clime?'

81: Spanish seaman Joseph Garcia was hanged on Monday, November 18, 1878, at Usk Prison, protesting to the end that he was innocent. What was Garcia’s crime?

82: HM Submarine Usk was a U-class submarine that entered service in late 1940 and was subsequently assigned to the First Submarine Flotilla based in Malta. In January 1941 a campaign was launched to raise £20,000 to buy what for the boat?

83: Sadly, the HM Submarine Usk was lost on or around April 29, 1941. The wreck has never been found, but where was it believed to have been sunk and how many hands were on board?

84: In 2004 actor Johnny Depp was filming in Tretower ourt. What was the name of the movie he was appearing in?

85: What notorious, womanising, alcoholic, and syphilis-riddled historical figure who died at the age of 33 did Depp portray in the film?

86: In March 1942, a plane on a training flight came down in heavy cloud and crashed on the Skirrid killing the pilot instantly. What was the plane in question?

87: Why is the crash site of the plane no longer visible?

88: The Skirrid has a distinctive toadstool-shaped rock known as ‘The Devil’s Table’. Why did it get that name?

89: The ‘Revenge of Billy the Kid’ was filmed in and around Abergavenny, but what does the unusual plot consist of?

90: In the 1870s what was found in the grounds of Dan y Bryn House on the Hereford Road and is now in the National Museum of Wales?

91: For what strange reason did the Bishop of Hereford visit St. Mary’s Priory Church in Abergavenny in the early 1300s?

92: At the turn of this century which Abergavenny band released their debut album entitled ‘12 Short Stories?’

93: Abergavenny Castle was built by who in what year?

94: In the 17th century Abergavenny Catholics risked a martyr’s death in the face of the Protestant faith to attend mass in the house of one of Abergavenny’s leading citizens. What was his name?

95: How did Crickhowell’s Standard Street get its name?

96: In what year did the Brecon Beacons National Park celebrate its 50th anniversary?

97: When the Beatles played in Abergavenny in 1963 what was their local support act called?

98: What Abergavenny building is immortalised in the famous diaries of Civil War soldier and Royalist Richard Symonds?

99: From 1924 to 1928 Abergavenny RFC very often used to change in mortuary situated in a lane at the bottom of Bailey Park. What was the lane called?

100: In the sixth century the Saxons were plundering as they did until Offa built his dyke in the 8th century. In 550AD a local ruler King Iddon asked for the prayers of which religious figure to come from Llanarth and say a few prayers to aid in the Celt’s battle against the invaders.

101: Llangibby was supposedly founded by which Cornish Saint said to have crossed the Bristol Channel to Wales with ten followers?

102: Llangibby’s White Hart Inn was first built in the early 1500s and was to become the property of Henry VIII as part of which one of his wife’s wedding dowry?

103: In 2003, The Guardian reported a famous poet made a cryptic reference to the White Hart Inn in his poem ‘Usk’. Who was the poet?

104: The White Hart Inn was originally built in the 12th century for who?

105: In 1866, what was the name of the missionary, now buried in Llanover, who reportedly stood on the deck of a burning ship in Korea flinging bibles to the locals, as soldiers attacked and later beheaded him?

I06: Usk was founded in 55AD as a Roman settlement named what?

107: What has Usk got in common with Whisky?

108: An underground reservoir was built in Abergavenny to replace the old open reservoir at Pen-y-Pound following rumours that what had been floating in it?

109: Which renowned Clydach harpist has played on a Manic Street Preachers album?

110: Designed as a ‘fairy-tale’ castle, the art historian Loudon dismissed Clytha Castle as what?

Answers

1: Paradise. 2: March 17, 1969, for 3 million. 3: Llancloudy. 4: John Lennon. 5: 7.6 million. 6: The Queen and Duke of Edinburgh. 7: Traitor’s Lane. 8: Donavon. 9: Rudolph Hess. 10: He was carried on a sedan. 11: Helsinki/The Blorenge/19yrs. 12: Ethel Lina White//‘The Wheel Spins’. 13: Mathew Jay. 14: Rourke’s Drift. 15: ‘Big Ben was reportedly named after Lord Llanover Benjamin Hall III. 16: Nicky Grist. 17: ‘My subject is war and the pity of war. The poetry is in the pity.’ Written by Wilfred Owen. 18: Owen Sheers. 19: Sir Garfield Sobers. 20: Raymond Williams. 21: Thursday was historically a half-day closing in Abergavenny thus permitting the team, comprised of apprentices and shop boys, etc, to leave work and attend games or training. 22: Gobannium. 23: All of the guests were brutally slain. 24: According to legend it broke in two at the time of Christ’s crucifixion during a violent storm. 25: Oliver Cromwell, sheep stealing. 26: Owain Glyndwr. 27: Andrew Carnegie established the town’s library and in his opening speech said, “I need not defend libraries they defend themselves.” 28: Lord Raglan. 29: Walter Morgan. 30: Steak and kidney pie and a bottle of claret. 31: 300 metres. 32: Henry VII. 33: To commemorate the death of Prince Albert who passed away in 1861. 34: The Dog and Bull, The Blue Feathers, The Crown, The Parrot and the Golden Fleece. 35: The street originally passed through a marshy area that was inhabited by large numbers of frogs. 36: Because it contains some of the finest monument tombs in Britain, ten in number. 37: Rother Street. The name ‘Rother’ means horned cattle. The first cattle market in Abergavenny used to be held on this street. 38: The Hen and Chickens. 39: It was built on the site where victims of the black death were buried in the Middle Ages. 40:1933.

