The remains of Blockbuster Video in Manchester

A return look at the remnants of the Blockbuster Video store in Fallowfield, Manchester.

I spotted the remains of a Blockbuster Video store while driving to Manchester last October. I returned for a look at the Fallowfield Retail Park location during my lockdown daily outdoor exercise time yesterday.

Some more of the inside of the store has become visible since my first visit. You can now see the remains of a computer system, a CRT TV on a desk and a larger CRT TV hanging from the ceiling.

How TV's should be

I wonder what the last film trailer to be shown on that telly was?

Blockbuster ceased operations in the UK in December 2013.

Oh how times have changed since then.

Social distancing

As with all of the other shops at Fallowfield Retail Park the pathways and walls have had Covid-19 social distancing signs and stickers added.

There's nobody around to observe social distancing from

It's quite something to see the remains of a defunct brand from 'the before times' alongside the signs-of-the-times during the coronavirus pandemic.

A Covid-19 social distancing sign on the exterior of the long since closed Blockbuster store

The tented bay you can see in the right of the photo is part of a drive-in Covid-19 test facility!

A look at the old store

Did you ever rent games from Blockbuster? I remember buying a few ex-rental PlayStation games from the Luton store in the early noughties

Frozen in time

I wonder what the last item to be dropped in here was?

Some old paperwork

Unfortunately in the coming months and years we are likely to see a number of other brands disappear.

The last Blockbuster

There is currently one independently owned franchise still operating as Blockbuster in the USA and you can find it in Bend, Oregon.

We were planning to visit Portland, Oregon later this year. The Blockbuster in Bend is 174 miles from Portland and a 3-hour journey by car.

There used to be a Carphone Warehouse in Fallowfield. That store was another casualty of the retail wars. They actually bought Tandy when that went out of business too. My first job was at a Tandy franchise in my home town back in the 1990s

Blockbuster Crazy Golf

Interestingly there is still another 'Blockbuster' store in the UK. It's part of the Ghetto Golf indoor crazy golf course at The Custard Factory in Digbeth, Birmingham.

The Blockbuster Video hole at Ghetto Golf in Digbeth, Birmingham

Do you have a favourite defunct brand? Are the remains of an old brand still visible on a building where you live or work? Do let me know.

Crazy World of Minigolf Tour enewsletter

Check out our latest minigolf enewsletter and please do sign-up to receive future editions.

Our latest newsletter is about the project to refurbish and reopen the Princess Parade Crazy Golf course in Blackpool

The Minigolfer's Guide to Marketing ebook

My ebook to help minigolf players better market themselves, their clubs, tournaments and courses is available to purchase from Amazon and Kobo.

A BIG thank you to everyone who has bought a copy of the book since I published it in May 2017. It's very much appreciated.

I've been really pleased to see the ebook bought and used by a number of minigolf associations and federations, course owners and managers, bloggers, course reviewers and competition players around the world.

As a minigolfer with over a decade of experience as a tournament competitor and years of experience in marketing and communications I designed the guide so that anyone interested or involved in minigolf could help promote the game. It's a niche title, but an audience and subject I know a lot about.

Playing in the World Crazy Golf Championships

Writing the book was brilliant and enabled me to bring two areas of my life together. I've worked in marketing since 2003 and have played minigolf since I was a child. Stepping up to compete on the national minigolf tour circuit and in international tournaments opened my eyes to the potential of the game. I’ve also had the honour of serving on the committees of the British Minigolf Association (BMGA) and the World Minigolf Sport Federation (WMF).

Minigolf is a sport for all. People of all ages, sexes, backgrounds and abilities can pick up a putter and play the game.

When Emily and I began travelling around the country on our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour there were around 600 courses in the UK. We've now visited 948 courses, including 39 overseas.

There are a huge amount of interesting and fun stories to tell and positive aspects to highlight to potential players, the media, sponsors and the wider sporting community. The Minigolfer's Guide to Marketing should give federations, associations, clubs and our fellow players ideas, inspiration and support in their marketing efforts.

Much of the guidance could also be applied to a number of other sports clubs and organisations to help raise their profile and boost memberships.

