What a year of blogging

Blimey, that was quite a year of blogging here on the Ham & Egger Files!

Thank you for reading.

Many thanks to everyone who has contributed photos, info and guest posts too.

It's all much appreciated.

All the very best for 2021.

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year

Happy Christmas.

Here's to a better 2021...

Merry Christmas

Happy Christmas.

Bad Santa graffiti in Blackpool by Seca_One

Bad Santa graffiti in Blackpool by Seca_One

Happy Christmas

Merry Christmas.

A snowy day at the old Mini & Crazy Golf courses in Luton

Christmas Crazy Golf

It's Christmas-time!

Playing a Christmas Crazy Golf hole at Teezers Retro Golf in Coventry at Easter in 2019

The Crazy World of Minigolf Tour in 2020

A look back at our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour in 2020.

Prior to the coronavirus pandemic we were closing in on visiting the final 40 courses of the original 600 we set out to play in 2006. We were also very close to hitting 1,000 course visits overall.

Before the first national lockdown hit and our out-of-home putting was paused we'd visited 948 courses since September 2006.

We had a very strong start to the year and visited 20 courses in the first 20 days of 2020 (some of those were revisits). We had hoped to hit the BIG landmark of 1,000 course visits this year. That plan was obviously out of the window come March.

We've still been able to visit a total of 46 courses in 2020, including revisits. 15 of them were new layouts to us. We've been able to visit eight courses during the pandemic (March to December), playing two of them.

Playing minigolf in 2020

One of those played was the Gator Adventure Golf at Escape Entertainment in Chorley, Lancashire in August. It was the first new minigolf course we played in almost six months and the first course we played during the Coronavirus pandemic.

The second course we played was the Cae Glas Park Crazy Golf course in Oswestry, Shropshire in September. We first played that 18-hole layout in 2009 and had revisited it in 2012.

The last new course Emily and I played together was the Sunnybank Gardens Crazy Golf layout in Hatfield, Doncaster on the 19th January.

The last new course I played before the first Coronavirus pandemic lockdown was the CLUB GOLF pop-up minigolf in King's Cross, London on the 25th February.

The last course of any kind I played before the Coronavirus pandemic lockdown was at Junkyard Golf on First Street in Manchester on the 9th March.

Other firsts and lasts of 2020

• The last course we visited before the Coronavirus pandemic lockdown was The Lost Valley Adventure Golf at Amazonia in the Market Place Shopping Centre, Bolton on the 14th March.
• The first course we visited where we saw social distancing measures was the Bruntwood Pitch & Putt course in Cheadle Hulme on the 23rd May.
• The first previously played course we visited during the Coronavirus pandemic was the Crazy Golf layout at Wythenshawe Park in Manchester on 21st June.
• The first new course to us that we visited during the Coronavirus pandemic was the Pitch & Putt course at Wythenshawe Park in Manchester, also on the 21st June.
• The other new courses we visited this year were Puttstars Mini Golf in Rochdale, the Putting Green at Victoria Park in Swinton, the Pitch & Putt at Buile Hill Park, Salford, and the new Adventure Golf course at Fairhaven Lake in Lytham St Annes.

We've now been to a total of 956 courses since September 2006. 917 of those have been in the British Isles. 39 have been in eleven overseas countries including Australia, Austria, Belgium, Finland, Hong Kong, New Zealand, Poland, Singapore, Spain, Sweden and the USA.

New course visit numbers year by year:

• 2020 = 15 courses.
• 2019 = 82 courses.
• 2018 = 64 courses.
• 2017 = 74 courses.
• 2016 = 47 courses.
• 2015 = 84 courses.

New minigolf courses in the UK

We've continued to research, monitor and promote the game and know about at least another 50 new courses now open, being built, in development or planned to open in the UK. It'll be nice to swing by them when it's safe to get back out on the road again.

Putting at Home

2020 was also a year for Putting at Home and we've enjoyed competing in Putt18 tournaments with players from the USA, Australia and New Zealand. It's also been a pleasure to be a part of the Filwood Fantastic Mini Golf Club in Bristol.

You can also check out our Big Mini Golf Bucket List for ideas of minigolf things to do during the pandemic.

Related blog posts:

• Crazy World of Minigolf Tour
• Minigolf in the time of Coronavirus
• The Coronavirus (Ham & Egger) Files

Christmas Crazy Golf

Not long to go until Christmas!

It's highly doubtful we'll be playing any Christmas minigolf this festive season - our first Christmas in Lockdown.

Thankfully we've played a bit of yuletide crazy golf on our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour in the past.

A selection box of festive miniature golf from top left - the Home Alone hole at Teezers Retro Golf in Coventry (played on an Easter Sunday), the pop-up Chrizy Golf course in Manchester and the Santa hole on the pop-up Christmas course at Devonshire Square in London

Check out the latest blog post about Christmas Crazy Golf from the team at Putterfingers.

NEW BLOG: Portable crazy golf hire adds a bit of festive cheer to small gatherings. Great for all ages, delivery to...

Posted by Crazy Golf on Thursday, 12 November 2020

Back on the 30th November 2012 I won the first - and to date only - Chrizy Golf Masters minigolf tournament in Manchester!

Chrizy Golf Champion

Tales from a Gluten Free Christmas

With Christmas fast approaching I'm pleased to share my experience as part of Coeliac UK’s ‘Tales from a Gluten Free Christmas’ campaign. Visit the Coeliac UK website and check out the #gfchristmas hashtag on social media to find out more.

This year we've been missing meeting friends for a meal at our favourite restaurant, The Oxford Place in Leeds.

With a bit of luck we'll be able to get over there for a meal this year after the current national lockdown in England.

