Silent movies and Wurlitzer organ music

Stockport Town Hall Silver Screen Evenings with the Lancastrian Theatre Organ Trust.

We're always on the lookout for fun, interesting and different things to see and do, and since moving to the Stockport area three months ago we've had plenty of opportunity to do just that.

On Friday we went along to the Stockport Town Hall Silver Screen Evening to watch the 1920 film Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde. We've never seen a silent movie on the big screen before and were very impressed. The film was accompanied by Donald MacKenzie from the Lancastrian Theatre Organ Trust playing the Wurlitzer Organ throughout.

What a setting for a silent movie and Wurlitzer organ music

Stockport Town Hall is a fine setting. It was built at the start of the 20th century and based on Belfast Town Hall. We first visited the hall for a recent postcard fair and were impressed by the nice interior. It was a great place to watch the film and be entertained.

The Wurlitzer Organ - when we arrived I could've sworn I heard the music from Holiday on the Buses being played, but Emily thinks I was mistaken

The Lancastrian Theatre Organ Trust and Stockport Metropolitan Borough Council will next be showing Robin Hood on Friday 18th November, with Safety Last and Get Out and Get Under on Friday 23rd December. Admission to the shows is £10, with doors opening at 6.45pm for a 7pm start. It's well worth going along to. Good music, films, venue and bar - what more could you ask for.

Upcoming shows in the series

Throughout the year the Town Hall hosts Wurlitzer Organ Concerts. You can find out more information on the Stockport Town Hall and Lancastrian Theatre Organ Trust websites.

Links:
- Lancastrian Theatre Organ Trust
- Stockport Town Hall

Bagatelle at the Union Vaults pub in Chester

Playing Bagatelle in Chester.

We love playing pub games and when our friend and minigolf rival Jam Trubridge told us that you can still play Bagatelle in Chester we knew we'd have to hunt down a table for a game.

The Union Vaults in Cheshire is a proper pub. They've got a dart board there too

Jam recommended the Union Vaults so, after our ride on the Grosvenor Park Miniature Railway, we headed to the pub.

The Union Vaults had a nice table. It was a great place for us to have our first play of the old game 

We received a nice welcome from the locals at the busy pub and they were very happy to help us novice players have a game.

The final resting positions of the balls in our close contest

One of our favourite pub games is Bar Billiards and the rules of that game can appear complicated to a newcomer. Bagatelle is no different in that respect. However, while the two cue, table and green baize ball games may also appear to be similar in appearance, looks can be deceiving.

Playing for the black - as you must unless it's been cupped

What's really nice about Bagatelle is that there are no mechanisms on the table, so once your go is over and you've totted up your score, you have to retrieve the balls and let the next player take their turn.

Emily playing a nice opening shot

With each pocket worth from 1 to 9, and the black ball scoring double if potted, the aim is to reach exactly 101 points. We found ending the game to be quite tricky indeed, as to do so you must finish on 101 - for instance, if you needed thirteen points (as we did at one point) but shot a total of 14 or over on your turn, your break was stopped and the next player took to the table.

The table was placed next to the window and near a telly showing the horse racing, so it seemed like we had the eyes of the pub upon us as we played! We did receive plenty of tips from the locals as well though

In our match-up I picked up the win 101 to Emily's 92. My highest break was 33 (the opening one), while Emily scored in the twenties on one go.

The final score

It's a great game, simple to pick up and play, but one that takes ages to master. We'll definitely play Bagatelle again.

Check out the Chester & District Bagatelle League website for more information on the game and places to play it in and around Chester.

Related blog posts:
- Pub games
- Sports and games we've played
- Bar Billiards
- Chester

Grosvenor Park Miniature Railway in Chester

A visit to the Grosvenor Park Miniature Railway in Chester.

Upon arrival in Chester we checked out the city map in the car park by the racecourse - and lo' and behold we spotted there was a miniature railway in Grosvenor Park! We had to take a look.

A lovely brown sign for the Grosvenor Park Miniature Railway

Luckily the weather and timing was right so we got to have a go on it.

The mini-miniature railway gets the thumbs-up from me

Grosvenor Park station - the start and terminus and only station on the line

The train shed

The engine in use on our visit

The engine makes a relatively short loop of the park, with no tunnels. Although it does go across a long bridge next to a duck pond - and the sound as it goes along the bridge is marvellous.

The train next to the pond

About to cross the bridge

An adult fare is £1.50 (or three rides for £2.50). Take a look at the Grosvenor Park Miniature Railway Facebook page for more information.

Related blog posts:
- Miniature Railways
- Chester

GIANT pumpkin at the CW Shenton Farm Shop in Handforth

As a fan of the ludicrous - especially if it's advertising something - I was overjoyed to see the BIG inflatable pumpkin outside the CW Shenton Farm Shop on Wilmslow Road on my drive into Handforth today. Marvellous to see.

The MASSIVE pumpkin was certainly eye catching

Check out this blog post that shows me photographed next to, on, or inside a number of ridiculous things.

A couple of Octobers ago we visited Mead Open Farm in Bedfordshire where I also got a high-five off of a giant inflatable pumpkin witch.

