Questioning Creativity
What makes a good quiz? Is it the questions? Is it the quizmaster? Is it the quizzers?
The monthly quiz here at Clayton’s Marlow is anything but your average quiz with the emphasis on enjoyment rather than providing geeks the opportunity to be smug as they recite the periodic table or laugh as others cannot recall the latin name for a goat.
The rounds reflect this, taking inspiration from some of the finest game shows TV has had the decency to give us. The ‘Can I have a P please Bob’ round draws inspiration from the hexagonally challenging Blockbusters whilst the Going for Gold round tries to recreate the magic of Henry Kelly. All rounds, including the music, film and very current affairs rounds, work towards the deciding Family Fortunes round, the hurdle where many weaker teams have fallen.
Quizmaster Tosh, adorning a bow tie and chequered blazer, harking back to the golden quiz show era of the 80s, pre X-Factor and The Voice, looks to entertain and involve. At last night’s quiz he even got a member of each team to sing a children’s song to earn a bonus point.
This time the winners were ‘Let’s get quizzical’ (pictured) in a very close finish but was the quiz a winner?
In all honesty, I don’t know whether it was a winner and I’m yet to decide what makes a great quiz however, what I do think is that if it’s not fun, why bother?
Hopefully if we stick to that philosophy, we’ll at least get those that appreciate a laugh coming back for more.
The next quiz is on Wednesday 16th May at 7.30pm.
Do you think you’ve got what it takes to be a Clayton’s Marlow Charity Quiz champion?
Here are a couple of questions to give you a taster…
1. What ‘P’ is a tasty nibble for those wanting fun with snacking adventures guaranteed! Light and crispy with a mild taste. It is Germany’s most popular children’s snack.
2. A sausage and mash (cash) machine in East London has started offering cockney as a language option when you withdraw your money.
What would be the correct Cockney terms for the following amounts?
£5
£10
£20
£25
Answers on a postcard please…
What an eventful afternoon! A delayed start followed by a false start too as we prepared to show our first ever live sporting event on our big screen. The Grand National at Aintree.
As you can imagine, the atmosphere was a little different to our Boutique Cinema nights, with people bringing in their tickets from the bookmakers and taking part in our sweepstake. The stakes were definitely high.
Times were tense right up until the finishing line with Neptune Collanges finally winning, pipping Sunnyhillboy at the post in the closest finish in Grand National history.
Without transforming into a sports bar, we’re planning on showing some of our favourite sporting occasions on our big screen, from the Wimbledon Final to England’s matches in the Euros. So keep an eye out for our upcoming events.
In the meantime, it’s back to normal tonight with Antosh stepping into the Secret Bookshelf for a night of funk, soul, grooves, disco and a little bit more.
And don’t forget… It’s Quiz time this Wednesday!!!
Here at the bar we get lots of enquiries about private hire for wedding celebrations, birthdays, christenings, engagement parties, or company events, so we decided to reserve Sundays just for you.
Whether you want a full sit down lunch or dinner, or sharing platters served in the garden bar, we can help you arrange the perfect event.
We have a fully stocked bar, with fine wines, champagne, and cocktails, and a large selection of spirits.
We have a roster of DJs all able to play the music to keep your guests happy, and we also have an 85” projection screen able to show videos, or image slideshows.
Call us on 01628 488 404 or email us at info@claytonsmarlow.com to see how we can help you make your event one to remember.
It seems the spring heatwave may be coming to a close with cooler weather predicted for next week, but don’t panic, there’s still plenty of things going on in the bar and you can still sit out in our beautiful garden under the large heated umbrella.
We’ve been really busy coming up with new ideas, and this month sees the launch of our signature Clayton’s Burger, a homemade delicious beef burger, in a crispy toasted bun, with lashings of toppings available, and a grilled halloumi, aubergine, and guacamole burger, both served with our hand-cut jacket fries. We can’t wait to let you try them…
Next Sunday is Easter Sunday, and what better way to lose the pounds you put on with the chocolate easter eggs than to dance it off, with a host of DJs playing sounds in the bar from 8pm until 1am. It’s going to be a great party in the bar in Marlow!
The week after that is Britain’s favourite horse racing event, the grand national, from aintree, and we’ll be showing it live in the bar on our 85” projection screen, and having a sweepstake for all our customers.
And before we forget, if you’re stuck thinking what to do on Mondays well think no more, we have our boutique cinema, where you can relax with a drink and something to eat on one of our comfy sofas (see http://www.marlowbar.com/films to check what’s on and to see previews)
We look forward to seeing you at the bar soon
It’s a gorgeous day in Marlow, the sun is shining, and people are enjoying our beautiful garden. It may only be March but it’s already starting to feel like summer
Come down and have a cool glass of wine, something to eat, and relax. That’s what sunny Friday afternoons are for.
As 5.46pm marks the official beginning to the weekend in Clayton’s Marlow, it’s the perfect time to come in for a cocktail, before partying on to the early hours with DJ Tony Smith playing in our secret bookshelf, spinning sounds to remind you why you look forward to the weekend…
See you at the bar later?
Thanks to over 85 of you coming to Clayton’s Marlow coming to our 7th Ever Charity Quiz in support of the charity WPF Therapy we managed to raise £600 for them! Well done to everyone who took part, and if you didn’t win this time, bring your team down to our next quiz hosted by Quizmaster Tosh on the 18th April at 7.30pm.
