23 January 2023 , 22:14
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A pensioner who is bonkers for conkers claims to have largest collection of them in UK - boasting a collection of more than 10,000 nuts.
He claims that his collection takes him back to when he "was a child" and used to play the traditional children's game with the seeds from a chestnut tree.
Due to his love of the game, Brian Mountford, 76, has started hoarding the seeds and now hopes to send some over to war-torn Ukraine as he describes trees as a "sign of life".
He claims to have a collection of more than 10,000 has now amassed thousands more.
Brian also hoards seeds - of which he has amassed thousands more (Brian Mountford / SWNS)
Brian started collecting conkers in the autumn of 2021 (Brian Mountford / SWNS)The retired inventor from Leek, Staffordshire, says he loves all nature, but is particularly keen on conkers as they make him feel nostalgic, saying: "They are a particular favourite of mine.
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"Conkers take me right back to when I was a child and we used to play by swinging them on the end of bits of string."
In the autumn of 2021, Brian stated collecting the conkers near his home - something which would occupy hours of his time - filling up plastic tubs of the seeds.
He also collects seeds for acorns, sycamores and buddleias.
And now, Brian claims that his hour long conkers searches mean that he has collected the most conkers than any other person in the UK.
Brian puts his conkers seedlings into any kid of pot he can get his hands on (Brian Mountford / SWNS)It is all for a good cause as the 76-year-old says that he is planning to send some of his seeds to Ukraine to help.
He explained, saying: "My plan is to send tons of seeds over to Ukraine to show them we stand by them.
"A tree is a sign of life - they can be planted in bombed-out cities.
"I'd also like to educate children about trees, how important they are for our environment and how easily they can be grown.
"I just don't have the finances to be able to take my projects further to the next stages.
"I don't know what to do with them all now."
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Brian can go collecting the conkers and other seeds for hours (Brian Mountford / SWNS)
The 76-year-old says he loves conkers as they make him feel nostalgic (Brian Mountford / SWNS)Brian, who suffers from arthritis, stores the seeds in his garage and loft, which he shares with his wife of 55 years, Pauline, 75, and spreads all his collected seeds out on sheeting over his garden every sunny day to dry them.
He also bought an extra fridge to keep them cool, as they need to need to chill for a month before they can germinate.
Brian then re-uses containers and plants the seeds inside and has them growing from a Coleman's mustard tin, milk bottles, and yoghurt pots - and even has a small forest planted in an old kitchen sink.
Brian, who has a daughter and two granddaughters, said he grew up as one of eleven kids in a slum, left school at 15, and started as a barrow boy.
Now, with his health, he says that he wants to keep active and busy - and collecting conkers is one way he can do so.
Brian added: "I like to have a try at anything. My health isn't great but I like to keep busy and I'm very active in my mind.
"I'm just a normal old age pensioner."