Edgeley Skatepark at Alexandra Park in Stockport

A view of the building work for the new Edgeley Skatepark at Alexandra Park.

On a lunchtime wander to Edgeley in Stockport I had a walk around Alexandra Park - home of the Woodstock Petanque Club. Apart from getting chased by a few geese down at Sykes Reservoir at the bottom of the park the biggest surprise was seeing how much work had been done on the new BMX and skatepark.

The Edgeley skatepark in Alexandra Park is being built on much of the area previously used as a Boules Terrain and Pistes for the Woodstock Petanque Club to play on.

Woodstock Petanque Club players in action on the terrain in October

Photo updates (22nd December 2016)

A few snaps of the BMX/Skatepark and Petanque area.

Photo update (2nd February 2017)

A snap of the BMX/Skatepark as it nears completion.

Photo updates (18th February 2017)

The BMX and skate park is now open!

Glad I got a BMX for Christmas

You can see the petanque terrain below.

On a related theme, we also recently found out that Alexandra Park was once home to a Crazy Golf course!

Related blog posts:
- Petanque
- Stockport

Links:
- Woodstock Petanque Club
- Alexandra Skatepark Association
- The Friends of Alexandra Park
- Alexandra Park

Petanque in Jersey

Earlier this year we spent a great week in Jersey having a chilled out holiday.

While there we spotted the players from the Liberation Petanque Club having some games in Weighbridge Gardens in St Helier. Having a look on the Jersey Petanque Association website there are plenty of pistes to play on. It was nice scrolling through the list of places to play as we'd visited a lot of the towns on our holiday and the names brought back some great memories.

Some petanque being played in St Helier. In the background you can see the Steam Clock, the terrain next to it has a six game capacity - we never even realised Petanque was played on that spot too

As we've got into playing the game since moving to the Stockport area it's nice to know the island is well catered for as we'd very much like to return to Jersey in the future. It's such a nice place for a relaxing break.

We're now members of the Woodstock Petanque Club, which meets at Alexandra Park in Edgeley, Stockport every other Sunday. Through the club I heard about the Jersey Petanque Club's 2017 Open competition. It sounds like fun.

We spotted another petanque terrain on one of our other island trips this year, at Puckpool Park on the Isle of Wight.

Check out the Jersey Petanque Association website for more information on playing the game on the island.

Related blog posts:
- Petanque
- Jersey

End of the Petanque season in Stockport. Or is it...

Playing Pétanque at Alexandra Park in Edgeley, Stockport.

Today's session of Pétanque in the Park with the Woodstock Pétanque Club was scheduled to be the last of the season. But with the nice weather and good turnout of players the club are looking at rolling on into the winter months, weather permitting.

Lovely weather and excellent company. What sport is all about

In today's session I walked away with a 100% win record. Albeit having only played one match as I was otherwise engaged prior to the normal 1pm start time.

My bright new coche. With my shinyish newish boules

The format of play at the Woodstock Pétanque Club is great fun. It's easy to get involved and pick up the sport and well worth a go if you've never played before.

In our game - the last of three in the afternoon - I was drawn in a triples team with Jackie and Barbara to take on the pair of Paul and Andrew. In this type of situation each of the players in the team of three use two boules each, while the duo get to use three boules each.

What a match-up the blind drew created

With some very close ends played and some fine shooting and pointing from all the players we emerged as winners with a 13-8 scoreline.

The Woodstock Pétanque Club meets-up on the second and fourth Sunday of each month. New players are very welcome. It costs just £10 for the annual membership, with a £1 fee per week when you play - with prizes up for grabs for results over the three games played. The 'normal' season runs from March to October. Check out the Woodstock Pétanque Club's website for more details.

Related blog posts:
- Pétanque
- Petanque
- Boules
- Petanque in Stockport

Links:
- Woodstock Pétanque Club on Twitter
- Woodstock Pétanque Club on Facebook
- Woodstock Pétanque Club website
- English Pétanque Association
- Geologic

Adventure Golf at Telford Town Park

A visit to the Adventure Golf course at Telford Town Park.

On a recent visit to Telford I noticed that the Town Park had a 12-hole Adventure Golf course.

The layout, made by City Golf, has a Telford-theme to it and features local landmarks.

The Adventure Golf course at Telford Town Park became the 716th visited on the Crazy World of Minigolf Tour.

On our previous visit to Telford we visited Wonderland. The Crazy Golf course there was the 300th played and 500th visited on our tour.

Telford Town Park was a nice spot for a wander. I'll definitely explore it more on a future visit. One of the walks in the area features an old Railway Platform, something the train nerd in me would like to see.

Looking on the Telford Town Park map I also noticed that there was an area to play Boules. I tried looking for the terrain and the petanque piste but I couldn't see it at all.

Until I looked at the ground UNDERNEATH the outdoor table football and table tennis court!

No boule games here

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Playing Petanque in Edgeley, Stockport

Playing boules at the Woodstock Pétanque Club in Edgeley, Stockport.

Following our attendance at the Woodstock Pétanque Club open day in August, Emily and I joined the club and went along for our second competition day today.

The club play mostly for fun - but with a nice competitive edge - and the games are played in a doubles or triples format, which helps to mix things up a bit.

