The old Blockbuster Video store in Southampton

A look at the former Blockbuster Video store in Southampton.

We visited the old Blockbuster Video store on Portswood Road in Southampton, Hampshire back in May 2021.

Work was underway to open the location as a new business. Luckily there were still some traces of the Blockbuster brand.

Finding other old Blockbuster Video shops.

It's always fun to see ghost signs, remnants of old & dead brands and interesting signage while out and about on our travels. Since I found the remains of the Blockbuster Video store in Fallowfield, Manchester in October 2019 I've been intrigued to see the brand still has a lingering presence on the high street. The last Blockbuster Video shop ceased trading in the UK in December 2013!

Our travels have taken us to several former Blockbuster stores:

• 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

The old Toys R Us at St James Retail Park in Northampton

A look at the old Toys R Us store at St James Retail Park in Northampton.

Earlier this year we had a short break to visit friends in Northampton and while there had another look at the old Toys R Us shop at St James Retail Park on Towcester Road.

Toys R Us at St James Retail Park in Northampton (April 2023)

We've since heard that Home Bargains are soon to move in to the premises.

Take a look at my blog post with a few more snaps of the location as it looked in June 2021.

I worked in the Gipsy Lane Toys R Us store in Luton, Bedfordshire back in the year 2000.

Toys R Us closed in the UK in April 2018. It's interesting to see that there are still remnants of the original brand on some retail parks in the UK. 

Toys R Us returned to the UK earlier this summer, as the brand can now be found in some branches of WH Smith. We haven't been near to any of the new version stores yet. It'll be interesting to see what they're like.

Former Toys R Us store locations we've visited on our travels to date:

• Brighton Hill Retail Park in Basingstoke
• Central Retail Park in Manchester
• Cathedral Retail Park in Norwich
• Deepdale shopping centre in Preston
• Festival retail park in Hanley, Stoke-on-Trent
• Gateway retail park in Reading
• Gemini Retail Park in Warrington
• Interchange Retail Park at Copdock Mill, Ipswich
• St James Retail Park in Northampton
• Teesside Retail Park in Stockton-on-Tees
• The Leisure Plaza in Milton Keynes
• Western Esplanade in Southampton
• Wolverhampton Road in Oldbury
• Wyvern Retail Park in Derby

Shoreditch Balls Crazy Golf in London

There's a Crazy Golf course in Shoreditch.

Many thanks to our fellow minigolf enthusiasts at A Couple of Putts for letting us know there's a new(ish) miniature golf course in London that we didn't know about already!

Shoreditch Balls opened on Old Street in late 2021 and is a new venue to add to our Crazy World of Minigolf 'To Visit' list.

Check out the Shoreditch Balls website for more information.

I used to work in the Shoreditch area of Hackney and commuted into Old Street everyday back in the mid-noughties. Those were the days when there were next to no minigolf courses in the capital. Fast forward to 2023 and you can't move for places to have a putt. At my last count there were 37 minigolf, crazy golf and adventure golf locations in the city.

UV Crazy Golf at Total Enigma in Carlisle

There's an indoor UV Crazy Golf course at the Total Enigma Escape Rooms & Laser Tag centre in Carlisle, Cumbria.

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

The course opened in the summer of 2021.

Check out the Total Enigma website for more information.

Dinosaur World Adventure Golf in Walsall

There's a dinosaur-themed Adventure Golf course at Calderfields Golf Driving Range in Walsall.

The 18-hole Dinosaur World Adventure Golf course in Walsall opened in November last year. We'd first heard it was being planned in 2020.

Visit the Dinosaur World Adventure Golf website for more information.

It's another new place for us to visit on our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour.

Filwood Fantastic Crazy Golf in Knowle West, Bristol

We helped launch the Filwood Fantastic Crazy Golf course in Knowle West, Bristol a year ago today!

We had a superb time at the launch of the Filwood Fantastic Crazy Golf course in Knowle West, Bristol on Saturday 3rd July 2021.

This is my favourite hole - the obstacle at the top of the ramp hid a sneaky surprise!

The real life miniature golf course was created during the pandemic and the ideas for the hole designs were generated by members of the Knowle West community during Lockdown 1.

The story of the Filwood Fantastic Mini Golf course.

