A wacky waving inflatable arm-flailing tube-man at Birch Garden Centre in Cheadle

There's a wacky waving inflatable arm-flailing tube-man at Birch Garden Centre in Cheadle, Stockport.

The wacky waving inflatable arm-flailing tube-man is back out being wacky, waving, and arm-flailing about the place at Birch Garden Centre in Cheadle, Stockport.

Related blog posts:

• Inflatable advertising
• Wacky Waving Arm-Flailing Inflatable Tube-man
• Wacky Waving Arm-Flailing Inflatable Tube-men
• A wacky waving inflatable arm-flailing tube-man at Birch Garden Centre in Cheadle, Stockport
• Cheadle
• Stockport

Video:

• Wacky waving inflatable arm flailing tube man in Cheadle, Stockport (April 2026)

Wacky Waving Inflatable Arm-Flailing Tube-Men in Felixstowe

There's a pair of Wacky Waving Inflatable Arm-Flailing Tube-Men in Felixstowe, Suffolk.

Our friend Sophia Cook spotted these two Wacky Waving Inflatable Arm-Flailing Tube-Men on a recent trip to Felixstowe.

I don't often need another reason to visit Felixstowe - it's probably our most visited seaside - but now I have two! I'm looking forward to finding these airdancers later this summer.

Related blog posts:

• Airdancer
• Inflatable advertising
• Wacky waving inflatable arm flailing tube-man
• Wacky waving inflatable arm flailing tube-men
• Felixstowe

Heritage buses and coaches in Hunstanton

A look at some heritage buses and coaches in Hunstanton.

While walking around Hunstanton we spotted several old buses and coaches parked up at the bus depot.

They were very interesting to see.

The vehicles were on the 'Geoff Hanson Memorial Run' - an annual event in honour of local transport enthusiast Geoff Hanson. You can read more about the Geoff Hanson Memorial Run on the East Norfolk Bus Blog.

Some nice old advertising on this Eastern Counties bus

This double decker bus had some nice old advertising on it too

Pie Chart

We spotted this funny 'Pie Chart' at Moss Bakery in Hunstanton, Norfolk.

Merry Skipsmas!

Always brilliant to see the Skip Christmas Tree go up at Cheadle Skip Hire Ltd. in Adswood, Stockport.

A Mobile Phone Christmas Tree at Vodafone

A Christmas window display celebrating the world's first text message.

The world's first text message was sent over the Vodafone network on the 3rd December 1992.

This year Vodafone is celebrating this fact in its Christmas marketing activity, including window displays in retail stores, such as this one on Market Street in Manchester.

Find out more.

Check out the Vodafone website, and this article from 2017 that celebrated 25 years since the first text message, to find out more.

Link:

• Vodafone

Related blog posts:

• Christmas Trees
• Retail
• Marketing
• Nostalgia
• Retro

Inflatable advertising in Bredbury, Stockport

A piece of inflatable advertising in Stockport.

Last year I spotted a piece of inflatable advertising at the Super Shine Hand Car Wash in Bredbury, Stockport. On a recent drive to Hyde I noticed that the red and yellow inflatable character had changed to a blue and white one!

While it's not an airdancer (aka a 'wacky waving inflatable arm flailing tube-man' - my favourite type of inflatable advertising) it's still fun to see it flagging down passing drivers to get their cars cleaned.

Related blog posts:

• Airdancer
• Inflatable advertising
• Some inflatable advertising in Stockport
• Wacky waving inflatable arm flailing tube-man

Video:

• Inflatable advertising at the Super Shine Hand Car Wash in Bredbury, Stockport

Toys R Us at TGJones in the UK

There's a Toys R Us inside the TGJones in Cambridge.

The start of July 2025 marked the end of WHSmith on the British high street after 233 years. Following the sale of the business to Hobbycraft owner Modella Capital earlier this year WHSmith shops have been undergoing a rebrand to the new name of TGJones.

WHSmith on the high street, and travel stores.

There were around 500 high street WHSmith shops, and another 580 travel stores in the UK. The WHSmith shops at railway stations, service stations and airports etc. are not affected by the rebrand as they were not part of the sale.

Toys R Us at TGJones and WHSmith.

As well being inside the rebranded TGJones shops, the relaunched Toys R Us brand can be found in sections of some travel hub WHSmith stores.

Toys R Us returned to the UK shopping scene in 2022 with an online presence and in 2023 with concessions opening inside some WH Smith shops. There are currently over 90 Toys R Us stores open nationwide.

Find out more.

Visit the TGJones, Toys R Us and WHSmith websites for more information on the brands and their locations.

Related blog posts:

• Toys R Us
• TGJones
• WHSmith
• Retail

Junkyard Golf Club advertising in Manchester

A look at some Junkyard Golf Club advertising in Manchester.

I spotted this advertising signage at Junkyard Golf Club at First Street in Manchester on a walk round the city yesterday.

Playing at Junkyard Golf Club in Manchester.

The three courses at Junkyard Golf Club in Manchester became the 795th, 766th and 767th visited on our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour when we attended the launch party at First Street in 2017.

Junkyard Golf Club first popped up at the Great Northern Warehouse before moving to Piccadilly and has now settled into its permanent venue at First Street.

