Nine Strikes, Five Minutes and a Measured String: the World Conker Championship Is on the Eleventh of October

The World Conker Championships are held on the second Sunday of October, which this year falls on the 11th, at the Shuckburgh Arms in Southwick, Northamptonshire. Play runs from half past ten until three.

A match is nine strikes with a five-minute limit. If both conkers survive, judges decide on technique and the number of successful hits. The length of the string is measured, and there are rules covering snagging and other misdemeanours. Conkers are supplied pre-strung by the organisers, which is the single most important rule in the competition.

That rule exists because of an obvious problem. A conker can be baked, soaked in vinegar, kept a year, or replaced altogether with something that is not a conker, and none of those is easy to detect once it is on a string in someone's hand. Removing the competitor's control over the object is the only workable answer.

It has still not settled the question. In 2024 an allegation surfaced that a competitor known as King Conker had used a metal conker. The story travelled a long way beyond the village, and the effect on the following year's event was a record attendance, which is a familiar pattern in small sports: a cheating scandal is the most effective publicity available and costs nothing to produce.

The championships have been running for more than fifty years, starting on the village green at Ashton before moving to Southwick, and they draw entrants from well outside Britain.

Adults must pre-register online. Children can register on the day, before ten. Spectator entry is four pounds and parking is free.