Charabancs of Fire were neck and neck all the way through in a  low-scoring encounter at the Swan, but just got their bonnets in front on the last question against the Albert

Bards of Didsbury lost at home to Ethel Rodin - Ivor (the guest QM) writes in:

"A close game until the last three rounds and the Bards with only 3 players were not overwhelmed.  I was in the QM seat and what a seat it is!! The Metropolitan might be the most expensive beer supplier, and the venue the loudest (even more so than the Red Lion and that’s saying something) but the QM chair was well….fit for a judge."

At the Albert Club TMTCH's Dave had called in to see how the paper went down.  At the final whistle (sounded just after the last orders call) both teams gave him a spontaneous round of applause.  In my view this paper was as good an example of the WithQuiz question-setting craft as we've had all season.  It seemed almost too good to waste on a noisy Wednesday evening club.  Even the most obscure answer was preceded by a question full of hints and clues.  Almost every answer seemed guessable - which is why the match took so long.

I'm speculating that each question-paper envelope was decorated in a unique way, appropriate for the teams concerned.  For the record this was the cartoon on the Opsimaths v SPW envelope.....

Ivor reports from the Metropolitan:

"The paper was long and relatively hard but included some fascinating questions - perhaps too many Eastern European unpronounceable names for this QM!

Sarah voted the Jaromir Jagr shirt number question the most obscure of the year but she did redeem herself by knowing the title of the pre-war Czech pornographic movie still.  Isn’t it marvellous how comprehensive a legal education is?"

.....and James' verdict from the same encounter:

"We all appreciated that a lot of hard work had gone into tonight's quiz; generally thoughtful questions that frequently needed long discussion and inspired deduction - which might be rephrased as 'a long hard slog', but that would be unfair.  There were many excellent questions and well organised pairings."

Not such a paean from the Swan however.  Damian chips in:

"General consensus from both teams was that this was a real toughie with16 unanswerable questions.  The Hangmen must have plumbed the depths of the Bumper Book of Obscure Facts & Figures for some of tonight's fodder what with Airfix plastic scale model kits and transforming moments in rail gauge technology.  As the quiz wore on the pressure did ease a bit with some standard fare on the Speed of Light and early 1930s nudie films.  As an acknowledged expert on drugs and nudity, we were lucky to have Fr M for the closing skirmishes of the evening.

I couldn't let the occasion pass without commenting on the latest example of the Hangmen's 'Quiz envelope art'.  Yours Truly can't ever recall being 'lamped' by a turkey.  I've been out with a few in my time, but never been in a fight with one.  The Robbies must have been flowing a tad too freely that night and it must have taken me unawares.  If the wretched bird wants a re-match, he's welcome anytime....but preferably round about next Christmas!"

....and Father Megson is even more scathing in comments almost diametrically the opposite to mine at the start of this column:

"The scoreline (30/29) suggests a nail-biting contest but in actual fact tonight's quiz rapidly deteriorated into a nose-picking marathon as both teams began to realise that euthanasia was the only  sensible way out.  The Charabancs pride themselves on knowing a thing or two about ignorance but last night's quiz was a timely reminder of just how far we have still to go.  Not to know any of the answers but still to win speaks volumes for the colorectal retentiveness of this quiz.  Hate to be so critical of such a splendid team as TMTCH but the cries of 'don't know, don't care' from both sides tonight were far too loud to be ignored. 

Fantastic envelope - shame about the contents.  QotW was hidden away amongst the spares - the one about the Jodrell family from Macclesfield.  One of the few pieces of knowledge from tonight worthy of being stashed away for pleasure and for future use."

What common fate befell the villages of Ashopton in Derbyshire, Mardale Green in Westmoreland and Nether Hambleton in Rutland?