A SELF GUIDED CHRISTMAS WALKING TOUR AND QUIZ
PHOTOGRAPH THE CHRISTMAS LIGHTS
This quiz and photography walk is designed to take you through London's West End so that you can enjoy the Christmas lights in all their festive glory and get some great photographs of them, should you so desire. The image above, by the way, shows the lights from 2012.
As you make your way through the streets, you will have to find the answers to a series of questions that are featured on the blue plaques, the information boards and the statues that you will pass as you go round.
YULE LOVE THE ROUTE!
Beginning outside the Argyll Arms, 18 Argyll Street (and a great way to fortify yourself for the challenges ahead is to drop in for a drink and, if you wish, a meal), the quiz walk takes you through Carnaby Street, Regent Street, New Bond Street, the Burlington Arcade, Jermyn Street, Trafalgar Square ends in Covent Garden Market.
En route, you will be able to admire the Christmas Lights of the West End. In fact, I can say with confidence, Yule love the route!
TAKE LOTS OF PHOTOS
Be sure to take lots of photos as the Christmas Lights are only up for a limited period.
DESIGNED FOR MOBILE PHONES
You can actually follow the route and do the quiz on your mobile phone, and it will be automatically marked. You'll even get a certificate at the end of the quiz walk detailing your score.
ANY PROBLEMS
With some phones your privacy settings might prevent the quiz from starting. Should this happen simply click on the blue "Christmas Lights Quiz Walk - Pro profs" link directly underneath the quiz and this should work for you. Alternatively you can follow the quiz as it is set out on the page below and then complete the quiz when you have access to a laptop, pc or MacBook.
MAKE IT A CHALLENGE
Why not do it with family and/or friends and form teams to compete against each other? That way, you can compare results at the end of the quiz walk.
PUB STOPS
Although none of the questions require you to go inside any buildings, you will pass several great pubs on route, so you could make stops along the route.
HOW IT WORKS
To begin, make your way to the starting point, simply enter your name into the box below and then the quiz will start. It's as simple as that!
Each question is made up of 4 multi choice answers from which you must select the correct one. So you've got a 25% chance of getting the right answer, even if you just guess it!
Your name is only required so that it can be included on the certificate at the end of the hunt. So, in theory, you can put any name you choose.
SAFETY
You will be crossing lots of roads in the course of the Christmas Lights Quiz Walk, so please do so carefully. Also, please be sure to keep your personal belongings under your close supervision at all times.
DON'T WANT TO USE A PHONE?
If you would prefer to do the quiz by printing it out, here it is in full.
START
To begin your Christmas Lights Quiz Walk make your way to the Argyll Arms, 18 Argyll Street, W1F 7TP. This is situated directly opposite Exits 6 and 8 of Oxford Circus Underground Station. To begin, answer the following question.
QUESTION ONE
What did Robert Sawyer do inside the Argyll Arms around 1895?
DIRECTIONS
Now set off along Argyll Street to pass the London Palladium on your left. As you walk you must answer the next two questions, the answers to which you will pass as you walk along the street.
QUESTION TWO
Of what was Major General William Roy Founder?
QUESTION THREE
How many years did Germaine Necker spend in exile?
DIRECTIONS
Keep on to the end of Argyll Street and go over the crossing to Liberty's. Go left in front of the store and turn first right into Carnaby Street. Start walking along it and pause at its junction with Foubert Place to answer the following two questions.
QUESTION FOUR
Whose Portrait did Martin Droeshouts paint?
QUESTION FIVE
What did Shakespeare lose in World War Two?
DIRECTIONS
Continue along Carnaby Street and pause at its junction with Broadwick Street. Look up at the wonderful wall frieze and answer the following two questions about it. The answers are located in the vicinity of the painting, but some of them might not actually be on the painting itself. So, you will need to hunt around for the answers.
QUESTION SIX
How many buttons are on the cuff of the man in the green jacket above the saxophone player?
QUESTION SEVEN
Who winks at Casanova when the clock strikes on the hour?
DIRECTIONS
Cross Carnaby Street and go into Kingly Court. Keep going straight through it. Turn left on the other side and look in the doorways for the answer to the following question?
QUESTION EIGHT
Who did Linda Eastman meet on 15th May 1967?
