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Thousands of conker fans descended upon our region on Sunday to attend the annual World Conker Championships.

Now in its 56th year, the quintessentially English tournament was held amid glorious sunshine within the scenic Northants village of Southwick on October 8.

Following a full day of fanfare, spectacle and timeless family fun, the tournament saw Jasmine Tetley from Derbyshire crowned ‘Queen’ of the tournament.

Mark Hunter and Jasmine Tetley defeated all comers to be crowned the 2023 Conker World Championship's king and queen.

Mark Hunter, from Northamptonshire, walked away with the coveted ‘King’ title.

In a final showdown between the pair, Queen Jasmine beat King Mark to earn the ultimate bragging rights.

The 30-year-old from Long Eaton is the first person to win the prestigious tournament three times. Yesterday’s title comes on the back of the two previous triumphs she notched up in 2019 and 2021.

Speaking to the BBC after the event, Jasmine said she was “ecstatic to have won.”

The event - which has been running since 1965 - always draws large crowds of spectators.

“There’s a lot of pressure to make that last shot,” she said, adding: “you never know who you are going to play in the final.”

It is estimated more than 4,000 prime conkers – gathered from local horse chestnut trees – were used.

The nuts are gathered and strung by volunteers from Ashton Conker Club, which organises the highly-regulated event.

Before this year’s tournament started, there were fears of conkers being “mushy”, something ring master and chief umpire, Richard Howard, quickly dismissed:

The game of conkers has been played in England since at least the 17th century.

“We picked them on Thursday and Friday,” he said, “and I would say they were near perfect.”

Organisers say more than 250 competitors took part in this year’s event. The competition has raised more than £420,000 for sight impairment charities since it started in 1965.

As always the tournament opened amid great fanfare, with King Conker, a.k.a David Jakins, leading a grand parade through the village.

The event’s ceremonial figurehead was joined by town crier, Roy Palmer, and by Lord Robarte’s Regiment of Foote, a group of burly soldiers deployed by the Sealed Knot English Civil War re-enactment group.

Though the competition was the main focus of attention, spectators also got to enjoy entertainment away from the nut-busting action, with jugglers, face painters, caricaturists and game stalls all on hand.

Northants World Conker Championships 2023: She came; she saw; she conkered