Ashton held the 44th World Conker Championship on the 12th October, with over 300 participants aiming to shatter through to the top three. People from across the globe gathered in the small village near Oundle, motivated to be crowned conqueror of the world.

Following a tough and tiresome few hours the victor of the championship claimed the bragging rights. The bookies favourite, Ray Kellock, 62, of Rushden took the men’s title, and Amy Farrow, of Essex, came out champion of the ladies’ title.

Commenting on his magnanimous triumph, Mr.Kellock put the win down to his “Kinetic Energy Theory”.

He said: “I’ve got a scientific mind and it made me think. I decided that it was better to hold my conker still, let the opponent whale away and then make sure I hit their conker every time, but not too hard. It seemed to work.” On account of Mr.Kellock’s occupation as a mechanic this scientific theorem comes with little surprise.

In the junior championship nine-year-old Thomas Whincup, of Stilton, Robert Winfield, 13, of Kettering, and Rebecca Moss, 15, of Warmington took the three crowns. A record of 20 countries from around the world competed, including Benin, Switzerland and Ukraine, to take the title from last year’s home-grown winner Ady Hurrell, from Whittlesey.

As a charitable event the World Conker Championship proved exceptionally successful with an estimated figure of £24,000 raised. Displaying his elation, Ashton Conker Club secretary John Hadman said the day was a complete success.

“It’s been wonderful; the weather has been great and everybody’s happy. People come to the conker championships because it is a great event. We have built it up over the years into a really good family fun day out and it is a way for us to raise as much money as we can to give to charities for the visually impaired.”

The World Conker Championships were conceived in 1965.A small prize was awarded to the winner and a collection was made for charity by someone who had a blind relative. This then became an annual event with entrants increasing in number and any resulting money being donated to the Royal National Institute for the Blind for ‘Talking Books’.

It became a truly international event when a host of other countries began to participate and over the years there have been entries from all over the world.

In 1976 the title went overseas for the first time when it went to Mexico. In 1998 there were nearly fifty overseas players and the Men’s title went to Germany’s Helmut Kern. In 2000 the Ladies’ title went to Austria’s Selma Becker. In the early years many of the winners were local, some individuals taking the title on more than one occasion.

Mark your calendars now for the 2009 World Conker Championships, which will be held on the Green at Ashton on 11th October 2009 from 10:30 am to 3:00 pm.