Urban Street Golf at Gravity Social in Northampton (October 2023)

A revisit to Gravity Social in Northampton.

On my recent trip to Northampton it was sad to find that Gravity Social at Sol Central had closed down.

The venue was home to an indoor Urban Street Golf course.

Our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour.

The 9-hole Urban Street Golf course at Gravity Social in Northampton was the 1,019th course visited on our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour travels back in April 2023.

A look at the Urban Street Golf course at Gravity Social.

Check out this blog post for more photos of what the course looked like then.

Urban Street Golf at Gravity Social in Northampton (April 2023)

Urban Street Golf at Gravity Social in Northampton (April 2023)

A visit to the Urban Street Golf course at Gravity Social in Northampton.

The 9-hole indoor course was the 1,019th visited on our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour.

Unfortunately the Gravity Social at Sol Central is no longer open.

Photos of the Urban Street Golf course at Gravity Social.

A Crazy Golf postcard from Filey

A look at an old Crazy Golf course postcard from Filey, North Yorkshire.

This particular postcard was sent from Scarborough to Thirsk at 10.15am on the 29th August 1980.

Minigolf Postcard - Crazy Golf, Filey. F.0226. Printed & Published by E. T. W. DENNIS & SONS LTD., SCARBOROUGH. Posted from Scarborough to Thirsk at 10.15am on 29 Aug 1980

There's still a minigolf course at the same location in Filey. We played a previous incarnation of the current layout back in 2008 when it was the 9-hole Ocean Drive Crazy Golf course.

The course was refurbished in 2023 and we're yet to return for a game on the new layout.

Also in 2023 we were immortalised on a piece of Filey artwork (that was also turned into a postcard) by Leeds-based artist Jack Hurley (aka Loud Ribs) as part of his tongue-in-cheek, affectionate and characterful Rubbish Seaside 'Dystopia-on-Sea' collection!

The Point - a pyramid in Milton Keynes

A look at The Point in Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire.

The Point in February 2022

The Point in Milton Keynes was completed in 1985 and opened as a cinema.

During its life the Milton Keynes pyramid has also been home to a bingo hall, charity shop, record shop, a bar and a pizza restaurant.

The Point in February 2022

The Point currently stands empty and there is an ongoing campaign to save the landmark building.

Check out The Point website for more information.

The Point in October 2023

Swedish Felt Minigolf in Maryport, Cumbria

Playing minigolf at the Lake District Coast Aquarium Crazy Golf course in Maryport.

The course was originally the 469th course visited on our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour back in April 2012. We returned in June 2023 and were able to have a round on the Swedish Felt B-Run type of minigolf course on that occasion.

Take a look at this blog post to see more of the course.

Crazy Golf at Yum Yum World in Rugby

The Yum Yum Crazy Golf course at Bounce World in Rugby, Warwickshire is no longer open.

You used to be able to get a hole-in-one at Bounce World in Rugby

We visited the course location on our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour last year.

There was no sign of the course this time

The building it was in used to be home to a Woolworths. You can see still see the Woolies ghost sign there.

Swedish Felt Mini Golf in Maryport, Cumbria

Playing minigolf at the Lake District Coast Aquarium Crazy Golf course in Maryport.

The course was originally the 469th course visited on our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour back in April 2012. We returned in June 2023 and were able to have a round on the Swedish Felt B-Run type of minigolf course on that occasion.

Take a look at this blog post to see more of the course.

Minigolf in Maryport, Cumbria

Playing minigolf at the Lake District Coast Aquarium Crazy Golf course in Maryport.

The course was originally the 469th course visited on our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour back in April 2012. We returned in June 2023 and were able to have a round on the Swedish Felt B-Run type of minigolf course on that occasion.

Take a look at this blog post to see more of the course.

Crazy Golf in Maryport, Cumbria

Playing minigolf at the Lake District Coast Aquarium Crazy Golf course in Maryport.

The course was originally the 469th course visited on our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour back in April 2012. We returned in June 2023 and were able to have a round on the Swedish Felt B-Run type of minigolf course on that occasion.

Take a look at this blog post to see more of the course.

Mini Golf in Maryport, Cumbria

Playing minigolf at the Lake District Coast Aquarium Crazy Golf course in Maryport.

