THE men took on the women in a fast and furious game of conkers. It was the final of Oxford’s annual pub conker championships and everything was at stake in this battle of the sexes.

The all-female team from the Oranges and Lemons in St Clement’s were facing the all-male ‘Rathole’ team from The Crown in Cowley Road.

And after a tense battle, the men came out on top, much to the delight of their supporters.

But before they could be declared winners, organiser and umpire Hugo Pill – pictured bottom left in the photograph above – made a close inspection of the winning conker to make sure there had been no cheating.

He was satisfied that everything was above board, and the team – captain Chris Collier, Shamus O’Brien, Mick Lambe, Kevin Allen, Jamie Rehman and Ian Foyle, all with rat noses and whiskers – could finally celebrate their victory. For six weeks in 1983, 16 pub teams in the city had been taking part in the competition and were involved in some hard-fought battles.

At the finals night, a large crowd, many of them in fancy dress, turned out to cheer on their respective teams.

In the end, the contest was close, with the women putting up a spirited performance before allowing their opponents to sneak a 4-3 victory.

It was the second year running that Mr Pill, assistant manager of the Head of the River pub at Folly Bridge, had organised the contest.

In 1982, only eight teams entered, but interest spread, leading to double the number the following year. Mr Pill said: “I think everybody suddenly realised what great fun you can have acting like a kid. That is the great appeal of it all.

“The whole idea is to have a good time and at the same time, benefit others, because money made on our raffle goes to charity.”

The first recorded game of conkers was on the Isle of Wight in 1848 and it was a popular pastime in school playgrounds for many years, although health and safety concerns have restricted activity in more recent times.

Many readers will remember proudly displaying their ‘one-ers’, ‘two-ers’, ‘three-ers’ or even ‘four-ers’ after smashing their opponents’ conkers to bits.

In serious competitions, like the annual world conker championships on the village green at Ashton, Northamptonshire, strict rules apply.

* Any memories of conker conquests to share with readers? Write and let me know.