Hampions of Cheadle Hulme

Better a Hampion than a Ham & Egger.

Not sure if Manchester Rugby Club are the champs, or if the winners are the visitors

Seeing this sign reminded me of the Championship Winning Ham at a butchers in Needham Market, Suffolk. Surely a Ham Championship is a Hampionship...

Just hampion

Miniature Railway at South Park in Cheadle Hulme

A look at the miniature railway layout at Cheadle Hulme's South Park.

To the trains

This week we found out there was a miniature railway at South Park in Cheadle Hulme! Once we heard about it we had to go and take a look.

Having a nice sit down in the park

The miniature railway is operated by Stockport Model Engineers and it's a marvellous looking layout.



The Friends of South Park tell me that the railway runs on Sundays between 11am and 3pm - weather and volunteer permitting. We're looking forward to having a go on it in the future.

Two days too early

  

The track is quite a long one

It stretches down the much of the side of the park

And also goes into some covered areas

There's also a 'branch line' that ends at the second car park!

Since we moved to Cheadle Hulme we've found quite a few miniature railways in the area. Our other local ones in Stockport are the Dragon Miniature Railway at the Wyevale Garden Centre in Marple and Brookside Miniature Railway in Poynton. We've also recently visit Miniature Railways in Wigan, Southport and Chester.

We're also currently working our way through the parks of Stockport challenge set by the Friends of Alexandra Park. We've now been to 11 of the 33 on the Stockport Nature Watch list. Plus a few more not on the list.

There's a little skatepark at South Park too. I'll have to take my BMX with me next time...

Related blog posts:
- Miniature Railways
- Cheadle Hulme
- Stockport
- Park

Links:
- Stockport and District Society of Model Engineers website
- Friends of South Park Facebook Page

Videos:
- South Park Miniature Railway in Cheadle Hulme 1 of 2
- South Park Miniature Railway in Cheadle Hulme 2 of 2

What a scrap metal van!

I spotted this Scrap Metal van in Cheadle Hulme earlier and had to get a snap of it. There's so much going on on it!

Let Stevie Scrap move your cr*p!

"Last pick in a gang draft"

"Last pick in a gang draft" a portrait by Emily Gottfried

Adswood Park Miniature Golf course

Finding out about the Adswood Park Miniature Golf course in Cheadle.

Since we moved to Cheadle Hulme last summer we've enjoyed exploring the area's parks and finding out about the borough's history. Through the Stockport Heritage Trust Group we've found out there used to be a Miniature Golf course in Adswood Park on Councillor Lane on the Cheadle / Cheadle Hulme border!

Adswood Park on Councillor Lane in Cheadle

During a discussion about Adswood Hall on the group's Facebook Page one of the Stockport Heritage Trust Group members posted a link to an old map of the area and Emily noticed the words 'Miniature Golf Course' in Adswood Park. Further investigation uncovered one photo on the Stockport Archives website showing a Putting Green with a flag in it.

Adswood Park opened in 1913 and it's our nearest greenspace. When we first arrived in Cheadle Hulme and had a wander round the park we thought we saw some raised edges / bunker type bumps in the park. They may very well be a remnant of the old grass minigolf course. One of the other Stockport Heritage Trust Group members recollects that the course had around 6-holes and may have been there until the early or mid-nineties.

The Miniature Golf course used to cover this part of Adswood Park

In our time up here we've also found a grass Putting course at Park Square offices just up the road in Cheadle Heath, a Pitch & Putt course at Bruntwood Park in Cheadle and we recently heard there was once a Crazy Golf course in Alexandra Park, Edgeley.

Links:
- Stockport Heritage Trust Group
- Stockport Archives
- Adswood Park

Related blog posts:
- Adswood Park
- Cheadle
- Crazy World of Minigolf Tour
- Miniature Golf course at the Park Square offices in Cheadle Hulme
- Pitch and Putt at Bruntwood Park, Cheadle
- Old Crazy Golf course at Alexandra Park in Edgeley, Stockport

Give the Crazy World of Minigolf Tour a Like on Facebook, watch our YouTube channel and follow us on Twitter @putting_gott and @Ems_Lems. Please do sign-up to receive our miniature golf newsletter too.

The first and last bench in Cheadle Hulme

A look at a bench, and a view from it, in Cheadle Hulme.

While having a walk around my local park this morning I thought the views below may be of interest to my fellow members of the Dull Men's Club and the Park Bench Appreciation Society.

There are some nice flowers in Adswood Park

Adswood Park straddles the Cheadle Hulme and Cheadle border. It's also very close to Cheadle Heath. The park bench to the left of the photo is the first and last in Cheadle Hulme

A view of the park bench from the Cheadle Hulme side

Lidl - located in Cheadle - can be seen in the background of this photo

A closer look at the park bench. And a Stockport Council bin

As well as watching planes coming in to land at Manchester Airport you can also hear and see trains on the Cheadle Hulme to Stockport line while sat on the bench (trains not pictured)

Related blog posts:
- Dull Men's Club
- Park Bench Appreciation Society

A treat for dull men

A photographic treat for members of the Dull Men's Club.

There's a double-whammy treat for members of the Dull Men's Club in this photo I took while on a recent visit to the post box on Twining Brook Road in Cheadle Hulme.

A post box AND a lost glove

The Dull Men’s Club is a place where dull men (and women who like dull men) share thoughts and experiences, free from glitz and glamour, free from pressures to be in and trendy - free instead to enjoy simple, ordinary things. The club's mission statement is “It’s OK to be dull”.