Dining out gluten free

Since we first heard about The Oxford Place in 2016 we've eaten there a lot. Not only is the entire restaurant and kitchen 100% gluten free and safe for Coeliacs, it serves superb meals that my non-Coeliac friends have loved eating too. They pass the "you can't tell its gluten free" test every time.

Last year I had my first Christmas Dinner at a restaurant since I don't know when!

Last Christmas at The Oxford Place

It wasn’t any old Christmas Dinner either. The Oxford Place always put so much effort into the dishes they serve up and they are a treat for the taste buds and the eyes.

Normally by this point of the year we'd have been to Leeds for celebration meals, for fun, to attend events and see friends. In 2020 we've been there a grand total of zero times.

We've had so many wonderful meals at The Oxford Place. From light lunches to three-course meals, to birthdays, anniversaries and Christmas Dinners with all the trimmings I've been able to feel somewhat normal again by having the choice of anything and everything on the menu without worry of cross-contamination, or the annoyance of having something removed or replaced to 'make it gluten free'.

We can't wait until we're able to get back to the city and The Oxford Place. I know I'll be making up for lost time and ordering a lot of food on my next visit.

If you haven't been to The Oxford Place I suggest you make a booking and try it as soon as you are able to.

A gluten free Christmas at home

Being a Coeliac doesn't mean you have to miss out on treats. I've certainly snacked on and scoffed my fair share of Christmas food since being diagnosed in 2008.

Last year you could get Lebkuchen by Schar at Asda. They were something I'd really missed so I bought a lot of them. I haven't seen them in store yet this year, but fingers crossed they'll be doing them again.

It'll be fun making some too. There's an excellent recipe for gluten free Lebkuchen in the Gluten-free Baking at Christmas book by 'The Happy Coeliac' Samantha Stein.

Home-made gluten free Lebkuchen biscuits

We'll be enjoying Christmas at home again this year, cooking up a superb festive meal with all the trimmings, including Yorkshire Puddings.

The range of gluten free food available in supermarket's Christmas ranges has also improved over the last ten years and we've ordered a few extra treats from M&S already.

What is your favourite thing about being gluten free at Christmas?

Check out Coeliac UK's Christmas website for more information, ideas and inspiration for gluten free food and drink.

Links:

• Coeliac UK
• The Oxford Place

Related blog posts:

• Coeliac
• Gluten Free
• Christmas

Keep YOUR Distance - Protect yourself

Check out this social distancing floor sign outside the old Blockbuster Video store at Fallowfield Retail Park in Manchester.

Signs of the old and the new. Together. In Manchester

We're currently in Tier 3 Restrictions in Greater Manchester. 

Here in Stockport we've been under tight restrictions of one form or another since the first national lockdown in March.  

Tomorrow the whole of England will move into a national lockdown for the second time this year.

I wonder what other interesting signs I will see on my daily outdoor exercise this winter...?

Four months until Christmas Day...

...where has the year gone!

A Christmas Crazy Golf hole at Teezers Coventry - we played there at Easter 2019

Farnworth Market Precinct

A look at Farnworth Market Precinct in Farnworth, Bolton.

The former shopping area is due to be demolished soon. It was quite eerie to find the abandoned area between the main precinct and the new bus station.

Vegas, baby, Vegas!

British Minigolf Association tournaments - 2020

Play is set to resume on the British Minigolf Association tour.

The British Minigolf Association (BMGA) will resume the 2020 season with a double-header weekend of events at Dunton Hills in Essex in August.

The Cambridgeshire & Essex Minigolf Club Open is on Saturday 15th August, with the BMGA British Doubles Championship taking place the following day.

The last minigolf tournament held in the UK before lockdown was the 19th edition of the Planet Hastings Crazy Golf Open held on the 1st March. The season-opening Thanet Open had been held in Margate, Kent on 9th February.

Details of BMGA minigolf tournaments in the UK can be found on the British Minigolf Association website.

The UK's next competition in 2020

The first mid-pandemic socially distanced minigolf tournament in the UK is taking place on Sunday 26th July. Organised by the Welsh Minigolf Club the 2020 Dragon Classic will be held on the Dragon's Quest Mini Golf course at Fontygary Leisure Park in Rhoose, Barry.

Competitions around the world this year

In April the World Minigolf Sport Federation made the decision to cancel all 2020 international (world and continental) tournaments.

During the coronavirus pandemic a number of minigolf events and competitions have been held in Australia, New Zealand, Germany, the USA, Czech Republic, Portugal, Turkey and Poland.

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Check out the Crazy World of Minigolf Tour Newsletter archive and sign-up to receive future editions

We gonna rock down to Corona Avenue

What a year it's been so far!

And to think it's not over yet...

Happy National Fried Chicken Day

Today is National Fried Chicken Day.

We've seen a lot of different chicken shops on our travels including a few alternate KFCs

Social distancing minigolf

Minigolf in the time of coronavirus and social distancing.

We're interested in seeing examples of Covid-19 social distancing at minigolf courses around the world - from signage to scorecards we'd like to see them and share them.

If you're a course owner, minigolf club or player please do get in touch with your examples.

Social distancing at minigolf courses

It'll be interesting to see the changes to how minigolf is played as lockdown restrictions ease and it becomes safer to get out and about a bit more.

I've been writing about social distancing and the impact of coronavirus on minigolf and competitive socialising venues. You can see more of my posts at 'The Coronavirus (Ham & Egger) Files'.

Social distancing Pitch & Putt

We don't have any adventure, crazy or mini golf courses in Stockport, but we do have a Pitch & Putt miniature golf course at Bruntwood Park in Cheadle Hulme. We saw the social distancing measures in place there while out on our daily exercise recently.