The Regal Cinema in Kettering, Northamptonshire

This Art Deco building in Kettering, Northamptonshire opened as The Regal Cinema in December 1936.

It had been a bingo club since 1975, most recently as a Gala Bingo. It closed in 2018.

Are you the UK's Worst Crazy Golf Player?

Wicksteed Park is looking for the UK's Worst Crazy Golf Player!

Wicksteed Park in Kettering, Northamptonshire is searching for the UK's Worst Crazy Golf Player - and they'll be rewarded with a lifetime pass to play the Pig n' Putt minigolf course at Wicksteed Park!

Check out the Wicksteed Park website and Facebook Page for more information and to find out how to enter the competition to find the UK's Worst Crazy Golf Player.

The Pig n' Putt minigolf course at Wicksteed Park is a course we're yet to get to on our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour. I have however played crazy golf there before. Looking through my family photo albums we've got photos of me and my brother Jon playing a round at Wicksteed Park in the 1980s!

Adventure Golf at West Lodge Farm Park in Desborough, Kettering

There's an Adventure Golf course at West Lodge Farm Park in Desborough, Kettering, Northamptonshire.

The 9-hole Adventure Golf course has a farm-theme.

Check out the West Lodge Farm Park website for more information.

Minigolf course visit 900 - a year ago today

We visited our 900th miniature golf course in the British Isles a year ago today.

The location was the indoor Pirate Adventure Golf course at the New York Thunderbowl tenpin bowling centre in Kettering, Northamptonshire.

We had a brilliant time at the New York Thunderbowl. The 9-hole adventure golf layout was a good challenge and we'd visit again 

Check out the New York Thunderbowl website for more information, opening times and prices for all of the activities at the centre.

Our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour

When our minigolfing adventures began in 2006 there were 600 miniature golf courses in the UK. We visited our 600th course at Goodrington Sands in Paignton, Devon. There are now well over a thousand places to play the game.

We've been to a total of 956 courses to date. In the last 14 years a number of new courses have come and gone, older courses have been updated or refurbished, while some layouts have been lost forever.

Our 900th course visit, including overseas venues, was at the North Bay Crazy Golf course in Scarborough in the summer of 2019.

We've been to 39 minigolf courses in eleven overseas countries including Australia, Austria, Belgium, Finland, Hong Kong, New Zealand, Poland, Singapore, Spain, Sweden and the USA.

Our stop off at the Thunderbowl was en route to visit family and friends in Suffolk. Something we haven't been able to do this year.

Last year we hit 82 courses. This year we've been to 46 courses, including revisits, with 15 of the layouts being new courses to us. During the coronavirus pandemic we've been able to visit eight courses, playing two of them.

We had been on schedule to reach our 1,000th course this year and had a very strong start to 2020, visiting 20 courses in the first 20 days of January!

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Pirate Cove Adventure Golf at the New York Thunderbowl in Kettering

Playing the indoor Pirate Adventure Golf course at the New York Thunderbowl tenpin bowling centre in Kettering, Northamptonshire.

Last Thursday we visited our 900th minigolf course in the British Isles.

The location of our milestone game of miniature golf was the indoor Pirate Cove Crazy Golf course at the New York Thunderbowl tenpin bowling centre in Kettering.

The 9-hole minigolf course is on a mezzanine above the arcade games in the tenpin bowling centre and has been very well made.

A pirate's eye view of the course

Playing hole 2

We really enjoyed our game and a drink in the bar afterwards. Chilling out in the pirate themed bar was well earned after a very long drive down to Kettering from Stockport. If the journey had taken any longer we might have arrived after the course had closed!

Emily playing hole 7

In trouble on the course

The result of our minigolf match-up was a tie as we both shot rounds of 23.

Hole 1

Visit the New York Thunderbowl website for more information, opening times and prices for all of the activities at the centre.

Playing hole 6

We've found that minigolf courses are becoming popular additions to tenpin bowling centres.

A view of the course

The very first course we played was a pirate-themed adventure golf layout. We wonder whether the 1,000th course will be too?

Hole 4 - I fired a cannon to win a free game on the very first course we played

When our adventures began in 2006 there were 600 miniature golf courses in the UK. There are now around 1,200 places to play the game.

The entrance to hole 7 

Hole 7

Hole 7

The pirate theming was very well done throughout the venue

Sharks AND an alligator! 

Sharked!

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Out to Play exhibition at the Manor House Museum in Kettering

A visit to the Out to Play exhibition at the Manor House Museum in Kettering.

While in Kettering last week we called in to the Manor House Museum in the town centre as we'd spotted a poster for the Out to Play exhibition there.

We're big fans of museums, sports and games and it's always interesting to see different displays and exhibitions.

Kettering is home to the famous Wicksteed Park and the exhibition included a number of items from the amusement park.

It was nice to spot something minigolf related on display.

There were a lot of postcards used in the exhibition.

A nice old postcard of Wicksteed Park

Visit the Manor House Museum website for more information.

Our main reason for being in Kettering was to play the indoor Adventure Golf course at the New York Thunderbowl, our 900th course visit in the British Isles.

There is a Crazy Golf course and a Putting Green at Wicksteed Park and it's on our to visit list when the weather is nicer.

Our 900th minigolf course visit in the British Isles

Visiting our 900th minigolf course in the British Isles.

Last Thursday we played the indoor Pirate Adventure Golf course at the New York Thunderbowl tenpin bowling centre in Kettering, Northamptonshire.

The 9-hole layout was the 900th minigolf course we've been to in the British Isles.

The Pirate Adventure Golf course at the New York Thunderbowl is a hidden gem in landlocked Northamptonshire

When our minigolfing adventures began in 2006 there were 600 miniature golf courses in the UK. There are now around 1,200 places to play the game. We visited our 600th course at Goodrington Sands in Paignton, Devon.

We've now been to 900 courses in the British Isles and 939 courses overall.

Our 900th course visit, including overseas venues, was at the North Bay Crazy Golf course in Scarborough earlier this summer.

More pics and info from our visit to the New York Thunderbowl to follow.

Adventure Golf at the New York Thunderbowl in Kettering

There's a new indoor Adventure Golf course at the New York Thunderbowl in Kettering, Northamptonshire.

While planning a route to Ipswich we checked out some potential stop-off points and saw there was a tenpin bowling centre in Kettering that is also home to a recently opened indoor Adventure Golf course.

The Pirates Cove themed Crazy Golf course is a 9-hole layout.

We're looking forward to checking it out on our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour.

Visit the New York Thunderbowl website for more information, opening times and prices.