Barnard Castle Mini Golf - A Journey Through Teesdale (July 2013)

A look at the Barnard Castle Mini Golf course.

In July 2013 we visited Barnard Castle in County Durham to help launch the new Mini Golf course there.

The 9-hole course was designed and built by the team at UrbanCrazy.

The Barnard Castle Mini Golf course was the 532nd visited and 319th played on our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour.

National Town Criers Championships in Hastings

Historic Hastings to Host Hollering Battle.

My friend and minigolf rival John 'Big Top Ted' McIver let me know that the 62nd edition of the annual National Town Criers Championships is coming up soon.

A Town Crier being stentorian in Hastings at the 60th National Town Crier Championships in 2012

The Town Criers, representing towns around the country, will gather at the Priory Meadow Shopping Centre in the town on Saturday 18 October between 11am and 5pm where they will be judged on volume, diction, clarity and inflection.

I don't know what the collective term is for a group of Town Criers, but here's a gathering of a few at the 2012 National Town Criers Championships in Hastings

Back in 2011 we visited the 59th edition of the National Town Criers Championships and we went along for a watch at the 60th event in 2012 too. The competition is a great spectacle.

Hastings is a great seaside town to visit, with plenty of community and cultural events going on. We're often there for Mini, Crazy and Adventure Golf tournaments down on the seafront.

Looking at the website of the Ancient and Honourable Guild of Town Criers there's a thriving competition circuit!

I wonder if Worthing's new Town Crier (the former Mayor and all-round character) Bob Smytherman will be competing over the border in East Sussex?

My home town of Abingdon on Thames has a very special event held on special occasions. Bun Throwing sees the townsfolk scramble for hot cross buns thrown from the roof of the old County Hall. Here's me, my brother Jon, and my dad Chris with Abingdon's Town Crier after the April 2011 Royal Bun Throwing

Links:
- The Ancient and Honourable Guild of Town Criers
- Visit 1066 Country
- The 62nd National Town Criers Championship on the 1066 Country website
- National Town Criers Championship on the Hastings Borough Council website

Related blog posts:
- The 59th Annual National Town Criers Championships in Hastings
- Hastings
- World of Bun Throwing

Playing the new Barnard Castle Mini Golf course – A Journey Through Teesdale

Visiting the 532nd course on the Crazy World of Minigolf Tour.

The new Barnard Castle Mini Golf course

On Friday 19th of July Emily and I headed north to the town of Barnard Castle – home to a brand new UrbanCrazy Mini Golf course!

The 9-hole layout is a great design, with some excellent hole-in-one opportunities and very good fun to play.

Playing hole 7, my favourite

The course is located at Scar Top, Barnard Castle in County Durham and replaced the old course that had been in place since 1985. The course has been dedicated in memory of Alan Wilkinson who passed away earlier this year. He was a noted historian of the town and first introduced Minigolf to Scar Top. One of the stones laid at the course carries a dedication to him. A very nice touch.

The new course has been named “A Journey Through Teesdale” and each of the nine holes is themed on local landmarks or local places of interest, such as the nearby Bowes Museum and the castle itself.

Photos of the course (19th July 2013).

Hole 1 - River Tees

Hole 2 - Market Cross

Hole 3 - The Witham

Hole 4 - The Bowes Museum

Hole 5 - Hills & Dale

Hole 6 - Forces of Teesdale

Hole 6 - view of the green

Hole 7 - Egglestone Abbey

Hole 8 - County Bridge

Hole 8's bridge

Hole 9 - Barnard Castle

The course was the 532nd visited on the Crazy World of Minigolf Tour and the 319th played.

In our first round on the course I managed to beat Emily by one-shot 20 to 21. In our rematch in the afternoon I shot a 16 to Emily’s 18.

Emily playing the 6th hole

Along with fellow British Minigolf Association Tour members and Great Britain Minigolf Sport Team members we took on locals in challenge matches, did some coaching and also competed and coached in the first-ever ‘Inter-Mayoral Minigolf Challenge’ charity competition held to support Teesdale YMCA.

The Great Britain Minigolf Team members and the Mayor of Barnard Castle Councillor Frank Harrison

The results of the two-round UrbanCrazy Barnard Castle Minigolf Challenge competition were:

It’s a great layout and a great test of putting skill. A course record was set at 16(-2) by John Moore on the day, with the round equalled by me, Emily and Chris Harding throughout the day. If you play the course and do better do let me know by leaving a comment below.

Me playing the 3rd hole as John Moore looks on

Some videos of me playing the course:
- A hole-in-one on hole 7
- Playing hole 2
- Playing hole 3

Read all about the course’s design and build on the UrbanCrazy website and check out the Barnard Castle web page on the course.

Related blog posts:

- Crazy World of Minigolf Tour

- Minigolf Report – Gottfried’s Tee-Off at New Minigolf Course in Barnard Castle

- New Mini Golf course open in Barnard Castle

- UrbanCrazy tagged blog posts

Links:

- UrbanCrazy

- Barnard Castle Town Council

- UrbanCrazy – “A Journey Through Teesdale”

- All about the Barnard Castle Mini Golf course "A Journey Through Teesdale – in nine holes"

- British Minigolf Association

- Great Britain Minigolf Team