Take a look at this superb video telling the story of how the Filwood Fantastic Mini Golf course in Knowle West, Bristol came about.

We loved being a part of the clubhouse and tee party online meetings and to play the unique course and meet the people involved was brilliant.

I managed to score a hole-in-one taking the direct route across the beachy 'bridge'

I had the honour of cutting the ribbon to officially launch the course alongside Meg - the creative genius who led the lockdown project!

The Filwood Fantastic Crazy Golf course was the 966th course visited overall on our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour and the 549th we've played since September 2006.

There were so many fantastic people and organisations involved in the project and you can find out more about them via the links to their websites and social media below:

• Filwood Community Centre
• Filwood Fantastic Mini Golf Club
• Megan Clark-Bagnall
• Claudia Collins aka Claudia the Caddy
• Re:Work Bristol
• Nic Marshall Designs
• Knowle West Beaches
• Julian Wood

Visit the Filwood Crazy Golf Facebook Page and Filwood Community Centre website for more information and opening times.

Princess Parade Crazy Golf in Blackpool

The Princess Parade Crazy Golf course in Blackpool has now been open again for a year and a day.

Princess Parade Crazy Golf is on the North Shore in Blackpool

The Princess Parade Crazy Golf course in Blackpool was re-opened on the 28th May 2021.

A view of the 18th hole

Holes 1-9

Holes 10-18

Check out the Princess Parade Crazy Golf course Facebook Group for more information.

Reopening the abandoned North Shore course

Blackpool and the Fylde Street Angels and Blackpool Fulfilling Lives joined forces to refresh and reopen the Princess Parade Crazy Golf course on Blackpool's North Shore in 2019 and a number of other people and groups have been a part of the project. Including me.

The base of the course itself has changed very little since it was first created in the late 1950's and it's wonderful that the area is easily recognisable from old postcards from the 1960s, 70s and 80s.

There have still been some very noticeable improvements to the course and the whole area it sits in. Most notable are the repairs to the obstacles as well as the addition of professional putting carpet to the holes. It makes the course very nice to play.

More information can be found in my blog post from the launch event in May 2021, in one of my previous posts charting the progress on the refurbishment and this blog post from September 2020.

Minigolf courses in the UK

There are lots of places to play minigolf in the UK.

We've almost reached the 1,000 course mark on our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour. When we began in 2006 there were around 600 courses in the UK. That number has grown significantly and there are new places to play opening all the time.

Some of the courses we've played are long-gone, while others have been refurbished or replaced by new layout.

Check out this post detailing all of the new courses we have found that have opened, are in planning, or under construction in the UK since July 2020 - New minigolf courses in the UK.

Manor Park Crazy Golf in Glossop

A view of the Crazy Golf course at Manor Park in Glossop, Derbyshire.

Our last minigolf course visit of 2021 was to the Crazy Golf course at Manor Park in Glossop, Derbyshire.

The course was originally the 743rd visited on our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour back in June 2017. It became the 438th played when we returned in better weather conditions the following month.

Crazy Golf at Manor Park in Glossop

A look at the Crazy Golf course at Manor Park in Glossop, Derbyshire.

Our last minigolf course visit of 2021 was to the Crazy Golf course at Manor Park in Glossop, Derbyshire.

The course was originally the 743rd visited on our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour back in June 2017. It became the 438th played when we returned the following month.

Blockbuster in Billingham, Teesside

A look at the old Blockbuster Video shop in Billingham.

Blockbuster in Billingham, Teesside

The old Blockbuster Video Express store in Billingham town centre, Teesside, England was still standing when we visited last April.

Blockbuster in Billingham, Teesside

There were a few remnants inside too.

Many thanks go to LaserDisc Turtle on Twitter for letting us know about the store's existence and Visual Sound on Instagram for letting us know it was still there.

Blockbuster in Billingham, Teesside

Blockbuster Video

The first Blockbuster Video store opened in Dallas, Texas, USA in 1985.

At its peak in 2004 there were more than 9,000 stores around the world. 500+ of which were in the UK.

Blockbuster ceased operations in the UK in December 2013. At the start of that year there were 528 Blockbuster locations in the UK. The number dwindled until October when only 264 shops remained. The remaining stores closed on the 16th December.

