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Annual World Conker Championships

1978 , Ashton (Northamptonshire)

Cat no. 102752

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The World Conker Championships are held in a large grassy garden surrounded by trees. The male competitors are watched by crowds standing and sitting behind ropes and a sign advertising traditional ale. Two contestants prepare to play, watched by a man wearing a Union Jack hat and multiple strings of conkers around his neck, and carrying a hooked stick (Vic Owen, 'King Conker'). Two more competitors play, and then the Champion of the year Les Treliving in formal suit and tie knocks out a conker and shakes hands with his competitor and the umpire.

Keywords

Sport; Conkers; Chestnuts; Nuts; Childhood games; Competition

Background Information

The World Conker Championships (WCC) are held annually on the second Sunday in October in the county of Northamptonshire, England. Two players use conkers threaded onto a string and take turns to strike the other’s nut until it shatters. Since 1965, conker players from around the world have gathered to compete in a knock-out, to be world champion in team and individual, also women's and youth titles. The Championships began in 1965 when a group of anglers in Ashton held a conker contest at the Chequered Skipper public house because the weather was too bad to go fishing. The event was held in Ashton for 45 years before moving to a larger venue at the Shuckburgh Arms in Southwick, Northamptonshire in 2009. Money made from the competition goes to charities. L. Treliving won the men's World Championship once in 1978. Wikipedia Round his neck, Vic Owen, 'King Conker' wears one garland of conkers for each year of the contest.

Manifestations

Annual World Conker Championships

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