Chilterns Weekend Walkers

CWW’s longest-running social event is chugging towards its 15th anniversary. It’s a quiz with a difference… on a vintage train.

Not content with the usual heritage railway diet of Santa specials and wartime nostalgia weekends, the Chinnor & Princes Risborough Railway goes one better with the Watlington Fryer – an onboard quiz with fish and chips.

CWW has been fielding teams since 2011, thanks to the efforts of organiser Julie Shah. “It’s become something of an institution,” she says.

Opened in 1872 to link Princes Risborough with Watlington but closed to passengers in 1957, the line now runs from Chinnor on a scenic four-mile route along the foot of the Chilterns escarpment.

Julie says it's a pleasure to gaze out of the window at the sun setting over Aylesbury Vale and watch the wildlife in the fields, but the main business of the evening is serious quizzing:

“We start at 7pm with three rounds of general knowledge on the first trip from Chinnor to Thame Junction and return. We’re then served our fish and chip supper (alternatives are available) at our tables on the train. The food from a local chippy is very good and the railway volunteers do a sterling job running the event.

“On the second trip we tackle the picture round, which always provokes lots of discussion – especially when you have to identify an obscurely photographed item, eg. a plughole! There are further rounds of general knowledge during the third and final trip. The winning teams are given their prizes before the train arrives back at Chinnor by 10.30pm.

The quiz night is so popular with CWW members that four to six teams have been fielded most years. Members of our top team are presented with a medal or silver trophy by Julie, who herself has been on the winning team three times.

“I do enjoy organising it as it’s a fun event,” she says. “But sometimes it can be a challenge. One year, a couple had to miss out when their holiday flight home was cancelled, but we managed to replace them hours before the quiz.”

Tony Bungay has attended every quiz, but says his first one in October 2011 didn’t go exactly to plan. “I got called into work for a shift at the last minute and because there wasn’t time to go home and get changed, I had the embarrassment of turning up for the quiz in my Royal Mail uniform,” he remembers.

Tony (pictured left) has been on the winning team twice but admits luck has played a part. “One year we had to bluff our way through a sports round as none of us knew much about sport. We guessed most of the answers, and incredibly got all ten right! Another year, we were stumped by a question on the Roman name for Ireland. At the last moment, one of us scribbled down Hibernia as a guess, and that turned out to be correct as well.

“In one of the more memorable picture rounds, what looked like some gruesome forensic exhibit was correctly identified by Sean Moore… as a watermelon!”

The quiz train has traditionally been hauled by a diesel engine, but in 2022 a steam locomotive was laid on as an extra treat to mark the trip’s resumption after the Covid shutdown. In another departure from tradition, instead of reversing at Thame Junction, the loco took the train all the way into Princes Risborough station, which is also on the National Rail network.

Berthed in the bay platform, the quizzers found themselves being gawped at by a trainload of soccer fans travelling home on a Chiltern Railways football special from Wembley after a cup final. A less pleasant memory of the steam trip was the smoke and soot. “We were choking in the carriages,” recalls Julie.

In June 2024 CWW fielded four out of a total of 20 teams and put on a strong performance. “We did ourselves proud with all four coming well into the top 10,” said Julie.