Blogiversary of the Ham and Egger Files

I've been blogging for 18 years today.

I'm often asked how is it that a blog about minigolf has the name the 'Ham and Egger Files'? The answer is that it didn't initially start out life as a minigolf blog.

The first post

I published my first post about how I planned to participate in as many obscure and minority sports as I could and see what would happen with the (limited amount of) sporting ability I had!

What is a Ham & Egger?

The term 'ham and egger' has connotations ranging from that of 'ordinary person' to that of 'loser'. The origin of the term comes from prize fighters whose modest skills wouldn’t let them win large purses. Therefore, the fighter or their manager - who received a percentage of any purses won - were never able to afford to eat better than ham and eggs.

Lots of blogs

Since that first post 18 years ago I have published more than 5,900 posts and received more than 3.5 million pageviews!

Admittedly, a large number of the blog posts have been about minigolf.

The Crazy World of Minigolf Tour

Our interest in minigolf and what would soon become our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour had actually begun on the 30th September 2006, but I didn't publish a post about the sport until the 29th January 2007 when I announced that I had joined the British Minigolf Association - a competition circuit I made my actual debut on in Southend-on-Sea on the 28th April 2007.

We've now been to over 1,000 miniature golf courses on our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour. Our travels have been recognised by the Guinness World Records, and I'm a record holder for "Most miniature golf courses visited" (902 at the time of going to press).

When we began our travels there were around 600 courses in the UK. There are now more than 1,370, with new courses opening all the time.

Other sports & games are available

If you're wondering what happened to the quest to play lots of different sports, that has continued and I've participated in some very interesting events over the years!

A massive thank you goes out to everyone who has ever read one of my posts, commented, shared, or guest blogged on the site, it really is very much appreciated.

Blogiversary of the Ham and Egger Files

I've been blogging for 17 years today.

I'm often asked how is it that a blog about minigolf has the name the 'Ham and Egger Files'? The answer is that it didn't initially start out life as a minigolf blog.

The first post

I published my first post about how I planned to participate in as many obscure and minority sports as I could and see what would happen with the (limited amount of) sporting ability I had!

What is a Ham & Egger?

The term 'ham and egger' has connotations ranging from that of 'ordinary person' to that of 'loser'. The origin of the term comes from prize fighters whose modest skills wouldn’t let them win large purses. Therefore, the fighter or their manager - who received a percentage of any purses won - were never able to afford to eat better than ham and eggs.

Lots of blogs

Since that first post 17 years ago I have published more than 5,400 posts and received more than 3 million pageviews!

Admittedly, a large number of the blog posts have been about minigolf.

The Crazy World of Minigolf Tour

Our interest in minigolf and what would soon become our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour had actually begun on the 30th September 2006, but I didn't publish a post about the sport until the 29th January 2007 when I announced that I had joined the British Minigolf Association - a competition circuit I made my actual debut on in Southend-on-Sea on the 28th April 2007.

Since then we've visited 1,043 miniature golf courses. 996 of those have been in the British Isles, while 47 have been in overseas countries including Australia, Austria, Belgium, Finland, Hong Kong, New Zealand, Poland, Singapore, Spain (& Lanzarote, Canary Islands), Sweden and the USA.

When we began our travels there were around 600 courses in the UK. There are now more than 1,000, with new courses opening all the time.

Other sports & games are available

If you're wondering what happened to the quest to play lots of different sports, that has continued and I've participated in some very interesting events over the years!

A massive thank you goes out to everyone who has ever read one of my posts, commented, shared, or guest blogged on the site, it really is very much appreciated.

Blogiversary of the Ham and Egger Files

I've been blogging for 16 years today.

People often ask me how it is that a blog about minigolf has the name the 'Ham and Egger Files'? The answer is that it didn't initially start out life as a minigolf blog.

The first post

I published my first post about how I planned to participate in as many obscure and minority sports as I could and see what would happen with the sporting ability I have!

What is a Ham & Egger?

The term 'ham and egger' has connotations ranging from that of 'ordinary person' to that of 'loser'. The origin of the term comes from prize fighters whose modest skills wouldn’t let them win large purses. Therefore, the fighter or their manager - who received a percentage of purses won - were never able to afford to eat better than ham and eggs.

Lots of blogs

Since that first post 16 years ago I have published more than 5,190 posts and received more than 2.3 million pageviews!

Admittedly a large number of the blog posts have been about minigolf.