Buy The Minigolfer's Guide to Marketing ebook on Amazon.

Buy The Minigolfer's Guide to Marketing ebook on Kobo.

While a lot of the minigolf world is out of action, plans are still being drawn up for new courses, work is ongoing to finish courses where permissible, and ideas formulated for when it's safe to get back out on the course. If you'd like to have a chat about competitive socialising, minigolf, marketing, or minigolf marketing do get in touch.

Happy World Book Day

Today is World Book Day.

Please do check out my minigolf marketing ebook.

My ebook to help minigolf players better market themselves, their clubs, tournaments and courses is now available to purchase from Amazon and Kobo.

Minigolf is a sport for all. People of all ages, sexes, backgrounds and abilities can pick up a putter and play the game

As a minigolfer with over a decade of experience as a tournament competitor and years of experience in marketing and communications I designed the guide so that anyone interested or involved in minigolf could help promote the game. It's a niche title, but an audience and subject I know a lot about.

I've been so pleased to see the book bought and used by a number of competition players, course owners and managers, bloggers, course reviewers, minigolf associations and federations around the world.

Writing the book was brilliant and enabled me to bring two areas of my life together. I've worked in marketing since 2003 and have played minigolf since I was a child. Stepping up to compete on the national minigolf tour circuit and in international tournaments opened my eyes to the potential of the game. I’ve also had the honour of serving on the committees of the British Minigolf Association (BMGA) and the World Minigolf Sport Federation (WMF).

The Big Apple Kiosk at the Mumbles in Swansea

A look at the The Big Apple Kiosk in Swansea.

During our road-trip around the Welsh coast in August 2009 we spent a day playing petanque and crazy golf at the Mumbles in Swansea.

While we were there the strange Big Apple building near the pier caught our eye.

From our seaside travels archive

Looking through our photo archives I found this snap of it in a bit of a state. Apparently it had been hit by a vehicle just days prior to our visit!

Looking online it appears that the kiosk was granted listed building status last year.

The Big Apple kiosk was created in the 1930s as part of a promotional campaign for the Cidertone cider brand and at one time others could be found at seaside locations around the UK.

Unfortunately the Big Apple at the Mumbles is the last one standing.

A return is planned

We haven't been to Swansea since, but it is on our revisit list as there's a new crazy golf venue in the town.

We love visiting Wales and the Welsh coast and can't wait until the coronavirus pandemic is over so we can return.

Kwik Save in Barrow-in-Furness

Spotting an old Kwik Save shop in Barrow.

On our travels it's always interesting to spot ghost signs and dead brands. We've seen quite a few different remnants of retail from years gone by, including Tandy in Hitchen, RadioShack in Lytham Saint Annes, Woolworths in Longton, Stoke-on-Trent and Blockbuster Video in Manchester.

While on a trip to Barrow-in-Furness last year we saw the remains of the old Kwik Save there.

The former Kwik Save in Barrow-in-Furness

The company went into administration in 2007. The brand does live on, albeit in a much smaller form, and is now owned by Costcutter.

Definitely not 'Now Open'

The changing face of the high street and retail marketing has seen a number of former shop premises turned into family entertainment centres and competitive socialising venues including crazy golf, tenpin bowling, axe throwing, retro arcade gaming, darts, ping pong and more.

Mr Mulligans Business League Competition

Information about the upcoming Mr Mulligans Business League Competition in Stevenage.

The Jungle Explorers course at Mr Mulligans Lost World Adventure Golf in Stevenage

We're big fans of minigolf competitions so it was brilliant to find out that Mr Mulligans Lost World Adventure Golf in Stevenage, Hertfordshire is hosting its first Business League Competition next month.

Teams of between 4 and 6 players will tee-off on Tuesday 4th February with the champions winning a corporate party for 10 and a trophy.

You can find out more and register for the tournament on the Mr Mulligans Business League Competition Facebook Event Page.

Good luck to all of the players and teams taking part in the minigolf competition.

The two courses at Mr Mulligans Lost World Golf at Stevenage Leisure Park were the 685th and 686th visited on our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour. They were the last courses we visited when we still lived in the south.

