Northamptonshire: Thousands attend World Conker Championships

The World Conker Championships first took place in Ashton, Northamptonshire, in 1965

About 2,000 people flocked to watch the return of the World Conker Championships.

The event was cancelled last year due to Covid-19, but returned to see 2019 champion Jasmine Tetley retain her title.

The championships, which took part in Southwick, Northamptonshire, have been running since 1965.

Organiser Charles Whalley, from Ashton Conker Club, said the day out had been "a real treat" for people.

As well as retaining her overall title, Ms Tetley also headed up the event's winning team, named 'We Came, We Saw, Jasmine Conkered'.

Ady Hurrell won the men's event. In all, 250 people competed in the championship.

Official rules

Jasmine Tetley led 'We Came, We Saw, Jasmine Conkered' to the team championship title

• Conkers are provided for each game and cannot be tampered with or reused

• There must be at least 20cm (8in) of lace between knuckle and nut

• Each player takes three alternate strikes at their opponent's conker, with a game decided once one of the conkers is smashed

• If a game lasts for more than five minutes it is halted and each player will be allowed a further nine strikes

• If neither conker is smashed, the winner is the player who hit the nut the most times during this period

Mr Whalley said extra measures had been put in place to mitigate against coronavirus.

"It's outside, we had more space and more places for people to sit down, away from the competitors, hand sanitisers everywhere, we've done as much as we can," he said.

"Competitors have to be a metre apart, anyway. We're meeting all the guidelines."