PETER Cropper is a member of the Sweet Green Trinity quiz team and a stalwart of the Bolton Premier Quiz League. Here he explains why the pub quiz has become part of the local way of life.

ON which river does Berlin stand? Who was Britain's last Stuart monarch? Which fruit is used to flavour the drink Southern Comfort?

If you know the answers to these questions, if they are of interest to you, and if you could stand the pressure of being asked them in a pub somewhere in Bolton, then you are a potential player in a team in the Bolton Premier Quiz League.

The league was founded in February 1986 in the Craven Heifer in Blackburn Road, and its first chairman was Mike Holt who was a mainstay of the league until he left to take over a guest house in Scotland some years ago.

In its early days the league was known as the Bolton North End League because the teams were based in pubs and clubs in the Astley Bridge/Blackburn Road area of town.

Shortly after formation it consisted of six divisions of eight teams each, which made it the second largest quiz league in the country. Names such as The Flag, Edge Warblers, Spread Eagle, Craven A, Sally up Steps and The Lord Raglan -- some of which, sadly, no longer exist as quiz teams -- featured prominently in the top division in the late 1980s.

Today, the league is smaller -- it comprises one division of 10 teams and two divisions of nine teams -- but it spreads over a larger area, so a player can expect to experience a wide range of venues and beers.

Town centre pubs, clubs and country pubs on the town's northern fringes, which touch upon the pleasant West Pennine Moors, are all visited as the quest for correct answers and valuable league points -- or a place in the next round of the cup competition which continues unabated on many Monday evenings throughout the year.

Under the guidance of chairman Pete Greenwood, secretary Andy Greenwood, and treasurer Andy Scott, the league continues to thrive as it enters its third decade.

Each quiz consists of team rounds where all players can pool their collective knowledge and thoughts, leaving the captain to decide on the most likely answer, and individual rounds where film buffs, sports fans and historians can shine -- unless, of course, it's not their period.

A team which has played together for a while knows its own strengths and weaknesses. I think I should score well on a British geography round for instance, whereas if the questions all concern old films, I might as well withdraw to the bar and make myself useful.

Playing in the same team on a weekly basis also engenders a camaraderie, and people met initially through the quiz league naturally become friends. However, the friendships must never mask the seriousness of it all, and that's why our team goes out twice a year for a team building and knowledge extending exercise around the pubs of Bolton or Manchester.

Such activity has over the years usually led us to a position akin to that of Tottenham in football -- a mid-table team capable of winning enough games to do quite well, but not enough to challenge seriously for honours.

At the season's end, the tables cannot lie. Some teams can bask in the glory of a league win, others must feel happy with a runners-up spot, while certain teams must obviously face the disappointment of relegation. The Sweet Green Trinitys of the quiz world normally nestle comfortably in mid-table -- given a little bit of luck along the way!

Whatever a team's status, it can enjoy the season's climax -- the Presentation and Finals evening at Astley Bridge Conservative Club, the league's current headquarters. This gives rise to the most important question of all: Is there a better buffet anywhere in Bolton?

For those who remain curious, the answers to the questions asked earlier are: Spree, Queen Anne, and Peaches. There's just one final question: Who fancies a good quiz?