Nut The Nine O'Clock News
They breathed a sigh of relief yesterday, at the 42nd World Conker Championships in Ashton, Northamptonshire. Back in September, the theory was that a lack of rain meant contestants would have to ``fight'' each other with (their words, not mine) smaller, softer nuts. But all was well as 310 contestants lined up. Organisers had harvested and laced 2000 nuts for the championships, where it is simply unthinkable to rock up with one's own conker.
Just for the record, Sandie Gardner, 36, was crowned women's world champion, while the men's title went to Chris Jones, 48. The event took place on a green behind a pub - which is (if you think about it laterally) a great location.
The championships began in 1965 after a group of Ashtonians held a conker contest because the weather was too bad to go fishing.
Cultural observation: Conkers is a traditional sport played in September and October when nuts from the horse chestnut tree ripen. The game, popular with schoolchildren, is played by two people who string a lace through the centre of the nut and take it in turns to strike each other's conker with it. The winner is declared when the opponent's nut shatters.
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