Old Buckenham Women's Institute

Speaker in the hot seat
Who wants to be a millionaire? Most people would answer ‘yes’ to that question. The speaker at Old Buckenham Women’s Institute‘s October meeting was quiz contestant Roger Canwell who appeared on the iconic programme two years ago and gave the audience an insight into the experience. Roger applied by telephone to the programme and had to answer a range of questions in seven seconds, so no time to confer. When Roger appeared he was fortunate enough to reach the ‘hot seat’, face and manage to win some money (but not that elusive million).
Roger confessed that as a schoolboy he enjoyed taking exams and when he retired took a history degree. Encouraged by his first quiz show success, Roger applied to enter the contest for ‘Mastermind’. The final was reached but not the coveted trophy. His specialist subjects have been quite diverse – Britain during the inter-war years, the history of Norwich FC and the films of Norman Wisdom. Fortunately for a quiz addict like Roger, contestants can appear on Mastermind more than once. If you tune into the programme this autumn you should be able to see Roger in the famous chair once more. His advice for all budding Masterminds is to keep calm and not panic. Also to remember that it is the taking part that counts, not the winning.
Old Buckenham WI have had a hectic October with a theatre visit, Scrabble, walks, running a promotional stand at New Buckenham Village Hall, a visit to Lincoln and, of course, taking part in quizzes.