Showing posts with label Milton Keynes. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Milton Keynes. Show all posts

Saturday, October 07, 2023

Charity Crazy Golf at Woburn Sands Emporium, October 2023

Playing the Charity Crazy Golf course at Woburn Sands Emporium in Milton Keynes.


On our recent trip to visit our old home town of Luton we stayed in Milton Keynes and on the drive between MK and Luton stopped off at the Woburn Sands Emporium.

Charity Crazy Golf at Woburn Sands Emporium

The Woburn Sands Emporium garden centre is home to a Charity Crazy Golf course raising money for Willen Hospice.

It's always fun finding a minigolf course we didn't previously know about. And superb when it's a unique layout. The Crazy Golf course at Woburn Sands Emporium certainly was different, and it was brilliant to play the 7-hole course!


The Charity Crazy Golf at Woburn Sands Emporium was the 1,037th course visited on our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour since September 2006.

Check out the Woburn Sands Emporium website for more information. It's an excellent garden centre with plenty to see and do there.

Monday, April 10, 2023

Volcano Falls Adventure Golf in Milton Keynes

A new Volcano Falls Adventure Golf venue has opened in Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire.


A new Volcano Falls Adventure Golf venue has opened in Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire

You can find the new Volcano Falls Adventure Golf at Xscape Milton Keynes.

Visit the Volcano Falls Adventure Golf website for more information.

Wednesday, October 26, 2022

New Adventure Golf at Furzton Lake in Milton Keynes

A new dinosaur-themed Adventure Golf course has opened at Furzton Lake in Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire.


A new dinosaur-themed Adventure Golf course has opened at Furzton Lake in Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire

The adventure golf course is an 18-hole layout and is called Dinosaur Valley.

Visit the Dinosaur Valley booking website and Facebook Page for more information. 

Tuesday, May 24, 2022

Volcano Falls Adventure Golf in Milton Keynes

A new Volcano Falls Adventure Golf centre is opening in Milton Keynes.


Volcano Falls Adventure Golf

Volcano Falls Adventure Golf is opening at Xscape in Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire.

The venue will be home to three indoor courses and a total of 36-holes.

Volcano Falls Adventure Golf have venues in Castleford and Edinburgh.

We've played the Castleford Volcano Falls Adventure Golf centre on our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour.

Visit the Volcano Falls Adventure Golf website for further information.

Thursday, August 05, 2021

Summer Fair with Crazy Golf at the centre:mk

There's a free-to-play crazy golf course at the centre:mk's Summer Fair in Milton Keynes.


There's a free-to-play crazy golf course at the centremk's Summer Fair in Milton Keynes


We've played a number of courses in Milton Keynes on our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour over the years, including three pop-ups at the centre:mk.

Monday, July 05, 2021

Toys R Us in Milton Keynes

A look at the old Toys R Us store at The Leisure Plaza in Milton Keynes.


Toys R Us store at The Leisure Plaza in Milton Keynes

We took a look at the former Toys R Us store at The Leisure Plaza in Milton Keynes while on our way back from a trip to Luton last month.

Toys R Us store at The Leisure Plaza in Milton Keynes

There is still a lot of visible signage at the old store, including a nice sign in the car park. It's always interesting to see the variety of branding employed by Toys R Us over the years.

Toys R Us store at The Leisure Plaza in Milton Keynes

I worked in the Gipsy Lane Toys R Us store in Luton, Bedfordshire back in the year 2000.

Toys R Us closed in the UK in April 2018. It's interesting to see that there are still remnants of the brand on some retail parks in the UK. 

Check out my blog posts below about other former Toys R Us stores:

Monday, June 01, 2020

Pirate Mini Golf at the centre:MK in Milton Keynes

Playing the pop-up Pirate Mini Golf course at the centre:MK. Six years ago today.


On Sunday 1st June 2014 we headed over to Milton Keynes to make the 560th course visit on our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour.

Pirate Adventure Golf at thecentre:MK in Milton Keynes

The 12-hole Pirate Mini Golf course became the 336th played since 2006.

The course was of the 'Eternit' type of Miniature Golf - with the addition of felt to the playing surface and a few non-standard hole types and obstacles.

The pirate-theming around the site was very well done and the striking blue of the felt on the course made a nice contrast with the green felt flooring surrounding it.

Wednesday, February 19, 2020

Adventure Golf at Furzton Lake in Milton Keynes

New Adventure Golf course opening in MK.



A new 27-hole Adventure Golf course is being built at Furzton Lake in Milton Keynes.


