An old Pontin's Crazy Golf postcard from Hemsby, Norfolk

A look at a minigolf postcard from our collection.

Here's a long-lost crazy golf course depicted on a Pontin's multi-view postcard of the Hemsby Holiday Village in Hemsby, Norfolk.

PONTIN'S HOLIDAY VILLAGE, HEMSBY, NORFOLK R5713 by Photo Precision Limited, St Ives. Unposted, undated

The layout is of the Eternit Miniature Golf style - a rarity in the UK.

Related blog posts:

• Postcards
• Pontin's
• Hemsby

Arnold Palmer Putting course at Pop’s Meadow in Gorleston-on-Sea, Norfolk

A look at the old Arnold Palmer Putting course at Pop’s Meadow in June 2010.

Miniature Golf of one sort or another has been played on the site since the early to mid-1900's.

There used to be an Arnold Palmer Putting Course at Pop’s Meadow Putting Green in Gorleston-on-Sea. In May 2009 that layout became the 100th visited overall on our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour.

We played the 9-hole Arnold Palmer Putting Course that was at Pop’s Meadow back in June 2010.

There is still a crazy golf course at Pop’s Meadow. The area is now Pop’s Meadow Kids Amusement Park and Café.

Check out the Pop’s Meadow Kids Amusement Park and Cafe Facebook Page for more information.

Arnold Palmer Putting Courses.

Arnold Palmer Putting Courses are a design classic and include all the elements that make a Crazy Golf course great – the Windmill, the Waterwheel, an Obelisk, ledges, bunkers, traps, flat loops, hills and plateaus – everything laid out to make a course interesting, testing and most of all fun!

The Arnold Palmer branded miniature golf courses were part of the Arnold Palmer Enterprises empire set-up in 1961 that saw the legendary golfer's name licensed and franchised to a wide-range of activities and products including Dry Cleaning centres and an Arnold Palmer brand foot detergent.

By 1966 there were 130 Arnold Palmer Putting Courses in the USA, with ten in Japan and some in South Africa.

Take a look at this blog post about "Arnold Palmer Putting Courses in the UK" for further information.

Related blog posts:

• Pop's Meadow
• Gorleston-on-Sea
• Arnold Palmer Putting Courses

Crazy Golf in Oxford's Westgate Centre

A new crazy golf venue is opening at Oxford's Westgate Centre.

Junkyard Golf recently closed in Oxford's Westgate Centre and will reopen as Ted's Crazy Golf after a revamp of the venue.

Ted's Crazy Golf will be home to two 9-hole indoor crazy golf courses when the venue opens in August 2026.

Find out more on the Ted's Crazy Golf website.

A Great Yarmouth miniature golf postcard from 1927

Stepping back in time for a look at minigolf in Great Yarmouth in the 1920s.

One of the earliest miniature golf postcards I have in my collection is this one showing the Putting Green on Marine Parade in Great Yarmouth, Norfolk.

Putting Green, Great Yarmouth. Postcard postally used on the 11th November 1927

The postcard was sent to Hayes, Middlesex on the 11th November 1927.

You can see the Hippodrome in the left of the image and this building is still standing and is the Hippodrome Circus on St George's Road. If you visit now you'll find a row of buildings in front of the Hippodrome itself!

You will also find that there is still a minigolf course on the same spot as the Putting Green.

Now called Castaway Island Adventure Golf the site was an Arnold Palmer Putting Course that we played a number of times on our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour.

Guess the Minigolf course location...

Where in the world was this minigolf course visited on our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour?

The Ipswich Portal in Ipswich, Suffolk

There's a portal to different cities in Ipswich town centre.

No one was at the Brazil side of the portal while we were in Ipswich on Saturday afternoon

The Ipswich Portal is a live public art sculpture that links different places around the world.

The Ipswich Portal opened in October 2025 and has a real-time video link to six cities around the world between 6am and 11pm (UK time).

The seven places linked by the portals are:

• Ipswich, UK
• Dublin, Ireland
• Manila, Philippines
• Lublin, Poland
• Philadelphia, USA
• Vilnius, Lithuania
• Piauí, Brazil

Ipswich linked to Manila last Saturday afternoon

Find out more

Check out the Portals website for more information.

