The City of London Corporation has officially broken theGuinness World Record for staging the biggest ever knock-out conkerchampionships on Hampstead Heath. The event drew in 395participants in an event organized by the Hampstead Heath EducationCentre " beating the existing record holders the 'World ConkerChampionships" group in Northamptonshire - which last yearattracted just over 300 competitors.

The free event took place in October at the end of the annualHampstead Heath Heritage Day festival which celebrates the socialand natural history of the Heath. Starting at Parliament HillBandstand, events included welly-wanging, archery, meet-a-sheep,pole-lathe demonstrations, felt-making, bush-craft, bee-keeperdemonstrations, morris dancing and more.

On the day, the conker-meister led participants through theirpaces. There were knock-out rounds for five categories "under-fives, 5-8 years, 8-12 years, 13-16 years and adults. Thewinner of each final received a trophy.

Paul Maskell, the City of London Corporation"s Leisure andEvents Manager at Hampstead Heath, said: "I"m delighted to havesmashed the this record " it"s a testament to the hard work put inby all my colleagues who helped make this happen. A specialthank you goes to the 395 people who took part "congratulations!"Grace Rawnsley, the City of London Corporation"s CommunityEducation Officer at the Hampstead Heath Education Centre, said:"The previous record stood at just over 300 participants, so we"redelighted that we beat that total by some margin. We"re so proud tobe the record holders and now we want to make sure we keep it yearafter year."The all-ages contest has become one of the most popular eventson the Heath, inspiring everyone from the deeply competitive tothose just up for a bit of fun.