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Small British conkers put 2025 World Championships in jeopardy
Published by Global Banking and Finance Review
Posted on September 22, 2025
2 min readLast updated: January 21, 2026
Global Banking and Finance Review
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Published by Global Banking and Finance Review
Posted on September 22, 2025
2 min readLast updated: January 21, 2026
The 2025 World Conker Championships face uncertainty as smaller British conkers, due to a hot summer, threaten the event's success.
LONDON (Reuters) -Britain's hot and dry summer has put this year's World Conker Championships in jeopardy with a series of heatwaves leading to smaller than normal conkers, organisers say.
The event began in 1965, raising thousands of pounds for charity, and since 2013 conkerers from around the world have descended on the Shuckburgh Arms pub in the Northamptonshire village of Southwick.
This year, however, Britain's horse chestnut trees, on which grow the shiny inedible nuts which have been used to play conkers for generations, are not delivering their usual crop.
"It's been a worrying time, a really worrying time. Because we want the big, good, fresh conkers because they're the best for the championships," organiser Charles Whalley told the Daily Mail.
"We hope that in a couple of weeks' time we'll be able to go around and collect the final conkers we'll actually use."
The game of Conkers involves inserting a shoelace in a hole pierced through the nut before entering battle. Contests involve players taking it in turns to strike each other's nut with their own conker until one shatters.
This year's event is scheduled for October 10 and organisers are still optimistic it will go ahead as planned.
Duels are umpired to prevent foul play.
Last year's men's competition proved controversial after the winner, 82-year-old David Jakins, was accused of using a steel conker. He was subsequently exonerated.
"We are gentlemen at the World Conker Championships and we don't cheat," Jakins, known as King Conker, said after being cleared.
"I admit I had the steel conker in my pocket, but I didn't play with it. I show it to people as a joke, but I won't be bringing it again."
(Reporting by Martyn Herman, editing by Ed Osmond)
Britain's hot and dry summer has led to smaller than normal conkers, putting this year's World Conker Championships in jeopardy.
This year's event is scheduled for October 10, and organizers remain optimistic it will proceed as planned.
The event began in 1965 and has raised thousands of pounds for charity, attracting conkerers from around the world since 2013.
Last year's men's competition was controversial after the winner, David Jakins, was accused of using a steel conker, but he was later exonerated.
The game involves inserting a shoelace through a hole in the nut and then players take turns striking each other's conkers.
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