Toys R Us at the Wyvern Retail Park in Derby

A visit to the old Toys R Us store at the Wyvern Retail Park in Derby.

We visited the old Toys R Us store at the Wyvern Retail Park in Derby back in November 2020.

Lots of the signage was still visible at the location.

Toys R Us closed in the UK in April 2018.

It's been very interesting to find that there are still remnants of the brand on some retail parks in the UK and we've visited a number of these closed, abandoned, derelict and demolished Toys R Us locations on our travels.

My first job while at university in the year 2000 was as one of Geoffrey's helpers at the Luton store. I worked on the video game and electronics section.

Former Toys R Us locations we've visited on our travels:

• Brighton Hill Retail Park in Basingstoke
• Central Retail Park in Manchester
• Cathedral Retail Park in Norwich
• Deepdale shopping centre in Preston
• Festival retail park in Hanley, Stoke-on-Trent
• Gateway retail park in Reading
• Gemini Retail Park in Warrington
• Interchange Retail Park at Copdock Mill, Ipswich
• St James Retail Park in Northampton
• Teesside Retail Park in Stockton-on-Tees
• The Leisure Plaza in Milton Keynes
• Western Esplanade in Southampton
• Wolverhampton Road in Oldbury
• Wyvern Retail Park in Derby

Glory Holes Golf in Derby

There's a Glory Holes Golf venue in Derby.

Our friend and minigolf rival Jam Trubridge sent us this photo of a sign for the - now open - Glory Holes Golf course in Derby earlier this year.

This was a sign at the adult themed crazy golf course while it was under construction in February this year

There are now Glory Holes Golf venues in Nottingham, Derby, Sheffield and Lincoln.

Gloryholes Golf in Derby

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Mini Golf course at Laser Quest Derby

A look at the indoor Mini Golf course at Laser Quest Derby.

Mini Golf at Laser Quest Derby. Photo by James Trubridge, May 2022

Many thanks again go to our friend and minigolf rival Jam Trubridge for sending over these photos of the indoor Mini Golf course at Laser Quest in Derby.

Mini Golf at Laser Quest Derby. Photo by James Trubridge, May 2022

Mini Golf at Laser Quest Derby. Photo by James Trubridge, May 2022

Mini Golf at Laser Quest Derby. Photo by James Trubridge, May 2022

Mini Golf at Laser Quest Derby. Photo by James Trubridge, May 2022

It'll be ace to play it on our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour in the future. We love playing both minigolf and laser tag so the 9-hole course is in the right location!

The Toys R Us at the Wyvern Retail Park in Derby is no more

The former Toys R Us store at the Wyvern Retail Park in Derby is now a completely lost shop.

Toys R Us at the Wyvern Retail Park in Derby. November 2020

The unit is now home to a Go Outdoors.

It's good that the site is being used again, but kind of sad to see the relic from the past slip away.

Toys R Us at the Wyvern Retail Park in Derby. November 2020

We're glad we went to take a look at the unit on our tour of the former Toys R Us stores in the UK back in November 2020.

Former Toys R Us locations we've visited on our travels:

• Brighton Hill Retail Park in Basingstoke
• Central Retail Park in Manchester
• Cathedral Retail Park in Norwich
• Deepdale shopping centre in Preston
• Festival retail park in Hanley, Stoke-on-Trent
• Gemini Retail Park in Warrington
• Interchange Retail Park at Copdock Mill, Ipswich
• St James Retail Park in Northampton
• Teesside Retail Park in Stockton-on-Tees
• The Leisure Plaza in Milton Keynes
• Western Esplanade in Southampton
• Wolverhampton Road in Oldbury
• Wyvern Retail Park in Derby

Mini Golf at Laser Quest Derby

A look at the Mini Golf course at Laser Quest Derby.

A BIG thanks go to our friend and minigolf rival Jam Trubridge for sending over these snaps of the Mini Golf course at Laser Quest in Derby.

We love playing both minigolf and laser tag so the 9-hole course is in the right location. It'll be ace to play it on our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour in the future.

A flyer for House of Holes Crazy Golf in Derby

We found this leaflet at Hartshead Moor Services!

A flyer for House of Holes Crazy Golf in Derby

It's a course we're yet to visit on our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour.

