On the lookout for new minigolf courses

Finding new places to play minigolf in the UK.

I'm always on the lookout for new minigolf courses.

Check out this blog post for a mid-year 2025 update on new minigolf courses in the UK.

The PIAG Open Championship 2025 tees-off today

Information about the PIAG Open Championship 2025.

The Paradise Island Adventure Golf Open Championship has returned.

Your chance to win six months of unlimited adventure golf and the PIAG Open trophy.

The PIAG Open tees-off today, Thursday 17th July, with Paradise Island Adventure Golf courses around the UK offering players the chance to enter the event when they play a round at a PIAG course.

The Tiki Hut Trail course at Paradise Island Adventure Golf at the Trafford Centre in Manchester

About the PIAG Open adventure golf championship.

The PIAG Open Championship is taking place across Paradise Island Adventure Golf courses between Thursday 17th and Sunday 20th July.

Paradise Island Adventure Golf have eight venues in England and Scotland.

Find out more on the Paradise Island Adventure Golf website.

Winning the PIAG Open Championship.

I won the PIAG Open Championship at the Manchester Trafford Centre venue in 2018, with Emily winning the competition in 2019.

PIAG Open Champion in 2019

PIAG Open Champion in 2018

Find your nearest Paradise Island Adventure Golf course.

Visit the Paradise Island Adventure Golf website for more information on the PIAG courses in Glasgow, Livingston, Cheshire Oaks, Manchester, Sheffield, Derby, Rushden Lakes and Plymouth.

Crazy Golf in Time Square, Warrington

Pop-up Crazy Golf course in Warrington this Sunday.

There will be a Crazy Golf course at Time Square in Warrington this Sunday, 20th July.

The outdoor 10-hole Crazy Golf course will be on the Square from 11am until 4pm.

Find out more.

Visit the Time Square Warrington and Lancashire Crazy Golf websites for more information.

Mini Golf at Studfold Adventure Trail in Harrogate

There's a pop-up mini golf course at Studfold Adventure Trail in Harrogate, North Yorkshire this summer.

The pop-up 9-hole mini golf course at Studfold Adventure Trail in Harrogate is open from Saturday 19th July and everyday during the summer holidays. It will then be open at weekends until the end of September.

Find out more

Visit the Studfold Adventure Trail website for more information.

Our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour

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

Happy 15th birthday to the Crazy Golf Museum

The Crazy Golf Museum is 15 years old today.

Many happy returns to the Crazy Golf Museum as it marks its 15th birthday today.

I set-up the museum with Crazy Golf legend Tim 'Ace Man' Davies back on the 15th July 2010.

Since then we've continued to fill the virtual online museum to make it a treasure trove and archive for all things related to minigolf, crazy golf, adventure golf, miniature golf, Putt Putt, and putting.

It's certainly been a very interesting 15 years!

A BIG thank you to everyone who has shared their minigolfing memories, crazy golf items and adventure golf updates over the years. We're looking forward to continuing our promotion of the game for many more years to come.

Visit the Crazy Golf Museum's website, like the Page and join the Group on Facebook, check it out on X, LinkedIn, and see Instagram for information, photos, items, ephemera, stories, videos, postcards, games and more...

If you'd like to contribute any items, merchandise, course history, current developments or guest blog posts please do get in touch.

Wild Swing Mini Golf in the Greenwich Peninsula in July & August

There's a pop-up mini golf course in the Greenwich Peninsula this summer.

The pop-up Wild Swing Mini Golf course has returned to the Greenwich Peninsula this summer.

The Wild Swing Mini Golf course can be found in the Canteen Courtyard in the Greenwich Peninsula from the 10th July to the 31st August.

The course has been created by artists Baker & Borowski. They also created the 9-hole themed Crazy Golf layout inspired by the rave culture in the King's Cross area back in the 1980's and 90's. I played that course in February 2020.

Find out more

Visit the Greenwich Peninsula website for more information.

Our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour

If we're able to get down to London this summer Wild Swing Mini Golf will be a new course for us to check out on our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour.

Crazy Pool at King Pins in Leeds

The new King Pins venue at the White Rose Centre in Leeds will be home to a Crazy Pool course.