The Crazy World of Minigolf Tour

Our interest in minigolf and what would soon become our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour had actually begun on the 30th September 2006, but I didn't publish a post about the sport until the 29th January 2007 when I announced that I had joined the British Minigolf Association - a competition circuit I made my actual debut on in Southend-on-Sea on the 28th April 2007.

Since then we've visited 1,010 miniature golf courses. 965 of those have been in the British Isles, while 45 have been in overseas countries including Australia, Austria, Belgium, Finland, Hong Kong, New Zealand, Poland, Singapore, Spain, Sweden and the USA.

Other sports & games are available

If you're wondering what happened to the quest to play lots of different sports, that has continued and I've participated in some very interesting events over the years!

A massive thank you goes out to everyone who has ever read one of my posts, commented, shared, or guest blogged on the site, it really is very much appreciated.

Crazy World of Minigolf Tour update

We have now been to 1,002 courses on our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour.

957 of the courses have been in the British Isles (UK home nations, Jersey & the Isle of Man) plus 45 in eleven overseas countries including Australia, Austria, Belgium, Finland, Hong Kong, New Zealand, Poland, Singapore, Spain (& Lanzarote, Canary Islands), Sweden and the USA.

In 2006 we set out to visit every miniature golf course in the UK. When we began there were around 600 courses in the UK. There are now more than 1,000, with new courses opening all the time.

Blogiversary of the Ham and Egger Files

I've been blogging for 15 years today.

People often ask me how it is that a blog about minigolf has the name the 'Ham and Egger Files'? The answer is that it didn't initially start out life as a minigolf blog.

I published my first post about how I planned to participate in as many obscure and minority sports as I could and see what would happen with the sporting ability I have!

The term 'ham and egger' has connotations ranging from that of 'ordinary person' to that of 'loser'. The origin of the term comes from prize fighters whose modest skills wouldn’t let them win large purses. Therefore, the fighter or their manager - who received a percentage of purses won - were never able to afford to eat better than ham and eggs.

Since that first post 15 years ago I have published more than 4,800 posts and received more than 2.1 million pageviews! Admittedly a large number of the blog posts have been about minigolf.

Our interest in minigolf and what would soon become our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour had actually begun on the 30th September 2006, but I didn't publish a post about the sport until the 29th January 2007 when I announced that I had joined the British Minigolf Association - a competition circuit I made my actual debut on in Southend-on-Sea on the 28th April 2007.

Since then we've visited 982 miniature golf courses. 943 of those have been in the British Isles, while 39 have been in eleven overseas countries including Australia, Austria, Belgium, Finland, Hong Kong, New Zealand, Poland, Singapore, Spain, Sweden and the USA.

If you're wondering what happened to the quest to play lots of different sports, that has continued and I've participated in some very interesting events over the years!

A big thank you goes to everyone who has ever read one of my posts, commented, shared, or guest blogged on the site, it really is very much appreciated.

Keep following the brown signs

A blog post about brown tourist signs.

I was pleased to hear that my fellow blogger, 'dull' person and fan of the quirky Amanda from Follow The Brown Signs was back in action after a hiatus.

We've always been interested in straying off the beaten path and even before we found out about Follow The Brown Signs we would look for and find different things to see and do while out and about on our travels.

Finding out about Amanda's mission and website in 2011 gave us even more ideas as well as another outlet for us to share tips and stuff from our own quest.

Just last week I spotted a brown sign, followed it and found a Pumpkin Garden!

Check out the Follow The Brown Signs website for more information and inspiration.

Here's a selection of brown tourist signs from our adventures.

2 million pageviews on the Ham & Egger Files

My blog has received 2 million pageviews as of today!

Thank you to everyone for reading and contributing to the site since my first post back on the 21st December 2006.

4,813 posts published and counting...

Latest minigolf blog from Putterfingers

Check out the latest post on the Putterfingers minigolf blog at "Marketing for minigolf".

Abingdon bun throwing in the news

It was nice to hear that bun throwing was featured in the Abingdon Herald and Oxford Mail this week with a look at the town's bizarre and ancient tradition.

It was fun that a photo of me throwing a bun at the Royal Bun Throwing Championships in 2012 was included in the piece too! You can see the article on the Abingdon Herald and Oxford Mail websites.

Throwing a currant bun at the World Bun Throwing Championships at Abingdon Vale Cricket Club

The last bun throwing held in Abingdon-on-Thames was in November 2018 to mark 100 years since the end of the First World War.