Visit the House of Holes Crazy Golf website for more information.

Minigolf at Laser Quest Derby

There's a minigolf course at Laser Quest Derby.

Many thanks to my friend and minigolf rival Jam Trubridge for letting me know there's a minigolf course at the Laser Quest centre in Derby. The indoor layout is a 9-hole glow-in-the-dark course. It's a new local course for him and one we're looking forward to playing on our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour.

Galaxy Quest Mini Golf in Derby is the sister venue of the Galaxy Quest Mini Golf at Laser Quest Sunderland and another new course at Laser Quest Coventry.

Visit the Galaxy Quest Mini Golf website for more information.

Toys R Us at the Wyvern Retail Park in Derby

A look at a relic from a lost time.

The front of the store

It was marvellous to find the old Toys R Us store at Wyvern Retail Park in Derby.

A corner of the store

Sadly Toys R Us ceased trading in the UK in April 2018.

All of the big signs are still in place

The rear and side of the store

Luckily there are still remnants of the brand on some retail parks in the UK.

I worked in the Gipsy Lane store in Luton, Bedfordshire back in the year 2000. I got the job shortly after arriving in the town to study at the university.

A magical place

Thanks to Blast From The Past on Instagram for the heads-up about the Derby store still being there.

If you know of any other old Toys R Us shops do let me know.

More photos from our trip to Toys R Us at Wyvern Retail Park in Derby

The container loading bay. When I worked at Toys R Us I spent parts of my evening shifts unloading the containers at the Luton store

A lovely old sign

Look at the markings in the car park bay on the left

One part of the trolley bays is still there

Other former Toys R Us stores

This year we've also been to the old Toys R Us stores at Gemini Retail Park in Warrington, the Festival retail park in Hanley, Stoke-on-Trent and at the Deepdale shopping centre in Preston.

We took at look at the old Toys R Us store at the Central Retail Park in Ancoats, Manchester just prior to its demolition in March 2019.

Other lost brands

Our travels have seen us spot the remnants of a number of old and defunct brands, including Woolworths in Stoke-on-Trent, Tandy in Hitchin, RadioShack in Lytham Saint Annes, Kwik Save in Barrow-in-Furness and Blockbuster Video stores in Fallowfield, Manchester, Colne, Lancashire, Prescot, Merseyside and Chester, Cheshire.

New Caddies Crazy Golf courses heading to Derby and Norwich

Two new Caddies Crazy Golf venues are opening soon in Derby and Norwich.

The indoor Crazy Golf boom is continuing as Caddies Crazy Golf will soon be opening up two new venues in Derby and Norwich.

Some of my cousins recently played at Caddies Crazy Golf in Southend-on-Sea and my cousin Claire sent me some snaps of the course.

Caddies Crazy Golf in Southend is home to two 9-hole indoor minigolf courses with a retro 70's theme. As well as the Crazy Golf, Caddies also has a bar and restaurant.

Check out the Caddies Crazy Golf course website for more information on the Southend course and the two new locations.

We're looking forward to playing at the three venues on our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour.

House of Holes indoor Crazy Golf opening in Derby this month

The new adults-only House of Holes indoor Crazy Golf course is opening in Derby this month.

The date has been set for the grand opening of Derby’s brand new adults-only indoor Crazy Golf course, with the House of Holes venue officially opening to the public on Saturday 16th March.

A sneak peak at hole 1 of the new House of Holes Crazy Golf course

House of Holes has been created in the former Grand Theatre on Babington Lane in Derby. As well as the intriguing Crazy Golf course the venue will serve street food and cocktails accompanied by music from a resident DJ.

The House of Holes course will consist of 18 individually themed holes decorated with memorabilia, shop mannequins and other odd and interesting obstacles including a full-size plane – a nod to Rolls-Royce and Derby’s aerospace industry – roller boots and a large neon-lit guitar, which was discovered in the building’s basement and is believed to be over 30 years old.

The venue has, over the years, been home to a number of nightclubs called Ritzy’s, McClusky’s and Confetti’s.

We're looking forward to seeing what the rest of the House of Holes Crazy Golf course looks like

In addition to the work on the course itself, House of Holes has employed local graffiti artists to decorate the walls of the building, while old copies of Viz cover the interior of the men’s toilets!