Everybody had a great night taking part and of course every team enjoyed a board of our delicious Triple Cooked Chips.
See you next month for the quiz, and anytime before that for drinks, cocktails, or to sample some of our delicious sharing dishes.
At Clayton’s Marlow 5.46pm marks the official start to the weekend.
That means it’s time to come down and have a well deserved cocktail, beer, or a glass of wine at the bar…
Relax in one of our comfy sofas, listen to some chilled out sounds, have a bite to eat, and get ready for the evening party, when DJ Antosh will be playing music to remind you why you look forward to the weekend.
We’re open till 1am tonight, and from 12pm until 1am tomorrow when DJ Joelus will be turning up the tempo to keep you dancing until the early hours of Sunday morning.
It’s a beautiful day in Marlow Town, and what better way to celebrate the sunshine, but with one of Antosh’s amazing lattes, with your own personal design on top. Leaves are his speciality, but I’m sure he will try and create some original latte art just for you!
Come and enjoy our beautiful garden, with laid back sounds in the background, sipping a perfect coffee, and perhaps a chocolate brownie with ice cream.
No need to sit in a noisy coffee shop, come to our bar in Marlow, and relax in style with us.
Children are welcome during the day, and we have baby change facilities and free wi-fi.
Last night saw the return of guest DJ Jim Sharp, who kept the party going in the bar, until the early hours of this morning. We recorded Jim’s set last night, and it will be available for free download next week. Meanwhile to give you a taster of Jim’s excellent DJ skills here’s a little mix he put together for us last week. Hope you enjoy it.
We’ve got the boutique cinema on tomorrow night from 8, showing “True Romance” and with an 85inch projection screen, comfy armchairs, fresh sharing plates, and free popcorn, Marlow’s only cinema night is the place to get your week off to a start.
Have a relaxing Sunday, we plan to, after a hectic weekend at the bar making cocktails! See you next week for more fun filled days and nights in the pub at Clayton’s Marlow.
Clayton’s Marlow is the new name chosen by owners Aaron & Antosh (that’s us!) for a pub with a long history and tradition in Marlow, Buckinghamshire. There has been a public house on this site for over 150 years and the original pub (The Clayton Arms) was named after Sir William Clayton, Baronet, whose family seat was at Harleyford, 2 miles from the town.
Over the years the pub has gone through many transformations, and was once the home of the local pigeon fancying club. The Marlow Jazz Club had its home here in 1976 for a brief spell, but due to the function room being too small for serious jazz appreciation, and the local ale drinkers and darts players disliking the music, they had to move on. We are carrying on the tradition of jazz at the new bar, with a monthly local smooth jazz band called 3.3 (Listen to a Live set at Clayton’s Marlow on 8th March 2012) and during the week we play laid back jazz, soul, and funk.
We are based at 16 Oxford Road, right in the heart of Marlow, in the strangely named “Quoiting Square”, which we have found out, was so named because they played “Quoits” in the square (an early pub game thought to have originated over 2000 years ago) which involved throwing a horseshoe at a metal pin in the ground (maybe we should start a Clayton’s Marlow league in addition to our annual conker championship).
If you take a look at the map you will see that we are only a hundred metres from Shelley cottage, the home of Percy Bysshe Shelley, the famous poet, and his wife Mary Shelley, the author of the famous gothic novel, Frankenstein.
West Street is also the home of Sir William Borlase school, a famous Grammar School started by wealthy country gentleman and parliamentarian, Sir William Borlase in 1624, and Two Michelin Star Restaurant “The Hand and Flowers” owned by celebrity chef, Tom Kerridge.
Marlow has had its share of famous people living here, past and present, including the poet, T.S. Elliot, the writer of “3 Men In A Boat,” Jerome K Jerome, more recently, Heston Blumenthal, owner of “The Fat Duck at Bray”, and five times Olympic rowing gold medallist, Sir Steve Redgrave who trained at Marlow Rowing Club.
That brings us nicely onto the one thing that unites all Marlovians (yes that’s what they’re called) and visitors alike, and that is a love of the River Thames, which if you look at the map above is only a short distance from Clayton’s Marlow (via the alley betweeen the West St. Car Park and Thai Square Restaurant) from the beautiful Higginson Park, and the incredible suspension bridge, one of two designs in the world (the other is in Budapest, spanning the Danube), built by the engineer William Tierney Clark between 1829 and 1832.
Marlow is full of interesting places to visit, and stay, but Marlow really comes into its own in the summer when we have The Marlow Regatta (traditionally two weeks before Henley Regatta) where we celebrate in style with Pimms, dress up in striped blazers and boater hats, and sip Hendrick’s Gin and Tonics garnished with a slice of freshly cut cucumber.
And where better to celebrate, than in our beautiful garden bar, surrounded by carefully tended plants and herbs, sitting under a parasol, listening to laid back sounds, and basking in the warm summer sun. We can’t wait.
Well there you have it in a nutshell. A brief history of Clayton’s Marlow and Marlow town. We hope you enjoyed reading it as much as you are going to enjoy one of our beautiful Bellinis, or Mojitos when you come to visit.
If we can help you to organise a celebration or you would just like more information about us, give either of us a call on 01628 488404, visit our website or facebook page.
We look forward to welcoming you soon to our beautiful bar and town.