"I wish I was a chestnut tree, nourished by the sun, with leaves and twigs and branches, and conkers by the ton." - Tony Hancock
I can't resist collecting conkers (and acorns), and a recent walk yielded quite a haul. There are plenty of conkers about, as children don't seem to play with them any more.
Howard Jacobson bemoans the fact that thousands of conkers lie on the ground unnoticed and uncherished.
"You can’t play with them on your smart phone – is that why they are forgotten? Here, then, is a suggestion: drop your phone in vinegar, drive a nail into it, attach it to a piece of string and see how many other phones you can destroy. Then, when they’re all gone, go looking for a conker on a bright autumnal morning."
Wonderful! Click here to read Jacobson's full piece, "A conker is a rite of passage."
It's probably an old wives' tale that placing conkers in corners of your house will keep spiders away. There's some evidence, however, to suggest that aescin, found in conkers, can help treat sprains and bruises. Click here to find out more.
It's not only the fruits of the horse chesnut tree that are attractive, the blossoms are beautiful too. Click here to learn more and watch a lovely, short video on the life cycle of the tree.
I'm off to find some vinegar!
Writing prompts:
- Do you have a favourite tree? Write about it for a few minutes.
- Make a list of the games you played as a child (including perhaps conkers), then choose one of them to write about in more detail.
- Is Howard Jacobson right? Are children nowadays missing out on traditional games in favour of technology? Write down your thoughts.
- Write a poem about conkers.
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