Conkers - All our yesterday's

guitars4you · September 2023

Just taken my dog for a walk in a nearby park - We have 2 large conker trees in there - Today is the first time for years I've seen '10 year old' kids chucking sticks at the tree to get down the conkers - Not seen this for years - Reminds me of me and my mates, many years ago, doing this - Thought it was an old bit of fun that died out a few years ago in the play ground - Great to see

Kalimna · September 2023

There are a few trees near us that provide many conkers. Since they have been big enough to do so, i take my boys (13 and 11) with stick in hand to return with a bag of shiny nuts. Nothing grows particularly big around here, and so far we havent started playing 'conkers'. But its damn good fun

Kittyfrisk · September 2023

Got quite a few decent ones from walking the dog (recent emergency rehousing).
I love conkers, they are such beautiful objects, but at my age I doubt I'll get a game with anyone...

notanon · September 2023

Spent hours playing this, I remember some really silly numbers. Check out the scoring.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/norfolk/kids/conkers_3.shtml

Also, who remembers when that BBC style was considered cool? No complexity of responsive design :-)

Hootsmon · September 2023

The conker tree near us as a child had no low level branches, it was just like a lamp post and as you can imagine hard tae climb...but climb it we did. There are seven leaf parts if i recall

LionAquaLooper · September 2023

Shame those same kids will soon be hypnotised by mobile phones, online games and social media soon.

Shrews · September 2023

Fond memories of conker season as a kid! Were they baked? Stored in vinegar? A winning kids conker was always suspicious and there would always be some sort of conker expert who'd butt in and give an unbiased opinion (usually an older kid who'd spend a few seconds examining it).

From memory there were different shapes to be wary of. Cheeser?

On a separate note there was also 'marble season' but fuck knows when that was, summer seems to ring a bell. The girls also played 'Jacks' at some point

Kittyfrisk · September 2023

Shrews said:

Fond memories of conker season as a kid! Were they baked? Stored in vinegar? A winning kids conker was always suspicious and there would always be some sort of conker expert who'd butt in and give an unbiased opinion (usually an older kid who'd spend a few seconds examining it).

From memory there were different shapes to be wary of. Cheeser?

On a separate note there was also 'marble season' but fuck knows when that was, summer seems to ring a bell. The girls also played 'Jacks' at some point

Don't know about a marble season, we would play 'alleys or muggles' at any time when it wasn't snowing or pissing down.
Also Jacks wasn't a female game, although they might have done well due to nimble dexterity. I just gave my 5 year old great niece/god daughter type thing, a set of jacks recently. It was great to see four generations of the family arguing over how to play it properly :-D

Dominic · September 2023

Shrews said:

Fond memories of conker season as a kid! Were they baked? Stored in vinegar? A winning kids conker was always suspicious and there would always be some sort of conker expert who'd butt in and give an unbiased opinion (usually an older kid who'd spend a few seconds examining it).

From memory there were different shapes to be wary of. Cheeser?

On a separate note there was also 'marble season' but fuck knows when that was, summer seems to ring a bell. The girls also played 'Jacks' at some point

Absolutely this ........the feared 'Cheesecutter ' and the old boil in Vinegar trick etc etc
Of course, being the rotter that I am and complete cad ( I'm the sort of chap that would have been banned from the Casino in Monte Carlo for cheating at cards ) I had the answer to this ;
At age 10 or 11 I had the brainwave of taking a mould of my prize conker......casting a Plaster of Paris mould and then skinning the conker and glueing the shell around the Plaster of Paris mould .............it was an out and out winner
Many bags of Lemon Bon Bons and Peanut Brittle had been consumed by the time that my 'best friend' ratted me out !!!!!

thecolourbox · September 2023

Who doesn't love conkers? One of the best things about autumn. I always thought it was a bit of a myth that kids no longer played with them, one of those daily mail "health and safety gorn maaaad" type things. My niece and nephew very much love playing with them

Kittyfrisk · September 2023

Dominic said:

Shrews said:

Fond memories of conker season as a kid! Were they baked? Stored in vinegar? A winning kids conker was always suspicious and there would always be some sort of conker expert who'd butt in and give an unbiased opinion (usually an older kid who'd spend a few seconds examining it).

From memory there were different shapes to be wary of. Cheeser?

On a separate note there was also 'marble season' but fuck knows when that was, summer seems to ring a bell. The girls also played 'Jacks' at some point

Absolutely this ........the feared 'Cheesecutter ' and the old boil in Vinegar trick etc etc
Of course, being the rotter that I am and complete cad ( I was banned from the Casino in Monte Carlo for cheating at cards ) I had the answer to this ;
At age 10 or 11 I had the brainwave of taking a mould of my prize conker......casting a Plaster of Paris mould and then skinning the conker and glueing the shell around the Plaster of Paris mould .............it was an out and out winner
Many bags of Lemon Bon Bons and Peanut Brittle had been consumed by the time that my 'best friend' ratted me out !!!!!

