But this year there’s a problem – our nuts are shrivelling up because of the weather. And it means the World Conker Championships could be cancelled this year because chestnuts have been shrivelled by the hottest summer on record. The festival sees attendees wear avant-garde costumes (Picture: PA)The conkers have shrunk too much this year (Picture: PA)Mr Jakins, from Warmington, Northamptonshire, is the tournament’s oldest ever winner. St John Burkett, spokesperson for the Conker World Championships, said: ‘This is a unique situation which we’ve never seen before. We can’t play with small nuts as they would split when drilling to insert laces, and would not play correctly.