There is now just one Blockbuster Video store left open. It's in Bend, Oregon, USA.

However, the UK's high streets, shopping precincts, malls and retail parks still hold traces of the brand. And we've been to most of them!

We've now been to 27 former Blockbuster Video stores since we found the remains of the Fallowfield shop near to us in Manchester.

• 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
• 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
• Wisbech, Cambridgeshire
• Wythenshawe, Manchester

Other Blockbusters

We've found a few other 'Blockbuster' stores on our travels - with one former store becoming a book shop called Bookbuster and a Crazy Golf hole themed on a store.

We've also seen out that a new video shop-themed bar called Blockbusters NQ is opening in Manchester's Northern Quarter later this year.

A look at the Crazy Golf course at Manor Park in Glossop

Our last minigolf course visit of 2021 was to the Crazy Golf course at Manor Park in Glossop, Derbyshire.

The course was originally the 743rd visited on our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour back in June 2017.

So that was 2021

What a crazy year. Again.

2021 was certainly another interesting year in the life of planet Earth.

It's been a looooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooong year!

With plenty of uncertainty, ever-changing rules / guidance / laws, and the threat of coronavirus at every turn it's been a tricky year in a number of ways.

Despite the obstacles and hazards that have abounded we've still been able to play a bit of minigolf this year.

The last courses we played this year were at Looney Golf in Bradford - quite an aptly named course for the times we're living in!

We've been to a total of 29 new courses to us (playing at eleven of them) on our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour in 2021. We've also revisited a number of courses from years gone by.

We have also seen a lot of new minigolf, crazy golf and adventure golf courses opening this year too, with more planned to open in the coming months.

Here's hoping 2022 will be a better year for us all.

Crazy Golf at Manor Park in Glossop

Revisiting the Crazy Golf course in Glossop's Manor Park.

Crazy Golf at Manor Park in Glossop

We had an afternoon in Glossop on Tuesday and made what is likely to be our last minigolf course visit of 2021 when we swung by the Crazy Golf course at Manor Park in the town.

Crazy Golf at Manor Park in Glossop

The course was originally the 743rd visited on our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour back in June 2017. It became the 438th played the following month when conditions were drier.

The course hasn't changed a great deal in that time.

Crazy Golf at Manor Park in Glossop

Crazy Golf at Manor Park in Glossop

Crazy Golf at Manor Park in Glossop

Crazy Golf at Manor Park in Glossop

Crazy Golf at Manor Park in Glossop

Crazy Golf at Manor Park in Glossop

Crazy Golf at Manor Park in Glossop

Crazy Golf at Manor Park in Glossop

Crazy Golf at Manor Park in Glossop

Crazy Golf at Manor Park in Glossop

Crazy Golf at Manor Park in Glossop

Crazy Golf at Manor Park in Glossop

Crazy Golf at Manor Park in Glossop

Crazy Golf at Manor Park in Glossop

Crazy Golf at Manor Park in Glossop

Crazy Golf at Manor Park in Glossop

Crazy Golf at Manor Park in Glossop

Crazy Golf at Manor Park in Glossop

Crazy Golf at Manor Park in Glossop

We had a nice walk round the park and are looking forward to returning again in the Spring or Summer.

Merry Christmas

Happy Christmas!

We want to wish you a very happy Christmas and all the very best for the New Year!

Have a brilliant day.

A wintery scene on the Miniature Golf course at Solna Bangolfklubb in Stockholm, Sweden in 2018. Hopefully we'll get to travel to Sweden again in the future

Crazy Golf in Prestatyn

Revisiting the Crazy Golf course in Prestatyn, North Wales.

Crazy Golf in Prestatyn

We revisited the North Wales coast on Saturday afternoon and swung by one of our favourite courses - the Arnold Palmer Putting Course on Bastion Road in Prestatyn.

Crazy Golf in Prestatyn

The course was the 147th played on our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour back in 2009.

Crazy Golf in Prestatyn

As one of our local seaside towns we normally head to Prestatyn a few times a year. But the last visit either of us made was in June 2019!

Crazy Golf in Prestatyn

Our revisit at the weekend looked like it could've been in the summer with how clear the sky was.

Crazy Golf in Prestatyn