This is a photo I took the other morning of a beautiful sunrise across the fields. On a lovely day, everything seems so crisp and clear at this time of year.
Autumn always brings back childhood memories of playing Conkers. Conkers are the fruits of the Horse Chestnut Tree. They are so shiny, that you would think that the tree fairies had been polishing them!
I used to spend hours with friends, collecting these from the local woods, and looking for the biggest and best conkers. This was a very serious business and all sorts of methods would be used to make our conkers hard, ready for the games ahead. We would soak them in vinegar or bake them in the oven, to name just a couple of tricks. A hole would then be made through the middle of each conker and a length of string attached.
We would take our conkers into school and the game would be played during break times. Somehow I can't imagine that being allowed now, with the Health & Safety zealots around. The conker to break first would be the loser! The traditional game of conkers is actually named from the word 'conquer' as the aim of the game is to conquer one another's conkers. Clever, eh?! Apparently, there is even a World Conker Championship. Who knew?!
Can anyone else remember playing Jacks?! I was an only child, so I suppose this game was ideal for me, and I can remember playing it for hours, although you could play it with others.
I remember having such fun as a child. Certainly, there's no denying that life was so much simpler then and, of course, not many of our mums used to go out to work. Another favourite was to make Dens at the local park and take a picnic along. It really was just like something out of Enid Blyton's Famous Five or Secret Seven. Here is one of my Enid Blyton books that was given to me on my birthday in 1958!
Perhaps I'll talk about more childhood games in a future post. Hope you’re all having a good weekend.
