WHAT DOES BREXIT MEAN FOR CONKERS?

At 11pm tonight, 31st January 2020, the UK leaves the EU. Much has been said since the night of 23rd June 2016, when the UK voted 52% to leave, beginning the long road to Britain’s exit, or Brexit, as it became known.

Whatever your position, whether you support Brexit, voted to remain or are ambivalent, the overwhelming feeling across the country appears to be frustration: at how long it has taken, at the lack of accountability and at the negotiations. It is on the negotiations that Conker Cup feels most let down. Having skim-read at least three documents relating to Brexit over the last four years, we were alarmed to find no mention of conkers at all.

Chestnut Chat, our media affiliate, has been investigating the impact of Brexit on conkers.

Travel

Horse chestnut trees can now be found across Europe, but they were originally native only to Albania, Bulgaria, Greece and North Macedonia. Bulgaria and Greece are EU member states, and Albania and North Macedonia are recognised as official candidate countries. The pilgrimage made to these countries by many conker fans is now likely to be complicated by travel visas and similar requirements. Although it is unlikely, the conker’s countries of origin could try to capitalise on the UK’s love of nut swinging by introducing what would in effect be a conker tax on UK residents known to be travelling for nut sport.

Trees

There is also the question of the horse chestnut trees themselves. The European Forestry Commission, established as part of the Paris Agreement, is responsible for protecting, among other things, trees. The horse chestnut tree is currently listed as “near threatened”, and there is concern among leading figures in the conker world that the UK may not focus as closely on protecting the conker’s parent tree. In a separate interview, Colin Bucket, a UK conker wrangler, said: “I’m concerned.”

The game

Travel and trees aside, the most important element is the game itself. The Conker Federation (CF), the UK’s unofficial conker governing body, had this to say about Brexit and its impact on the game:

“The game of conkers is as old as time, approximately 150 years. The UK is undoubtedly the world leader in nut sports; however, there are pockets of nut enthusiasts in the US, particularly New York and of course Ohio (the buckeye state). Much of the CF’s activity over the last few years has been around exporting the game to European countries. Clearly Brexit is not going to help that process. That said, we remain hopeful that if we extend our nuts across the Channel, the good people of Europe will receive them, and in turn allow us to play with their nuts.”

Time will tell what happens to conkers in both the UK and Europe. We will keep our fingers crossed that the sport continues to grow, and we invite one and all to apply for a place at Conker Cup 2020.