King Pins Leeds will be opening on Friday 15th August.

As well as Crazy Pool, King Pins Leeds will be home to games including American Pool, Virtual Shooting, Tenpin Bowling, Ice-Free Curling, Duck Pin Bowling, Shuffleboard, Tech Darts, and Karaoke.

Find out more

Visit the King Pins website for more information.

Our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour

The Crazy Pool layout at King Pins in Leeds will be a new course for us to check out on our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour.

Birdie Barn Putting Range opening on Mersea Island in Essex

A new pop-up indoor minigolf venue is opening on Mersea Island in Essex this summer.

Birdie Barn Putting Range is opening at the West Mersea Marine Boatyard on Thursday 24th July.

Looking on the Birdie Barn Putting Range Facebook Page the course looks very different to your normal minigolf (if there's such a thing as 'normal' in crazy golf!).

Each of the holes looks to be is in it's own little enclosed bay, with putters tied to the range. Each of the holes has a themed obstacle such as pinball, skee ball, roulette, a ferris wheel, pong and more!

Find out more

Visit the Birdie Barn Putting Range Facebook Page for more information.

Our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour

The Birdie Barn Putting Range on Mersea Island will be a new place for us to check out on our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour.

Carnival Golf & Games in High Wycombe

A new indoor minigolf course is opening in High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire.

Carnival Golf & Games will be opening at the Eden Shopping Centre in High Wycombe.

Find out more

Visit the Carnival Golf & Games website for more information.

Our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour

Carnival Golf & Games in High Wycombe will be a new course for us to check out on our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour.

Cannonball Creek Adventure Golf at Cadbury Garden Centre in Congresbury

An Adventure Golf course is reopening in Congresbury, North Somerset.

The Adventure Golf course at Cadbury Garden Centre in Congresbury, North Somerset has been refurbished and is opening this month.

The minigolf course at Cadbury Garden Centre in Congresbury is reopening as Cannonball Creek Adventure Golf on Saturday 19th July.

The course had sat abandoned for some time, but is being given a new lease of life, with a refurbishment to reopen as Cannonball Creek Adventure Golf.

Cannonball Creek Adventure Golf is located at the Cadbury Garden Centre in Congresbury - a village between Bristol and Weston Super Mare in North Somerset.

Find out more about Cannonball Creek Adventure Golf

Visit the Cannonball Creek Adventure Golf website, Facebook Page and Instagram for more information about the course.

Find out more about Cadbury Garden Centre in Congresbury

Check out the Blue Diamond Garden Centres website for more information on the Cadbury Garden Centre venue.

Mini Golf at King Pins at the Trafford Palazzo in Manchester

Playing Mini Golf at King Pins at the Trafford Palazzo.

Having a round of indoor Mini Golf at King Pins at the Trafford Palazzo.

We recently attended the King Pins Summer Mixer Networking event at King Pins at the Trafford Palazzo in Manchester where we were welcome to play a selection of games for free. After some competitive games of tenpin bowling and ice-free curling against our fellow guests, I rounded off the excellent event with a game of minigolf on the 9-hole indoor course.

The Mini Golf at King Pins at the Trafford Palazzo was the 585th course played on our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour and 1,072nd visited overall since 2006.

In my round I shot a score of 16, with three holes-in-one and one three.

On the tee, or oche, of the last hole

Games at King Pins in the Trafford Palazzo.

As well as the mini golf course, King Pins at the Trafford Palazzo is home to tenpin bowling, duck pin bowling, ice-free curling, karaoke, shuffleboard, American pool, and arcade games.

Visiting King Pins.

If you haven't yet been, I recommend a visit to King Pins for yourself. Even if you're not playing any games it's a chilled out spot to get a drink and relax for a while during a shopping trip at the Palazzo and Trafford Centre.

As well as the Trafford Palazzo venue in Manchester, you can find King Pins locations at the Arndale Centre in Manchester, Bristol and Glasgow. The new Leeds location opens on the 15th August, and a Belfast King Pins is opening soon!

Find out more.

Visit the King Pins website for more information.

Mini Golf at King Pins.

