Part two: our first win

Actually, it wasn't our first win: that was in November 2009 when we won the NE England heat and went to the UK final in Oxford later the same month. This time (November 2010) we went to Bolton University where the NW England heat was being held.

Having two team members who had been before (Alistair and Sol) was helpful to the other two and they appeared confident from the start. The teams had first to choose the section to play their joker, which would double their points in that section, so strategic discussions took place before the quiz even started. Then Wayne presented his usual challenging sweep of children's and teen literature with 100 questions in themed sections of 10 (does the man ever do anything but read?). After each section the answers were marked and scores announced. We won the team prize for the highest score in the first section (a selection of books) and carried on scoring well in most sections.

(L-R) Daniel, Alistair, Wayne with our mascot, Imogen and Sol)

As a member of the audience it was nerve-wracking to watch them conferring, often very confident of their answers but sometimes discussing their options. As each section was marked the scores were announced and we seemed to be doing quite well but I wasn't keeping a tally. It wasn't until the visiting authors, who had been marking the answers, were adding up the final scores that I began to get really nervous on the team's behalf!

Wayne built up the tension whilst scores were checked, telling the teams of the prize which awaited the winning UK team: an invitation to visit New Zealand to compete against similarly book-mad teams from around the world; a visit to Rotorua's geysers and traditional Maori village; taking a boat into the underground caves at Waitomo where the ceilings are lit by glow worms - in other words, the trip of a lifetime.

Finally he announced the winners in reverse order: Lancaster Grammar were 3rd, Withington Girls' were 2nd - and Cockermouth School were first!

Our trusty mascot, just the right size to fit in the cup

As winners our invitation to the UK Final in Oxford meant we would have to organise a horribly early start and put in some serious reading time to hold our own against the best teams from each area... and all that with only a couple of weeks to prepare... but the challenge was on!