Work is due to begin later this year.


We've played minigolf in Milton Keynes quite a bit over the years. When we lived down in Luton we popped over to the Centre MK when they had pop-up courses.

We also played Adventure Golf at Willen Lakes and Mr Mulligan's Pirate Golf at the Abbey Hill Golf Centre.

You can also find two indoor minigolf courses at Mr Mulligan's Lost World Golf and a Construction Golf course in the JCB Zone at Gulliver's Land in MK. We're yet to play those courses on our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour.

Sunday, April 08, 2018

Mr Mulligan's Lost World Golf opening in Milton Keynes

New Mr Mulligan's Adventure Golf course opening in Milton Keynes.


The Milton Keynes Adventure Golf venue is opening on 27th April and will have two 18-hole indoor Adventure Golf courses, as well as a restaurant and late-night bar.

Mr Mulligan's Lost World Golf in Stevenage
A view of Mr Mulligan's Lost World Golf

We've visited and played most of the Mr Mulligan's Adventure Golf courses on our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour, most recently at the new Lost World indoor Adventure Golf course in Cheltenham. Last month Mr Mulligan's Space Golf launched in Newcastle.

Mr Mulligan's Lost World Golf in Stevenage
Mr Mulligan's Lost World Golf in Stevenage

The new indoor Adventure Golf course at Mr Mulligan's will be using the Lost World Golf theming also found at the Stevenage venue.

Mr Mulligan's Lost World Golf in Stevenage
One of the UV obstacles at Mr Mulligan's Adventure Golf

Milton Keynes also has an outdoor Mr Mulligan's Pirate Golf course. Located at the Abbey Hill Golf Centre that course was the 281st played on our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour.

Other Mr Mulligan's courses can be found at Castleford, Nottingham, Woking, Sidcup and Tonbridge. There are plans for more new sites in the coming year too!

Check out the Mr Mulligan's Adventure Golf website for more information and updates on the launch.

Links:
Mr Mulligan's Adventure Golf website
- Mr Mulligan's Lost World Golf, Milton Keynes on Facebook

Related blog posts:
Mr Mulligan
Milton Keynes
Indoor Adventure Golf
Crazy World of Minigolf Tour

Saturday, April 23, 2016

Laser Planet laser tag in Milton Keynes

Over the years I've played a fair bit of laser tag and so, while on a trip to Milton Keynes today it was great to spot that a brand new lazer tag arena was opening!

Suiting up ready to battle the Reds alongside my Green team-mates

Having spent a few hours mallratting and playing some Pool at the Hollywood Bowl my friend Cat and I were wondering what to do next. I knew there was a laser tag in the town - a sport Cat had never played before! Me and my sporting rival Marc 'The Roller' Bazeley had played a game of laser tag in the town as part of an MK sporting challenge a few Christmases ago.

A quick online search came up with the result that the team behind Laser Planet in Watford was opening a new arena on Saturday 23rd April! What an unexpected bonus it was. I've been playing the game since I was a kid, and in recent years we've tried to play a bit around the country while on our Crazy Golf travels. But in all that time I've never played at a brand new arena on its opening day. Laser Planet was so new you could smell the fresh paint as you walked up the stairs!

We received a nice welcome and found that a game amongst the staff was about to begin. We could of had the arena to ourselves for a match (something that can be great fun as I've found in contests against veteran competitors like Marc and Emily) but on this occasion we opted for a three vs. three laser tag contest.

Before battle could commence we entered the briefing room - the most hi-tech I've seen to date - after which we suited up in our vests and laser guns and entered the arena. The entrance itself is really well done - I won't spoil the surprise though. Once inside the futuristic maze we headed to our base and waited for the siren to sound (I was part of the Green team, while Cat was in the Red squad).

The 20-minute match was brilliant. The game was marshalled to ensure the rules were adhered to - no running, no physical contact, no hitting other players with the actual laser gun etc. The man in orange certainly took a few errant laser shots from the players as he was wandering around the arena.

Laser Planet in Milton Keynes gets the thumbs-up from me. Great entertainment

Our match was very close - with only five points separating the teams - but the win went to the Greens. I was the second best player on our team (yee-haa), while Cat picked up the bronze medal in the runner-up Red team.

It took a bit of a search to find the entrance to Laser Planet, but we eventually found it having walked the wrong way around the Food Centre mall. Laser Planet is next door to the old Waitrose site with stairs leading up to the first-floor venue above the New Moon Chinese buffet restaurant.

I'll definitely return and Cat really enjoyed her first laser tag experience. I look forward to future battles between us!

