A CHILDHOOD PASTIME GOES GLOBAL

The World Conker Championships has turned the traditional game of conkers into a serious and fiercely fought test of skill

- Pat Kinsella

Beloved by schoolchildren for decades, the once-popular playground game of conkers has seemingly fallen from favour recently. This has been blamed on health-and-safety rules, but this is largely a myth. No one really knows why modern kids are less interested in playing conkers, but plenty of adults remain extremely enthusiastic about the traditional pursuit. Every autumn, gladiatorial conker contests take place, and there's even an annual World Conker Championships, held in Northamptonshire.

WHERE ARE CONKERS FROM?

Native to the Balkans, horse chestnut trees were introduced to Britain in the late 16th century. Encased in a spiky pod, the tree's nuts are distinctive and attractive.

The Victorians invented a recipe for conker flour that leached out some of the bitterness, but the nuts taste bad and are poisonous to people, so don't try this at home. Many animals can safely scoff them though, including deer, cattle and horses (hence the name). It was once believed that feeding conkers to equines would make their coats as shiny as the nuts. According to an old wives' tale, conkers placed around the house ward away spiders, and during the First World War there was an attempt to use them as a source of starch and acetone, required for making cordite (an explosive).