Conkers! Watching them ripen on the trees and then searching through the fallen leaves. In my memory, it was always a crisp dry morning in the autumn when mum and I would head out to look for them. Then home to prepare them by first making a hole through the centre, then threading a knotted string through. If dad were around, he would insist on baking them in the over (strictly against the rules!) to make them as hard as possible.
Then off to school, conker careful stashed in the bottom of my satchel. The wait for first break would seem never-ending, but soon enough it would come and out we would go conkers in hand. Does anyone remember the words we used when playing? I’m not sure I remember them all, but these are a few: Tips when the swinging conker just brushes the opposing conker. Strings when the strings tangle. Stampsies when someone loses their conker, and everyone else rushes over to stamp on it. How about scramble which happened when someone let go of a string, and a conker went sailing across the playground. Then it was a mad dash to try to grab and own the fallen conker.
Did you ever have a sixer? If you did you probably remember the heartbreak of getting it smashed. I often had a one-er or two-er but rarely got as far as a sixer. For those of you who don’t know (can there be anybody who doesn’t?) A one-er is when a conker breaks an opponent’s conker and so on.
Since those days I’ve had the pleasure of searching for conkers with my grandsons but never my granddaughters because they live in Australia. I’m not even sure if Horse Chestnut trees grow in Australia? I must remember to ask my son next time I speak to him.