Conkers !

[mikey4444]

When I was a boy in the 50's and 60's, the streets were awash at this time of year, with boys on the hunt for the best conkers in the world. But none of the youth wing of my family have a clue what I am on about !

We seem to have a bumper crop this year, but do boys still play Conkers these days ?

[B00]

I saw a girl and a boy chucking a ruddy great big stick at a tree again and again the other week,after suspiciously watching them (thought a cat was up there at first) to see they were only after conkers.

[Sqad]

Morning mikey......no......Health & Safety issues surrounding the little darlings and of course sitting in front of the P.C's.

I remember conkers, very well...I had a 75 er........;-)

[EDDIE51]

Yes but nothing like it used to be. Too busy playing games on their computers and mobile phones.
I used to cycle out of town to a place I knew where there were loads of conkers. I filled bags with them and took them back to school and sold them to the other kids for something like a penny each. I made my 'pocket money' out of it.

[berniecuddles]

i remember sore knuckles

[Sqad]

bernie.......^^^^.......yes she was a "goer."

[Cloverjo]

I don't think they do, Mikey. My now 20-something year old used to collect conkers when he was younger, but there was no one else interested enough to play with. Too many screens for them to look at, nowadays, it seems.

[mikey4444]

I may have been unnecessarily sexist here ! I seem to remember that there were a few girls playing conkers when I was a lad but I don't think there was very many, as us boys could be rough little beasts !

[Cloverjo]

I was just trying to think if I ever played conkers, when I was young. I don't think I did. It was a very boyish thing back in the 70s. My dad used to find conkers for me and give advice about cooking them in vinegar etc. but I never used it or them.

[Rebecca01]

You are right there are hundreds of conkers outside my house once upon a time you couldn't find any as they had all been taken, kids play conker games on their phones and computers now!!

[bibblebub]

The old chestnut about health & safety being involved is not true - that was down to a solitary headmaster trying to make a point.

[janbee]

In my local park last week, I was hit in the head by a falling conker. It brought back lots of memories, all painful, of playing conkers as a child and being 100% useless at it and always getting walloped on the knuckles by aggressive opponents. !!

[mikey4444]

I think bibs is right here. We are far too quick to blame H+S for everything these days. As so many kids are shut away in their bedrooms with their computers these days, its hardly surprising that they aren't playing conkers....you have to go out into the fresh air to find them !

[Prudie]

I expect like whip and tops, hopscotch, skipping ropes for example it is far toooo boring these days. Most of those collecting them now are probably for an ineffective deterrent to spiders.

[Dee Sa]

they are old hat now and a tree near me they lie and rot on the ground, I remember my brother used to soak them in vinegar and put them aside for the next year. Kids of today inly play computer games, sad isn't it ?

[Prudie]

Being a girl of course I never played it - was there something about putting them in the oven to make them tougher??

[mikey4444]

By the way, I did enjoy the little joke in your post this morning..."old chestnut" ...well done bibs and so early to be so "on the ball" !

[B00]

Whilst I do like to see kids playing outside, I don't think it's fair to say that decades ago kids played outside instead of playing 'puter games. I think the correct term would be that they/ you played outside BECAUSE you didn't have 'puter games. you can bet your boots that if you did the vast majority of you/ them would've been slumped in front of a screen instead of playing conkers ;-)

[Prudie]

Absolutely B00, I play computer games now so I certainly would have back then.

[kvalidir]

They're the bane of my life at the moment. We have a few great big horse chestnut trees and I have to keep going out and picking them up to stop the dogs eating them as they're toxic ( wont kill them unless they eat tons but makes them horribly sick) so I collect 'em all up and stick 'em in a box and take them down to our local greengrocers who puts them outside the front of his shop for the local kids, who apparently do still play conkers at least to some degree.When I was little I played computer games and conkers- and marbles:)