Darts in London - The Jolly Anglers Pub in Wood Green

Prior to the Crazy Golfers Christmas Meet-up at Rileys in Victoria, Brad Shepherd and I met up at Wood Green before heading off to visit and play the Crazy Golf course at Alexandra Palace.

We followed a Brown Tourist Sign to point us in the right direction and one of the first things we spotted was another very interesting sign, this time outside a Pub!

Photo: The Pub Darts Sign

Photo: Brad 'Stops' by the Pub Darts Sign

We decided to come back and give the Jolly Anglers pub a go on our way back after playing at Ally Pally. Just a short distance further along Station Road we spotted a Darts Shop too! And it was on a 'Bradley Road'!!! Sadly it had closed down, so we couldn't get stocked up on any Darts supplies ahead of the evening's tournament.

Photo: Brad standing outside the old Darts shop on Bradley Road

The Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) World Darts Championships were being held at Alexandra Palace during our visit, so we had a look around, but it all seemed very quiet.

Photo: Me outside the VIP Entrance

After playing the Minigolf course at Alexandra Palace we had plenty of time to head back to the Jolly Anglers to warm-up with a few games of Darts.

Photo: Brad chucks some 'arrers

In between drinks and goes on the Quiz machine, Brad and I played five '301' games of Darts, with victories all going my way. However, in the evening's main-event Brad would get his revenge by beating me in our two meetings (group stage & semi-final) and eventually went on to win the 'Rivernear Worlds Professional Crazy Golfers Darts Championship'.

Photo: Me and the Dart Board at The Jolly Anglers pub

The Jolly Anglers pub was friendly enough and the board, while not super high-quality, was in good condition and we were able to play there for well over an hour. Their sign advertising the Darts did well!

Photo: The Jolly Anglers pub sign

Photo: The Brown Tourist Sign pointing towards Alexandra Palace

Links:
- Justin Irwin - Bachelor of Darts - Capital Darts List
- Follow The Brown Signs
- Alexandra Palace
- The Professional Darts Corporation (PDC)
- The Crazy World of Minigolf Tour

Sprouts & Pong - Previous Blog Posts About Me & Brad's Antics in December's past:

- Guinness World Record Attempt - Most Brussels Sprouts Eaten in a Minute!
- The London-Lu(x)ton Connection play in the 'World Series of Pong' Ping Pong Tournament in Tooting!

Crazy Golf at Stokesley Golf Range, Middlesbrough - Crazy World of Minigolf Tour

On Monday 28th November 2011 we headed north to visit the 12-hole Crazy Golf course at Stokesley Golf Range in Stokesley, Middlesbrough. The course became the 277th course played on our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour.

The Crazy Golf course is in very good condition and has some tricky obstacles, notably the Windmill, Volcano and the 12th! It costs £3.75 a round for adults, but for an extra quid you can have a second round, which is nice. The course is very playable, so £4.75 for 24-holes is not bad at all.

Stokesley Golf Range is also home to a 9-hole Golf course and a Driving Range.

Photos of the 12-hole Crazy Golf course, including Sponsors Boards at each hole (a very good bit of business).

The 9th hole is incredibly long and twisty, see the video below for the best view of it!

Photos from play during the Stokesley (NO/NIT) Classic Minigolf Tournament played at the course between 'Squire' Richard Gottfried, Emily 'Lemony' Gottfried and John 'Thighs' Moore.

Stokesley Golf Range is another visitor attraction that you can find if you follow the brown signs...

Stokesley Golf Range website

Crazy World of Minigolf Tour

Following a Random Brown Tourist Sign in Scotland to visit the 'Maid of the Loch'

While at Loch Lomond in Scotland on Sunday 20th November I made a point of following a random Brown Tourist Sign (as recommended by Amanda of the excellent Follow The Brown Signs website) to the intriguingly named 'Maid of the Loch'.

Photo: I noticed that Brown Tourist Signs in Scotland feature a Thistle in a blue oval, rather than being plain brown with white text and/or images 

I found out by having a look in the visitors leaflet for Loch Lomond that the Maid of the Loch was the last Paddle Steamer to be built in Great Britain.

Launched on the Loch in 1953 the ship is officially now an historic ship and was placed on the "Designated Vessels List" (which recognises ships of "substantial heritage merit with regional and local significance") in 2004.

Unfortunately on my visit the ship was not open for viewing as it is closed during the winter and will reopen at Easter 2012.

Loch Lomond also has a shopping centre, Sea Life centre, a couple of Minigolf courses (which I didn't get to play on this visit), restaurants, play area and on my visit there was a farmer's market too.

Links:
- Maid of the Loch Official Website
- Follow The Brown Signs Website
- The Brown Sign Way - A Website and Blog Dedicated to Tourist Attraction Signs

"A very British “keep calm and carry on” brown sign…." at the Follow The Brown Signs Blog

One of the Brown Tourist Signs I spotted on the way to play BIG Golf against my rival Simon 'Practice' Hall at Stockwood Park in Luton has made it onto the Follow The Brown Signs Blog.

You can check out the Blog Post at "A very British “keep calm and carry on” brown sign…."

Stockwood Park Big Mini Golf Match-up - Gottfried vs. Hall

I recently faced-off against fellow Lutonian Simon 'Practice' Hall in a match-up on the 9-hole 'Mini Golf' (Pitch & Putt) course at Stockwood Park in Luton.

In the one-round contest I defeated Simon 35-57 in sunny but slightly windy weather conditions.

One of the Brown Tourist Signs pointing the way to Stockwood Park Golf Centre has taken a bit of a bashing and looks quite different to how it did last week!

The course was the 30th played on the Crazy World of Minigolf Tour back in August 2007.