Sneaky Links Crazy Golf in Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk

Sneaky Links Crazy Golf is an indoor minigolf course in Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk.

We played the Sneaky Links Crazy Golf course last May.

Link:

• Sneaky Links Crazy Golf

Related blog post:

• Playing at Sneaky Links Crazy Golf in Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk

Mini Golf at Frasers Plus Designer Outlet East Midlands

There's a pirate-themed mini golf course at Frasers Plus Designer Outlet East Midlands in Alfreton.

Find out more on the Frasers Plus Designer Outlet East Midlands website.

Adventure Golf at Beacon Park in Lichfield, Staffordshire

A look at the new adventure golf course at Beacon Park in Lichfield, Staffordshire.

We swung by the adventure golf course at Beacon Park in Lichfield during an afternoon in the city on the way back home from a trip to visit family and friends in East Anglia.

Back in September 2017 we played the Eternit-style miniature golf course at Beacon Park. That layout became the 461st played and 775th visited on our travels.

The new course replaced the crazy golf course in the park and covers the same location

This particular Eternit miniature golf obstacle has been retained in the new course layout, with some modifications as can be seen below

The new adventure golf course at Beacon Park opened in May this year.

The adventure golf course at Beacon Park is a 9-hole outdoor woodland-inspired adventure golf layout.

It became the 1,129th course visited on our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour since 2006.

Beacon Park in Lichfield is also home to a Pitch & Putt course.

Find out more

Check out the Lichfield Historic Parks website for more information.

Art Deco in Lichfield, Staffordshire

A look at The former Regal Cinema in Lichfield, Staffordshire.

The Regal Cinema opened on Tamworth Street in Lichfield in 1932. It closed in 1972, later becoming a Kwik Save supermarket.

The building now consists of residential apartments and retail units.

Crazy Golf in Skipton

There will be a crazy golf course in Skipton, North Yorkshire on Saturday 1st August.

Skipton will have a crazy golf course to play as part of celebrations in the town for Yorkshire Day on Saturday 1st August.

Find out more on the Skipton Improvement District (BID) website.

Lilliputt Mini Golf in Auckland, New Zealand

A look at the Lilliputt Mini Golf course in Auckland, New Zealand.

Last week I asked "Where in the world was this minigolf course visited on our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour?".

The answer was Lilliputt Mini Golf in Auckland, New Zealand.

 

Emily visited the 18-hole Lilliputt Mini Golf course on Tamaki Drive in Hobson Bay, Auckland, New Zealand on the Crazy World of Minigolf Tour in November 2010.

Check out the Lilliputt Mini Golf website for more information.

Northgate Video & DVD in Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk

There's a video and DVD rental shop in Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk.

While visiting family in Bury St Edmunds in 2024 we spotted the sign for Northgate Video & DVD - a video rental shop!

We returned last year and were back in town again last week and are happy to report that the shop is still there.

Link:

• Northgate Video & DVD

Related blog posts:

• Video rental shops in the UK (January 2026)

Toys R Us at TGJones in Lichfield

There's a Toys R Us at TGJones in Lichfield city centre.

You can find a Toys R Us concession at TGJones in Lichfield, Staffordshire.

The end of WHSmith, and the start of TGJones

The start of July 2025 marked the end of WHSmith on the British high street after 233 years. Following the sale of the business to Hobbycraft owner Modella Capital WHSmith shops underwent a rebrand to the new name of TGJones.

Toys R Us in the UK

Toys R Us returned to the UK shopping scene with an online presence in 2022 and with concessions opening inside some WHSmith shops in 2023. There are currently Toys R Us concessions open at TGJones and WHSmith at Welcome Break shops.

Toys R Us at Hobbycraft.

You can also find Toys R Us concessions at Hobbycraft stores.

Working at Toys R Us

My first job while at university in the year 2000 was as one of Geoffrey's helpers at the Luton Toys R Us store. I worked on the video game and electronics section.

The old Toys R Us

At its peak there were 105 Toys R Us stores in the UK. It's been very interesting to find that there are still remnants of the brand on some retail parks in the UK and we've visited several of these closed, abandoned, derelict and demolished Toys R Us locations on our travels.

Links:

• TGJones
• Toys R Us

Related blog posts:

• Toys R Us
• TGJones
• WHSmith
• Retail