Who says the English are eccentric. Tonight, in my local pub, me and about twenty other 'adults' will hold our annual conker tournament. Now, I'm guessing that nobody outside England will have a clue about what I'm talking about so let me explain. BTW the winner wins a gallon of beer
Conkers
During the months of September and October, a favourite playground game in schools is conkers. It is a game which has been played every autumn for generations but now-a-days fewer children are playing it.
What is a conker?
A conker is the seed of the horse chestnut tree. It is a hard brown nut which is found in a prickly casing. They fall from the tree when they are ripe during the autumn months. Conkers is the name given to a game played between two people at a time.
How to prepare your conker for playing
The best conkers to play with, are uncracked, firm and symmetrical. Make a hole through the middle of of your chosen conker. Thread a strong piece of string about 25cm long, through the hole and tie a knot at one end, so that it doesn't pull through.
How to play conkers
Each player has a conker hanging on its string. Players take turns at hitting their opponent's conker. If you are the one whose conker is to be hit first, let it hang down from the string which is wrapped round your hand. The conker is held at the height your opponent chooses and is held perfectly still.
Your opponent, the striker, wraps his conker string round his hand just like yours. He then takes his conker in the other hand and draws it back for the strike. Releasing the conker he swings it down by the string held in the other hand and tries to hit his opponents conker (yours) with it.
If he misses he is allowed up to two further goes.
If the strings tangle, the first player to call "strings" gets an extra shot.
If a player drops his conker, or it is knocked out of his hand the other player can shout 'stamps' and jump on it; but should its owner first cry 'no stamps' then the conker, hopefully, remains intact. (This usually entails a lot of barging as the conker is rolling about on the floor - this gives me a great advantage as I'm a bit bigger than most people
)
The game goes on in turns until one or other of the two conkers is completely destroyed.
Hints for making your conker harder, You could try one of the following:
Soak your conker in vinegar.
Bake your conker in the oven.
Use an old conker from previous years.
World Conker Championships
This event is held every year on the second Sunday in October on the Village Green at Ashton in Northamptonshire. Contestants are not allowed to use their own conkers. Nuts are supplied for each game after being gathered and strung by the organisers. Each game lasts five minutes. If neither conker has broken a shoot out takes place. Each player has three sets of three hits and the one who lands most clean hits is the winner.
Interesting Facts about Conkers
Britain is believed to be the only country in the world where the game of conkers is traditionally played with horse chestnuts in the autumn.
Horse chestnut trees were first introduced to England in the late 16th century from Eastern Europe.
The first recorded game of conkers was on the Isle of Wight in 1848 and was modelled on a 15th century game played with hazelnuts, also known as cobnuts.
The origin of the name 'conker' is unclear, but one popular explanation is that it stems from the French word cogner, meaning to "hit" or "biff".
Extracts from horse chestnuts have been used to treat malaria, varicose veins, diarrhoea, frostbite and ringworm, as well as being a component of sunscreen products.
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Save Chip - Don't let Sarah win!
Official Titterer of the Laughing Hyenas
Don't mention the score - I mentioned it once but I think I got away with it!