Home Counties Gluten Free Food Fair 2015

The Home Counties Gluten Free Food Fair 2015 will be taking place on Saturday 5th September.

Dozens of gluten free food businesses and hundreds of Coeliacs will be descending on The Weatherley Centre in Biggleswade, Bedfordshire for this year's Home Counties Gluten Free Food Fair on Saturday 5th September.

Poster for the Home Counties Gluten Free Food Fair taking place on Saturday 5th September

The 2015 event will take place from 10am until 2pm, with a £1 admission fee (that also includes entry into a prize draw).

The group organises a number of events throughout the year, and the last large food fair was in 2013. That event had 30 exhibitors and over 600 visitors.

As well as food and drink available to sample and purchase from many of the exhibitors there will also be refreshments for sale including gluten free fish and chips, sausage and chips, and fritters together with tea, coffee and other gluten free snacks.

If the 2013 event was anything to go by there will be more than enough visitors for the exhibitors to promote to. Other Coeliac Groups in the Home Counties and London areas will be advertising the event, and it will be advertised in Coeliac UK's Crossed Grain Magazine.

I enjoyed the 2013 event and it was nice to catch up with fellow members of the group. It was also great to find out about new gluten and wheat free food and drink (including beers). Most of the exhibitors were offering samples for eager Coeliacs to try out. Although I did notice that some of the exhibitors were not giving out any samples - this always seems strange to me as I like to try before I buy. And I've certainly bought my fair share of those gluten free products from brands that weren't stingy with their samples at the fair.

The Beds and Mid Herts Coeliac UK group has over 750 members in Bedfordshire, Hertfordshire and parts of Essex. I've been a member since shortly after my diagnosis in 2008 and have found the information in the newsletters to be useful. Attending a newly diagnosed Coeliacs event was very helpful in the early days of living life gluten free. I've also made some great friends from being a part of the group.

For more information check out the Coeliac UK Beds and Mid Herts local group page.

The 2015 Home Counties Gluten Free Food Fair will be held at The Weatherley Centre, Eagle Farm Road, Biggleswade, Bedfordshire, SG18 8JH.

I'm always keen to find out about gluten and wheat free brands that are suitable for people with Coeliac Disease so please do get in touch if you know of any, or are a producer/supplier.

Links:
- Coeliac UK
- Coeliac UK local group page for Beds and Mid Herts

Related blog posts:
- Coeliac
- Gluten Free

Mini Golf at Tea Green Golf at Wandon End, Luton

A visit to the new Mini Golf course at Tea Green Golf Club in Wandon End, Luton.

The old Crazy Golf has been upgraded to this bright new Mini Golf 

Tea Green Golf Club in Luton has unveiled its upgraded Mini Golf layout and on Friday I headed up there for a few rounds on the course.

Playing hole 1. The 'classic' ace line has been blocked by two obstacles. There is still a way to get a hole-in-one though. You can see the old version of hole 1 here

Emily and I have been visiting Tea Green Golf since we found out that the club was home to a Crazy Golf course in July 2009. The course was the 111th played on our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour. Since that first visit almost six years ago the courses has undergone some changes.

Revisiting the 111th course on our tour

Using the base holes as a foundation for the new miniature golf layout the 9-hole course has been refurbished and freshened up with new borders, obstacles and colours. I'm very pleased to say that the course manager Lester Coles and the team have taken on-board some of my suggestions for updating the course. There are now some nice undulations on the course, bright colours, high quality felt to play on, and of course there's a windmill on one of the holes.

Hole 5 has a windmill obstacle on it. It blocks the straight shot to the hole, but there is a fine angle to make the ace

Lester has also been a minigolf rival of mine since we first played the course in 2011 so he was itching to give me a game - and what a clash it was. Having set the record of 17(-1) on the first official day of the new course Lester bested me in the first two rounds (18 to 19), before we tied on 17. We then played another 18-hole round which saw me force a play-off with an ace at the last hole. The game continued to the 4th extra-hole before I was robbed by a bounce out from my second putt.

A view of the course from the turnaround point. Hole 7 (the blue hole in the photo) used to be hole 9

Over the years we've had many rounds on the course and scored a lot of holes-in-one. Lester and I were both amazed at how tricky it is to ace many of the holes during the round - we did however make some nice shots in some practice play. It'll be very interesting to see if the old course record of 14 (held forevermore by Scott Holmes) will ever be equalled or bettered...

The cost to play the course is just £2 and gives you unlimited play on your visit. Great value

Check out the photos of the 9-hole course below.

