Conkers

[Trevor Bodiam]

Walking the dog this morning and noticed that conkers are appearing on the ground in the parks and streets.
Do any youngsters play conkers anymore? or is it now lost to the current generation.

[Keith Tindell]

I actually have a large horse chestnut tree on my property, it has a tree protection order on it, so i have to seek permission from the council to trim it back. If i leave the trimming too late, and conkers form, the local kids arrive and throw sticks up to dislodge the conkers, and the sticks can land on my car, so i try to make sure its trimmed to prevent conkers forming. I know, i,m a miserable old git to spoil their fun, kt

[John F Collier]

Last time I heard anything about conkers being played was a few years ago when a school insisted that any child playing conkers at
the school should wear safety goggles, hard hat and gloves, at first I thought it was a joke but it was serious. Today's children have
so many electronic devices to choose from for their entertainment I don't suppose they even know conkers exist, well not in this area
anyay. It's a different world to the one we grew up in, where very basic things could bring hours of fun because we had to make our
own entertainment by being inventive and using our imagination.

[Tony Taylor]

Last time I heard anything about conkers being played was a few years ago It's a different world to the one we grew up in, where very basic things could bring hours of fun because we had to make our
own entertainment by being inventive and using our imagination.

My 7 year old grandson certainly knows about conkers, he spent all day Saturday looking for some. I actually have one sitting here from last year so its nice and hard, without any of the special treatments we used to concoct to assist hardening.

[John F Collier]

My 7 year old grandson certainly knows about conkers, he spent all day Saturday looking for some. I actually have one sitting here from last year so its nice and hard, without any of the special treatments we used to concoct to assist hardening.

Thanks Tony that's good to know that it's still alive and kicking I was thinking it may be lost forever, we were very competitive when
we were kids, as you say the treatments we gave those conkers in the hope of becoming the champion sometimes it was overdone
and a conker would almost explode when hit, I had mine strung up on a leather bootlace, great times with lovely memories. Cheers

[dave moore]

I thought the world had gone bonkers ,sorry confers!!!!

[Rodney Mills]

Cheesers were my favorite, for those who live in lands where conkers are unknown, cheesers were shaped like the cloth hat that Andy Capp wore/wears. And I marinaded my cheesers in vinegar for two days and dried them in the oven for a couple of hours (when mom went shopping), they became real hard and were killers.

Rodney.

P.s. I forget, if you beat someone did your conker become a "oner", or did yours accumulated the score of the loser? Example my new cheeser beats your conker that is a "fiver", is my cheeser now a "oner" or a "sixer"?

[Des Taff Jenkins]

Hi Roger.
I was practically in tears when my twelve'r was smashed, in season most kids had them swinging away, conkers I mean.
On the subject of today's kids and old things, when on our last trip home we were walking along a hedgerow and it was full of juicy blackberries, I asked my sister if anyone went out with a jug to pick them, she said they would sooner go to the shop and buy them, what a waste of fun, knowledge, and memories.
Des

[happy daze john in oz]

OMG, do the OHS people know about this practice.
I am sure if they could it would be made illegal by them.

But of course few younger generation ones to day would know how such simple forms of entertainment kept us going.

Bake the Conker in vinegar in the oven when mum is not around, makes them last all season, or so we thought.

But life was simple then, none of the modern day concerns and we were happy lads...and lasses.

[Keith Tindell]

Looks like another of our childhood games is about to bite the dust,

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-49838650 kt