When was the last time you had a conker fight?
You are REALLY asking about history..! Last time for me was when I was Evacuated during the 2nd.W.W. to Leicestershire, to a farm near the village of Scraptoft and there was a horse chestnut tree in front of the farm, by the little duck pond. I was 5 years old and went to school in the village school and during playtime, played ‘conkers’ with horse chestnuts I collected from the farm. The farm lady, Mrs.Hallister, saw me collecting ‘conkers’ and told me the only way to win conker battles was to soak the chestnuts in vinegar overnight and then bake them slowly, so they became rock-hard..! Mr Hallister would take the baked conkers and drill holes in them carefully, and arm them with a length of string. They were right, of course. I became invincible..! For every conker that you smashed, you added it to your score. I got up to ’90’ on my first series of battles.