Tea Green Golf is a really friendly golf club that welcomes members and non-members alike. The Par-3 Golf course is a great test and they also have a really popular Footgolf course. Plus there's a bar, restaurant and games area (pool and darts). Visit the Tea Green Golf website, and check out the club on Facebook and Twitter for more information.

Links:
- Tea Green Golf
- UrbanCrazy

Related blog posts:
- Crazy World of Minigolf Tour
- Tea Green
- Luton

Videos:
- A round of Minigolf at Tea Green Golf Course in Luton (July 2009)
- Attempting to play Crazy Golf in the snow at Tea Green Golf, Luton (January 2010)
- Hole in One at Tea Green Golf's Minigolf Course (March 2010)
- A round of Minigolf at Tea Green Golf Luton (May 2010)
- A round of Minigolf at Tea Green Golf for the Putter King Scavenger Hunt (September 2011)
- Minigolf Trick Shot - Blindfolded Hole-in-One for the Putter King Miniature Golf Scavenger Hunt (September 2011)

Pirate Mini Golf at the Galleria Shopping Centre in Hatfield

Visiting the Pirate Adventure Golf course at the Galleria in Hatfield.

A view of the Pirate Mini Golf course from the gallery at the Galleria

On Tuesday 19 May I headed over to Hatfield, Hertfordshire to meet up with my old mate and Dodgeball rival 'Rowdy' Russell Fenner for a game of minigolf on the Pirate Adventure Golf course at the Galleria Outlet Shopping Centre.

There's a HUGE octopus/kraken on the minigolf course

Unfortunately the course was closed. We'd planned to have a round after work at 6pm, but the course was closed from 5.30pm.

Visiting the 599th course on the Crazy World of Minigolf Tour

It had been open when I first arrived. While the Galleria is open from 10am to 8pm on weekdays, the Pirate Adventure Golf course is only open 10am to 6pm Monday to Saturday, and 11am to 5pm on Sundays. Looking on the website it does state that the last entry is 30 minutes before closing.

There's a big shark on the course

The swimming shark on the Galleria's minigolf course!

The result of our contest was put down as a no-score draw.

Me and Rowdy Russell were unable to have a minigolf battle on the course

So no pirate treasure went to the winner

And the loser wasn't fed to the sharks

  

The course itself is an 'Eternit' type of miniature golf, with a felt surface

For more information on the Pirate Adventure Golf course and the Galleria shopping centre check out the links below.

The course was the 599th visited on the Crazy World of Minigolf Tour since September 2006.

In June 2014 we played a similar layout from the same group when the course was 12-holes.

Related blog posts:
- Indoor Minigolf, Crazy Golf and Adventure Golf courses
- Crazy World of Minigolf Tour
- Course visit #560, course played #336
- Sharks
- Eternit

Links:
- Pirate Mini Golf website
- The Galleria Outlet Shopping centre website

Visiting the new Crazy Golf course at Verulamium Park in St Albans

Miniature Golf course visit number 543 on the Crazy World of Minigolf Tour.

On a very rainy Saturday afternoon Emily and I made the latest course visit on our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour as we visited the Crazy Golf course in Verulamium Park, St Albans.

The park was the location for the 17th course ever played on the Tour, way back in April 2007. I also revisited in November 2010 and noticed a couple of changes to the Minigolf.

Since that last visit the old course has been replaced by a new course. The new layout is still a 9-hole course and of the same fibreglass construction, but each of the holes is in the shape of a letter in the words "Crazy Golf".

Unfortunately that great Minigolf character 'Humpty' is now missing from the course :-(

The Verulamium Park Crazy Golf was the first we've been to that uses this particular layout. Although down the road in nearby Hemel Hempstead there is a Minigolf course at Gadebridge Park where each of the holes is in the shape of its number!

Related blog posts:

- Crazy World of Minigolf Tour - Course Played #17 St Albans, Hertfordshire (Verulamium Park) - Crazy Golf

- Humpty Crazy Golf obstacles spotted on the Crazy World of Minigolf Tour 2007-2013!

- Crazy World of Minigolf Tour - List and links for all Miniature Golf courses visited to date

Links:

- Abbey View Golf Course

- DK Fibreglass

A re-visit to the Dinosaur Safari Adventure Golf course in Arkley

Five-player ‘friendly’ Minigolf tournament played at the 18-hole Dinosaur Safari Adventure Golf course in Arkley, Hertfordshire.

On Tuesday 1^st of October we headed to Arkley in Hertfordshire (near Elstree & Borehamwood) for an evening round of Minigolf on the 18-hole Dinosaur Safari Adventure Golf course at the A1 Golf Centre.

