Campaign for Real Conkers
Press Release 6th October
Contact Keith Flett 07803 167266
Conker Campaigners to continue boycott of World Conker Championships
The Campaign for Real Conkers, which is opposed to bans on conker playing, says that it will once again be boycotting the World Conker Championships to be staged in Oundle on Sunday.
The Campaigners say that while the event is great fun and raises money for charity it symbolises one of the reasons conker playing is in decline.
Participants have to pay to enter and must use a conker selected for them. Most people are spectators rather than players
Campaign for Real Conkers organiser Keith Flett said, conkers is not a spectator sport. It’s something you play for free and, yes, cheating is all part of the fun. Conkers is dying as a traditional game, just witness the many uncollected fallen conkers around. Good luck to the World Championships but our message is get out and play conkers yourself wherever you are.
Guide on how to play real conkers safely in 2022
1] Select your conker. Do this yourself. DO NOT use a conker provided by someone else who may give you a poor specimen.
2] There is no specific kind of conker that makes a good game winner. Large conkers may more easily splinter for example. Some prefer conkers with flat and sharp edges
3] You may use the conker ‘as is’ known as ‘organic’. Alternatively you may seek to harden it by baking it, soaking it in vinegar etc. There is no guarantee that an artificially enhanced conker will perform any better than an organic one.
4] Drill a small hole through the conker. A nail will often achieve this. Again you must do this yourself
5] Thread the conker through the hole you have drilled. A strong chord, perhaps a shoelace is best
6] You are now ready to play.
7] Make sure that the chord is long enough to allow you to stand at least 1 metre plus away from your opponent. This would generally be the case as space is required for the conker swing.
8] Players take alternate turns to try and hit and destroy their opponent’s conker
9] Those with poor aim may hit the knuckles of their opponent more often than the conker so you may wish to wear gloves.
10] The winner is the player who determines their opponents conker unusable in further rounds, usually by causing it to splinter into two or more pieces
Play safely and enjoy!
I always enjoy your conker posts. I always pick up conkers, and use the poor quality ones to deter spiders (when I taught, I collected them for the “nature table” and other stuff).