Talking to friends recently, I was told that they keep "old chestnuts"
(horse chestnuts, that is) in the four corners of each room in order to
deter spiders. It is supposed to be an old remedy. I have never heard
of this before and can't imagine what can be in chestnuts which so
offends spiders.

Can anyone shed any light on this? My friends didn't seem to know how
it worked, but seemed to think that it did. Don't get me wrong: I still
love spiders, but there are places where I'd rather they didn't set up home!
--
Spider
from high ground in SE London
gardening on clay