We recently bought some Geologic boules - after scouring the aisles of Decathlon sports superstores in Warrington and Stockport - and have been itching to get them scuffed up on the Edgeley terrain.

Emily's shinier boule is closer to the coche than my base-boule

Before we had a proper game Emily and I faced-off in a 'friendly', with Emily picking up the win 13-11 after I snatched defeat from the jaws of victory.

Emily and her winning end

I managed to get my first win in club competition in the first of the two pairs games I played in the afternoon. Teaming with Carol H we defeated the duo of Keith and David H 13-7.

My Petanque name

My record at Woodstock Pétanque Club is now 1 win and 4 defeats. I'm certainly living up to my ham and egger name...

The Woodstock Pétanque Club meets-up on the 2nd and 4th Sunday of each month and welcomes new players. It costs just £10 for the annual membership, with a £1 fee per week when you play - with prizes up for grabs. The season runs from March to October. Although that may be extended into November if the weather isn't too bad and there are enough hardy souls to play against.

Check out the Woodstock Pétanque Club website and on Twitter and Facebook for more details.

Related blog posts:
- Pétanque
- Petanque
- Boules
- Petanque in Stockport

Links:
- Woodstock Pétanque Club on Twitter
- Woodstock Pétanque Club on Facebook
- Woodstock Pétanque Club website
- English Pétanque Association
- Decathlon
- Geologic

Petanque in Stockport

Playing boules with Woodstock Pétanque Club at Alexandra Park in Edgeley, Stockport. 

As big fans of boules and petanque it was great to hear that we've got a local club in Stockport.

The Woodstock Pétanque Club play at Alexandra Park in Edgeley and recently held a series of open taster events. We went along for a game and it was great fun.

Emily throwing a boules

The Edgeley terrain was certainly an interesting playing surface and there were a few local hazards on the pistes we played our games on.

In action

We had three pairs games - with Paul from the club giving us tips - which resulted in some very close ends, and ultimately three defeats for me. Emily picked up a couple of wins, as did a visiting John 'Big Al' Moore.

A high toss from John

The Woodstock Pétanque Club meet on the 2nd and 4th Sunday of each month and are looking for new members to enable the club to meet weekly.

It costs just £10 for the annual membership, with a £1 fee per week when you play. The season runs from March to October.

Check out the Woodstock Pétanque Club on Twitter, Facebook and their website for more details.

Related blog posts:
- Pétanque
- Petanque
- Boules

Links:
- Woodstock Pétanque Club on Twitter
- Woodstock Pétanque Club on Facebook
- Woodstock Pétanque Club website
- English Pétanque Association

Putting at Looe Bowling Club in Cornwall

Playing the Putting Greens at Looe Bowling Club.

Another marvellous putting green visited and played on our tour

While holidaying in Cornwall last year we made a surprise discovery of two grass Putting Greens at Looe Bowling Club at the very end of Marine Drive.

It was nice to spot the town centre sign for the Putting Green

Putting at the top of the lower course. The island in the background is known as Looe Island aka St George's Island aka St Michael's Island!

The pair of grass putting courses were the 29th and 30th visited on our tour of the South West of England and the 628th and 629th visited overall on our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour.

Follow the signs to the end of Marine Drive and you'll arrive at Looe Bowling Club and the two excellent putting courses

The Putting Greens at Looe Bowling Club are open from April to October

It was brilliant to find the courses and they were fun to play. They became the 371st and 372nd we've played since 2006.

What a course and what a view

A looooooong putt. Note the petanque piste behind Emily

The windy layout is great fun

They were certainly a unique couple of layouts, with plenty of twists & turns, dips & hills. And to top it off there was a magnificent view from the course.

Down on the lower course

Hole 3 on the lower layout

There's a wooden board/fence on the corner of the dog-leg third hole - something we've never seen on a grass putting course before

A view of the lower course

In our match on the upper course on the 6th June 2015 Emily scored 49, while I scored 48 to take the win. On the lower course I shot a 56, with Emily hitting a 61.

Emily with an uphill shot

For more information, opening times and prices visit Looe Bowling Club on Facebook.

Visitors to Looe Bowling Club are made very welcome

Related blog posts:
- Crazy World of Minigolf Tour
- Mini Golf in the South West of England

Link:
- Looe Bowling Club on Facebook

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.

Luton Petanque Club

Details of Luton Petanque Club.

Spot the boule

I've heard there are two upcoming open days at Luton Petanque Club where you can play for free. Boules will be provided. The open events are on:
- Saturday 2 May between 2 and 5pm
- Saturday 20 June

Petanque (or Boules as it's also known) is a great game. I've played a few ends with Alan and some of the other club members. Very good fun indeed.

Luton Petanque Club also play informal games every Tuesday afternoon at 1pm, Thursday at 7.30pm and Sundays at 11am. The club is based at Play Football on St Thomas Road, Stopsley, Luton. Check out the Luton Petanque Club website and Twitter for news and events.

Playing Boules with Luton Petanque Club at the 2012 Community Games

Links:
- Luton Petanque Club
- Chiltern Region Petanque
- The English Petanque Association

Related blog posts:
- Petanque
- Pétanque
- Boules