2020 has been the year of people starting new projects due to the extra time they have had on their hands, and for CFM presenter Pete Moss that project was writing a quiz book all about Cumbria. Although he has continued to broadcast his show from home throughout, the lack of the usual events he would host and not being able to spend time socialising, has allowed him to write 1000 questions for The Cumbria Quiz Book.
Pete says the lockdowns this year have meant being able to spend more time with his family, more time to invest in his new project and has brought him even closer to his listeners: “Because I was at home with the family doing the show and the listeners were also at home with their family listening to the show, I felt more connected to them than ever – we were all doing the same thing. At a time where we were physically disconnected from people, that one-to-one link was very much needed. There was a strong sense that we were going to get through this together by sharing stories and having fun, and quizzes became a big source of entertainment for many of us.”
During the pandemic some have discovered the joy of Zoom quizzes whether with friends, family or work colleagues. It has been the motivation behind virtual get-togethers and has brought about a new trend of testing each other by asking questions. Over the years Pete has learned something about what questions spark the most interest from his listeners: “I write a lot of the questions and contests you hear on CFM and without doubt the questions that get the biggest response are those about Cumbria. People really want to show that they know about where they live.”
After devising a week-long quiz for CFM at the height of the first lockdown where all the questions were about Cumbria, Pete wondered if he could go further and write several hundreds more to make a book. This week sees that project achieve completion with the release of The Cumbria Quiz Book.
He wanted to make sure that the quizzes reflected more that just lakes and fells too. “It always seems that books about Cumbria focus on its history or the lake district and although they are covered in the quiz book, there’s loads about Cumbria today or things that have happened here in more recent times as well. It’s full of quirky gems of knowledge, things that will evoke memories for readers and enough to fill many hours with fun for any Cumbrian.”
There are quizzes on famous local people, achievements, world records, old shops, venues, landmarks, food and sport – even Cumbria Crack gets a mention! It’s not only questions either, with picture rounds, anagrams to solve and cryptic puzzles to decipher too.
The Cumbria Quiz Book is available to buy at Amazon for £7.99.