We've also played the indoor Mini Golf course at the King Pins venue in the Manchester Arndale Centre.

Crazy Pool at King Pins.

The new Leeds King Pins venue at the White Rose Centre will be home to a Crazy Pool course.

The new Belfast King Pins.

It'll be interesting to see what games are available at King Pins in Belfast when it opens later this year, and if it'll have mini golf, crazy pool, or something else...

Lost minigolf courses - Crazy Golf on Exeter Road in Bournemouth, Dorset

There's an abandoned minigolf course on Bournemouth's Exeter Road.

A look at the derelict minigolf course on Exeter Road in Bournemouth, Dorset.

We found a minigolf course in Bournemouth on our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour back in June 2009 and when we revisited in July 2013 it was still there. On Emily's recent trips to the seaside town in December 2024 and this month she found it was still in place, but in a derelict state, with many of the holes lost.

The former 18-hole course is on Exeter Road and next to the café/restaurant.

The course is very similar in design to the busy course that can be found over the road in the Lower Gardens and the championship course in the Boscombe Chine Gardens, though in an entirely unplayable state.

Happy National 7-Eleven Day

It's National 7-Eleven Day.

Today is National 7-Eleven Day!

7-Eleven convenience stores celebrate National 7-Eleven Day on when else but the 11th July.

The first 7-Eleven Day was held in 2002.

Adventure Golf at Beachfields in Sheerness

New Adventure Golf course opening in Sheerness.

A new Adventure Golf course is opening at Beachfields in Sheerness on the Isle of Sheppey, Kent.

The new 18-hole outdoor Adventure Golf course is planned to open on Wednesday 23rd July.

The Adventure Golf course is being created as part of the Sheerness Revival Project.

The course is being built by Rock-Venture Designs and will be located at the Sheppey Leisure Complex at Beachfields in Sheerness.

Find out more.

Visit the Sheerness Revival Project website to find out more about the Adventure Golf course and other developments in the area.

Our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour.

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.

Free Crazy Golf in Northwich this Saturday (12th July)

You can play Crazy Golf for free in Northwich, Cheshire on Saturday.

There will be a free to play Crazy Golf course in Northwich, Cheshire this Saturday, 12th July.

The free to play Crazy Golf course will be set-up outside Northwich Library in the Witton Quarter between 12pm and 4pm.

Find out more.

The Crazy Golf event is part of Visit Northwich's Summer of Free Fun. Find out more on the Visit Northwich website.

Playing Crazy Golf in Northwich.

We played the Christmas-themed pop-up minigolf course from Lancashire Crazy Golf at the Northwich Christmas Extravaganza last November.

Street Life event in Ashton-under-Lyne

A look at the Street Life event in Ashton-under-Lyne.

We attended the free Street Life event in Ashton-under-Lyne on Saturday and had a superb time.

It was the first time I've been INSIDE a DMC DeLorean!

The community event saw the town centre come alive with a real mix of pop culture events, activities and attractions!

There was a huge Star Wars AT-ST at the event!

I'm a BIG fan of pro-wrestling, but it was the first time I've seen a show live outdoors - and in the morning! 

Visit the Tameside Official website for more information.

Happy National Video Game Day

Today is National Video Game Day.

The 'national day' is also celebrated on the 12th September each year.

Personally, I try to celebrate videogames as often as possible!

Street Golf Felixstowe at Manning's Amusements

The new Street Golf course at Manning's Amusements in Felixstowe, Suffolk is opening soon.

Street Golf Felixstowe is opening at Manning's Amusements in the seaside town and it is hoped to be completed and open this month.

We were in Felixstowe last month and swung by Manning's Amusements and Beach Street. The old entrance to the indoor course had been sealed off, with a new entrance to the course created at the rear of the building

Street Golf Felixstowe.

Felixstowe will be home to two new 9-hole indoor Crazy Golf courses as Street Golf Felixstowe opens inside Manning's Amusements at Beach Street in the Suffolk seaside town.

Construction work is underway at the site of the former Magical Golf FX course.

We're looking forward to checking out the new Street Golf layouts when they open.

Playing minigolf at Manning's Amusements.

