The Horse Chestnut Tree.

As a kid i always thought it would be wonderful to have ones own Chestnut tree. The hours we spent throwing sticks up to knock down the Conkers. I still like to do it now. In fact last September on a visit to London Village my mate and i did just that in Hyde Park much to our better halves embarrassment.

Anyway we have such a tree at the end of our drive. Currently it is looking splendidly lush. Unfortunately it is the only Chestnut tree in the vicinity so we get no Conkers. We have just planted a small sapling about 30 meters away so with luck we will get some conkers in about 20 years.

The horse chestnut is not a native to these shores, it only arrived in the late sixteenth century. It is native in mountainous regions of Europe and i've heard it was Julius Caesar's favourite tree. He loved a game, hence the term.

"I came, i saw, i CONKERED"