The Ocean Adventurers course at Mr Mulligans Lost World Adventure Golf in Stevenage

There are now Mr Mulligans courses in Basildon, Birmingham, Bournemouth, Castleford, Cheltenham, Milton Keynes - outdoors and indoors, Newcastle upon Tyne, Nottingham, Sidcup, Stevenage, Tonbridge and Woking.

The Kitchen A-Team

If you need a new kitchen, if no one else can help, and if you can find them, maybe you can hire - THE QUOTATION TEAM!

We spotted this 'A-Team' van in Cheadle Heath yesterday

Aka Multi Kitchens Ltd.

The Waste Team in Leeds and The Natural Tile Company in Belfast have cool A-Team vans too.

Did you play minigolf in 2019?

I'm running a poll on Twitter and the Crazy World of Minigolf Tour Facebook Page asking whether people have played minigolf this year.

Did you play minigolf in 2019?

If yes, please reply with how many times.#minigolf #crazygolf #adventuregolf #miniaturegolf #puttinggreen #golf #puttingcourse

— Richard Gottfried (@putting_gott) December 18, 2019

If you have, please reply in the comments with how many times.

The Crazy World of Minigolf Tour - the story so far

A look at the last 13 years of our crazy golfing adventures.

Last week we hit our 900th minigolf course visit in the British Isles when we played the Pirate Adventure Golf course at the New York Thunderbowl in Kettering.

When we began our quest to visit every minigolf course in the UK there were 600 layouts. We visited our 600th UK course at Goodrington Sands in Devon in June 2015. There are now around 1,200 courses in the UK, with new courses opening all the time.

Since September 2006 we've been to 900 courses in six countries of the British Isles including England, Wales, Scotland, Northern Ireland, Jersey and the Isle of Man.

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

You can see the list with links to all of the courses we've been to at Crazy World of Minigolf Tour.

Hastings Adventure Golf wants you to get naked this Christmas and ditch the wrapping

Results of a Christmas survey by Hastings Adventure Golf.

The team at Hastings Adventure Golf in East Sussex love the festive season and recently carried out a survey which revealed that the majority of adults in Sussex would prefer to receive ‘help’ rather than a gift this Christmas.

What do you want for Christmas?

The survey revealed that 75% of those polled said help with dog walking, gardening, babysitting or cleaning is the gift they would prefer to receive this Christmas.

Despite this, 51% said that they generally gift in excess of 20 presents at Christmas, with a further 14% gifting in excess of 40 presents. 45% of respondents said they have no intention of cutting back on the number of presents they buy this year, with almost 9 in ten people (87%) intending to give wrapped gifts, in paper with sellotape. 

As a result, Sussex residents will bin up to 136,000 rolls of wrapping paper over the holiday season and around four black bags of gift packaging per household. Nationally that’s 108 million rolls of wrapping paper going to landfill. 

Given this, its unsurprising that half of those surveyed agreed that their household generated more waste last Christmas than could fit in their bins.

Hastings Adventure Golf has now launched its Naked Christmas campaign to encourage the reduction of  wrapping. The Naked Christmas campaign is hoping to persuade people to give unwrapped gifts this Christmas and help make the festive season less waste producing.

Hastings Adventure Golf mascot Caddie Bear wants you to go naked this Christmas

Simon Tompkins of Hastings Adventure Golf said: “The figures associated with Christmas gift wrapping are astounding. By running this campaign we are hoping to highlight the astounding levels of needless waste and associated landfill costs of using wrapping paper, while outlining ways of solving the situation by giving ‘naked’ or unwrapped gifts. This one small effort alone can make a massive difference. Gift vouchers for experiences or home made vouchers that gift your help make a great alternative.”

Tips on cutting back on the use of packaging and wrapping this Christmas, include:

1. Don’t wrap gifts - you can explain to the recipient why
2. If you need to wrap - choose your wrapping paper carefully. Not all paper is recyclable and before recycling remove any sticky tape and decorations such as ribbons and bows as these cannot be recycled.
3. Gift someone your time instead of a present – make your own gift vouchers for babysitting, dog walking, gardening, cleaning.
4. Think about vouchers for an experience - these create fun memories - plus the bonus of no waste, no packaging.

