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A Sense Of Place |
Thursday,
25th September, 2003
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The
'ancient' game of conkers hasn't been around for as long as you
might think.
Here
are our top ten conker facts.
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Conkers
are the fruit (or seeds) of horse chestnut trees (botanic name:
Aesculus). |
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Horse
chestnut trees originally came from Albania and Greece. They
weren't introduced to the UK until the 1600s. |
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Before
horse chestnuts were used to play conkers, snail-shells were
used. Snail shells were sometimes called 'conkers'. |
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The
first recorded game of conkers was not until 1848. |
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A
favoured way of going conkering (collecting the conkers from
a tree) is throwing sticks up into the tree's branches. |
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In
2001, Norwich City Council suggested felling seven horse chestnut
trees because they feared the conkers were a danger to pedestrians,
who could slip on the mulch they leave behind. |
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In
October, 2001, Eamonn Dooley, from County Kilkenny, Ireland,
smashed 306 conkers in an hour. |
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Some
schools have banned children from playing conkers because they
are seen as 'dangerous weapons'. |
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In
1999, the charity ActionAid applied to patent the game of conkers.
It was protesting at companies trying to take out patents on
existing crops, such as basmati rice, and the patenting of life
forms. |
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The
wood of the horse chestnut tree used to be used to make artificial
limbs, because it was light and easy to shape. |
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