A Peckham-based conker club that hosts an annual competition attracted over 300 people to compete for a 22-carat gold conker.
Peckham Conker Club was started in 2017 by Chris Quigley, 44, who lives in the area. “I used to walk my dog through Peckham Rye, which is surrounded by conker trees. I used to collect them but then I thought, wouldn’t it be fun to start a club where people could come and compete!”
“It really appeals to people’s fighting instinct. Safely, of course,” Chris added.
The 2022 Peckham Conker Championships took place earlier this month on Saturday October 8 at the Brick Brewery Tap Room on Peckham Rye. “It was great. People said it was the only event they’ve been to where all ages and genders compete in the same place. It’s a universal game.”
“We had three different categories: Juniors 8 and under, Juniors 8+ and Seniors.”
The winner of the seniors category was Harry Phillips, 28, from New Cross – who first heard about the competition when he was looking for the rules when playing a game in his garden.
“We’d collected some conkers from the trees in our garden over the years. I started having conker fights with my brother and my mates – but we thought we should start following the exact rules,” he told the News.
“We saw there was an upcoming competition so we thought it would be a laugh. The crowd for the junior competition was pretty awesome and it made me reminisce about playing as a kid.
“I had scored the most in the group so went on to the next rounds where I continued to smash the other conkers to pieces.
“When the final game came around, I was thrown to the floor in a tussle and thought that I was done for sure, but my conker was still on the string on the floor. If my opponent had stamped on it and destroyed it, he would’ve won. But luckily I picked it up and we went again. Eventually I hit my opponent’s conker and it exploded!
“I won the golden conker and the rest is history.”
The golden conker, nicknamed ‘The Nugget’, is the prize to be won: a conker wrapped in 22 carat gold by Camberwell-based ‘gilder-to-the-stars’ Elena.
So what’s the secret to a winning conker?
“Age it in a dark cool place like a garage, ” Harry says. “Some of them will rot over time, but the ones that don’t will become solid.”
It’s an age-old trick that putting it in the oven also works to harden it, but Harry is not convinced. “I tried the oven – it didn’t work,” he said.
The rules of conkers (Peckham-style)
Peckham Conker Club plays according to Battle Royale Rules. Battle Royale is an anything-goes approach to conkers.
-
Players face their opponents, 1 meter apart – with their conker out-stretched in front of them
-
Each player takes x3 strikes at the opponent’s conker & alternate
-
The game continues until the winner smashes the other’s nut
-
The victor does a victory dance – humiliation is essential
-
Repeat – until bored / your arm gets sore