Mini-golf Nausicaà in Boulogne-sur-Mer, France

A look at the Mini-golf Nausicaà course in Boulogne-sur-Mer, France.

Many thanks to our friend Gareth Holmes for sending over these snaps of the Mini-golf Nausicaà course in Boulogne-Sur-Mer from his recent trip to France.

My brother Christopher and his family visited Mini-golf Nausicaà in Boulogne-Sur-Mer on their branch of the Crazy World of Minigolf Tour back in February 2022.

Check out Mini-golf Nausicaà on Facebook for more information.

Crazy Golf at Planet Leisure in Newton Aycliffe

There's a Crazy Golf course at Planet Leisure in Newton Aycliffe, County Durham.

'The Craziest Golf' course at Planet Leisure is a 14-hole indoor layout.

Check out the Planet Leisure website for more information about 'The Craziest Golf' course there.

It's another new course for us to check out on our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour.

Mystical Falls Adventure Golf opening at Puxton Park in Weston-super-Mare

A new adventure golf course is opening at Puxton Park in Weston-super-Mare, Somerset next month.

The outdoor adventure golf course will be a 9-hole attraction at the adventure park when in opens in May.

Check out the Puxton Park website for more information about the Mystical Falls Adventure Golf course.

Puxton Park is another new place and course for us to visit on our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour. We've been to Weston-super-Mare before and played minigolf there several times.

Adventure Golf at Breydon Water Holiday Park

A look at the mini golf course at Parkdean's Breydon Water Holiday Park in Burgh Castle, Norfolk.

Many thanks to our friend Sophia Cook for sending us these snaps from her recent break at Parkdean's Breydon Water Holiday Park in Burgh Castle.

The course looks to be an Arnold Palmer Putting Course, or at least in the style of one - especially the windmill and waterwheel obstacles.

Find out more on the Breydon Water Holiday Park website.

Adventure Golf at Hove Lagoon Funland

There's a pirate-themed adventure golf course at Hove Lagoon Funland in Hove, East Sussex.

Check out the Hove Lagoon Funland Facebook Page for more information.

Hove Lagoon Funland's outdoor adventure golf is another new course for us to visit on our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour when we're next down that way.

Crazy Golf course opening in Fleetwood

A Crazy Golf course is opening at the MiniLinks in Fleetwood, Lancashire.

MiniLinks has moved and is re-opening the Pitch & Putt miniature golf layout on the seafront in Fleetwood on the Fylde coast.

We've played MiniLinks courses before - including Mini Majors competitions - and are looking forward to checking out the two new MiniLinks courses at Marine Gardens in Fleetwood.

As well as the larger miniature golf layouts, the team at MiniLinks are working on a Crazy Golf course.

Visit the MiniLinks website for more information about the courses and the plans the team there have for events.

We've visited the Fylde coast a fair bit on our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour over the years and have visited several minigolf courses in Fleetwood. The Crazy Golf course at Marine Gardens in Fleetwood had been abandoned for quite a long time and we'd never seen it open since we've been visiting. We hadn't played the Pitch & Putt there either - it looks like a BIG and long miniature golf course! There used to be a Crazy Golf course at the nearby Marine Hall Gardens in Fleetwood too, we played that way back in 2009.

Kim's Video On Tour in the UK

Watching the documentary film Kim's Video at The Light cinema in Stockport.

We went to the Stockport screening of Kim's Video at The Light cinema last night and had a superb time.

It's a fascinating and intriguing documentary and was brilliant to watch on the big screen.

The documentary follows filmmaker David Redman on his quest to find and save the 55,000 strong collection of VHS tapes and DVDs from the once popular, but now defunct Kim's Video store in New York City.

You can find out more about Kim's Video On Tour in the UK on the Cinetopia website.

Check out the Kim's Video collection at the Alamo Drafthouse Cinema.

Visit The Light Stockport website for more information.

A really nice touch about the screening was the addition of a mystery video swap box for customers to add an item to before the film - and to take one from after the viewing! As big fans of physical media and old video shops this was brilliant to see.

