CHILDREN who collected 1,000 conkers when they were learning about the First World War have been turning them into jewellery and models.

Pupils at Allerton Primary School have been taught how youngsters collected thousands of conkers in 1917 to help in the war effort.

Schools were asked to gather chestnuts for the production of acetone which was used to make cordite, the propellant used to fire bullets and shells.

“The children then didn’t know why they were collecting them and they were all taken to Norfolk,” said a spokesman for the school, in Garforth Street.

“The pupils have absolutely loved collecting the conkers.”