News for hackers. Stuff that matters.
Re:Cheating alleged after men's world conker champion found ... by ccppurcell on Tuesday October 15, 2024 @01:05AM (#41845122)
It never occurred to me that conkers could be a class thing and you could be right. But let it be known that conkers was extremely popular at my state school; me and all of my friends grew up to be pretty left wing too by the way. Also they banned it at my school, along with pogs, yoyos, etc.
Re:Cheating alleged after men's world conker champion found ... by Closi on Tuesday October 15, 2024 @01:26AM (#41845219)
It's not a class thing.

Fox hunting, horse riding, polo and skiing... yes. Conkers, No.

Re:Cheating alleged after men's world conker champion found ... by arethuza on Tuesday October 15, 2024 @03:55AM (#41846005)
Depends where you are - I went to a very modest comprehensive in Scotland and yet we still went skiing at weekend to Cairngorm because it was close.
Re:Cheating alleged after men's world conker champion found ... by robjan on Tuesday October 15, 2024 @01:27AM (#41845228)
Wherever there is a chestnut tree you'll get conkers. I would imagine it's more of a town/village vs city thing rather than class thing.
Re:Cheating alleged after men's world conker champion found ... by swores on Tuesday October 15, 2024 @01:32AM (#41845243)
Which of those are you imagining doesn't have horse chestnut trees? (Conkers come from those, not plain chestnut trees)

I'm sure there are parts of the country where they're less common, but there's huge numbers of conkers falling off trees in big British cities (even if the majority will be in parks) as well as in the countryside. We played with them at my pre-teen city centre school for sure, and the trees are a common sight on roads and in gardens as well as public parks.

edit: the Woodland trust actually says "Though rarely found in woodland, it is a common sight in parks, gardens, streets and on village greens."

Re:Cheating alleged after men's world conker champion found ... by seanhunter on Tuesday October 15, 2024 @02:16AM (#41845459)
Live in London in Zone 2 and there are absolutely tons of conker trees around me including in areas which are not posh. They are very common in an urban setting.[1]

[1] Which kind of sucks for me personally because they cause me really terrible hayfever. I think I'm specifically alergic to their pollen maybe.

Re:Cheating alleged after men's world conker champion found ... by m463 on Tuesday October 15, 2024 @01:49AM (#41845324)
What if you ski in jeans?
Re:Cheating alleged after men's world conker champion found ... by dagw on Tuesday October 15, 2024 @03:40AM (#41845906)
Skiing is a much more expensive activity in most of Britain, mainly since it requires taking a week off work, international flights and hotels to be able to participate. And to become good at skiing you'll have to do that once or twice a year for many years. In places where the local ski slope is a bus ride away it is much less of a class/wealth thing.
Re:Cheating alleged after men's world conker champion found ... by arethuza on Tuesday October 15, 2024 @03:59AM (#41846051)
The height of ski chic in Scotland used to, at least when I skied regularly, consist of offshore foul weather gear emblazoned with the name of the oil company (or oil service company) the wearer had borrowed it from.
Re:Cheating alleged after men's world conker champion found ... by peterleiser on Tuesday October 15, 2024 @02:45AM (#41845651)
Exactly! I used to ski double black diamonds in the Sierra Nevada range wearing jeans, with gaiters to keep the snow out of my boots.
Re:Cheating alleged after men's world conker champion found ... by blitzar on Tuesday October 15, 2024 @03:35AM (#41845877)
Eton wall game is a class thing. Conkers is not.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eton_wall_game

Re:Cheating alleged after men's world conker champion found ... by defrost on Tuesday October 15, 2024 @03:49AM (#41845964)
Considerably more pleasant than the St. Tadger's Day wall game played at Graybridge public school.

https://youtu.be/dDjV9iKmT9k?t=118