41: It’s own nation. The arrangement lasted approximately two weeks. 42: An old penny. 43: “Burn every penny on trips to Abergavenny”. 44: The ‘Knight Bus’ stops at Abergavenny. 45: Penfold. 46: New Zealand. 47: Led Zeppelin front-man Robert Plant. The film in question was, ‘The Song Remains The Same.’ 48: Five nuns. 49: From the nearby Iron Age hill fort of Crug Hywel. 50: Sir George Everest. Mount Everest was named in his honour in 1865, despite personal objections from the man himself. 51: Salmon egg deposition. 52: Fly fishing. 53: 12 and 13. 54: John Gell (1740-1806). 55: Dickie Valentine. 56: An extinct volcano. 57: She tried to destroy a post-box with a chemical bomb. 58: White Castle, Skenfrith Castle, Grosmont Castle. 59: From the Whitewash put on the stone walls. 60: Darwin’s theory of evolution by natural selection. 61: The ironmaster Crawshay Bailey. 62: Shakespeare/Devil’s Bridge/ Midsummer Night’s Dream. 63: Puck’s Pool. 64: Illegal bare-fisted fighting. 65: War of the Roses. 66: Wigs. 67: The big Skirrid. 68: Noah’s Ark, when it passed this way during the great flood. 69: The second crusade. 70: ‘Behold the remains of the best knight who ever lived’. 71: ‘The Fan Dance’. 72: Edwin Morgan in 1871. 73: The Bluebell Inn in Tudor Street. The landlord was transported to Australia as punishment. 74: Five. 75: the son of a local doctor who drowned at that point in the river. 76: It is the largest lake in South Wales. 77: A village that was swallowed by an earthquake and now rests below water. 78: The surfacing of an old woman from the drowned village who kidnaps children and takes them back to her watery lair. 79: A Welsh king in the 10th century. 80: Walter Savage Llandor. 81: During the burglary of Castle Cottage at Llangybi, Garcia stabbed William Watkins and his wife Elizabeth to death. Their three children were hacked to death with an axe as they slept. To cap his bloody handiwork, Garcia set fire to the children’s beds before he made off with the family’s meagre possessions. 82: Ten torpedoes. 83: Off the coast of Cape Bon, Tunisia, with 31 men on board. 84: The Libertine. 85: John Wilmot, the Earl of Rochester. 86: A Spitfire. 87: Because it is in private woodland. 88: It is said that the Devil sat here having tea when well-known mythical local character Jack o’ Kent leaped across the valley from the Sugar Loaf to leave his huge heel print on the side of the Skirrid. 89: The horny farmer McDonald has his wicked way with a goat. Life returns to normal for the family, until the goat gives birth! The mutant offspring, called Billy, is subsequently tormented by the Farmer's sons, but It isn't long before Billy, who keeps growing bigger, plans revenge. 90: A Roman burial urn containing cremated bones. 91: The monks behaviour was so bad the Bishop had to visit and sort things out. 92: Ruby Cruiser. 93: Hamelin de Ballon in 1087. 94: Thomas Gunter. 95: In 1485, Sir Richard Evans raised his standard and mustered 3,000 men, who later shared Henry Tudor’s victory at Bosworth Field. 96: 2007. 97: The Fortunes. 98: St. Mary’s Priory Church. 99: Slaughterhouse Lane. 100: St Teilo, whose prayers were answered, and in gratitude Iddon granted lands to the church on which St Teilos Church in Llantilio Crossenny now stands. 101: Saint Cybi. 102: Jane Seymour. 103: T.S. Elliot. 104: Monks. 105: Robert Jermain Thomas. 106: Burrium. 107: The name ‘Usk’ comes from the Ancient British word wysg or uisge meaning water, and so has the same origin as the word "whisky.” 108: A dead donkey. 109: Katherine Thomas. 110: ‘Gaudily and affectedly common.’