Playing the Landmark Golf course at Wolsingham Sports Hall in County Durham.
On the way up to Newcastle upon Tyne last Friday we called in to Wolsingham Sports Hall to play the pop-up Landmark Golf course.
The course had been set up for the week and was proving popular. Some groups were finishing their rounds as we arrived and so we had a clear run at the layout.
Emily playing hole 8
We received a nice welcome at the leisure centre and from the chap at Landmark Golf. After Ian from the course had explained the rules and tee-off points we set off on our trip around the world in 9-holes.
The tee on hole 1
It's brilliant when a course has a wow factor and the Landmark Golf course certainly did with the Statue of Liberty. In fact each of the holes had something interesting about them.
We've played a number of fibreglass courses on our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour and this was certainly one of, if not, the best so far. We really liked the corner pieces that allowed for rebound skill shots to be played.
Back in London!
In our match-up I managed to secure the win with a round of 18 to Emily's 22.
Standing tall after my victory
We've been following Landmark Golf on social media for a while and it was nice we were able to time the trip to Newcastle with one of the Landmark Golf events.
Hole 7 - the Brooklyn Bridge and Statue of Liberty
Hole 8 - some large tools!
Hole 9 - the Taj Mahal
It was really nice to see a portable minigolf course set-up indoors at a sports hall. As we were leaving another couple of groups came in to play. It'd be brilliant if more leisure centres and sports halls had pop-up events like the one in Wolsingham.
Following its busy stint at Wolsingham Sports Hall the course moved up to Newcastle for a run at a hotel.
Emily playing hole 2
Speaking with Ian from Landmark Golf he told us that they create a number of different configurations with the course and obstacles and so the layout can be different each time. They've also got one of the 'letters' Crazy Golf courses which spells CRAZY GOLF when set-up. Hopefully we'll get to have another game of Landmark Golf in the future.
The French street artist known as Invader has invaded London, Manchester and Newcastle. On our trip to the World Transplant Games in Newcastle last weekend we were able to add to our tally of Invaders spotted.
Clockwise from top left - NCL_21, NCL_19, NCL_20, NCL_14, NCL_25, NCL_05 and NCL_06
There were originally 25 Space Invaders in Newcastle and Gateshead. Made during the INVASION of Newcastle in 2006. One has since been destroyed. We've found the remaining 24, with seven of these 'Newcastle Invaders' over the border in Gateshead.
NCL_05
NCL_06
NCL_14
NCL_19
NCL_20
NCL_21
NCL_25
You can find them at Gateshead Interchange, on the approach to the Sage Gateshead and at the BALTIC Centre for Contemporary Art.
To date I've managed to find 120 Invaders, worth 3040 points on the Flash Invaders app. At the time of writing I'm ranked 13640 in the ever-changing world rankings. Emily is 34485. The person at the top of the leader-board has found 2544 of them!
Here in the UK Invader has also invaded London and Newcastle and we've managed to find a few of his pieces on trips to the two cities.
Invader LDN_24 on Brick Lane in London
But it's in Paris that Invader has really made his mark, with more than 1414 Invaders worth a total of 37650 points to be found all over the city!
Emily's first flashed Invader
Emily's first official Invader logged on the Flash Invaders app was in Paris - PA_598.
PA_598 was worth 10 points
To date I've managed to snap 112 Invaders on the Flash Invaders app - worth 2890 points. At the time of writing I'm ranked 13281st in the ever-changing world rankings. Emily is 62128th. The person at the top of the leader-board has found 2527 of them!
The first Invader I spotted in Manchester that reminded me that they existed - and got me hooked on finding more - was MAN_08 on Withy Grove Stores on Dantzic Street
Looking for the Space Invaders has been brilliant fun and we've seen a lot of cities we wouldn't necessarily have explored if we weren't Invader Hunting. It's always nice to be on a leader-board for something too.