That bun throwing was the 35th event to take place since 1761.

Guest blog - Planning a BIG minigolf break

Check out our guest blog post over on the Putterfingers Crazy Golf website at "Planning a BIG minigolf break".

The Crazy Putting Challenge at Hamptworth Golf Centre - one of 18 courses we visited on a road-trip in May 2019

The Holbeck Putting Green in Scarborough. The course has been open since 1925. It was the 901st visited overall on our travels and one of seven miniature golf courses we went to on the trip back in June 2019

Monorails and minigolf!

Check out my latest post about Butlin's monorails on the Reflections of a Bygone Age blog.

A Typical Butlin Monorail. Postcard S25. Skegness 1971

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.

Blogiversary of the Ham and Egger Files

I've been blogging for 14 years today.

I'm often asked me how a blog that is mostly about miniature golf has the name the 'Ham and Egger Files'? The answer is that it didn't initially start out life as a minigolf blog.

I published my first post about how I planned to participate in as many obscure and minority sports as I could and see what would happen with the limited sporting ability I have!

The term 'ham and egger' has connotations ranging from that of 'ordinary person' to that of 'loser'. The origin of the term comes from prize fighters whose modest skills wouldn’t let them win large purses. Therefore, the fighter or their manager - who received a percentage of purses won - were never able to afford to eat better than ham and eggs.

Since that first post I published more than 4,000 posts! Admittedly a large number of them have been about minigolf.

Our interest in minigolf and what would soon become our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour had actually begun on the 30th September 2006, but I didn't publish a post about the sport until the 29th January 2007 when I announced that I had joined the British Minigolf Association - a competition circuit I made my actual debut on in Southend-on-Sea on the 28th April 2007.

Since then we've visited 956 miniature golf courses. 917 of those have been in the British Isles, while 39 have been in eleven overseas countries including Australia, Austria, Belgium, Finland, Hong Kong, New Zealand, Poland, Singapore, Spain, Sweden and the USA.

If you're wondering what happened to the quest to play lots of different sports, that has continued and I've certainly participated in some interesting events over the years!

A huge thank you goes to everyone who has ever read one of my posts, commented, shared, or guest blogged on the site, it is very much appreciated.

A gluten free Christmas

Check out Coeliac UK's Christmas campaign online and using the hashtag #GFChristmas.

Thank you to @marketing_gott who shares his experiences of eating out and eating in at #GFChristmas: https://t.co/MRLO2TvFK1 pic.twitter.com/ofFvnE0o44

— Coeliac_UK (@Coeliac_UK) December 14, 2020

Thank you to Richard Gottfried - Marketing Consultant who shares his experiences of eating out and eating in at...

Posted by Coeliac UK on Monday, 14 December 2020

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Coeliac UK (@coeliacuk)

It's always good to be able to raise awareness of Coeliac Disease and you can read more of my Tales from a Gluten Free Christmas in this Christmas blog post.

Last Christmas at The Oxford Place in Leeds

Picture Postcard Magic - REALLY CRAZY GOLF!

The latest post on the Reflections of a Bygone Age blog is about Golf. John Claydon’s Confessions of a Collector post includes some mentions of Crazy Golf.

Picture Postcard Magic - Back in Brighton

Here's my latest post for the Reflections of a Bygone Age blog.

Picture Postcard Magic - Abingdon-on-Thames

Check out my latest guest post on the Picture Postcard Magic blog from Reflections of a Bygone Age. It's about my home town of Abingdon.

International minigolf on the Dull Men's Club blog

Check out the latest blog post on the Dull Men's Club website, it's about us and how we're coping in lockdown.

Minigolfers competing internationally from living room during lockdown — Richard and Emily Gottfried

At the North Bay Crazy Golf course in Scarborough last June. It was our 900th course visit. What a difference a year makes

Picture Postcard Magic - Barry Island

Check out my new guest post about Barry Island postcards on the Picture Postcard Magic blog from Reflections of a Bygone Age.

Picture Postcard Magic - Bournemouth

Check out my guest post about minigolf postcards from Bournemouth on the Picture Postcard Magic blog from Reflections of a Bygone Age.

Guest blogger Richard Gottfried, King of mini-golf with a postcard collection to match, makes his debut in Picture Postcard Magic. What do you think of this theme for collecting? ⛳️https://t.co/H8hYRTKGei#MiniGolf pic.twitter.com/d2AldN0zOO

— Brian Lund (@Postcard_World) April 28, 2020