Photo: Mugikura Chieko
Apparently, in the USA, conkers are called buckeyes, but the first recorded game was in the Isle of Wight in 1848.
Nowadays, the Northamptonshire village of Ashton hosts the World Conker Championships on the second Sunday in October every year.
Conkers are collected, holes made through them, usually with a skewer, and string or a shoelace threaded through. The string should be about 12" long so it can be wound around the fingers.
The idea is to break your opponent's conker by whacking it. For such an aggressively-motivated game, it's all very orderly and turns are taken.
In the World Championships, because of time limitations, a particular scoring method is used but the traditional one is complicated and involves the winner of a match assuming the score of the loser. So if a one-er (has won one game) beats a five-er (has won five games), then the one-er becomes a seven-er. With me so far?
Cheating, such as soaking your conker in vinegar, baking it in the oven or covering it with nail varnish, is frowned upon. (But it's been suggested that the best coating for a conker is hand cream, which causes the opposing conker to slid off. Apparently.)
However in recent years there have been threats to the continued existence of this traditional game.
The BBC reported that, 'Schools are banning time-honoured playtime pastimes such as conkers because headteachers are afraid of being sued by parents in the event of an accident.
A survey ... shows some schools have banned conkers because they fear the horse chestnuts could be used as "offensive weapons".'
Not everyone is deterred by this though. Again the BBC reported that, 'A headteacher has bought safety goggles for his pupils to wear when they play conkers in the playground.
Shaun Halfpenny, of Cummersdale Primary School, in Carlisle, says he took the step to ensure pupils can carry on playing the traditional game.
He invested in six pairs of industrial safety goggles and now pupils queue up at breaks to take turns to use them.'
However in recent years there have been threats to the continued existence of this traditional game.
The BBC reported that, 'Schools are banning time-honoured playtime pastimes such as conkers because headteachers are afraid of being sued by parents in the event of an accident.
A survey ... shows some schools have banned conkers because they fear the horse chestnuts could be used as "offensive weapons".'
Not everyone is deterred by this though. Again the BBC reported that, 'A headteacher has bought safety goggles for his pupils to wear when they play conkers in the playground.
Shaun Halfpenny, of Cummersdale Primary School, in Carlisle, says he took the step to ensure pupils can carry on playing the traditional game.
He invested in six pairs of industrial safety goggles and now pupils queue up at breaks to take turns to use them.'
No, these weren't April Fool jokes either. Sadly.
1 comment:
Sounds much easier than American Football(grin)
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