In the East End of London, we called it Conkers too.

Conkers were the fruit of the Horse Chestnut tree came out in the fall. We’d throw branches into the trees to get them to drop. They were green prickly things, which when you opened up you’d find a big brown acorn type of nut. You’d skew a hole through the center and tie a knot to create the conker on a string.

We’d have battles with our conkers. You’d go to school with them and play in the playground. One guy would hold his conker up and the other guy would whip his over and try to break the oppnent’s. Whoever’s conker lasted was the winner.

Everybody had different ways to make their conkers stronger. Some people would soak their’s in vinegar, others would bake them in an oven. If you had a really good one you’d give it a name to reresent each of it’s victories. (this is a sixer – meaning it had defeated 6 other conkers – this is a twelver – it had beaten twelve).