Conkers season is here again!

Firstly what is a 'conker' ?

Well a conker is the seed of the horse chestnut tree (don't confuse it with the sweet chestnut tree, where we get the edible chestnuts from).

What is the game of conkers?

This has been a playground favourite game in the UK for as long as there have been playgrounds and horse chestnut trees, they were introduced into Britain in the 1600's. The first recorded game of conkers dates back to 1848 on the Isle of Wight. Conkers are hard brown nuts found in a prickly case that fall from the tree when ripe. The origin of the name 'conker' is unclear but it's believed that it comes from the French word 'cogner' meaning to hit.

In years past, there has been an abundance of conkers littering the ground underneath horse chestnut trees. However, recently in the UK you may have noticed that the leaves on the horse chestnuts were looking brown and wrinkled at the end of August. Apparently in the Midlands, South East and East Anglia, trees have been weakened by a disease called 'horse chestnut bleeding canker' and attacked by a moth called the 'horse chestnut leaf miner'.

There are many schools of thought on the best method to prepare the conker to remain intact under enemy fire on the battlefield. Some will initially choose a conker on its ability to float or sink in water. Conkers with internal damage will float, so always head for the ones at the bottom of the sink. A conker can be hardened by soaking it in vinegar, slowly baking it in an oven, or using a conker hardened from a previous year. I'm sure there are many other secret conker tips that will remain closely guarded. Once you have found the perfect conker, pierce a hole through the middle and carefully thread a piece of strong string or shoelace through the hole. The string should be about 12 inches long tied with a firm knot, so it doesn't pull back through.

The game is played between two players taking turns striking their opponent's conker with their own. If you are the one to be hit, let the conker hang down freely with the string wrapped around your hand once for support. Hold the conker at the height that the hitter requests. The striker will wrap the string of their conker in a similar fashion to your own taking the conker in the other hand and drawing it back to strike by releasing the conker with one hand, and swinging it down sharply with the other. The intent is to hit the opponent's conker as hard as possible, inflicting damage on your opponent. If the striker misses, they have two more tries before it passes across.

A victorious conker will inherit the scores of any conkers that it defeats. For instance, a game between two brand new conkers will render the winner a score of one, or one-er, but if the victorious conker had defeated a conker that already had a score of three, the champion then jumps to a score of four, or four-er. This scoring system may change in the course of a one-day event though.

The 2009 World Conker Championships will be held at New Lodge Fields, near Oundle, Northamptonshire on 11th October 2009. Competitors' places are going fast and thousands flock to Northamptonshire to watch this great spectacle as modern day gladiators fight for glory armed only with a nut and 12 inches of string.

Recipe to make a tough conker

You will need: A conker A piece of string about 30cm long A quarter of a pint of vinegar A jug An oven A hard surface A timer

Instructions:

Pour a quarter of a pint of vinegar into a jug.

Put your conker into the vinegar and leave for two minutes - no more! Make sure you use the timer.

Take the conker out and put it on a hard surface.

Heat the oven at 250°C. Make sure an adult does this for you.

Put your conker in the oven for one minute and 30 seconds.

Take you conker out of the oven and leave on a hard surface until lukewarm.

When the conker is cool enough to pick up, ask an adult to pierce a hole in your conker.

Thread your piece of string through the conker and tie in a knot.

Now you are ready to play conkers! but don't forget, if you play conkers, you do so at your own risk!