An “extreme” conker championship known for its anything-goes contests has been cancelled after organisers were warned about health and safety concerns.
The Peckham Conker Club’s annual tournament allows competitors to modify their nuts, bite opponents’ swinging conkers and wrestle one another to the ground. However, the event was called off at short notice following concerns reportedly raised by “authorities”.
The London competition attracted nearly 2,000 people for its eighth edition last year. Organisers said the event’s famously “nutty community spirit” had become too “raucous and fun-loving” for the current venue.
The 2025 championships were held at Brick Brewery Taproom. After the large turnout, external managers were brought in for this year’s event and are understood to have expressed concerns about safety.
Last year, jubilant crowds packed the narrow area beneath the railway arches beside Peckham Rye station. They watched Timmy Nuts—not his real name—defeat two-time champion Pietro the Pummeller and claim the top prize: a golden nut.
Aspiring conker warriors had already begun preparing their weapons when the cancellation news arrived last week. Strengthening and hardening the conkers with glue is not only permitted but actively encouraged by the club.
“We’re sad to announce that the 2026 Peckham Conker Championships won’t be happening this year,” the club said in a post on Instagram.
“Why? Well, last year we had c.2000 of you nutters take part and sadly the Health & Safety police have deemed that you’re too raucous & fun-loving for the current space.”
The Peckham Conker Club’s annual championships—where competitors can modify their nuts, bite opponents’ swinging conkers and wrestle each other—were cancelled at the last minute after concerns were raised by “authorities”
Organisers said the event, which attracted almost 2,000 people for its eighth edition last year, had been cancelled by the “health and safety police”
The competition has expanded dramatically in recent years after beginning as a small gathering of friends in a pub nine years ago (pictured: the 2024 championships)
The championships have very few rules, with physical combat forming a central part of the spectacle
The club said it had explored ways to hold the tournament in some form, but the additional “costs and hassle” would have stripped away much of the fun.
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“We’d have had to ditch the spirit of Battle Royale rules (aka there are no rules), and replace it with *rules* (BOO!)—and that’s just not what the Peckham Conker Championships are about,” the statement continued.
“Nutty community spirit is what made the Peckham Conker Championships what it was. All we did was give you some nuts on strings. It was you guys who embraced the chaos.”
Comparing the cancellation to Glastonbury’s occasional fallow years, the club said it would take a break before returning in 2027 to mark its tenth anniversary.
The championships began as a handful of friends gathering in a pub and surged in popularity during the pandemic. Today, the event operates with almost no rules, while violence is treated as part of the entertainment.
Competitors are “recommended” to observe a few basic guidelines: each player gets three strikes at an opponent’s conker per turn, and winners must perform a victory dance. “Humiliation”, organisers say, is essential.
Beyond those suggestions, almost anything goes. When strings become entangled—a situation known as a “tangle”—players often wrestle each other to the ground. Competitors may also crush conkers underfoot, known as “stampsies”, and even bite their opponents or the nuts themselves.
As the club puts it, “it’s all within the rules!” The game, its organisers insist, is “about winning—not taking part”.
It’s understood that this year, following the unprecedented crowds at the 2025 event, the host venue decided it could not take place without external event managers, who were insisting on more safety measures.
The brewery itself was rescued from administration in 2023, but its website has since been taken down while emails bounce back.
It’s not the first-such event to face problems – last October, the World Conker Championships was forced to introduce enhanced safety measures after a cheating scandal erupted involving a metal nut.
The Olympics of the nut world, held in Southwick, West Sussex, introduced airport-style checks including a scanner, directions to empty pockets and a ‘magnet on a stick’.
It came after the 2024 winner David Jakins saw concerns raised by his opponent about the conker he had used for the final bout, which was over in one strike.
Matters escalated when a steel conker was discovered on his person, but a thorough review of photos and video footage concluded he had won the competition fairly.
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