In the Seemingly Everlasting Laser Tag War waged between the forces of the REDSBLUESGREENS, and YELLOWS players in our 'Laser Tag Rankings' have taken part in Laser Battles in 'laser-war-torn' places including Birmingham, Hemel Hempstead, Bristol, London, Peterborough, Crawley, New Brighton, Cannock, Whitstable, Skegness, Rayleigh and Milton Keynes.

Check out the Laser Planet Milton Keynes website for opening times and prices.

Links:
- Laser Planet Milton Keynes website
- Laser Planet Milton Keynes on Facebook

Related blog posts:
- Laser Tag
- Lazer Tag
Laser Tag Rankings

Sunday, February 07, 2016

Mr Mulligan's Pirate Adventure Golf in Milton Keynes

Revisiting Mr Mulligan's Pirate Golf course in Milton Keynes.

A view of the tremendous facility

On Tuesday 2nd February I played my first round of miniature golf of the year as I swung into action against my old minigolf rival Marc 'The Roller' Bazeley at Mr Mulligan's Pirate Golf course at the Abbey Hill Golf Centre in Milton Keynes.

Playing through the cannon

Marc in the ship on hole 1

The game was a rematch from our first round at the tremendous facility in December 2011.

A criminal element on the course

This time the score was not as close, as I picked up the win with a score of 47 to Marc's 60. March had been royally robbed on the 9th hole as he scored a dreadful seven. A couple of other jiffs on his scorecard, caused in no small part to his ridiculous 'tactic' of only playing the ball "to the right" on every single hole, meant 'The Roller' added another silver medal to his collection.

Unfortunately the rafts were out of action rendering the island hole unplayable

Visit Mr Mulligan's Pirate Golf website for details of the course, opening times and prices. You can also find out about other Mr Mulligan's Adventure Golf courses in Castleford, Nottingham and Woking. We've played at Castleford and Woking, but are yet to get to the Ramsdale Park Golf Centre course. There's a pair of new Mr Mulligan Adventure Golf courses opening in Stevenage, Hertfordshire this year too.

Related blog posts:
- Mr Mulligan's Pirate Golf in Milton Keynes
Pirate Island Adventure Golf at Abbey Hill Golf Centre, Milton Keynes - Minigolf Course Played #281
Milton Keynes
Crazy World of Minigolf Tour

Links:
Mr Mulligan's Adventure Golf website
Mr Mulligan's Adventure Golf, Milton Keynes website
Mr Mulligan's Adventure Golf on the Abbey Hill Golf Centre website

Give the Crazy World of Minigolf Tour a Like on Facebook, watch our YouTube channel and follow Richard and Emily on Twitter. You can also now sign-up to receive our miniature golf newsletter.

Friday, August 21, 2015

Mr Mulligan's Pirate Golf in Milton Keynes

A visit to Mr Mulligan's Pirate Golf course in Milton Keynes.

Photo of Mr Mulligan's Pirate Golf course at the Abbey Hill Golf Centre in Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire

On the way home from a recent trip to Milton Keynes I swung by Mr Mulligan's Pirate Golf at the Abbey Hill Golf Centre for a round on the 18-hole course.

Photo of Mr Mulligan's Pirate Golf course at the Abbey Hill Golf Centre in Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire
Welcome to Mr Mulligan's Pirate Golf

Back in December 2011 the course became the 281st played on the Crazy World of Minigolf Tour. It's changed a bit since my first visit. Most noticeable is the change of name from its previous incarnation as Pirate Island Adventure Golf.

Photo of Mr Mulligan's Pirate Golf course at the Abbey Hill Golf Centre in Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire
A skull's eye view of the 18th and 2nd holes

The course itself was still in good condition and the huge pirate ship that houses the first two holes of the 18-hole layout is still a dominant site upon entering the car park at the Abbey Hill Golf Centre!

Photo of Mr Mulligan's Pirate Golf course at the Abbey Hill Golf Centre in Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire
Hole 1 is an indoor hole, with hole two having upper and lower level tee-off points

Photo of Mr Mulligan's Pirate Golf course at the Abbey Hill Golf Centre in Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire
The 'High Rise Pirates' tee-off area of hole 2

As it was a bit drizzly on my visit I was able to have a clear course ahead and behind me so got to enjoy the £8.25 round at a leisurely pace.

Photo of Mr Mulligan's Pirate Golf course at the Abbey Hill Golf Centre in Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire
There's a pair of dueling pirates near the fourth hole

Mr Mulligan's Milton Keynes course is really tough, with some large minigolf holes, tricky obstacles and uneven greens. It's a course worthy of its par score of 55 (I shot a 51! And that included a hole-in-one on the very long fourth hole).