QUESTION NINE - A CHALLENGE
Head along Tenison Court and go right along Regent Street, passing Hamleys. Cross Regent Street at the traffic lights and keep ahead along Conduit Street, to the right of Church's Shoe Shop.
Keep walking along Conduit Street until you come to its junction with New Bond Street and turn left along New Bond Street.
Keep ahead over Clifford Street and, on this next section of the walk, get a photograph of one of your party kissing Winston Churchill under the mistletoe (or, at least, pretending to!).
DIRECTIONS
Keep ahead and pause on the corner of Burlington Gardens, opposite Tiffany, where you should find the answer to this question. You have to really look for the plaque for this one.
QUESTION TEN
What is played by hand on special occasions of public and private rejoicing.
DIRECTIONS
Walk along Burlington Gardens and go right to pass through Burlington Arcade. Be wary here as it is patrolled by top-hatted beadles who are staked with preventing you from singing, whistling or hurrying! So take a slow stroll through it and, on its other side, turn left along Piccadilly, then, at the lights, cross over to Fortnum and Mason.
IMPORTANT Burlington Arcade closes at 7.30pm at night and 6pm on Sundays. If it is closed, simply backtrack to the corner, go left along Old Bond Street, left along Piccadilly, and pick up the walk outside this side of the Burlington Arcade. (Click here for the website.
Head down Duke Street St James's beside it and go left along Jermyn Street to pause outside the doors of St James's Piccadilly, a little way along on the left. As you walk towards the church you will need to answer the following 2 questions.
QUESTION ELEVEN
Who was dramatised as The Duchess of Duke Street?
QUESTION TWELVE
What is alluded to in the works of Evelyn, Defoe and Vanburgh?
DIRECTIONS
Go down Duke of York Street Opposite.
Before you reach St James's Square you should have answered the next three questions.
QUESTION THIRTEEN
How many Red Lions were there at last count?
QUESTION FOURTEEN
Who laid out his plans in Appletree Yard?
QUESTION FIFTEEN
Who was the founder of the West End?
DIRECTIONS
Now, set off counter clockwise around St James's Square and, before you reach its junction with King Street, you should have answered the following two questions.
QUESTION SIXTEEN
Of what was Ada, Countess of Lovelace a pioneer?
QUESTION SEVENTEEN
Who carried the official dispatch with news of Wellington's victory at the Battle of Waterloo to England?
DIRECTIONS
Keep on over King Street, and keep ahead to exit the square and turn left along Pall Mall. Keep ahead and just keep straight towards Trafalgar Square. On the way you must answer the following two question.
QUESTION EIGHTEEN
What did Anthony Trollope do in 1852?
DIRECTIONS
On arrival in Trafalgar Square, although there are no questions or answers in the square it is worth pausing to admire the Christmas Tree. (at least until early January 2017). Keep straight across the north side of the Square, passing directly in front of the National Gallery, then cross the road to the front of the church of St Martin in the Fields.
Turn left in front of the church and head past the statue of Edith Cavell with HUMANITY inscribed on it plinth.
Go over the crossing and set off along the right side of St Martin's Lane, by the Chandos Pub. By the time you reach Hop Gardens, you should have found the answer to the following question.
QUESTION NINETEEN
What did Sir Oswald Stoll want to top his sumptuous theatre?
DIRECTIONS
Continue along St Martin's Lane and, just after the Real Greek, go right and pass through Goodwin's Court. Before reaching its other end you should find the answer to the following question.
QUESTION TWENTY
What did Goodwin's Court replace?
DIRECTIONS
Once out of Goodwin's Court, turn left, then right along New Row. By the time you reach its end you should have found the answers to the following two questions.
QUESTION TWENTY ONE
Who chose to feature the White Swan in a book?
QUESTION TWENTY TWO
What is Petters Hotel now known as?
DIRECTIONS
Go over the pedestrian crossing and ahead along King Street to reach Covent Garden Piazza. By the time your reach the end of King Street you should have found the answer to the following question?
QUESTION TWENRY THREE
Of what was Hugh Cecil Lowther President?
The quiz walk will end with this question I hope you have enjoyed your journey through the West End
GETTING THE ANSWERS
To get the answers to the questions simply go to the main box above, enter your name, any name will do, and just go through the quiz online.