One of my fellow DMC members has documented each and every post box in the UK on his travels, while another - who also features in the Dull Men's Club 2017 calendar - photographs lost gloves.

Related blog posts:
- Dull Men's Club

Link:
- Dull Men's Club website

Happy National Christmas Tree Day 2016!

A visit to Christmas Tree World in Cheadle Hulme.

To mark the occasion we popped round Christmas Tree World at Lion House Farm in Cheadle Hulme to buy our first real Christmas tree. Marvellous.

The perfect sized tree for our new place. Great service at Christmas Tree World too. And you get to see ducks, geese and chickens on the ponds next to the trees

Related blog posts:
- Christmas tree
- Cheadle Hulme

Happy Miniature Golf Day 2016!

Celebrating Miniature Golf Day with a round of Pitch and Putt at Bruntwood Park in Cheadle, Cheshire.

Having a putt around on Miniature Golf Day

The 21st of September is ALWAYS Miniature Golf Day. It's set in stone and a rule, so who are we to argue? To mark the great occasion we nipped along to our new local mini golf course at Bruntwood Park for a round of Pitch & Putt.

The GIANT Footgolf hole. The cups on the Pitch and Putt course were quite large too

Luckily we were in time to sneak in three holes as the man had already collected in the flags and the last group of Footgolfers were halfway through their round. When he heard about the importance of Miniature Golf Day he grabbed some flags and put them out on the 1st, 2nd and 7th holes so we could get in a mini round of minigolf. That was absolutely brilliant of him.

Emily's golf ball takes flight

Last month we visited Bruntwood Park and had a look at the course, but unfortunately didn't have time for a round. Having had a taste of the layout this evening we'll definitely be heading back for a game. The holes are just long enough to be a challenge, but short enough that you won't spend a lot of time pitching, lobbing and hacking your way round. Perfect for putters like us.

A little chip and run to the hole

The result of our quick minigolf match-up was Richard 3-4-3, Emily 5-7-4. We can't wait for the rematch.

The 7th hole had a lot of leaf fall from the silver birch tree - Emily's balls got quite well camouflaged in it!

September is a BIG month in the mini game and our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour. In addition to Miniature Golf Day, next Friday we celebrate 10 years since our travels began, and last weekend we reached the MASSIVE milestone of the 700th minigolf course visit.

Bruntwood Park's minigolf course became the 695th visited when we had a gander at it on the 14th August. It's now the 414th that we've managed to play.

Related blog posts:
- Mini Golf Dates for your diary
- Pitch and Putt at Bruntwood Park, Cheadle
- Crazy World of Minigolf Tour

Links:
- Bruntwood Park on Cheadle Golf Club's website
- Bruntwood Park on Stockport Metropolitan Borough Council's website

Give the Crazy World of Minigolf Tour a Like on Facebook, watch our YouTube channel and follow us on Twitter @putting_gott and @Ems_Lems.

You can also sign-up to receive our miniature golf newsletter.

Pitch and Putt at Bruntwood Park, Cheadle

A visit to the Pitch and Putt course at Bruntwood Park in Cheadle.

Cheadle Golf Club's Pitch & Putt course at Bruntwood Park

Today we visited the second miniature golf course since moving to Cheadle Hulme. This one was the Pitch and Putt course at Bruntwood Park.

It looks a nice layout and we'll definitely give it a play one day.

Being under the flight-path of Manchester Airport brought back memories of playing Pitch and Putt at Stockwood Park in Luton.

Bruntwood Park's minigolf course became the became the 695th visited on our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour since our travels began in September 2006.

Give the Crazy World of Minigolf Tour a Like on Facebook, watch our YouTube channel and follow us on Twitter @putting_gott and @Ems_Lems.

You can also now sign-up to receive our miniature golf newsletter.

Miniature Golf course at the Park Square offices in Cheadle Hulme

As some of you will know Emily and I have recently moved to Cheadle Hulme in Cheshire after spending 16 great years in Luton, Bedfordshire.

It's been a marvellous adventure uprooting to the north of England and there's so much for us to explore up here.

On one of our first wanders around the local area we started walking towards Stockport and just five minutes into our journey Emily spotted a miniature golf course at the front of the Park Square office building on Bird Hall Lane in Cheadle Heath!

The Putting course in Cheadle Heath

Proof we can find a course pretty much anywhere we go!

At the 694th miniature golf course visited on our travels

The grass Putting course looks fantastic and in pristine condition.

How nice does that look as a playing surface!

What an office location to work in. We'd love to have a round on the layout and wonder what the course record is?

It's not a flat course either

The course became the 694th visited on our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour since our travels began in September 2006.

A tee-off marker on the 9-hole course

Look at that for a hole!

While the course at Park Square was the first we've visited while living in Greater Manchester, it's not the first we've visited or played in the area. We've also competed in tournaments in Manchester - with a fair bit of success, winning the Miniature Masters, Miniature Open and the Chrizy Golf Masters.

There are also a number of other minigolf, crazy golf and adventure golf courses in the region that we're looking forward to playing over the summer. And beyond.

Check out the Orbit Developments website for more information on the Park Square office location.

The Orbit Development office at Park Square looks like a brilliant location

Give the Crazy World of Minigolf Tour a Like on Facebook, watch our YouTube channel and follow us on Twitter @putting_gott and @Ems_Lems.

You can also now sign-up to receive our miniature golf newsletter.