For more helpful tips on having a Naked Christmas visit the Hastings Adventure Golf website.

Survey conducted by Hastings Adventure Golf among residents of Sussex in October and November 2019. There were 496 respondents.

Related blog posts:
- Christmas
- Hastings Adventure Golf

Exhibition minigolf at the NEC

Playing the Marsh Industries hole-in-one challenge minigolf course.

I've been down in Birmingham attending the Family Attraction Expo and Holiday Park & Resort Innovation Show at the NEC today. On my way out of the exhibition I was surprised and pleased to find a very nice 3-hole minigolf layout on the Marsh Industries stand.

I had so much fun playing the course and chatting to the Marsh Industries team on the stand I almost missed my train home!

I didn't manage to get an ace with my first three goes to enter the prize draw. But I did get a hole-in-one on my fourth go.

Having a miniature golf layout on a trade or exhibition stand is a brilliant way to engage delegates and entertain visitors.

Check out the Marsh Industries website for more info on what they do.

The second and final day of the shows is tomorrow, Thursday 7th November. Find out more on the Family Attraction Expo and Holiday Park & Resort Innovation Show websites.

The SEGA Bus

Hopping aboard the SEGA Mega Drive Mini Bus in Manchester.

Last week I heard that the SEGA Bus was hitting the road again!

The SEGA Game Bus on Market Street in Manchester

My brothers and I went on one (a lot) when it stopped off at Barry Island Holiday Camp in the early 90s.

It was such a fun thing to do and I remember we played challenge games of Sonic the Hedgehog for prizes as well as receiving goody bags for visiting. Once we left the bus we immediately joined the queue to get on board for another game of Sonic on the Mega Drive.

The 2019 SEGA Game Bus

The version of the double decker bus that called in to Manchester on it's week-long tour housed a number of the new SEGA Mega Drive Mini consoles and allowed players to have a go on the system's 42 games. I played Road Rash II, Darius and Street Fighter II: Special Champion Edition.

Playing Darius on the SEGA Mega Drive Mini

I hope it isn't another 28 years before I go on another SEGA Bus. The year 2047 is AGES away.

Manchester Monster Invasion: Return of the Monsters

Halloween in the City is up and running.

This Manchester street scene looks a little different to normal

It was very nice to see one of the invading monsters appear above the Treetop Adventure Golf sign at The Printworks in Manchester city centre.

A brilliant inflatable

There are ten monsters to spot as part of Halloween in the City.

Some of the monsters I saw on my trip into Manchester

Check out my blog post for a look at Treetop Adventure Golf at The Printworks.

Related blog posts:
- Halloween in the City 2019
- Treetop Adventure Golf at The Printworks in Manchester

World Tripe Day

Happy World Tripe Day.

Today is World Tripe Day. Will you be having any?

World Tripe Day is an opportunity for tripe lovers to celebrate their love of tripe.

Please ask for tripe

Ever since I first spotted tripe on a butcher's stall at Wigan Market in 2012 I've been following the Tripe Marketing Board with interest. Although not enough interest to have actually eaten tripe. I'm fairly certain that cow's stomach is something of an acquired taste. I do believe it's gluten free though.

Lots of tripe in Leeds

The Tripe Marketing Board is dedicated to educating the public about eating tripe as part of a healthy, balanced diet and was formed as an industry-wide response to the continuing post-war decline in tripe sales in the UK. This was due to the ending of rationing, increasing affluence and a widespread perception that it is not fit for human consumption.

Stockport tripe

The Tripe Marketing Board told me that up until the 1960s you could find hundreds of tripe shops throughout Lancashire, with many of the shops run by United Cattle Products (UCP) and offering nose-to-tail food at the attached cafes and restaurants. 

The UK's last remaining tripe shop can be found in Stalybridge, Greater Manchester.

The 'branded' name of this product is 'Chitterlings'. It certainly sounds better than the homogeneous product name!

Visit the Tripe Marketing Board website for more information about tripe. You can also use Tripe Adviser to locate sellers of the delicacy.

Related blog posts:

- There's truth in advertising and then there's this!