Related blog posts:
- We Sell Xmas Trees
- Pumpkins
- Wacky Waving Arm-Flailing Inflatable Tube-man

Link:
- CW Shenton Farm Shop

Adventure Golf at Walton Hall and Gardens in Warrington

Playing the Adventure Mini Golf course at Walton Hall and Gardens in Warrington.

Back in July 2008 we visited Walton Hall and Gardens in Warrington and visited the Crazy Golf course and Putting Green there.

The new layout is very different to the old one

Earlier this year a new Adventure Golf course opened up on the site of the old Crazy Golf course, a course that had been in the park since 1973 and was originally of the Eternit Miniature Golf format.

On the 18th September we met up with our friends and minigolf rivals Jon and Cheryl Angel for a round on the new course. We had great weather for the round on the tricky course.

Playing the last hole

My new 'local' knowledge must of played a part as I picked up the win with a score of 49. Emily and Jon tied for the runners-up spot on 52, with Cheryl picking up the bronze medal with a score of 65.

Jon 'El Pato' Angel lining up a putt

In the team event Jon and Emily won with a combined score of 104 to 114.

Emily in action

Cheryl playing the toughest hole on the course

The new course became the 702nd visited and 413th played on our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour since September 2006.

There's also a nice looking Pitch & Putt layout at Walton Hall and Gardens. We might give that a play in the future.

The Pitch and Putt course at Walton Hall and Gardens

Check out the Walton Hall Gardens website for more information, opening times and prices for the Minigolf courses in the park.

The Putting Green at Walton Hall and Gardens

As a fan (and curator of a) quirky museums we were interested to see a Cycle Museum at Walton Hall and Gardens too.

The museum was just closing as we were heading out of Walton Hall and Gardens

We did manage to grab a quick look around though. There were some interesting exhibits

Related blog posts:
- Crazy World of Minigolf Tour
- Minigolf Course Visit No. 115 - Walton Hall Gardens Crazy Golf
- Minigolf Course Visit No. 116 - Walton Hall Gardens Putting Green

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 now sign-up to receive our miniature golf newsletter.

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.

Crazy Golf at Vickersway Park in Northwich, Cheshire

Visiting the 700th course on our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour.

On Saturday 17th September 2016 we reached another BIG milestone on the Crazy World of Minigolf Tour as we played the 9-hole Crazy Golf course at Vickersway Park in Northwich, Cheshire - it was the 700th miniature golf course we've visited since our quest began back in September 2006.

At our 700th course

One of the nicest looking courses we've ever seen

Vickersway Park is a perfect setting for a sunny afternoon's minigolfing and is one of the nicest parks we've been to on our travels.

The Crazy Golf course was the 411th we've managed to play and it was very pleasing to see the layout offering up obstacles we'd not seen before.

Emily teeing off on hole 1 of our 700th course visit

On hole 2

Hole 4 was the longest

The hilly 5th hole

The tough uphill 6th hole

Hole 8

The incredibly tough 9th hole

In our match-up on the course Emily picked up the win 30-31 - but if it were not for the incredibly tricky pipe obstacle on the last hole it would've been by a lot more.

When we arrived at the park we were surprised to find there's not one minigolf course there, but two! So, we also managed to play the 412th course on our tour!

Hole 1 of the Putting Green

The looping Putting Green was a nice course, with some difficult routes to the cups.

A view of the Putting course

There were also some chicken coops and hen houses and bird cages next to the course which was interesting to see and hear. I got a small measure of revenge for my earlier defeat on the Crazy Golf course by winning our round on the Putting course 23-26.

Emily putting

The park games are nicely priced and we received brilliant service from the lady in the kiosk. The park and its team are certainly an asset to the town.

The menu board

The first game we spotted at the park looked like a minigolf course, but was actually a pair of skittle alleys.

The Skittle alleys

We'd definitely return to Vickersway Park for some more minigolf, a game of skittles, a nice wander and a sit down in the pleasant surroundings. Visit the GoNorthwich website for more information.

Emily enjoying a nice sit down at the Putting course

This year we're celebrating ten years of our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour. It all began down in Sothsea, Hampshire on the 30th September 2006. We can't believe we've managed to visit 700 courses in that time. When we began there were around 600 courses in the UK! There are now 50 or so more for us to visit, but with new courses opening all the time who knows when, or if, we'll ever complete the set...

We added another brilliant minigolf scorecard to our collection

Related blog posts:
- Crazy World of Minigolf Tour
- Cheshire

Videos:
- Vickersway Park Crazy Golf Hole 1
- Vickersway Park Crazy Golf Hole 2 - hole-in-one
- Vickersway Park Crazy Golf Hole 3
- Vickersway Park Crazy Golf Hole 4
- Vickersway Park Crazy Golf Hole 5
- Vickersway Park Crazy Golf Hole 6 - hole-in-one
- Vickersway Park Crazy Golf Hole 7 - hole-in-one
- Vickersway Park Crazy Golf Hole 8
- Vickersway Park Crazy Golf Hole 9
- Putting Green at Vickersway Park Hole 1 and chickens
- Putting Green at Vickersway Park Hole 5
- Crazy Golf and a Northern train at Vickersway Park in Northwich

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.