I'm a big fan Viz comic, although it's not as funny as it used to be

In the last couple of years indoor Crazy Golf has really taken off and is fast becoming a favourite choice for a fun night out, as well as a popular day time activity.

Bookings are now being taken via the House of Holes’ Facebook page, with an 18-hole round of Crazy Golf costing £10.

For more information check out the House of Holes website, Facebook Page, Instagram and Twitter.

We're looking forward to a return visit to Derby and playing the course on our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour.

Related blog posts:
- Derby
- Indoor Crazy Golf

Links:
- House of Holes website
- House of Holes on Facebook
- House of Holes on Instagram
- House of Holes on Twitter

New Crazy Golf course at Markeaton Park in Derby

Work is underway on a new Crazy Golf course in Derby's Markeaton Park.

The old Crazy Golf course as it looked in 2014

The old course has been removed and it's hoped that the new minigolf course will be open this Easter.

The old Crazy Golf course at Markeaton Park was the 550th miniature golf course visited on the Crazy World of Minigolf Tour back in March 2014.

Unfortunately the 17-hole Crazy Golf course at the park's Mundy Play Centre wasn't open as it was an 'out of season' Thursday. 

Check out the Derby Parks Facebook Page for more information on the new Crazy Golf course.

Related blog posts:
- Derby
- Markeaton Park
- Crazy Golf at Mundy Play Centre in Markeaton Park, Derby

New indoor Crazy Golf course opening in Derby

A new adults-only indoor Crazy Golf course will be opening soon in Derby.

The House of Holes indoor minigolf course will be located in the former Grand Theatre building in the city centre.

The 18-hole course will be priced at £10 per person and will open in early 2019.

Link:
- House of Holes

Paradise Island Adventure Golf in Derby

New Adventure Golf course opening at intu Derby this month.

The latest Paradise Island Adventure Golf venue is opening at intu Derby on Tuesday 11th April. The new Paradise Island Adventure Golf Derby layout will consist of two 18-hole courses.

The last Paradise Island Adventure Golf course we played was the Sheffield venue

It's great to see more courses opening. Our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour travels have taken us to Paradise Island Adventure Golf courses in Manchester, Glasgow and Sheffield.

Playing at a Paradise Island Adventure Golf course last year

We're yet to play the Livingston or Cheshire Oaks layouts - but they are on our 'To Play' list. Now we live up north the Manchester and Cheshire Oaks courses are our two local venues. Which reminds me, I need to organise a minigolf match up against the Paradise Island mascot, Maggie McCaw!

Lining up a shot on the Lucky Last Hole

Check out the Paradise Island Adventure Golf website and Paradise Island Adventure Golf Derby course Facebook page for more information.

Crazy Golf at Mundy Play Centre in Markeaton Park, Derby

The landmark 550th miniature golf course visited on the Crazy World of Minigolf Tour.

While on our trip to the East Midlands on the 27th of March 2014 we visited Derby's Markeaton Park.

At Derby's Markeaton Park

Unfortunately the 17-hole (!) Crazy Golf course at the park's Mundy Play Centre wasn't open - it was an 'out of season' Thursday - so while it became the landmark 550th course visited on our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour, it wasn't added to our played course tally.

Looking at the satellite image of the course on Google you can see it used to be an 18-hole course - but old hole 8 has been removed!

Photos of the remaining seventeen holes of the course are below.

I've been looking forward to visiting the Crazy Golf course for ages as I first saw David Cameron MP playing it on a visit to the town (back when he was the leader of the opposition) and I have some correspondence from him about Minigolf following his visit!

Unfortunately I didn't get started on playing the course. This time.

Markeaton Park is currently part way through a restoration project and there was a lot of upgrade work going on while we visited. Many of the facilities are still open at weekends - my local source Jam Trubridge told me that the Crazy Golf was open today, as was the bouncy castle. You can find out more details about the restoration project on the Derby City Council website.

Interestlingly the park is also home to a Miniature / Light Railway!

Mundy Halt on the Markeaton Park Light Railway line in Derby

Links:

- Mundy Play Centre on Derby City Council's website

- Markeaton Park on Derby City Council's website

Related blog posts:

- Crazy World of Minigolf Tour