We've played minigolf at Manning's Amusements in Felixstowe a lot over the years. The first time we played there was back on the 19th November 2006 when it became the fifth course we ever visited on our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour. It was also the first indoor minigolf course we played.

Back then it was one of only two indoor minigolf courses in the whole of the UK!

We've now been to 1,083 courses (1,022 in the British Isles) and there are a lot more indoor minigolf venues than there were in the mid-noughties.

The Golf FX course at Manning's Amusements was a brilliant layout, with lots of optical illusions and practical effects. It was a unique course and ahead of its time with its sound and light effects. 19 years later and many many many courses later, very few we have been to have come close to capturing the fun of it.

Since our first visit to Manning's Amusements the course had a several upgrades, refurbishments and name changes - it was called 'Golf FX' when we first played and has been known as 'Magical Golf', 'Magical Golf FX' and 'Harry Putter and the Magical Crazy Golf'!

The green on the old first hole is still the only revolving one we've seen on our travels! It'll be interesting to see how the new course at Manning's evolves...

Hopefully the two new Street Golf courses being built at Manning's Amusements are as good as, or better than, the course they will be replacing.

Updates at Manning's Amusements and Beach Street in Felixstowe.

Over the last few years the team at Manning's have transformed the amusements and leisure area to incorporate Beach Street - a container yard for dining, drinking and entertainment.

You can get lovely sea views from some of the seating and we enjoyed meeting friends for tapas there on our last visit to Felixstowe. It was also fun having a go on some of the new arcade games.

Find out more.

Follow the progress of the course build on the Manning's Amusements and Beach Street Felixstowe websites and social media.

Crazy Pool at Roxy Ball Room Deansgate in Manchester

There's a new Crazy Pool course at the Roxy Ball Room Deansgate venue in Manchester.

The new Crazy Pool layout replaces the Crazy Golf course on the second floor of Roxy Ball Room Deansgate.

The new Crazy Pool course has been added to the venue as part of a big refurbishment.

Luckily we played the Roxy Golf course at Roxy Ball Room Deansgate on our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour. The indoor Crazy Golf course was the 810th visited on our travels back in 2018. When we first visited it was an 18-hole course, while on a return in October 2024 it was a 12-hole layout.

Hole 12 of the Roxy Golf course at Roxy Ball Room Deansgate in Manchester in 2018

It'll be interesting to see the changes, and how the Crazy Pool course plays compared to the other we've played at the Manchester Arndale and Merrion Street Leeds locations.

Playing Crazy Pool at Roxy Ball Room Merrion Street in Leeds earlier this year

Roxy Ball Rooms are home to a range of competitive socialising activities, and the refurbishment at Roxy Ball Room Deansgate sees new karaoke rooms, duck pin bowling, shooting pods, tech darts, and a brand new bar.

We really enjoyed the venue - especially on a big New Years Eve out there a few years ago! It'll be interesting to see what the new look is like.

Find out more.

Check out the Roxy Ball Room website for more information on the venues and games at Roxy Ball Room locations.

Video rental shops in the UK (July 2025)

A look at video and movie rental shops in the UK.

You can still rent films from a number of video shops in the UK.

Video shop memories.

Growing up in the 80s and 90s I've got fond memories of visiting video shops with my family and picking out a film or two (generally one of the Police Academy films, action flicks, or horror movies as I got older!).

I found the preserved remains of a Blockbuster Video store in Fallowfield, Manchester in 2019. And during the coronavirus pandemic my interest in lost brands and retail history was piqued. Since then I've been to several former Blockbuster Video stores around the UK, as well as finding some other old, and some still open, video shops on our travels!

How many video shops are there in the UK in 2025?

Our most recent estimate shows there are currently seven 'video shops' still in operation offering physical media movie rentals in the UK as at July 2025.

They are:

• 20th Century Flicks in Bristol
• Fast Forward in Ayr, Scotland
• Northgate Video & DVD in Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk
• Snips Movies in Bebington, Wirral
• Stones Video Library & Sweet Shop & Vaporiser Shop in Lowestoft, Suffolk
• TVL Allstar Video in Haverhill, Suffolk
• VideOdyssey in Toxteth, Liverpool

We've been to 20th Century Flicks, Northgate Video & DVD and TVL Allstar Video, and are looking forward to going to Fast Forward, Snips Movies, Stones Video Library and VideoOdyssey.