Photo of Mr Mulligan's Pirate Golf course at the Abbey Hill Golf Centre in Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire
The very long fourth hole. Nicely aceable

You can find Mr Mulligan's Pirate Golf at the Abbey Hill Golf Centre on Monks Way in Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire, MK8 8AA.

Photo of Mr Mulligan's Pirate Golf course at the Abbey Hill Golf Centre in Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire
The coffin is a new addition

Photo of Mr Mulligan's Pirate Golf course at the Abbey Hill Golf Centre in Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire
You used to have to play over the gap and avoid the water

Photo of Mr Mulligan's Pirate Golf course at the Abbey Hill Golf Centre in Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire
The Scallywag's Tee

Photo of Mr Mulligan's Pirate Golf course at the Abbey Hill Golf Centre in Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire
A soggy green

Photo of Mr Mulligan's Pirate Golf course at the Abbey Hill Golf Centre in Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire
Another one of the skellingtons on the course. There are loads of them there now!

Photo of Mr Mulligan's Pirate Golf course at the Abbey Hill Golf Centre in Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire
There's a stack of treasure beyond the double plateau

Photo of Mr Mulligan's Pirate Golf course at the Abbey Hill Golf Centre in Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire
You have to travel by raft to get on and off the island hole

Photo of Mr Mulligan's Pirate Golf course at the Abbey Hill Golf Centre in Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire
Rummy the crocodile. Or is it an alligator?

Photo of Mr Mulligan's Pirate Golf course at the Abbey Hill Golf Centre in Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire
A view from the island hole

Photo of Mr Mulligan's Pirate Golf course at the Abbey Hill Golf Centre in Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire
I do like good theming

Visit Mr Mulligan's Pirate Golf website for details of the course, opening times and prices, as well as the other Mr Mulligan's Adventure Golf courses in Castleford, Nottingham and Woking. We've played at Castleford and Woking, but are yet to get to the Ramsdale Park Golf Centre course.

Related blog posts:
- Pirate Island Adventure Golf at Abbey Hill Golf Centre, Milton Keynes - Minigolf Course Played #281
- Milton Keynes
- Crazy World of Minigolf Tour

Links:
- Mr Mulligan's Adventure Golf website
- Mr Mulligan's Adventure Golf, Milton Keynes website
- Mr Mulligan's Adventure Golf on the Abbey Hill Golf Centre website

Like the Crazy World of Minigolf Tour on Facebook, check out our YouTube channel and follow me and Emily on Twitter.
 

Tuesday, February 03, 2015

Winning at the PDC Unibet Darts Masters in Milton Keynes

A trip to the 'arrers in Milton Keynes.

On Sunday 1 February me, Emily and Marc 'The Roller' Bazeley attended the 2015 Unibet Masters Darts tournament presented by the Professional Darts Corporation and played at the tremendous facility that is the ArenaMK.

Marc 'The Roller' Bazeley and 'Squire' Richard Gottfried - Two of the Sajwani Army on manoeuvres at the PDC Unibet Darts Masters in Milton Keynes
Two of the Sajwani Army on manoeuvres at the PDC Unibet Darts Masters in Milton Keynes

As BIG darts fans we were really looking forward to being at the major PDC competition and we weren't disappointed by the event. We had tickets for the semi-finals and the final. We saw some brilliant matches, with the Unibet Masters title won by world number one Michael Van Gerwen. We also got to meet darts legend 'The Prince of Style' Rod Harrington.

'Squire' Richard Gottfried playing a game if Inflatable Darts at the Unibet Masters - to win a Unibet 180 t-shirt you had to score 60 or more with three 'darts' (velcro balls)
'Squire' Richard Gottfried playing a game if Inflatable Darts at the Unibet Masters - to win a Unibet 180 t-shirt you had to score 60 or more with three 'darts' (velcro balls)

Before the action got underway we had a wander around the ArenaMK venue and found that the tournament sponsor Unibet had set up an inflatable dart board where you could compete to win a Unibet 180 t-shirt, we couldn't miss that opportunity so stepped up to give it a go.

