An unusual English game and pastime.
CONQUERING CONKERS
How to fight
with conkers!
ARE THERE ANY UNUSUAL SPORTS OR GAMES FROM YOUR COUNTRY?
IN THE AUTUMN, THE ENGLISH LIKE TO PLAY CONKERS.
A
conker is the seed of
a horse-chestnut tree.
It’s small, round, dark
brown in colour, and
perfect for conker fights. A conker
fight is simple, but the preparation
can be complicated. First, you
need to find a good, strong
conker. Then, you need to put a
hole in it. You can do this with a
drill. Next, you place a piece of
string through the hole and tie
a knot at one end. Now, your
conker is ready for a conker fight.
Fighting with conkers is great fun.
You and your opponent stand
facing one another with your
conkers ready. Then, you take
turns trying to hit one another’s
conker. Each player holds their
conker and fires it at their
opponent’s conker. The objective
of the game is to break the other
person’s conker – which is usually
achieved by hitting it as hard as
you can.
The game is popular amongst
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schoolchildren, but many
adults play too. There’s
even an annual conker
competition: The World
Conker Championships.
It’s held every year
Michael
on the second Palin
Sunday in October in
the ancient market town of
Oundle (Northamptonshire).
There are two categories: The
Men’s Competition and the
Ladies’ Competition. British
men have won every year
except 1976 when Mexican
Jorge Ramirez won the Men’s
Competition final, and in 1998
when Helmut Kern of Germany
won. British women have
won every year except for
2000 when Selma Becker of
Austria took the title, and in
2001 when Frenchwoman
Celine Parachou won. Other
famous festivals include the
Poulton International Conker
Festival, which takes place in
Gloucestershire.
Conkers have been
in the news a lot GLOSSARY
a seed n
recently. In 2004, one the part of a plant from which other
plants grow
headmaster told his a drill n
pupils they would a tool for making holes in things
a knot n
have to wear goggles if you tie a “knot” in a piece of
if they wanted to string, you pass one end of it
through a loop and pull it tight
play. He was worried hard adv
if you hit something “hard”, you use
about possible injuries. Several a lot of force to hit it
other schools banned conker to be held (in a place) exp
if an event is “held” in a place, it
fighting. In 1993, ex-Monty happens there
Python actor Michael Palin was a market town n
the main town in an agricultural
disqualified from a conker area – usually one where a market
is regularly held
competition for cheating (he a headmaster n
had baked his conker and the male director of a school
goggles n
soaked it in vinegar - typical special glasses to protect your eyes
methods for hardening your to ban vb
to prohibit
conker). Some argue that to disqualify vb
if you are “disqualified” from a
“artificially” hardening your game/competition, you cannot
conker is against the spirit of compete in it
to cheat vb
the game. Others say it’s a valid to do something dishonest in a
tactic. So, will you be playing game/competition
to bake vb
conkers this season?  to cook in an oven (an electrical
appliance for cooking food)
to soak vb
For more information on the if you “soak” something in a liquid,
you put it in that liquid for a period
World Conker Championship, of time
visit: http:// www. to harden vb
to make harder. “Hard” is the
worldconkerchampionships.com opposite of “soft”
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