Lining up to compete in the international affair were:

- Emily ‘Lemony’ Gottfried (GBR)

- Liezl ‘The Big Easy’ Van Zyl (RSA)

- Lucy ‘Whacker’ Wallace (GBR)

-  James 'Big Jim/Lucky Jim/Flukester/Not Amy' Specker (GBR)

- ‘Squire’ Richard Gottfried (GBR)

Tee-ing off in dry, light and cool weather conditions the round of golf concluded in the dark and with the onset of quite autumnal weather.

Hole one saw each player, apart from Emily, score a two. James 'Big Jim/Lucky Jim/Flukester/Not Amy' Specker earned his nickname on this hole with an incredibly recovery shot to save par after what can only be described as a horrendous tee-shot.

James 'Big Jim/Lucky Jim/Flukester/Not Amy' Specker with a slightly wayward tee-shot on the first hole

Hole two saw South African superstar Putt Putter Liezl ‘The Big Easy’ Van Zyl make her mark on the event with an awesome hole-in-one to take the lead.

Liezl 'The Big Easy' Van Ziel on the way to scoring a great hole-in-one at Arkley

The remaining seven holes of the front-nine saw steady play from most of the player, barring a few threes and a four apiece for Lemony and Lucy ‘Whacker’ Wallace.

Lucy 'Whacker' Wallace steps up to take on the Dinosaur Safari Adventure Golf course

At the half-way stage of the contest the scores were:

- Liezl ‘The Big Easy’ Van Zyl – 19

- ‘Squire’ Richard Gottfried – 20

- James 'Big Jim/Lucky Jim/Flukester/Not Amy' Specker – 21

- Emily ‘Lemony’ Gottfried – 22

- Lucy ‘Whacker’ Wallace – 25

The back-nine started badly for Mr Specker who scored an unfortunate five to put a mild dent in his championship hopes.

Emily 'Lemony' Gottfried in Minigolf action at Dinosaur Safari Adventure Golf in Arkley

It was at the 12^th hole that the match got even more exciting. After Squire had scored a two that was almost an ace with a clever and sneaky line to the hole, Emily and Liezl followed-up up by getting ever closer to the hole and Lucy ‘Whacker’ Wallace scored an incredibly hole-in-one to huge delight from her opponents.

An interesting view of the Minigolf contest during play

Attempts to recreate this piece of minigolf magic were unsuccessful, but long will the moment be remembered in the scrapbooks of her opponent’s minds.

With the win available to any with six holes remaining and the dreaded volcano obstacle to face on the penultimate hole it was Squire, The Big Easy and Lemony in with a shot at the title.

Unfortunately for Lemony the wheels would come off at the 17^th with a dreadful maximum score of seven. Squire had hit a safe two and Liezl also scored a par. Whacker put away a nice three, while Flukester couldn’t conjure up any of his earlier magic and also carded a seven.

Squire tackles the Volcano 17th hole at Arkley's Adventure Golf course as keen rival, The Big Easy, looks on

With only the final long downhill hole to play the title was being battled for between Great Britain and South Africa. Squire stepped up first and scored a two, with Liezl also shooting a par. All that was left to do was add up the scores to find out who won...

Final results

- ‘Squire’ Richard Gottfried – 20 + 20 = 39(+3)

- Liezl ‘The Big Easy’ Van Zyl – 19 + 23 = 42(+6)

- Emily ‘Lemony’ Gottfried – 22 + 27 = 49(+13)

- James 'Big Jim/Lucky Jim/Flukester/Not Amy' Specker – 21 + 30 = 51(+15)

- Lucy ‘Whacker’ Wallace – 25 + 27 = 52(+16)

The course was in great condition, with some interesting dino-facts dotted around the course. Some of the water hazards are really good too – with most of the field finding the water on the sixth hole!?

The warning/advice on this sign was not heeded on hole six where four out of the five of us went in the drink!

Related blog posts:

- New Dinosaur Safari Adventure Golf opening atthe A1 Driving Range in Arkley, Herts (near Elstree & Borehamwood)

- Dinosaur Safari Adventure Golf Course Played atthe A1 Driving Range in Arkley, Hertfordshire

-  Gottfried vs. Hinton - Healthy MinigolfCompetition at Dinosaur Safari Adventure Golf

- Minigolf and Crazy Golf courses in and aroundLondon

- Crazy World of Minigolf Tour - List and linksfor all Miniature Golf courses visited to date

Links:

- Dinosaur Safari Adventure Golf

- A1 Golf Centre

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