The course was originally the 469th course visited on our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour back in April 2012. We returned in June 2023 and were able to have a round on the Swedish Felt B-Run type of minigolf course on that occasion.

Take a look at this blog post to see more of the course.

Lost Shops - Blockbuster Video Express store in Westcliff-on-Sea, Essex (April 2023)

Taking a look at the former Blockbuster Video Express store in Westcliff-on-Sea, Essex.

The signage at the old Blockbuster Video Express store in Westcliff-on-Sea is no more, and work is underway on the unit to create two new shops and flats.

Here's what it looked like when we visited in April last year.

Blockbuster Video in the UK

At its peak in 2004 there were more than 9,000 stores around the world. 500-plus of those 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 last stores closed on the 16th December.

There are still some visible remnants of the brand on the high street and on retail parks. And we've been to most of them on our travels!

Check out the posts about former Blockbuster Video stores we've been to in:

• 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

Lost brands

Emily and I have spent the last few years reminiscing about 'the good old days'. One of our areas of interest is in old retail brands - we're both marketers by profession and two of my first jobs in the 1990's and the year 2000 were at Tandy and Toys R Us, while Emily's first job was at a Happy Shopper shop. It's been fascinating to find remnants of these brands - and a number of other lost, dead and defunct brands - on the high street and at retail parks around the UK.

Charity Crazy Golf course at Woburn Sands Emporium

A look back at our visit to the Charity Crazy Golf course at Woburn Sands Emporium in Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire.

Charity Crazy Golf at Woburn Sands Emporium

Last year we heard that the Woburn Sands Emporium garden centre was home to a Charity Crazy Golf course, so we had to head along for a game when next in the area.

A view of the course from hole 1

The hut

The scarecrow proprietor

It's always fun playing a minigolf course we didn't previously know about. And excellent when it's a unique layout.

Emily tees-off

The Crazy Golf course at Woburn Sands Emporium certainly was different, and it was fun to play the 7-hole course!

Emily on hole 5

Emily playing the windmill hole 3

The Charity Crazy Golf at Woburn Sands Emporium was the 1,037th course visited on our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour.

A combined 1,037 miniature golf courses visited

A view of the course from hole 7 (the flag is from when the course had 9 holes)

In our minigolf match I took the win with a score of 17 to Emily's 18. It had been close for the first six holes, with Emily ahead by one shot. But the final hole was a round wrecker and game killer. Emily played first and shot a 6, while I was able to hit a 4 and take the win.

Playing hole 6

Photos of the 7-hole Crazy Golf course at Woburn Sands Emporium (October 2023)

Hole 1

Hole 2

Hole 3

Hole 4

Hole 5

Hole 5

Hole 6

Hole 7

Visit the Woburn Sands Emporium website for more information about the course and the garden centre's charity partners. It's an excellent garden centre with plenty to see and do there.

Caddies Crazy Golf in Southend-on-Sea

Playing at Caddies Crazy Golf in Southend-on-Sea, Essex.

Caddies Crazy Golf is home to two 9-hole indoor courses.

Each has a distinct design and style, with one course using a fantasy minigolf style, while the other utilises Swedish Felt B-Run 'lanes' as the base for the course. It's a unique set-up and looks very nice.

The Blue course at Caddies Crazy Golf became the 1,020th visited (564th played) while the Red course was the 1,021st visited (565th played) on our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour.

Check out the Caddies Crazy Golf website for more information, opening times and prices. As well as the Southend venue you can also find Caddies Crazy Golf in Crawley.

Our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour

Since 2006 Emily and I have visited 1,064 miniature golf courses around the UK and overseas on our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour. As well as playing minigolf in England, Northern Ireland, Scotland, Wales, Jersey and the Isle of Man we’ve travelled to minigolf courses in Australia, Austria, Belgium, Chile, Finland, Hong Kong, New Zealand, Poland, Singapore, Spain (Lanzarote and Majorca), Sweden and the USA.

When added to the courses my brother Christopher and his family have visited around the British Isles and Türkiye, Spain (Majorca), Italy, Netherlands, Luxembourg, Germany, France, Indonesia, Croatia and the USA, the Crazy World of Minigolf Tour stands at a combined 1,111 courses visited!