Date: Saturday 4^th November 2023
Venue: Church House, next to St Michael’s Church, Braintree, CM7 1EY (Google Maps link).
Admission: £12pp; £20 for two; £10pp in groups (please enquire).
Start time: Doors open 10:30 for draw at 11:15.
Parking on site? No. Please use a nearby car park, such as Braintree railway station, which is chargeable.
Refreshments provided? Tea, coffee, soft drinks, fruit and biscuits will be available free of charge from the kitchen. Lunch is not provided.
Accommodation available? Yes – the nearest options are the Travelodge and the White Hart, both in Braintree town centre; other guesthouses and hotels are also available nearby (please enquire).
Finish time: 18:00
Hosted by: Jeff Clayton, Tim Goaté and Rachel Perkins
Games to be played: 5 games of Countdown and 4 rounds of Quiz
Wheelchair accessible?: Yes
Train connections: Braintree station – direct service from London Liverpool Street, or change at Witham off main line services from Ipswich and Norwich.
Bus connections: First 70 from Chelmsford, First X20 from Colchester, Arriva 133 or First X20 from Stansted Airport. The current £2 fare cap on most single bus fares will become £2.50 at the beginning of November, and all of these services should still be eligible. Please check with the operator before travelling (or ask us).

FOCAL returns for the fourth time to the Essex market town of Braintree on Saturday 4^th November. Jeff, Rachel and Tim will be back with another instalment of Countdown and quizzing in the main hall at Church House (CM7 1EY), which is next to St Michael’s Church.

You may remember an interactive quiz last year during the lunch break. Well this year, we’re turning up the quiz! Everyone will play five 14-round games of Countdown which will alternate with four rounds of The Big Weekend Quiz. This exciting new format is part pub quiz, part game show. You play Countdown in pairs as normal, and everyone will be put into teams for the Quiz. You play both with a basic pen-and-paper (a Captain represents each team in the Quiz), and we have all the graphics on our big screen.

Countdown: Everyone will be drawn at random for each of the five games of Countdown. Note: only the results of these will count towards the FOCAL league standings. For the first time this year, there won’t be a Grand Final as we want to give more time to both Countdown and quizzing for everyone to enjoy.

Quiz: At the start of the day, everyone will be drawn at random into teams of 4, 5 or 6 (depending on exact numbers) for four rounds of our Quiz. We believe a good quiz question is both well written and well structured – we’ll explain everything on the day. There’s also a timed question at the end of every round with bonus points up for grabs! Your admission fee includes both Countdown and our Quiz.

Church House is next to (just east of) St. Michael’s Church.

Getting to the venue

If you’re coming by car, chargeable parking is available nearby at the railway station (CM7 3QL – £2.50 for 24 hours from 07:00) which offers the best value. Alternatively, use the George Yard Shopping Centre multi-storey (CM7 1GF – £6.00, locked at 19:30). Allow 10 minutes to walk to/from either.

If you’re coming from Stansted or Colchester, there’s a new hourly express bus X20 serving Braintree which stops near the tournament venue in the town centre.

When do I need to be there?

Doors open from 10:30 and you can enjoy a hot or cold drink from the kitchen before we get underway at 11:15. After introductions, we’ll generate a random draw for the first matches.

Manchester 2022: Conundrum on the big-screen graphics

How does Countdown work in a big room?
We’ll play the game in pairs with big screen graphics (“Bristol format”, as it’s known) much like you see on TV. Feel free to bring your own notepad, notebook, scrap paper etc and a few decent pens.

• All matches will consist of 14 rounds — eight letters games, four numbers games and two conundrums (LLNLLNCLLNLLNC).
• The hosts split presenting duties between them and each match plays out just as you see on the telly, with the aim of making the day as interactive and as enjoyable as possible.
• Everyone will play five matches – there is no knockout phase – and everyone will have the opportunity to pick the letters throughout the day.
• You will be able to choose your numbers in your pairs, twice each in every match (we’ll explain how).
• At the conundrum, the clock starts when the scramble is revealed on the screen. When you’ve got the answer, tap your table (lightly!) to indicate to your opponent that you are buzzing in, then promptly write down and conceal your declaration. The full 30 seconds will run for the benefit of everyone in the room, so the second player should still attempt to solve it – you never know, the first player may have got it wrong! In case of a dead heat, we can provide a tie-break conundrum to decide a winner.

What can I expect?

• You will very likely be paired with different people throughout the day who you haven’t met before. Everyone is in the room to play Countdown, of course, and a little common courtesy will go a long away.
• We play in good faith, and we trust you to keep score as the game goes along. For anything you can’t agree in your pair, there is time to flag queries at the end of every round – for whether a word is valid, or a numbers solve is right, etc.
• At the end of each game of Countdown, all the hosts will need from you is the final score from your pair.
• There will be a break for lunch, but please, take the time to recharge between matches, too. The kitchen will be stocked with drinks and light snacks, toilets are available and you can always step outside for some fresh air. If you need to make or take a phone call, we would just ask that you wait until the end of the match in play.
• If you need to disclose anything in confidence, please just let Jeff or Rachel know.

What about lunch?
We’ll stop for lunch at a suitable point around 12:30 — you can either bring your own food, or take a stroll towards Sainsbury’s, Tesco or the High Street, with an array of coffee shops and cafés.

What happens at the end?

We round the day off by 18:00 with the presentation of the trophies to our Countdown winner and high flyers, plus prizes to the winning Quiz team. If you need to get away sharpish after the Grand Final, there is a train from Braintree station at 18:00.

Braintree 2019: Host Jeff with the podium

Outline timetable for the day (subject to minor changes):
10:30 Doors open – please register when you arrive, then settle in and help yourself to tea, coffee, soft drinks and snacks from the kitchen.
11:15 Welcome, followed by team draws for the Quiz and the first  round draws for Countdown.
11:30 Round 1: Countdown then Quiz.

12:30 Lunchtime
13:30 Round 2: Countdown then Quiz.

14:30 Short break.

14:45 Round 3: Countdown then Quiz.

15:45 Short break.

16:00 Round 4: Countdown then Quiz.
17:00 Round 5: Countdown.
17:40 Prize giving
18:00 End

The kitchen is well stocked with hot and cold drinks and a selection of snacks – please help yourself!

Payment

You can book your place with host Jeff using PayPal:

• £12 for an individual booking;
• £20 for two;
• If you wish to book a larger group, please email Jeff to advise numbers (£10pp).

Please remember to select the “family/friends” option, as your contribution is voluntary to help cover Jeff’s personal costs of organising the event. Once all reasonable expenses have been met, any surplus will be donated to St. Michael’s Church.

What’s happening in the evenings?
Jeff will arrange group bookings at two different restaurants in the town centre for the Friday and Saturday nights. Interested? Let Jeff know if you want a seat at the table!

What about staying over?

Well, why not make a weekend of it — a new Travelodge opened in the town centre last year. There is also accommodation at the White Hart (Greene King). Out-of-town, you have a selection of farmhouses and old inns offering accommodation in the countryside around Braintree, as well as two Premier Inns and a Holiday Inn Express next to the A120. Please check with individual venues about chargeable parking. We would recommend arranging taxis to get to/from the town centre if you’re not coming by car.

Any questions?

Attending or organising a FOCAL event is subject to the FOCAL Code of Conduct.

External web links and other details are provided in good faith in advance, and will be checked regularly, but please take care to cross-check them for your own assurance. If you find anything to be incorrect, please let Jeff know. Thanks!

All information correct at time of writing (24/06/23); last updated 01/07/23.