Northgate Video & DVD shop in Bury St Edmunds (May 2025)

While there are nowhere near as many as there once were, it's still very to see there are businesses active in the 'video rental' sector in 2025.

Do you know of any other video shops in operation? Please do let us know.

Non-rental video shops.

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. And they do have items for sale.

We're looking forward to a trip there.

Video shop speakeasies, bars, and venues.

The nostalgia for video shops and the culture they provided back in the day has been translated to a few speakeasies, bars and other venues incorporating a video shop theme.

You can't rent any of these films on VHS at RBT Video

These include:

• Pixel Busters in Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire - an arcade and social gaming venue hidden behind a video store.
• Rewind NQ in Manchester's Northern Quarter - check out my blog post 'Drinking in a 'video shop'')
• RBT Video in Wakefield - take a look at the blog post from our visit
• Vice & Co in Lincoln - here's a blog post from our visit

And Bunga 90 - a re-imagining of the Bunga Bunga restaurant and entertainment venue as a 90's fever dream! - is planned to open in Covent Garden, London on the 18th September 2025. The venue will see you step through a video shop frontage to enter a venue full of retro games, karaoke and more.

Blockbuster Crazy Golf.

Interestingly there are 'Blockbuster' store-themed minigolf holes in the UK! They're part of the Golf Fang indoor crazy golf courses. This was the one at The Custard Factory in Digbeth, Birmingham back in 2017.

A Blockbuster Video themed Crazy Golf hole at Ghetto Golf (now Golf Fang) in Digbeth, Birmingham (November 2017)

Video shop pop-ups.

In April this year there was a KitKat x Blockbuster pop-up video shop that was part of a nostalgia inspired campaign to launch KitKat's new sharing bars.

KitKat x Blockbuster Video Shop pop-up in Soho, London. Photo by Gareth Holmes (April 2025)

Signs and traces of old video shops.

There are still traces of former video shops to be found on the streets, shopping centres and retail parks of the UK if you look for it!

VHS tapes and DVDs to rent at B.V.C. Bolton Video Centre in Little Lever (October 2020)

While most of these relics and ghost signs are of old Blockbuster Video stores, 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!).

An old video rental sign inside a Happy Shopper shop in Ilkeston (November 2020)

The list below has links to those we've snapped over the years:

• 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

Jubilee Films video shop in Ashton-under-Lyne (August 2020)

• 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)

TVL Allstar Video DVD rental shop in Haverhill, Suffolk

We're looking forward to checking out the other still operating stores on our travels in the future.

Blockbuster Video shops.

I've enjoyed researching the lost brand and seeking out remnants of old Blockbuster stores over the last few years.

An ex-rental Blockbuster VHS tape with stickers

Here's a list, with links to blog posts about the former Blockbuster Video store locations we've visited to date:

• 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

A sign for the old Blockbuster Video Express store in Colne, Lancashire (August 2020)

At its peak in 2004 there were more than 9,000 Blockbuster Video stores around the world. 500+ of which were in England, Scotland and Wales. Interestingly in Northern Ireland the Xtra-Vision brand was used by the owners in-line with the Republic of Ireland.

An Xtra-vision ex-rental VHS tape from Ballymena, Northern Ireland

The last Blockbuster Video shop ceased trading in the UK in December 2013.

'Free Blockbuster'.

The first Free Blockbuster was created in 2019 and since then more have been created in the USA, Canada, Australia and the UK.

Emily visited the Free Blockbuster Las Vegas at Sohn vintage shop in Las Vegas last year and swapped some of our DVDs for some wrestling VHS tapes!

The Free Blockbuster Las Vegas at Sohn vintage shop in Las Vegas (September 2024)

You can find Free Blockbusters in several locations throughout North America, one in Australia, and there is one in the UK - at Midsomer Magpie in Midsomer Norton, Somerset, England.

Check out the Free Blockbuster website for more information.

Video rental shop watch.

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

An ex-rental cover for what would've been our local video shop here in Edgeley, Stockport