The Cyberdrome Crystal Maze

Playing The Crystal Maze game at CC2000, near Narbeth, Wales.

The Cyberdrome Crystal Maze in 2009

Challenge TV are showing repeats of The Crystal Maze every weekday evening at 6pm and I'm addicted to watching it. It was a staple of my childhood and teenage years, and it would've been brilliant to go on the show. Perhaps I should apply if and when a new series is made.

Rewatching the show has reminded me of our holiday around the Welsh coast in 2009 when we took a break from playing Crazy Golf to visit the Oakwood Indoor Family Entertainment Centre - where we entered The Crystal Maze!

At that time it was the last remaining Cyberdrome Crystal Maze game in the UK. Sadly it closed for good in June 2010. It would've been brilliant to return for a few more games there.

The Cyberdrome Crystal Maze was absolutely awesome to play. More of them should have been built back in the day. There were a total of eight built - five in the UK, two in Japan, and one in Dubai.

Just like the TV show, games were played in four themed zones - Aztec, Futuristic Medieval, and Ocean. But unlike the TV, show players were guided around the maze by Merlin - a computerised Maze Master.

Being set a task by Merlin

Aztec Zone

Futuristic Zone

Medieval Zone

Ocean Zone

We managed to win six of the nine games we played, and in the Crystal Dome itself we collected 103 Gold and 28 Silver 'tokens' for a grand total of 75. So we didn't win the the "super-duper" prize, but we were first on the leaderboard for the day and got 1st of 1 on our souvenir certificate!

Inside the Crystal Dome

At that time the Cyberdrome Crystal Maze was the closest you could get to playing the real Crystal Maze. Now you can play The Crystal Maze LIVE Experience in London and Manchester. We Manchester venue is so close, we really ought to get a team together for a game there.

Photos of The Cyberdrome Crystal Maze in Tenby

The Cyberdrome Crystal Maze in 2009

The Cyberdrome Crystal Maze in 2009

The Cyberdrome Crystal Maze in 2009

The Cyberdrome Crystal Maze in 2009

The Cyberdrome Crystal Maze in 2009

The Cyberdrome Crystal Maze in 2009

The Cyberdrome Crystal Maze in 2009

The Cyberdrome Crystal Maze in 2009

He-Van, Movers of the Universe

He-Van, Movers of the Universe in Worthing.

What a sight this was to behold - a bootleg He-Man and the Masters of the Universe van parked in Worthing, West Sussex over the weekend!

He-Van!

The 'He-Van' belongs to He-Van, Movers of the Universe.

Totally Stockport Comic Con

80s TV, film and pop culture heaven!

Gremlins causing a scene

We had a marvellous morning at the Totally Stockport FREE Comic Con. What a brilliant event. So much to see and do.

The event was organised by Totally Stockport.

There have been some superb events here in Stockport. The last Comic Con was excellent too. The event was set to become an annual attraction, but the coronavirus put paid to the follow-up event in May 2020.

I've wanted to see K.I.T.T. in real life since I was a little kid. This was amazing!

We're so glad the event went ahead and are looking forward to the next Stockport Comic Con already!

Ecto-1

Urgh, this tauntaun smelled bad on the outside

Me and Chewbacca

R2-D2

Johnny 5

The A-Team van

Only Food & Sauces in Norwich

Spotting another Only Fools... business name.

We saw Only Food & Sauces in Norwich on our trip to the city last month.

Only Food & Sauces in Norwich

It's the latest Only Fools & Horses business name / sign we've seen on our travels.

Aldi's second Christmas jumper of the season

Aldimania was running wild as I bought my second Aldi Christmas jumper of the year.

Aldi liked this photo of me in it that Emily took

I managed to get the more colourful version at my local store last week and luckily found this black and white version on a visit to the Stockport town centre shop.

Winebulance

We recently had a delivery from the Stockport Winebulance!

Emily with her emergency delivery of supplies from the Winebulance

What an emergency service.

New York - Paris - Milan - Stockport

Check out the Helen Jones Wines website for more information.

We had a delivery from LAPD Stockport earlier this year too.

Another Day, Another Christmas Jumper

I finally got the Home Bargains Christmas Jumper!

Just 32 days until Christmas.

Christmas Jumper 2021

Christmas is officially underway now I have my first new Christmas jumper of the season.

I got this Aldimania Christmas jumper first thing yesterday morning.

Aldi's Christmas jumper for 2021 - not shown are one of the pairs of Aldimania festive socks I was wearing too. Very warm and toasty

Ecto-1 at The Light cinema in Stockport

It was nice to see Ecto-1 at The Light cinema in Stockport on Saturday evening as part of the promotion for the new Ghostbusters film.

I saw Ecto-1a and the Stay Puft Marshmallow Man in Urmston for Halloween a couple of years ago too.

Halloween in the City is back in Manchester

Halloween in the City has returned to Manchester city centre.

We saw a few of the new Halloween monster inflatables that have popped up in Manchester during a wander round town on Saturday.

