World Conker Championships

The World Conker Championships began in 1965 when a group of anglers in Ashton held a conker contest at the Chequered Skipper public house[3] because the weather was too bad to go fishing.[2] The event was held in Ashton for 45 years before moving to a larger venue at the Shuckburgh Arms[10] in Southwick, Northamptonshire in 2009.[5][6] Money made from the competition goes to charities such as the Northamptonshire Association for the Blind and the Huntingdon Society for the Blind.

The tournament has been threatened with conker shortages over the years, in 1976 conkers used in the tournament had to be flown in from Jersey,[11] in 1980 freak spring weather was one of the factors that threatened the World Conker Championships causing a conker shortage, and in 1982 a late frost killed off the horse chestnut blossom resulting in a failed conker harvest.[11]

On Thursday 6 October 2011, Ashton Conker Club the organisers of the World Conker Championships were forced to cancel the event over safety fears with high winds being forecasted.[12] In 2012, the championships were cancelled again when a suitable venue couldn't be found in time.[13]

Concerns for the future of the event were voiced over the Horse-chestnut leaf miner moth, Cameraria ohridella, which has appeared in the region and could have a detrimental effect on the UK's Horse-chestnut population affecting conker yields.[10]

On 9 October 2017, Chelsea pensioner John Riley won the men's tournament at the age of 85, quite possibly making him the oldest world champion on the planet.[14]

in 2018, Her Majesty The Queen and Sir David Attenborough chatted about conkers in a 2018 TV documentary.

Players' Rules of Engagement for the Noble Game of Conkers as follows:

1. Prior to the game, over 2,000 conkers (horse chestnuts) of the required 1.25-inch (30 mm) width are collected, drilled and strung ready by tournament officials.[1]
2. Each game will commence with a toss of a coin, the winner of the toss may elect to strike or receive.
3. A distance of no less than 8" or 20 cm of lace must be between knuckle and nut.
4. Each player then takes three alternate strikes at the opponent's conker.
5. Each attempted strike must be clearly aimed at the nut, no deliberate miss hits.
6. The game will be decided once one of the conkers is smashed.
7. A small piece of nut or skin remaining shall be judged out, it must be enough to mount an attack.
8. If both nuts smash at the same time then the match shall be replayed.
9. Any nut being knocked from the lace but not smashing may be re threaded and the game continued.
10. A player causing a knotting of the laces (a snag) will be noted, three snags will lead to disqualification.
11. If a game lasts for more than five minutes then play will halt and the "5-minute rule" will come into effect. Each player will be allowed up to nine further strikes at their opponent's nut, again alternating three strikes each. If neither conker has been smashed at the end of the nine strikes then the player who strikes the nut the most times during this period will be judged the winner.

All players are British except where indicated with a national flag icon.