Dropping our two DVD picks in the mystery video swap box

We got a lovely Kim's Video VHS tape graphic sticker as part of our ticket too!

Ribban Green Golf in Malmö, Sweden

A look at the Ribban Green Golf miniature golf course in Malmö, Sweden.

Catching up on some guest blog posts, including this one about the Ribban Green Golf in Malmö, Sweden. The photo of the outdoor minigolf course was sent to me by our friend and minigolf rival john Moore from his visit to Malmö last September.

Check out the Ribban Green Golf website for more information on the course.

New Adventure Golf course in Sheerness on the Isle of Sheppey

Work has started on the new Adventure Golf course at Beachfields in Sheerness on the Isle of Sheppey.

The new 18-hole outdoor Adventure Golf course is being created as part of the Sheerness Revival Project.

The new Adventure Golf course will be located at the Sheppey Leisure Complex at Beachfields in Sheerness and is due to open in July 2025.

Find out more on the Sheerness Revival Project website.

It'll be another new course for us to visit on our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour and a return trip to Sheerness on the Isle of Sheppey.

Video rental shops in the UK (April 2025)

A look at movie rental shops in the UK.

By my reckoning there are five 'video shops' still in operation offering physical media movie rentals in the UK. They are:

• 20th Century Flicks in Bristol
• Northgate Video & DVD in Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk
• Snips Movies in Bebington, Wirral
• TVL Allstar Video in Haverhill, Suffolk
• VideOdyssey in Toxteth, Liverpool

It's very nice to see there are still businesses active in the 'video rental' sector!

There is also Straight To Video - 80s Video Shop in Alfreton, Derbyshire. While they don't actually rent physical media, the shop is a treasure trove of nostalgia. They do however have items for sale.

Signs and traces of video shops

There are still traces of former video shops to be found on the streets, shopping centres and retail parks of the UK. Most of those are old Blockbuster Video stores. But there are still signs of independent video shops to be seen if you're lucky (and actually visit and rent from if you're really lucky!). Some of those we've snapped over the years include:

• Shahenshah Videos in Luton
• Deane Video Centre in Bolton
• Video Box Office at the Happy Shopper Wayfairer Discount Store in Ilkeston
• Video Future in Longton, Stoke-on-Trent
• The Movie Box in Manchester
• Jubilee Films in Ashton-under-Lyne
• B.V.C. - Bolton Video Centre in Little Lever, Bolton (closed down in 2024)
• 20th Century Flicks in Bristol (still operating, but closed on the day of our visit)
• Video Express in Swansea
• Video Rentals at The Village Top Shop in Thorpe Hesley, Rotherham
• Northgate Video & DVD in Bury St Edmunds (still operating, but closed on the day of our visit)
• TVL Allstar Video in Haverhill (still operating)

Blockbuster Video shops

Former Blockbuster Video store locations we've visited to date include:

• Abingdon, Oxfordshire
• Ashton, Bristol
• Barnsley, South Yorkshire
• Basingstoke, Hampshire
• Billingham, Teesside
• Cheadle Hulme, Greater Manchester
• Chester, Cheshire
• Chorley, Lancashire
• Clacton-on-Sea, Essex
• Colne, Lancashire
• Failsworth, Manchester
• Fallowfield, Manchester
• Felixstowe, Suffolk
• Filton, Bristol
• Great Moor, Stockport, Greater Manchester
• Hastings, East Sussex
• Leigh, Greater Manchester
• Luton, Bedfordshire
• Marple, Greater Manchester
• Newark-on-Trent, Nottinghamshire
• Nuneaton, Warwickshire
• Oldham, Greater Manchester
• Prescot, Lancashire
• Shanklin, Isle of Wight
• Southampton, Hampshire
• Telford, Shropshire
• Westcliff-on-Sea, Essex
• Wisbech, Cambridgeshire
• Wythenshawe, Manchester

Do you still have a video rental store near you? Please let us know in the comments if you do!

