Conker King and Queen

[Guest guest]

LONDON (Reuters) - The world crowned a new King and Queen on Sunday --

of the conker.

 

Amid much revelry and great intensity on the village green in the

town of Ashton, Chris Jones, 48, of London was declared Conker King

out of an initial field of 256 entrants.

 

Sandy Gardener, 35, from the Dordogne region of France, was likewise

crowned Conker Queen for the year out of an entry of 64 women.

 

" It was very competitive but also very festive, " competition

ringmaster Richard Howard told Reuters. " This year we had entries

from 19 countries. "

 

Begun in 1965 by a group of friends whose fishing trip had been

cancelled, the event on the town's village green has become an annual

fair attracting hundreds of entrants and thousands of spectators --

enjoying the spectacle and the beer.

 

The rules are simple.

 

Each player has a conker -- the autumnal fruit of the horse chestnut

tree -- attached to a piece of string and takes turns in trying to

break their opponent's nut using a swinging motion.

 

To avoid the schoolboy tricks of either baking or pickling their

conkers to make them harder, or using elastic string to absorb some

of the shock of impact, the organisers dole out the ammunition to

each competitor.

 

Whereas last year's prize was a year's supply of a brand of ice cream

supplied by the sponsor, this year the new Conker King and Queen

received just a trophy for their pains.

 

" And of course the great kudos, " stressed Howard.