Treasure Quest

Clue 1: Ageing sapling, ever receding.

As usual, Cookie opened her first clue in the radiocar, travelling from Three Counties' studios up the A505. It didn't take long for the contestants to deduce that Baldock was the focus of this week's Quest; an ancient translation for the town name being "Bald Oak."

Clue 2: Go to their ground, even if it is no more.

The Cluesetter had thought this was a toughie, but Treasure Quest listeners brushed this one aside. Their ground was Norton Road in Baldock, but no more the home of Baldock Town FC.

Cookie interviewed Steve West on the scene, treasurer of the football club, as he appealed for a new home for the team. His pleas made headline news on Three Counties' weekend bulletins.

Clue 3: Lessons were hammered home here, where you’d need one more for the road.

Treasure Quest's first ever "listener clue." Jim Turner from Luton suggested the Three Horseshoes hostelry in Norton village as a location, and the Cluesetter gratefully accepted.

The building had, at one point in the 1800's, housed a schoolroom, a blacksmiths and a public bar all at the same time!! No time on this occasion for a snifter for Cookie; she was sent off in search of Clue 4...

Clue 4: This newfound deity sends more mums a greeting.

The most bizarre clue of 2008 thus far. Stumping those in the studio and listening at home for about an hour, only on a whim was the radiocar sent to the sleepy Hertfordshire village of Ashwell. Producer Phil hinted at the presence of an anagram in the clue, but even the letter-busters at home were foiled.

Cookie eventually found herself welcomed into a local village museum, where she examined Senuna (a unique Roman goddess discovered buried in an adjoining field), listened to accordian playing and was attacked by a dragon hand-puppet under the control of a gentleman in Saint George fancy dress! And that anagram? "More mums a greeting" becomes "Saint George mummer", duh!

Clue 5: Barbara Windsor doused in paraffin? Not a pious as once was!

Alas, the time it had taken to deduce Ashwell proved a near-fatal blow for the competitors. This clue finally finished them off. The destination was the Champney's spa resort in Henlow, where celebrities often stay for a preen and a pamper. Barbara Windor, for example, once enjoyed a parrafin foot bath there!

Sadly the contestants never got close, and the Quest ended frustratingly close to the Treasure. One listener complained "Henlow's miles away!" Only 15 minutes down the A1...

Clue 6: You’re very good, you consistent kisser. Now brace yourself…

Academic though it may be, this smutty clue would have led to the treasure at Hinxworth Archery Club. References to kissing and romantic embracing were not cryptic advances from the Cluesetter, but terms for serious archers.

Just a shame the contestants weren't able to hit the bullseye with their answers earlier on.