SIDEBAR

World Conker Championships

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Oct 15 2007

Around 400 competitors gathered to have a crack at each other’s nuts on Sunday at the World Conker Championships in Ashton, Peterborough. Perhaps someone had cast a spell over the French this weekend? Adding insult to injury after the rugby defeat, Ady Hurrell was crowned the King of Conkers by defeating runner-up John Ingram, who led the French team!

The rules are simple. Each player is given a “Competition-standard” conker attached to a piece of lace and takes turns in trying to break their opponent’s nut using a swinging motion.

The world tournament came about after a group of local friends had to cancel their annual fishing trip one year. While in the bar, they saw conkers falling onto the village green and went out and had a game. Since 1965, the championships have raised over £300,000 to help various charities for the blind.

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About this blog

The vast majority of posts in this blog are about quirky & eccentric competitions & festivals. I started it in 2006 in France with a competition I’ll never forget. Where contestants battle it out to become the World Champion Pig Squeeler, or ‘Cri du Cochon’. I had little knowledge back then of quite how far my pursuit of these kind of events would lead me. I’ve travelled all over Britain (and occasionally further afield) to capture our curiosities and quirks. There’s nothing uniquely eccentric about the British, you’ll find people all over the world up to all sorts of weird and wonderful activities, but we do have a remarkable capacity to embrace the madness. ‘A Brit Different’ is the book that was born from it, my labour of love! So what next? There’s always something interesting going on, so watch this space, only time will tell!

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