FTFY

Dominic · September 2023

what does FTFY mean ?

Kittyfrisk · September 2023

Fixed That For You

Dominic · September 2023

aha

Dominic · September 2023

I was actually asked to leave the Casino de Beaulieu for not wearing a tie but it doesn't sound so exotic

Philly_Q · September 2023

There are some conker trees on my route to Sainsburys. I'm always pleased to see conkers, no idea why. I guess they're just nice shiny things. I remember in one of the Nigel Molesworth books where he talks about a conker being "huge and glossy, like a racehorse". But as he observes, "successful conkers are always shrivelled and weedy".

Dominic · September 2023

My conkers are shrivelled and weedy .......but the tree is still standing firm ....(just about )

hollywoodrox · September 2023

I still have to pick them up now, even when we didn’t play conkers as a kid it was still impulsive to collect them some schools I was at did some didn’t . The sheer joy of finding them is unsurpassed
I actually dream about them sometimes ,like finding shells as big as an orange and wondering what the conkers like inside.

there’s loads here in Werrington Peterborough along our local cycle path to Tesco
i remember collecting them with my grandparents ,before I even started school

Funkfingers · September 2023

thecolourbox said:

Who doesn't love conkers?

I don't.

There are two horse chestnut trees within thirty feet of my flat. Children who do not live in my street show up, knock down the conkers and attempt to split the shells off them against any nearby hard surface. The favourite places are the pavement and the end wall of a block of dustbin sheds. The toe rags leave the shells everywhere.

My upstairs neighbour is the estate maintenance contractor. He and I both look forward to the Winter when the bloody trees can be pollarded.

Bah, humbug!

Stratavarious · September 2023

Got some great trees around me… last year, there was a great crop. This year, it’s been disappointing.

mudslide73 · September 2023

I really liked conkers but didn't have a decent source for them. A large house near us used to bag theirs up to sell.. which I felt definitely wasn't cricket.

I remember there were specific rules around using conkers from last year.. or even beyond that :0 and them being called "a laggie". Also the cumulative scoring method was often disputed with 45ers being ridiculed as "Jimmy Hill" or "chinny reckon". Matches between previous big winners were met with the level of anticipation you'd expect for the Rumble in the Jungle or Thriller in Manila.

I tried to store a bag of medium sized likely winners in the garage one season but they went rotten during the spring

BillDL · September 2023

I'm surprised there isn't a mobile app for the kids to knock the conkers out the trees.

boogieman · September 2023

Stratavarious said:

Got some great trees around me… last year, there was a great crop. This year, it’s been disappointing.

Yup, not a good year for them, it’s been too dry and hot so not enough moisture in the ground to get them to swell to a decent size. I’ve never seen so many acorns though, we have a ton of oak trees around here.

I love the look of conkers and can’t resist picking them up. They look like polished mahogany.

WezV · September 2023

thecolourbox said:

Who doesn't love conkers?

spiders, according to the old wives tales

axisus · September 2023

Conkers to me is one of those things that you 'think' was a lot of fun but it wasn't really that great. Having said that, there is still something nice about cracking open a shell and taking out a big, pristine conker.

Timcito · September 2023

axisus said:

Conkers to me is one of those things that you 'think' was a lot of fun but it wasn't really that great. ...

I agree. I went through the routine of conker duels for the last two years of primary school because it was the 'thing' to do, but I was always a bit mystified by the appeal.

Fingers657 · September 2023

Most kids grew up playing conkers at school until the government banned it .

guitars4you · September 2023

Great fun trying to find a good stick that you could lob towards the top of the tree in order to knock down a few conkers - How many throws you’d have and how often you’d get close but not hit - Then the stick gets stuck in the tree

Remember hanging the conkers on the washing line so as to destroy them with another conker in order to make that one have a higher score

was just glad to see a few kids having fun with their mates playing outside - like the old pays pre PlayStation

Shrews · September 2023

Fingers657 said:

Most kids grew up playing conkers at school until the government banned it .

For the record, they didn't.

But as it's the Tories, we'll just say they did anyway.

Fingers657 · September 2023

Shrews said:

Fingers657 said:

Most kids grew up playing conkers at school until the government banned it .

For the record, they didn't.

But as it's the Tories, we'll just say they did anyway.

It might have been Tony Blairs Labour government?

After all They were weapons of mass destruction if you soaked the conkers in malt vinegar for 24hours before you stringed them.
Some health and safety jobs worth did ban them in uk schools for children’s safety.

thecolourbox · September 2023

Even if that did happen, it wouldn't have so much been for the kids' safety, as much as to protect themselves from the stupid parents moaning

Howdy, Stranger!

Categories

In this Discussion

Become a Subscriber!

Conkers - All our yesterday's

Comments