Bonkers for conkers? If yes, start to worry

4:29pm Thursday 11th September 2008

It is the symbol of Redbridge, but it seems we may have a rotten borough on our hands. Guardian reporter Charlie Campbell investigates a disturbing sickness threatening to end the fun of generations of children.

IF you are bonkers about conkers ,then it may be time to worry.

A disease of horse chestnut trees called bleeding canker is spreading across the UK and the latest figures show that 76 per cent of those in south-east England are infected.

Redbridge is renowned for its chestnut trees and those in Wanstead and Woodford are among the worst affected, leading to fears that the current generation of children could be the last to collect conkers.

A spokesman from the Royal Horticultural Society said: “This is a newly identified and serious bacterial disease that causes bark death, canopy thinning and dieback and often complete death of the tree in certain species of horse chestnut.”

The trees are particularly vulnerable because many are already struggling against a parasite called Leaf Minor which turns foliage brown, covers it with blisters and causes the trees to shed their conkers earlier.

Redbridge Council has already started removing some affected trees. A spokeswoman said: “The current situation in Redbridge is that the majority of council owned and maintained White Horse Chestnut trees are host to the Leaf Minor and we are taking appropriate action by monitoring the trees’ health to maintain public safety.

“We do have cases of Bleeding Canker on horse chestnuts which we are also monitoring and have felled and pruned a small number of infected trees.”

Church End ward councillor Richard Hoskins said he was dismayed at the thought that conker season could be under threat.

He said: “We always had horse chestnut trees at school and I decided I could make a fortune if I kept a store of them until after the season ended and we could continue playing through the spring.

“So I packed my school trunk with the things but unfortunately they all started to mould and stink terribly.

“The school called in a plumber thinking the smell was coming from blocked drains but eventually they ceremoniously opened all the boy's trunks and found a fetid mass of rotting chestnuts in mine. I got in a lot of trouble and was given a few whacks with a slipper.”

Even in these days when computer games and health and safety laws conspire to keep children from their conkers, they still have their fans among today’s young.

Churchfield’s Infants School pupil Harrison Walne, six, of Wavertree Road in South Woodford, said he loved to play conkers with his eight-year-old sister Sophia.

He added: “I like conkers because it’s a surprise who wins and you get to smash things.”