Mini-golf Nausicaà in Boulogne-sur-Mer, France

A look at the Mini-golf Nausicaà course in Boulogne-sur-Mer, France.

Many thanks to our friend Gareth Holmes for sending over these snaps of the Mini-golf Nausicaà course in Boulogne-Sur-Mer from his recent trip to France.

My brother Christopher and his family visited Mini-golf Nausicaà in Boulogne-Sur-Mer on their branch of the Crazy World of Minigolf Tour back in February 2022.

Check out Mini-golf Nausicaà on Facebook for more information.

The KitKat x Blockbuster pop-up video shop in Soho, London

KitKat has created a 'Blockbuster Video' pop-up shop in Soho, London to launch its new sharing chocolate bars.

The KitKat x Blockbuster pop-up video shop is part of a nostalgia inspired campaign to launch KitKat's new sharing bars.

The chocolate/video shop can be found on Greek Street in Soho, London until tomorrow, Saturday 12th April. It opened on Wednesday 9th April.

Check out the Nestlé website for more information about the KitKat x Blockbuster pop-up.

Unfortunately I couldn't make it down to London to visit the store. However, my friend Gareth Holmes went along today! Gareth joined the queue and sent me these photos from his visit to the Blockbuster store!

Browse the VHS tapes on the shelves

Have a break from browsing

Browse some more

A nice selection of old tellies

Visitors to the pop-up received a free KitKat sharing bar and a code to stream a film

Nostalgia and lost brands

Emily and I have spent the last few years reminiscing about 'the good old days'. One of our areas of interest is in old retail brands - we're both marketers by profession and two of my first jobs in the 1990's and the year 2000 were at Tandy and Toys R Us, while Emily's first job was at a Happy Shopper shop. It's been fascinating to find remnants of these brands - and a number of other lost, dead and defunct brands - on the high street and at retail parks around the UK.

During the pandemic our interest in lost brands and retail history was piqued and over the last five years we've been to several former Blockbuster Video stores around the UK, as well as finding some other old, and some still open, video shops on our travels.

At its peak in 2004 there were more than 9,000 Blockbuster Video stores around the world. 500+ of which were in England, Scotland and Wales. Interestingly in Northern Ireland the Xtra-Vision brand was used by the owners in-line with the Republic of Ireland.

The last Blockbuster Video shop ceased trading in the UK in December 2013 and there is now only one Blockbuster Video store in the world - it's in Bend, Oregon, USA!

Urban Street Golf at Gravity Max in Liverpool

A look at the Urban Street Golf course at Gravity Max in Liverpool.

Our friend and minigolf rival Gareth Holmes recently visited Gravity Max and sent these photos of the Urban Street Golf course there.

We visited Gravity Max on our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour during our last trip to Liverpool last November. The course looks superb lit up in the daytime, and looks stunning in the evening.

Visit the Gravity website for more information on Gravity Max, Gravity Active and Gravity Social.

A Mini Golf Apocalypse

A look back at the Golf Apocalypse crazy golf course in London.

As we're in the midst of a pandemic I thought it'd be interested to look back at an apocalypse - the Golf Apocalypse crazy golf course from 2012.

Looking back to 2012

We played the Golf Apocalypse miniature golf course back in August 2012. The layout had been created as part of the London Pleasure Gardens, an area set-up to tap into the passing trade between the DLR and the London 2012 Olympic Games at the ExCel centre.

A BIG piece of OBEY street art in the distance

Golf Apocalypse was the first really really really mad-cap pop-up course we played on our travels.

What a sight!

A crazy set-up

The layout contained all manner of strange minigolf obstacles and we found ourselves playing through the fuselage of a crashed aeroplane, around a pinball machine, a snooker table and into a volcano.

What a thing to putt through

Pinball wizard

Snooker loopy

The End

Pop-up crazy golf

The pop-up miniature golf course was the first to use reclaimed materials in its construction. Something that has become commonplace these days and we've seen and played a number of funky, junky, scrap, ghetto, trash, garbage, graffiti, wreck and art-based courses since.

Playing hole 2

Competitive minigolf

In our minigolf match-up Emily picked up the win with a score of 25. I was second with 26, with Gareth Holmes third with 27 and Alan Norman on 28.

Emily playing hole 3

22 was a very good score to get on the 9-hole course

The course’s designer and owner, Dave Lovatt, was also responsible for the 9-hole Crazy Golf course that staged the Welsh Open Crazy Golf Championships as part of the Newport Big Splash Festival in 2010. Following the 2012 pop-up in London the course moved on to Bristol.

Crazy golfing at the end of the world - from l-r Gareth Holmes, Richard Gottfried, Emily Gottfried, Dave Lovatt, Alan Norman

Our challenge match with Dave went to a sudden-death play-off between Dave and Alan after both players had shot rounds of 22. Dave picked up the win on the deciding hole to take the title. I had finished on 24, Gareth had a 25 and Emily had shot a 29.

Alan snookered

Gareth putting on hole 1

A different sort of podium

Crazy World of Minigolf Tour

The 9-hole Golf Apocalypse course was the 304th course played on our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour.

More photos of the Golf Apocalypse course.

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Pizzaman - Winner of the European Gluten Free Pizza Championships

My mate Gareth Holmes was recently travelling on a number 21 bus through New Cross and spotted a sign for gluten free pizza! It was quite a specific sign too - proclaiming that the takeaway was the Winner of the European Gluten Free Pizza Championships 2015.

I never knew such a tournament existed!

Pizzaman - Championship winning pizza

Although having had a cursory glance on the Internet I can't find the full results of the competition...

You can find Pizzaman at 207 Lewisham Way, New Cross, London.

Minigolf litter

Spotting some minigolf ephemera on the streets of London.

My mate and minigolf rival Gareth Holmes has turned up another piece of minigolf ephemera - this one quite literally from the streets of London - as he found a discarded scorecard from the Battersea Putt in the Park course on the pavement outside The Latchmere Pub at 7am!

The front of the abandoned scorecard that Gareth found on his travels

Looking at Player 2's score we think they should consider turning pro.

The scores from the AME vs CON match-up played sometime before 7am on the 22nd June 2017...

Gareth has also recently spotted minigolf adverts on the tube and at bus stops in the capital. He's now the official Principal Public Transport Minigolf Advertisement Spotter of the blog and The Crazy Golf Museum.

Gareth lending our friend and minigolf rival Alan 'Stormin' Norman a helping hand to retrieve a golf ball at Wandsworth Park

There are three Putt in the Park minigolf courses in London. We've played the Wandsworth Park and Battersea Park courses, but have yet to hit the Acton layout.

The Battersea Park minigolf course

Link:
- Putt in the Park

Related blog posts:
- Gareth Holmes
- Crazy Golf in London
- Putt in the Park Minigolf at Wandsworth Park, London
- Minigolf with The Putting Penguin at Putt in the Park
- Putt In The Park Mini Golf at Battersea Park in London

Another Crazy Golf advert in London

Another minigolf advert spotted on London's public transport network.

Gareth Holmes has done it again, this time he's spotted an advert for the Minigolf course at Columbus Courtyard in Canary Wharf, London.

The course was originally open until the end of June, but on the website it's an ongoing activity

The Minigolf course at Columbus Courtyard opened in May this year. The 9-hole course is FREE to play! Check out the Canary Wharf website for more info.

Related blog post:
- Crazy Golf in London