Junkyard Golf's First Street venue in Manchester was the last course I played before the Coronavirus pandemic lockdown back on the 9th March 2020!

Find out more.

Visit the Junkyard Golf Club website for more information on the Manchester location.

You can also find Junkyard Golf courses in Leeds, Liverpool, London, Newcastle and Oxford.

Our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour.

We've now been to 1,099 miniature golf courses on our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour since September 2006!

When our travels began in 2006 there were around 600 courses in the British Isles.

Related blog posts:

• Junkyard Golf
• Junkyard Crazy Golf on the tube
• New advertising for Junkyard Golf in Manchester
• Junkyard Golf advertising in Manchester
• Junkyard Golf minigolf advertising in Manchester

TGJones in the UK

A look at two new TGJones shops in Leeds.

We saw our first two of the newly branded TGJones shops while in Leeds recently.

The start of July 2025 marked the end of WHSmith on the British high street after 233 years. Following the sale of the business to Hobbycraft owner Modella Capital earlier this year WHSmith shops have been undergoing a rebrand to the new name of TGJones.

A sign at TGJones in Leeds city centre

WHSmith on the high street, and travel stores.

There were around 500 high street WHSmith shops, and another 580 travel stores in the UK. The WHSmith shops at railway stations, service stations and airports etc. are not affected by the rebrand as they were not part of the sale.

Toys R Us at TGJones and WHSmith.

It'll be interesting to see how the sale and rebrand affects the relationship between Toys R Us and the two brands. The relaunched Toys R Us brand can be found in sections of some high street and travel hub WHSmith stores, so I imagine there'll be Toys R Us concessions within both TGJones and WHSmith shops too...

Toys R Us returned to the UK shopping scene in 2022 with an online presence and in 2023 with concessions opening inside some WH Smith shops. There are currently over 90 Toys R Us stores open nationwide.

Find out more.

Visit the WHSmith, TGJones and Toys R Us websites for more information on the brands and their locations.

Related blog posts:

• From WHSmith to TGJones
• WHSmith
• TGJones
• Retail
• Leeds

A Wacky Waving Inflatable Arm-Flailing Tube-Man in Chicago

Spotting a pop-up Wacky Waving Inflatable Arm-Flailing Tube-Man at the Ace Hardware Fall Convention 2025 in Chicago.

This wacky waving inflatable arm-flailing tube-man was spotted promoting Pickle Everything Games at the Ace Hardware Fall Convention 2025 in Chicago, Illinois, USA!

Find out more:

• Pickle Everything Games
• Ace Hardware

A wacky waving inflatable arm-flailing tube-man at Birch Garden Centre in Cheadle, Stockport

Spotting a wacky waving inflatable arm-flailing tube-man in Stockport.

We were pleasantly surprised to see this wacky waving inflatable arm-flailing tube-man advertising at Birch Garden Centre while driving through Cheadle on Sunday morning!

We've seen quite a few wacky waving inflatable arm-flailing tube-men on our travels over the years and they're always fun to spot and see what they're advertising.

Related blog posts:

• Airdancer
• Wacky waving inflatable arm-flailing tube-men

From WHSmith to TGJones

Changes are afoot on the UK high street with TGJones replacing WHSmith.

The WHSmith branding will be changed to TGJones on the remaining stores UK high street stores.

WHSmith in Oldham (April 2025)

Yesterday marked the end of WHSmith on the British high street after 233 years.

WHSmith shops will be undergoing a rebrand to the new name of TGJones. This follows the sale of the business to Hobbycraft owner Modella Capital earlier this year.

One of the WHSmith travel hub shops that will remain - this one is at Manchester Piccadilly railway station (April 2025)

There are around 500 high street WHSmith shops, and another 580 travel stores in the UK. The WHSmith shops at railway stations, service stations and airports etc. will not be affected by the rebrand as they were not part of the sale.

It'll be interesting to see how long the rebrand takes and what a TGJones store looks like. We've got a WHSmith in Stockport town centre, so I'll be keeping an eye on that.

I wonder how many years after the rebrand we'll still be seeing remnants, relics and ghost signs of the WHSmith brand on the high street?

Have you seen a TGJones store yet?

Toys R Us at TGJones and WHSmith.

Toys R Us at the WH Smith shop in Salisbury in December 2024

It'll also be interesting to see how this affects the relationship between Toys R Us and the two brands. The relaunched Toys R Us brand can be found in sections of some high street and travel hub WHSmith stores, so I imagine there'll be Toys R Us concessions within both TGJones and WHSmith.

Toys R Us at WH Smith at the Trafford Centre in September 2024

Toys R Us returned to the UK shopping scene in 2022 with an online presence and in 2023 with concessions opening inside some WH Smith shops. There are currently over 90 Toys R Us stores open nationwide.

Find out more.

Visit the WHSmith, TGJones and Toys R Us websites for more information on the brands and their locations.

Watermelon Specialists

As today is Summerween - a day to carve a Jack-o-Melon - here's a look at one of my all-time favourite niche businesses.

Logman Ltd - a business on Caledonian Road in London that specialises in watermelons