JohnnyD
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Mayenne (53) When Covid allows..........Which isn't very often these days........
Posts: 1,988
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Post by JohnnyD on Oct 14, 2022 17:08:34 GMT 1
What are all the spiky balls on the ground that have numerous conker type nuts in them, the roads are covered in them, but the outer casing is way too large and spiky for a horse chestnut/conker nut to me?
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Post by cernunnos on Oct 14, 2022 18:23:19 GMT 1
Sweet chestnut cases , watch out for your fingers , the spines break off and hurt like hell.
"Bogue châtaigne" in French .
The conker types are sweetchestnuts and very edible.
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Post by houpla on Oct 14, 2022 19:38:48 GMT 1
 There you go.....above, sweet chestnut, châtaigne, marron...deliciously edible.  and horse chestnuts, conkers. The main difference is that there's only ever one nut in a conker shell  |
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Post by cernunnos on Oct 14, 2022 20:12:29 GMT 1
Nope , when I was a kid ( many years ago ) and played conkers in England . Double horse-chestnuts were called cheese-cutters and were much sought after. I have also been "Champion de France" at conkers , so know what I am talking about ( maybe)  |
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Post by Polarengineer on Oct 15, 2022 7:18:08 GMT 1
Also horse chestnut conker cases have blunt spikes and hardly prickley.
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Post by houpla on Oct 15, 2022 7:27:38 GMT 1
Nope , when I was a kid ( many years ago ) and played conkers in England . Double horse-chestnuts were called cheese-cutters and were much sought after. I have also been "Champion de France" at conkers , so know what I am talking about ( maybe) You didn't grow up near Sellafield, by any chance?  |
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Post by spectrum on Oct 15, 2022 8:14:31 GMT 1
Some sweet chestnuts have one kernal, other varieties have two or three smaller ones, Iam lucky enough to have a 20+Mtr one in the garden, lucky that is until this time of year  when I have to get rid of tonnes of leaves and husks and nuts. |
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Post by cernunnos on Oct 15, 2022 8:14:37 GMT 1
Nope , when I was a kid ( many years ago ) and played conkers in England . Double horse-chestnuts were called cheese-cutters and were much sought after. I have also been "Champion de France" at conkers , so know what I am talking about ( maybe) You didn't grow up near Sellafield, by any chance? Not I , very much anglo-saxon !  |
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Aardvark
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Living in soggy 22 and still wondering what's going on.
Posts: 2,172
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Post by Aardvark on Oct 15, 2022 9:56:55 GMT 1
My grandfather's brother was a fabricator at Sellafield. He arranged for me to have a tour of the place in 1958. I was a wide-eyed kid at the time. I wouldn't go near the place today, or any other nuclear facility.
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Post by pcpa on Oct 15, 2022 11:34:24 GMT 1
I designed a considerable amount of the radiation shielding for Sellafield (THORP Thermal oxide reprocessing plant) on my first contract job, it has now been decommissioned so you are probably safe from any of my errors learning experiences!
Editted, it wont be decommissioned until 2075 when the residual radiation will have decayed to a safer level.
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Post by spectrum on Oct 16, 2022 8:21:45 GMT 1
I designed a considerable amount of the radiation shielding for Sellafield (THORP Thermal oxide reprocessing plant) on my first contract job, it has now been decommissioned so you are probably safe from any of my errors learning experiences!
Editted, it wont be decommissioned until 2075 when the residual radiation will have decayed to a safer level.
Many years ago myself and DW had a guided tour around THORP, took an hour or so which was fascinating, there was just one other couple, at the end they had laid on a buffet for about twenty  always remember we had to book beforehand, I think the day before, and hand over our passports, will never forget the experience, many years later we had a new bloke start at work with us, it turned out that he was nuclear engineer at THORP, small world. |
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Aardvark
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Living in soggy 22 and still wondering what's going on.
Posts: 2,172
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Post by Aardvark on Oct 16, 2022 10:18:42 GMT 1
Small world indeed.
My lasting memory of the tour was being shown a pile of very curiously shaped lead bricks. They looked like something from some sort of Chinese puzzle and were supposedly designed to take advantage of radiation's reluctance to go around corners. Or something like that.
Back to the chestnut thread. Does anyone like to roast and eat them? Back in '67 I was doing prototype wiring for Marconi-Elliot Avionics. At lunch a few of us would go outside for a walk and one day discovered a chestnut tree with an abundant supply. We filled our pockets and went back to the workshop. It didn't take long to discover the need to keep turning the nuts when we were roasting them on top of the solder pots. If left until they explode the hot liquid solder shrapnel is not much fun.
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Post by pcpa on Oct 16, 2022 11:09:30 GMT 1
Deep lead fried chestnuts, I'm amazed that you are still with us!
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Aardvark
Non-gamer
Living in soggy 22 and still wondering what's going on.
Posts: 2,172
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Post by Aardvark on Oct 16, 2022 17:12:58 GMT 1
After some of the capers I've done in the past I'm amazed as well.
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Post by omegal on Nov 9, 2022 17:42:44 GMT 1
Nope , when I was a kid ( many years ago ) and played conkers in England . Double horse-chestnuts were called cheese-cutters and were much sought after. I have also been "Champion de France" at conkers , so know what I am talking about ( maybe) Out of interest, where in France did you contest this title Cernunnos |
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when I have to get rid of tonnes of leaves and husks and nuts.
