Looking at autumn tree pictures on here reminded me of the fun I used to have as a child playing conkers. If anyone doesnt know what that is its putting the conker from the Horse Chestnut tree onto a thick string and bashing it against your friends conker to see whos was the strongest. We used to try alsorts to make our conker stronger the most popular of which was soaking it in vinegar for a while, ewwww the smell! There is a conker championship over here and apparently it is under threat due to a virus that Horse Chestnut trees are being hit by, the conkers have to be of a certain shape and size and most certainly not soaked in vinegar.The game has also been banned in a lot of schools due to the fact it is 'dangerous', hmmm bruised knuckles were part and parcel of a childhood fall and bits of flying conker were great fun to dodge! One thing that was importnant to remember though was do not play conkers with your older brother! he is just evil he aims for the knuckles :-o
I used to love playing conkers as a child and never thought of it as dangerous in any way. It was pure, clean, unadulterated fun. I think people nowadays are all way too concerned about a few bruises and scrapes. Never did us any harm after all. I say let kids be kids and have the enjoyment of playing with each other outdoors.
No it was great fun and something that meant we were outdoors hunting for conkers with the braver ones climbing the trees to get them, I only found it dangerous when I played with my big brother but as i say he was evil he he he, too much is being taken away from kids nowadays scrapes and bruises are part of being a child, I understand some thiings are just plain silly to let a child do but banging a few conkers what harm is there, I even heard a few years ago of one school saying kids could play conkers if they wore goggles , I can just picture a playground full of 8 year olds wearing goggles
It's a wonder any of us survived childhood according to todays standards! We didn't have seatbelts in cars,let alone airbags, and child seats. No bicycle helmets, no soft areas under play ground equipment, no antiseptic for every scrape or cut. Used to put mud on bee stings, let it dry and then pull the mud off and it took ot the stinger. If there was no mud handy, then you took dirt and spit in it to make mud! We used to go swimming in the creek in the summer. The omly time Mom tried to stop us was during the big polio panic in the 1950's and we would still sneak off and go swimming. As a kid my favorite game was War! There were 2 versions that I would play with my 2 older brothers. One was with corn cob "Grenades". You only scored with a direct hit to some part of the body. The other version was with throwing sticks or "One way boomerangs". I think we may have studied about Australia that year in school. And all 3 of us have all of our fingers, toes and eyes and ears. No disfiguring scars to speak of either!
We didn't have any horse chestnuts around, so we didn't play conkers, but we did play lots of other games that led to bruises and aches. I often feel that children are prevented from doing what comes naturally because they're too heavily regulated in kindergartens and schools. Our country isn't the worst, though. We've had visitors from Europe who wanted to see how Norwegian children were allowed to risk falling down and hurting themselves. Study trip they called it. I'm partial to seat belts and air bags myself. There weren't many cars around when I was growing up. I also like the bicycle helmets. There's so much concrete and asphalt around these days.
I've never played Conkers, infact i've never heard of it. But it probaby would a favorite game i would of played...lol. I'm still adventurous the same as when i was a child. skiing, reindeer skiing, reindeer riding, swimming in the ocean and in bottomless lakes. I was using a knife when i was 3 and was pretty good with it too. I had my own. I was always out exploring. I also let my kids get hurt, let them learn for themselves what they can do and what they couldn't. its a shame kids today can't really be themselves and learn their own sense of adventure.
I play conkers with my kids, the same way I played with my dad when I was their age. I love conkers and used to pinch my dads boot laces to string them up. Yup, I agree, kids have to learn, people say to me, ooo, they will fall, or they will get hurt, and my reply is always the same, well, they will only do it the once then.
I never heard of that game. Probably a good thing, it sounds like something I could have used to inflict pain on my younger brother and terror in his heart :twisted: We never have gotten along very well.
I occasionally played conkers as a kid, great fun. Here is some footage from the World Conker Championships: [youtube]3_j4BtYGufY[/youtube]
Thank you for the video clip Frank I didnt think of looking for one. It shows off what conkers is all about Just such a shame the Horse Chestnut trees are sick I will try and find the article on the BBC news site that I found the information on. I adore trees I love the fact they grow for hundreds of years and if they could talk they would have the most wonderful tales to tell of what people did around them
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/nort ... 548456.stm That is the link about the diseases afecting the Horse chestnut trees and consequently the conker championships apparently it is moths and cankers that are causing the problems though I am not sure what Cankers are
Now theres some cheap entertainment for the very long winters here. Just thinking if i get to bored and cabin fever with all the snow, i can get Kolbjørn to have a contest with...He would love this. Maybe i could even get Uncle to hold one of those while i practice.