Year	Mens Individual	Ladies Individual	Team Winner	Ladies Team	Junior (7–11)	Youth/Intermediate (11–15)	Young adult (16–18)
1965	Ron Marsh	-	-	-	-	-	-
1966	Sid Walden[15]	-	-	-	-	-	-
1967	L. Collins	-	-	-	-	-	-
1968	Tim Winham	-	-	-	-	-	-
1969	Peter Midlane	-	-	-	-	-	-
1970	John M. Hillyard	-	-	-	-	-	-
1971	T. Dicks	-	-	-	-	-	-
1972	Ron Marsh	-	-	-	-	-	-
1973	Peter Midlane[8]	-	-	-	Simon Bayliss[8]	-	-
1974	J Marsh	-	-	-	-	-	-
1975	J Marsh	-	-	-	-	-	-
1976	Jorge Ramirez Carrillo [16][6]	-	-	-	-	-	-
1977	C. Childs	-	-	-	-	-	-
1978	L. Treliving	-	-	-	-	-	-
1979	Charlie Bray[11]	-	-	-	-	-	-
1980	Keith Height[11]	-	-	-	-	-	-
1981	Bill Cox[11]	-	-	-	-	-	-
1982	Jim Blackman	-	-	-	-	-	-
1983	S. Rowan	-	-	-	-	-	-
1984	R. Langer	-	-	-	-	-	-
1985	Peter Midlane	-	-	-	-	-	-
1986	Charlie Bray	-	-	-	Luke Bilson	Craig Belson	-
1987	John Hawes	-	-	-	-	Martin Nikel	-
1988	W. Cox	Sheila Doubleday	-	-	-	Martin Nikel	-
1989	P. Short	Christina Bateman	-	-	Fiona Kingdom	Lempriere	-
1990	H. Watson	Mary Bedford	-	-	-	Faye Elliott	-
1991	John Bull	Pauline Baker	-	-	-	Lisa Crews	-
1992	P. Canning	J. Courtney	Chequered Skipper 'B' Team	-	-	M. Hutcheson	-
1993	M. Tindall	Sheila Doubleday	Chequered Skipper 'B' Team	-	M. Heatherington	R. Rawcliffe	-
1994	James Marsh	Tina Stone	The Crocodile	-	Daniel Jacks	James Nikel	-
1995	Brian Jackson	Judi Rabbit	The Brigstock International Quartet	The Wilpave Swingers	Tim Maguire	James Gould	-
1996	John Bull	Karen Morgan	Sebright Arms	Nutcracker Suite	Richard Fuller	James Nikel	Ian Smith
1997	Paul Vjestica	Louise Bunker	Nelson Nutcrackers	The Minge Petals	Graham Clark	Diane Allen	-
1998	Helmut Kern [6]	Lesley Bullock	Nauort 2	Sebright Arms	Matthew Storrow	Jonathon Lyan	Ashley Thomas
1999	Jody Tracey	Margaret Twiddy	Absolutely Hammered	Wilpave Sweeties	Charlotte Laskey	Jack Jarvis	Chris Eccles
2000	Mark Tracey	Selma Becker	Barton Seagrave Bashers	The Minge Petals	Rachel Mintern	Sally Rate	Tim Linnell
2001	Neil Fraser	Celine Parachou	Royal Oak Resistance	France Fillies	Duncan Winfrey	Max Aitken	Lewis Chilvers
2002	Richard Swailes	Liz Gibson	Elton Wasps	Castle Green Conkerers	Ruth Pritchard	Joseph Emery	-
2003	Brian Stewart	Debbie Oates	No Strings Attached	Magnificent 7 Minus 3	Kieran Campbell	William Pritchard	Lucy Walshaw
2004	Darren Foster	Alison Everett	Daniel Lambert Dining Club	Les Filles Francais	Kieran O'Connor	Jordan Witherall	James Robinson
2005	Alex Callan	Jayne Coddington	Peterborough Nutters	Magnificent 7 Minus 3	Callum Owen	William Pritchard	Kallom Nash
2006	Chris Jones	Sandy Gardner	Celtic Conkerors	France	Philip Broomhead	Jack Boon	Emma Ratcliffe
2007	Ady Hurrell	Tina Stone	Royal Haskoning Rest of the World	Magnificent 7 Minus 3	Philip Broomhead	Nicolas Rothera	Steven Wray
2008	Ray Kellock[4]	Amy Farrow[4]	Rushden Reprobates	France	Thomas Whincup	Robert Winfield	Rebecca Moss
2009	Thomas Gormley	Sue Howes	Peterborough Nutters	-	Evie Driscoll-King	Oliver Mas	Brent Walker
2010	Ray Kellock[17]	Wendy Bradford[4]	The Fairways	Sri Lankan Ladies [4]	Louis Carpenter	Samuel Lewin	Robyn Geldard
2011	Event Cancelled[12]	Bad weather	-	-	-	-	-
2012	Event Cancelled[13]	No venue	-	-	-	-	-
2013	Simon Cullum[18]	Sophie Knox[18]	Woodbeeez	event abolished	Harrison Scott	Oliver Simons	Georgie Spence-Jones
2014	John Doyle[19]	Stephanie Withall[19]	Woodbeeez	-	Elliott Hurrell	Daniel Devaney	Alex Wallman
2015	Steven Prescott[20]	Amy Farrow [20]	Woodbeeez	-	Peter Rogers	Isla Watson	Charlie Dathorne
2016	Tom Dryden[7]	Lorna Clarke[7]	Lord Robartes Nutters	-	William Chapman	Josh Broomhead	Oliver Simons[21]
2017	John Riley[14]	Julie Freeman[14]	Mutts Nutts	-	Benjamin Wallace	Faith Weatherington	Oliver Simons[21]

Shown in alphabetical order by surname in the event of a tie.

Individual Multiple Champions	Wins	Team Competition	Wins
Peter Midlane	3	France	4
Oliver Simons	3	Magnificent 7 Minus 3	3
Charlie Bray	2	Woodbeeez	3
Philip Broomhead	2	Chequered Skipper 'B' Team	2
John Bull	2	Peterborough Nutters	2
Bill Cox	2	Sebright Arms	2
Sheila Doubleday	2	The Minge Petals	2
Amy Farrow	2
Ray Kellock	2
J Marsh	2
Ron Marsh	2
James Nikel	2
Martin Nikel	2
William Pritchard	2
Tina Stone	2

• Her Majesty The Queen and Sir David Attenborough talk conkers 2018 by Express
• 2017 World Conker Championship by thevideoclipplace on Youtube
• 2016 World Conker Championship by BBC Northampton on Youtube
• 2015 World Conker Championship by Trans World Sport on Youtube
• 2014 World Conker Championship courtesy of Youtube
• 2013 World Conker Championship by NDTV on Youtube
• 2010 World Conker Championship by Ben Moseby
• 2008 World Conker Championship by TIME
• 2007 World Conker Championship by ITN on Youtube
• 1974 World Conker Championship by ITV on Youtube