Channelling the spirit of darts underdog Peter 'Chatterbox' Sajwani I scored 100 with my three darts! Emily also won on the game, scoring treble-20, 20 and 5
Channelling the spirit of darts underdog Peter 'Chatterbox' Sajwani I scored 100 with my three darts! Emily also won on the game, scoring treble-20, 20 and 5. Marc didn't play, but was incredibly happy with the Unibet Trucker Cap he got at the player's walk-on area

Links:
- Professional Darts Corporation (PDC)
- Unibet
- ArenaMK
- Peter Sajwani, Darts player (Twitter and Facebook)
- Darts Performance Centre

Related blog posts:
- Darts
- Milton Keynes

Sunday, June 01, 2014

Pirate Adventure Golf at thecentre:MK in Milton Keynes

Playing the new Pirate Mini Golf course at thecentre:MK shopping centre in Milton Keynes.

Pirate Mini Golf at thecentre:MK in Milton Keynes
Spot Richard on the Pirate Mini Golf course at thecentre:MK...?

Having heard that a Minigolf course would once again be returning to thecentre:MK Emily and I were excited to give it a play.

Pirate Mini Golf at thecentre:MK in Milton Keynes
Pirate Adventure Golf at thecentre:MK

Last summer we played the Jurassic Mini Golf at the thecentre:mk. This year the team behind that course have returned with a Pirate Mini Golf layout.

Pirate Adventure Golf at thecentre:MK in Milton Keynes
Playing hole 3 of the Pirate Mini Golf course

On Sunday 1st of June we headed over to make the 560th course visit on the Crazy World of Minigolf Tour and the 12-hole Pirate Mini Golf course became the 336th played since 2006.



The layout looks impressive in its location in Queen's Court at thecentre:MK.

Pirate Adventure Golf at thecentre:MK in Milton Keynes
thecentre:MK's Pirate Adventure Golf course in Queen's Court

The centre-piece of the vividly coloured, well laid out and fun looking course is a 20ft moving Octopus!

Pirate Adventure Golf at thecentre:MK in Milton Keynes
The GIANT minigolf Octopus at thecentre:MK's Pirate Adventure Golf course

The course itself is of the 'Eternit' type of Miniature Golf - with the addition of felt to the playing surface and a few non-standard hole types and obstacles.

Pirate Mini-Golf at thecentre:MK in Milton Keynes
Emily on hole 6

The pirate theming around the site is really well done and the striking blue of the felt on the course makes a nice contrast with the green felt flooring.

Pirate Miniature Golf at thecentre:MK in Milton Keynes
Putting in the wake of the Kraken!

It makes for a pleasing playing environment - even if the course is very tricky, with some tough second (and third) putts.

Pirate Mini Golf at thecentre:MK in Milton Keynes
Emily lining up a second shot

In our match-up Emily, the Eternit Miniaturegolf specialist (and British Women's Record Holder on the surface), beat me by one-shot with a result of 33 to 34.

Pirate Adventure Golf at thecentre:MK in Milton Keynes
Emily playing hole 10

Both scores were good enough to get us on the course Leader Board too.

Pirate Adventure Golf at thecentre:MK in Milton Keynes
Emily in tied fourth place on the Pirate Adventure Golf Leader Board with her 33 

Pirate Adventure Golf at thecentre:MK in Milton Keynes
Squire in sixth spot

The course costs £4.50 a round for adults and the second round on the same day is half price. I took advantage of this and had another round after we'd had a bit of a shop around thecentre:MK.

Pirate Adventure Golf at thecentre:MK in Milton Keynes
In the stocks

The Pirate Mini Golf course will be in thecentre:MK until the 29th of August 2014 and is open seven days a week. It's an interesting layout, has friendly staff and is worth a play.

Pirate Adventure Golf at thecentre:MK in Milton Keynes
Playing the 12th hole

Further details can be found on the Pirate Adventure Golf course website.

Pirate Mini Golf at thecentre:MK in Milton Keynes
The course was another to 'feature' a toilet on it! Though this was was not in use on the course

Pirate Mini Golf at thecentre:MK in Milton Keynes
Women were seen as unlucky on Pirate Ships!

Pirate Adventure Golf at thecentre:MK in Milton Keynes
Emily wasn't happy about that.

In recent years thecentre:MK has been home to three courses, the other being a Crazy Golf course at 'The Beach' in July 2011.

This year the team behind the Pirate Adventure Golf course also have a Jurassic themed Mini Golf course at the Oracle shopping centre in Reading.

Links:
- Pirate Adventure Golf
- thecentre:MK

Related blog posts:
- Crazy World of Minigolf Tour
- Playing Jurassic Mini Golf at the thecentre:mk
- Crazy Golf at 'the beach' at The Centre: MK in Milton Keynes - Minigolf course played #263
- Milton Keynes