chestnut

Whether chronicling the tragic history of the American chestnut, or the anger of contemporary activists confronting climate change, Powers’ concentric plots spin.

Among her peers, she recalls the familiar chestnut about listening to all genres but rap and country.

Shostakovich’s Fifth, Schubert’s Ninth and Sibelius’ Second may be old chestnuts but not for players who were mostly under 25 and as young as 10.

The following year, his balloon burst a mile above the ground in Virginia, and his re-attempt at the flight saw him wrecked among burr chestnut trees and almost killed.

Mr Jakins, a conker competitor since 1977, denied using a steel horse chestnut at any point in the tournament, and said he kept a steel conker on him for "humour value".