Our English Heritage is Disappearing!

[Dantheman62]

Um, Conker Tree?, do you have a picture of a Conker?,sorry for being American HaHa, I know what an Oak tree is, or Maple, or Pine, or Hickory, or Pecan, but Conker, Hmmm.

[weareone]

what a shame steve, i have to admit i hadn't noticed it, theres plenty here in shropshire. But shure i would feel sad if when i had kids of my own they couldn't play conkers too. I hope it just a made up news story.

[Steve_A]

Hi Dantheman62,

The conker comes from the Horse Chesnut tree and has been part of Great British schoolboy heritage for hundreds of years for almost as long as 'Hunt the Groat' or jousting.

The image is of a conker contest where the athlete tries to break the opponents' conker. The conker that remained on its' string would be deemed the victor and thus would receive the name of a 'oner', which would be used in the next combat. If the champion conker would win, it would e deemed as a 'twoer' (I hope this technical jargon isn't complicating your understanding of this traditional English sport).

I was hoping that this sport would be considered to be accepted in the Olympic Games, but I suppose they'll just have to replace it with marbles or 'odds and evens' or something of the ilk now that the prime material is beginning to be a little thin on the ground.




Ah. The good old days.....

Best regards,

Steve

Originally Posted by Dantheman62

Um, Conker Tree?, do you have a picture of a Conker?,sorry for being American HaHa, I know what an Oak tree is, or Maple, or Pine, or Hickory, or Pecan, but Conker, Hmmm.

[Dantheman62]

Thanks Steve A, I really had not heard of them until now.

[Antaletriangle]

Yeah wild they were great days i used to be up trees and rummaging around for weeks!!lol.I remember i wasn't too bad at it got a few 70'ers but i remember there were always the same ones who had 200'ers every bloomin year-i don't know what tricks they used but i wasn't happy abite it!!lol lol.

Let us prey for the conker!

[Antaletriangle]

Yeah wild they were great days i used to be up trees and rummaging around for weeks!!lol.I remember i wasn't too bad at it got a few 70'ers but i remember there were always the same ones who had 200'ers every bloomin year-i don't know what tricks they used but i wasn't happy abite it!!lol lol.

Let us prey for the conker!

This is the majestic horse chestnut.Deciduous.

[Jacqui D]

We still have them around in Kent (countryside) and the tradition of conkers is still around.
My grandson who is 8 still picks them every years and has a game with his dad.
Yes they still bake them in the oven, varnish them and what ever else they do to get them as hard as they can.
My grandson thought he would try putting one in the microwave ooooops!
Well less said about that one the better.
I think his school still lets him play with them, but some schools have become to health and safety conscience that yes this old tradition is dying out.

Me mum used to say when i was a kid "Mind or you'll have your eye out with that!" Ha Ha!! always thought that was a strange thing to say how can anyone have there eye out playing with conkers, i would think it was totally impossible. lol!!