What a brilliant way to spend a Saturday afternoon! On Saturday, 13th June, we gathered at the Avenue from 1:30 pm to 3:00 pm for our highly anticipated “Anything Goes” Quiz.
Organised by Adrian, one of our volunteers. The event brought together 14 eager participants, all ready to put their thinking caps on and explore the trees in a whole new light.
A Challenging Hunt Among the Yews
Adrian certainly didn’t make it easy for us! He set a series of incredibly clever, challenging clues that had everyone scanning the historic topiary with absolute focus. Participants had to hunt for shapes hidden in the hedges—including a rabbit, pheasant, squirrel, and owl—whilst also acting as nature detectives on a scavenger hunt.
To gain extra points, everyone had to forage around the Avenue to find and collect a fir cone, wild cherry, beech husk, conker, laurel leaf, and even an elusive wild bugle flower.
It was a proper test of observation and local knowledge!
Test Your Knowledge: Adrian’s Topiary Trivia
Adrian’s questions beautifully blended the unique history of our yew trees with fascinating world facts. How many of these would you have got right?
The Avenue’s Heritage: Think you know your history? Teams were quizzed on the identities and legacies behind the initials carved into the history of the trees—like tracking down “AA” (who he was and what he did) and “DDH” (who he was and what he owned!).
Modern Connections & Nature: The quiz also looked to the future, asking teams to identify the logo of one of our newest sponsors carved as a fresh emblem on a tree. Looking past the topiary, players had to identify the very large trees lining the edge of the woods and figure out why they were planted there in the first place.
Space & Flight: One of our most famous trees, marked NA1969, celebrates the Apollo 11 moon landing—but Adrian threw a curveball by asking participants to name the first animal in space! Another tree depicts the sleek silhouette of Concorde, which led to a question about the famous British test pilot who became a bit of a TV celebrity.
Wildlife & Whimsy: Moving from the skies to the soil, a tree representing local woodland deer prompted a tricky question: which type of deer can actually grow tusks for fighting? Then things got musical with a throwback to the old song Windmill in Old Amsterdam—asking exactly who lived in that windmill and what on earth they wore!
Maritime & Music: The final stretch had everyone looking for heavy metal, tracking down a tree with a horseshoe and another with a ship’s anchor to explain their significance. Finally, teams had to guess which musical instrument is traditionally crafted from the hard, beautifully figured wood of yew trees.
Thank You for Supporting the Avenue!
A massive thank you goes to Adrian for putting so much time, effort, and wit into creating such an engaging quiz. Thanks also to the 14 fantastic people who came along, braved the brain-teasers, and brought such wonderful energy to the afternoon.
Events like this are a brilliant reminder of how lucky we are to have such a supportive community. The success of Clipsham Yew Tree Avenue truly relies on our local volunteers and visitors coming together. Keep an eye on our blog and social media pages for updates on our upcoming summer events!
Did you manage to solve all of Adrian’s clues, or are you still scratching your head over the deer with tusks?