Glow In One indoor mini golf in Watford

There's an indoor glow-in-the-dark mini golf course in Watford, Hertfordshire.

I've just found out about the Glow In One indoor mini golf in Watford. It's a 14-hole layout on The Parade in the town.

Check out the Glow In One website for more information.

When we lived down south we often visited Watford and some of the first courses we visited on our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour were there.

Glow In One is a new course for us to check out.

Prestwick Putting

A look at the Putting Green at Prestwick Beach.

Thanks to our friend and minigolf rival John Moore for sending over this snap of the Prestwick Putting course from his recent trip to Scotland.

He was there a little early in the day so didn't get a chance for a round.

We visited the course on our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour on a very rainy day back in 2014.

Aces Minigolf Gloucester at Gloucester Garden Centre

The Aces Minigolf Gloucester course at Gloucester Garden Centre recently reopened and is now open every day.

British Garden Centres have taken over the running of the garden centre and the established Aces Minigolf Gloucester course can be found outdoors at the rear of the store.

We visited the Aces Minigolf Gloucester course in July 2021 to play a few rounds and compete in the Aces Minigolf Gloucester Invitational Tournament - that event was the first minigolf competition we'd played in since 2019 and it was fun to be back in action. When we played the layout it was a 12-hole course. It's since been upgraded to an 18-hole course.

Check out the Aces Minigolf Gloucester website for more information, opening times and prices for the 18-hole outdoor course.

Aces Minigolf Gloucester was the 967th course visited overall on our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour and the 550th played since September 2006.

Crazy Golf at Roath Park in Cardiff

There's a Crazy Golf course at Roath Park in Cardiff.

Cardiff's Roath Park is now home to a Crazy Golf course.

The layout was spotted by multiple-time World Crazy Golf Champion Marc 'The Force' Chapman and his family on a recent visit to the city.

It's a fibreglass minigolf course, and has a Humpty obstacle.

We haven't been to Cardiff for a few years now, and we'll have to swing by the park next time we visit.

The Japanese Garden at Calderstones Park in Liverpool

A walk through the Japanese Garden at Calderstones Park in Liverpool in April 2025.

We had a very nice walk through the Japanese Garden at Calderstones Park in Liverpool on Saturday afternoon.

Find out more about the gardens on the Calderstones Park website.

The Dragon's Quest Mini Golf at Fontygary Leisure Park in Rhoose, Barry, Wales

A look back at a visit to The Dragon's Quest Mini Golf course at Fontygary Leisure Park in Rhoose, Barry, Wales.

I played The Dragon's Quest Mini Golf at Fontygary Leisure Park back in May 2019.

It was great to have a round on the 18-hole Dragon's Quest Adventure Golf course. It looked really nice and had some interesting features, most noticeably the BIG red dragon!

Look at the size of that dragon!

The Dragon's Quest Mini Golf course at Fontygary Leisure Park became the 887th visited and 517th played on our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour since September 2006.

A funny looking character on the course. And what I believe is a Dragon Slayer model

I really liked the look of the mining hole 

The course was in a very nice setting and looked lovely

Check out the Fontygary Leisure Park website for more information.

I shot a round of 41 on the 18-hole course

Photos of the 18-hole Dragon's Quest Mini Golf course.

Hole 1

Hole 2

Hole 2

Hole 3

Hole 4

The mine theming on hole 4

I really liked the derailed effect on the hole

The green of hole 4

Hole 5

A tunnel through a barrel to the cup on hole 5

The water jets varied in height on hole 6 so you needed to time your shot just right

Hole 6

Hole 7

Into a tunnel on hole 8

Hole 8

Hole 8

The green and raised cup on hole 8

A view of hole 8

Hole 9

Hole 9

Hole 9

Hole 10

Hole 10

Hole 10

Hole 11

Hole 12

Hole 13

Hole 14

Hole 14

Hole 15

Hole 16

The green on hole 16

Hole 17

Hole 18

Hole 18

Hole 18