1. Which action film starring a ‘professional’ included scenes filmed at Pall Mall?
Reveal Answer
Who Dares Wins (1982), which starred Lewis Collins as a Captain in the SAS. He also starred as Bodie in the television series The Professionals which was broadcast on ITV from 1977 to 1983.
2. Users of the Pall Mall sports area will be familiar with the life-sized statue by Gilbert Bayes, ‘The Guardian of the Seas’ – but which trophy, presented each year by the Club, includes a smaller version of the same figure by the same sculptor?
Reveal Answer
The Segrave Trophy, named after the Sir Henry Segrave, the first person to hold both the world land and water speed records at the same time. He was killed on Friday 13 June 1930 attempting to increase his own record on water, on Lake Windermere. The trophy recognises ‘Outstanding Skill, Courage and Initiative on Land, Water and in the Air: The Spirit of Adventure’ and was sculpted by Gilbert Bayes
3. Which famous writer with time travelling credentials was an early member of the Club?
Reveal Answer
H G Wells (1866–1946), who wrote the bestseller The Time Machine in 1895. His other major works included the War of the Worlds and The Invisible Man.
4. The library at Pall Mall originally had a very different use. What was it?
Reveal Answer
It was the billiards room. By 1922, membership had reached 19,000 and the clubhouse needed more space. In the spring of 1924, the Long Bar and adjacent Billiards Room opened, allowing the Library to move to its current location. The Library had previously been in what is now the Mall Room.
5. A major pro-am golf tournament was held at Woodcote Park in September 1980, with professional golfers including Seve Ballesteros, Lee Trevino, Tony Jacklin and Gary Player. Which American was the tournament named after?
Reveal Answer
Bob Hope – it was the Bob Hope British Classic Tournament, played over three days 25 to 28 September 1980. Hope partnered with Ballesteros for the tournament.
6. Which club was located next door to our clubhouse in Pall Mall until its clubhouse was destroyed by a bomb on 14 October 1940?
Reveal Answer
The Carlton Club. At that time it was located next door to the Royal Automobile Club. On 14 October 1940 it received a direct hit from an oil bomb and was destroyed by fire. Although our clubhouse suffered considerable blast damage, the Club’s fire party managed to keep the inferno from spreading.
7. The royal head of which country accompanied his cousin King George V to view the newly opened Pall Mall clubhouse in 1911?
Reveal Answer
Germany (Kaiser Wilhelm II). Wilhelm and George were first cousins, related through their shared grandmother, Queen Victoria.
8. The Club’s British Grand Prix Trophy was not created for that purpose and its origin is a mystery. Intriguingly it bears a motto related to a school. Which one?
Reveal Answer
Hallmarked 1871 and 1899, the Club’s British Grand Prix Trophy has been presented since 1948. Little is known about its origins, although, along with the names of past winners, it carries the motto Floreat Etona, or ‘Let Eton Flourish’.
9. Which Formula One World Champion played squash for the Club?
Reveal Answer
James Hunt, who won the 1976 Formula One World Drivers’ Championship. He had joined the Club in 1970 and immediately become a member of the Club’s Bath Cup second team. After his retirement from motor racing he spent more time at the Club and played in the first team alongside such great squash names as former England number one Stuart Courtney and Drysdale Cup winner Chris Orriss.
10. In Downton Abbey, who did Lady Mary dine with in the Great Gallery?
Reveal Answer
Henry Talbot, motor racing driver and her future husband, in Series 6, which was set in 1925.
11. A ‘No.7’ cocktail, which includes cognac and Champagne, can be enjoyed at Woodcote Park. Where does the name come from?
Reveal Answer
Seven was the favoured racing number of Sir Stirling Moss, after whom Stirling’s restaurant at Woodcote Park is named. He regarded it as his lucky number, a superstition inherited from his mother who was born on the 7th day of the 7th month.
12. How many corners on the Silverstone racetrack are named after the Club, and what are they called?
Reveal Answer
Two: Woodcote and Club. The Royal Automobile Club founded the famous circuit by organising the first post-war British Grand Prix there in 1948, when it was a disused World War II RAF bomber station.
13. The balls from the 1985 Snooker World Championship final are on display in the Billiards Room at Pall Mall. Who played in that famous, record-breaking, match?
Reveal Answer
Dennis Taylor and Steve Davis. Davis took an early lead, but Taylor battled back into the match and drew level at 17–17, forcing a deciding 35th frame which was contested until the final black ball was potted by Taylor. The match holds the record for the most-viewed broadcast in the United Kingdom of a programme shown after midnight, with a peak of 18.5 million viewers for the match’s final frame.
14. Where is the icehouse at Woodcote Park?
Reveal Answer
It is underneath what is now the Lounge Terrace. It was built sometime in the late 17th century, probably between 1660 and 1679 when Woodcote Park was rebuilt by Richard Evelyn and then, after his death in 1670, his widow Elizabeth.
15. Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II was the Club’s Patron for 70 years. Her last visit to Pall Mall was in 2019 for a lunch to mark the birthday of one of the Club’s Vice Presidents. Who was that?
Reveal Answer
It was a celebration of the 80th birthday of Sir Jackie Stewart – the three times winner of the Formula One World Drivers’ Championship.
16. Before the Woodcote Park clubhouse burnt down in 1934, it contained the work of which famous wood carver whose work can also be seen at Windsor Castle and St Paul’s Cathedral?
Reveal Answer
Grinling Gibbons (1648-1721) – an Anglo-Dutch sculptor and wood carver known for his work in England, including Windsor Castle, the Royal Hospital Chelsea, Hampton Court Palace and St Paul’s Cathedral. He worked at Woodcote Park in around 1691.
17. On 16 January 1914, a famous dinner was held at Pall Mall where the courses were served in reverse order. What achievement was the dinner held to celebrate?
Reveal Answer
It was held in honour of Benfield Hucks, the first Briton to perform a ‘loop the loop’ in an aircraft, which he performed in his Blériot at Hendon airfield in September 1913.
18. Each year the Club awards the ‘Torrens Trophy’ for achievement in which sport?
Reveal Answer
Motorcycling. It is named after the nom de plume of Arthur Bourne, a motorcycling journalist and former Club Vice-Chairman. It was first awarded in 1979, two years after his death.
19. As you leave the stairs at the first floor in Pall Mall, in front of you is a board listing the Club’s Presidents and Chairmen. The Club badge is at the top of the board but what is the crest at the bottom of that board?
Reveal Answer
The board was presented to the Club in 1966 by the very few surviving members of the ‘Circle of 19th Century Motorists’. Founded in 1927, to be a member of the Circle you had to have owned a car before April 1900, when the Club’s 1,000 Mile Trial took place.
20. Who or what is driving the car carved into the pediment (the large triangular section high over the main entrance) at Pall Mall?
Reveal Answer
A cherub.