The full Halloween in the City event is taking place in Manchester on Saturday 30th and Sunday 31st October with a number of large-scale monsters adorning buildings around the city centre as well as other themed activities.

Check out the Halloween in the City website for more information.

Halloween in the City returning to Manchester this month

Halloween in the City is returning to Manchester city centre.

Halloween in the City is taking place in Manchester on the 30th and 31st October with a number of large-scale monsters adorning buildings around the city centre as well as other themed activities.

Halloween in the City Manchester Monsters in 2019

Check out the Halloween in the City website for more information.

LAPD Food Stockport

Emily recently had a brilliant takeaway tea ordered from LAPD Food Stockport - they deliver your order in an American police car!

How cool is this for a delivery vehicle! I love the branding

What a brilliant thing to see driving around Cheadle Hulme.

The Big Mini Golf Bucket List 2020

With lockdowns continuing during the ongoing coronavirus pandemic let's take another look at The Big Mini Golf Bucket List we created back in March.

Just because your local miniature golf course may once again be closed over the coming months doesn't mean you can't keep up with your putting practice and have some crazy golf fun at home.

Back in March we put together a minigolf bucket list with ideas and suggestions of things to do in the world of miniature golf.

The Big Mini Golf Bucket List

1. Create a minigolf hole at home.

2. Go even further and build an entire crazy golf layout in your home or garden.

3. Play a minigolf videogame.

4. Send a minigolf postcard to someone you know (we love sending and receiving postcards!).

5. Write a guest blog post for the Ham & Egger Files.

6. Post about minigolf on social media and use the hashtags #minigolf #minigolfmonday #puttathome and #minigolfbucketlist.

7. Recommend a course for us to visit on our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour in the future.

8. Play an online minigolf game.

9. Visit Minigolfnews.com.

10. Read a book about minigolf.

11. Watch and share a minigolf video online.

12. Download a minigolf app ready for when you can hit a course again.

If you have any other ideas of your own to add to the bucket list please do let us know.

Check out my blog posts about Minigolf in the time of Coronavirus and competitive isolation.

Good luck to all the minigolf courses out there over the autumn and winter months. We're looking forward to playing again.

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A-Team Cleaning Services in Manchester

Spotting an 'A-Team van' in Stockport.

I always keep an eye out for fun and interesting stuff and managed to get a snap of this 'A-Team van' out on a mission somewhere in the Greater Manchester underground earlier today!

Check out the A-Team Cleaning Services Facebook Page for more information.

It's not the first A-Team van I've seen on my travels. Check out the Multi Kitchens Ltd van, The Waste Team and The Natural Tile Company in Belfast.

World Alternative Games 2021

The countdown is on until the 2021 World Alternative Games in Llanwrtyd Wells.

The World Alternative Games were due to take place in Llanwrtyd Wells, Wales this month. The fifth edition of the Games have been postponed due to the coronavirus pandemic and are now scheduled for August 2021.

The festival of strange, obscure and interesting sports takes place over three weeks and sees thousands of athletes and spectators descend on the town to compete in, and marvel at, the sporting action.

The first edition of the World Alternative Games were held in 2012 to celebrate the huge year of sport and offer an alternative to elite sport with an open-to-all event. The second edition took place in 2014 and every two years thereafter. There were 35 events in 2012 and 60 titles up for grabs in 2014.

The competitors from the first-ever Finger Jousting Championships held on UK soil back at the 2012 World Alternative Games

The Games are a superb mass participation multi-sport event and really do encourage everyone to get involved. Many spectators end up as competitors and the serious obscure sports enthusiasts very often take up a new sport after visiting.

The medalists from the 2014 Finger Jousting World Championships

Some of the sports included at previous editions include wife carrying, chariot racing, cheese rolling, pooh sticks, underwater hockey, archery, office chair racing, hay bale tossing, finger jousting, stone skimming, underwater rugby, space hopper racing, horseshoe throwing, bog snorkelling, crazy golf, worm charming, conkers, world of grip, zombie fun runs, plank racing, rock paper scissors, hide n seek and toe wrestling. There have been many many more contests and the 2021 event will be packed with a wide range of different sports and games to play.

World of Grip was a tough challenge!

I have been a competitor, volunteer, organiser, advocate and promoter of the World Alternative Games since the first event in 2012.

With my Corinthian medal from competing in the World of Grip events

I organised the World Finger Jousting Federation Championships at the first Games in 2012. Prior to that tournament I took part in the Egg Throwing Championships with my team-mate Jas Kukielka and we ended up winning the World Title!

On the World Alternative Games podium

It just goes to show that anything can happen when you're at the World Alternative Games!

The champions cooling down after the event

Spot the egg...

Visit the World Alternative Games website to find out more.

As well as being the UK's smallest town Llanwrtyd Wells is famous for being the host venue for a number of quirky and unusual sports and games, including the World Bog Snorkelling Championships and the annual Man versus Horse Marathon.

See more of my blog posts about the World Alternative Games.