Climatic conker champs crisis conveniently clears

James Packer, the championship chairman, with his secret weapon for this year’s event

Kate Bradbrook/BBC James Packer wearing a black hat with floral decorations, a black shirt, grey waistcoat and green shorts, carrying two massive chestnuts on ropes. He is walking on grass with a green gazebo behind him. — James Packer, the championship chairman, with his secret weapon for this year’s event

Fears that storms may cause havoc with an unusual international sporting event have been put to rest.

Organisers of the World Conker Championships in Southwick in Northamptonshire say there are enough horse chestnut seeds for this year’s tournament.

Recent storms had blown hundreds of conkers out of the trees, raising concerns that they might rot before the big day.

Two thousand people are expected in the village for the event on Sunday.

The playing area has to be rigorously tested before the big day

Kate Bradbrook/BBC A woman with blond hair and a man in a blue cap play conkers while a man in a large black hat watches. Another game is going on behind them. There are blue mats on the floor and "World Conker Championship" signs around a fenced-off arena. — The playing area has to be rigorously tested before the big day

James Packer, the chairman of the championship, said: “The storms brought down a tremendous amount of conkers from the trees, and they were rotting before we could get them for the competition.

“We’ve always had this contingency plan of freezing conkers from the previous year to play with if absolutely necessary, but fortunately it looks as though we might be out of the problem with that and we’ve not had to use them.”

David Jakins, known as King Conker, will start the proceedings off on Sunday

Kate Bradbrook/BBC David Jakins with short white hair wearing a black bowler hat and a green cloak decorated with conkers. He is holding a wooden stick and sitting in a green marquee. — David Jakins, known as King Conker, will start the proceedings off on Sunday

Northamptonshire has been going bonkers for conkers since 1965, when the county hosted the championships for the first time.

It was held at Ashton near Oundle for 45 years, before moving to a bigger site at the Shuckburgh Arms in Southwick.

It has truly conkered the world, with competitors coming from places as far flung as Australia, Canada, Mexico, Poland and Sri Lanka.

The event has also raised £420,000 for charity over the years,

Sue Howes, a previous winner, now threads around 2,000 conkers for the competition

Kate Bradbrook/BBC Sue Howes with short white hair wearing a pink anorak and peeling a conker. There is a pile of conkers in front of her on a table. She is in a room with a wooden door and sitting next to another woman in a colourful sweater who is selecting conkers. — Sue Howes, a previous winner, now threads around 2,000 conkers for the competition

Women were not allowed to play in the competition until 1988, but Sue Howes took advantage of a change in the rules to win the women’s competition in 2009.

She now helps out by picking good nuts and threading about 2,000 conkers for battle.

She said: “We just go through these and look and think ‘Oh yes, that’s a good one’ or ‘that’s a rubbish one’, it’s a matter of feeling them.”

The contest was only for men until 1988, but competition was fierce in the women’s section last year

Two women, one with long white hair and dark glasses wearing a dark cloak and holding a conker up while the other with short white hair and dark glasses wearing a pink outfit takes aim with her conker. There are spectators behind a fence and a "World Conker Championship" sign — The contest was only for men until 1988, but competition was fierce in the women’s section last year

All the conkers used in the event are supplied by the organisers and players draw them “blind” from a bag.

They then have to hold their nuts so there is no less than eight inches (20cm) between them and their knuckles.

Each player takes alternate strikes at their opponent’s nut until one of them disintegrates.

No matter who ends up as the ultimate conkerer, they will all say they have had a smashing time.

Not that old chestnut again…

Conker quality control begins ahead of the World Championships

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