The second narrowest street in England

Finding the second narrowest street in England.

You can find Stone Street off Eccleston Street in Prescot town centre

We always enjoy finding odd, obscure and interesting things on our travels and while in Prescot, Merseyside we checked out a number of the plaques to find out more about the people and places in the town.

Stone Street is only 28 inches wide

We hadn't expected to find the second narrowest street in England there though. What a claim to fame.

The street isn't wide enough to socially distance on

Other narrow streets

The narrowest street in Britain is Parliament Street in Exeter, Devon which measures 25 inches at its narrowest.

The narrowest street in the world is Spreuerhofstraße in Reutlingen, Germany. That street measures just 12.2 inches at its narrowest!

Other narrow things

While on holiday in Scotland in 2014 we visited the Isle of Cumbrae and the seaside town of Millport where we stumbled upon The Wedge - the world's narrowest house at 47 inches wide.

I've also been to The Piece of Cheese Cottage in Hastings. That dwelling lays claim to being the only three-sided cottage in England and the second smallest cottage in the country.

A Coronation Street film location. In Blackpool

Visiting an infamous scene location in British soap history.

I was recently in Manchester city centre and was starstruck when I spotted Sue Nicholls and Mark Eden who played Audrey Roberts and Alan Bradley in Coronation Street.

This bit of celeb spotting got me chatting about the classic and infamous scene where the soap's baddie Alan Bradley got his comeuppance by getting killed by a tram in Blackpool.

My mate Marc 'The Roller' Bazeley and I jokingly wondered whether there was a plaque on the spot he was hit. After a little research I found out that there actually is a plaque to 'commemorate' the incident! It's on the entrance of The Strand Hotel.

We regularly visit the seaside resort so on my latest day out there I had a look to see where the scene was filmed.

The scene of telly soap baddie Alan Bradley's Coronation Street Death by Tram outside The Strand Hotel in Blackpool

A view from outside The Strand Hotel

A closer look at the tracks

A view of The Strand Hotel

A view of the street

I was able to avoid the same fate that befell one of soap's most notorious bad guys when I filmed this tram passing by the spot.

We've spotted quite a few interesting plaques on our travels.

Related blog posts:
- Plaque-ing Interesting
- Blackpool
- Plaques

The World's Oldest Bowling Green

A visit to Southampton Old Bowling Green - the World's Oldest Bowling Green.

As a fan of sporting history it was very interesting to stumble upon the World's Oldest Bowling Green during our minigolfing road-trip to Hampshire.

We've not played a game of bowls before. But we do play Petanque. We've also played minigolf on a number of bowling greens that have been used as Putting courses, including Edinburgh, Glasgow and at the Wales National Crown Green Bowling Centre in Rhyl. We also found an excellent pair of Putting courses in Looe, Cornwall. Our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour has also seen us play miniature golf at the bowling club in Aberdovey, Wales.

The Putting Green above the Bowling Green in Looe, Cornwall

Related blog posts:
- Bowls
- Bowling Green
- Southampton

Visiting two more 'small' pubs

Over the years we've visited quite a few small pubs, each with their own particular claims.

We've had a drink at the Smallest Pub on the Planet (it's in Cleethorpes) and Britain's Smallest Pub (in Southport). While in Blackpool we called in at The Mitre, which is that town's smallest boozer.

Bar Bach - Little Bar - in Caernarfon is the smallest bar in Wales

Recently we popped into Bar Bach in Caernarfon and The Q Inn in Stalybridge.

Bar Bach is the smallest bar in Wales. We've encountered the word 'bach' on our minigolf travels too as we've played a few Golff Bach Cwrs. Bach means 'little'.

Proof

When you get inside you find out that bar is actually split and sits across two addresses!

The second address is for the cafe there.

The Q Inn is the public house with the shortest name in the United Kingdom. As certified by the Guinness Book of Records in 1995. It was a nice pub and worth a look.
 

The Q Inn is quite large

Related blog posts:
- A visit to the Smallest Pub on the Planet
- The Lakeside Inn at Southport, Britain's Smallest Pub
- Blackpool's Smallest Pub - The Mitre
- The Corner Bar in Stockport Market
- Pubs
- Pub

50 years ago today Reg Varney used the world's first ATM

It was in Enfield.

Enfield’s branch of Barclay’s bank was the location of the world’s very first cash machine – opened and used by Reg Varney on this day in 1967!

There's a blue plaque at the site of the world's first ATM

As a big fan of On the Buses I had a chance to see the Reg Varney Star Plaque on the Elstree & Borehamwood Walk of Fame by the train station during the On The Buses Fan Club 40th Anniversary event in 2011 and it was great to follow this up with the chance to have a photo at ‘Stan Butler’s’ cashpoint!

A 'tickable list' I won't be attempting to complete

Finding a new tickable list activity in Stockport.

On our way back from a visit to the Stockport War Memorial Art Gallery last week we had a wander and a look at some of the interesting architecture we have in the town. Crossing the road from Stopford House - itself a stark example of Brutalism, and the setting for the police station in Life on Mars - we had a look across the town's landscape from atop a wall in a car park on Piccadilly. It was only when we were walking down the stairs that we noticed this plaque.

Wow

Now, we do like a tickable list activity. Well, we'd have to considering we've visited more than 700 miniature golf courses in the last ten and a bit years after first seeing a list of 600 back in 2006. We're also part way through visiting all the parks and green spaces in the Metropolitan Borough of Stockport after the Friends of Alexandra Park suggested it as a pleasant way to pass the time. We've been to ten out of the 33 listed so far, plus five that were not on the list. But to start finding all of these structures would be utter madness.

The plaque in place on the refurbed wall

I'm sure my fellow members of the Dull Men's Club will be intrigued to know there are - at least - 669 such structures in Stockport.

Another view of the retaining wall

I'm a fan of funny signs and I've seen some comedy plaques in the past so I had a look online to see if I could find a mention of any of the 669+ such structures. I indeed found a partial list. A list which showed the cost to refurbish the wall was £65,967.

Brutalist architecture at its finest

Related blog posts:
- Stockport
- Dull Men's Club

Blackpool's Smallest Pub - The Mitre

We recently visited another pub with a small claim to fame - that of being Blackpool's Smallest Public House.

A nice spot for a quick drink away from the crush of the illuminations crowd

A BIG claim - but not the smallest pub we've been to recently

It became The Mitre pub in 1902

And was formerly known as 'Ye Old Glue Pot'!

You can find the cosy boozer just off the seafront on West Street.

The had a dartboard at the pub, but even if it hadn't had a Halloween decoration on it we'd have been squeezed for space to chuck some arrers

Related blog posts:
- Pubs
- Blackpool
- The Corner Bar in Stockport Market
- A visit to the Smallest Pub on the Planet
- The Lakeside Inn at Southport, Britain's Smallest Pub

The America Ground in Hastings

Finding out about the America Ground in Hastings.

'The America Ground' painting on Robertson Passage by Jon Cole, Susan Elliott, Pete Thompsett and Benjamin Gough

I've been visiting Hastings, East Sussex since 2007 and spend quite a few days a year playing Crazy Golf there. On my most recent trip for the British Minigolf Championships I stayed in a hotel on the seafront in the old Victorian Town Centre for a change. While walking back on Friday evening I noticed a big painting and a plaque on Robertson Passage with some very interesting history on the area!

'The America Ground' plaque on Robertson Passage in Hastings

The area - formed as a new piece of land after storms hit Hastings in 1287 - was out of the control of Hastings Borough and in 1822 had become home to around 1,000 people. In defiance of action by Hastings Borough to collect taxes and rent, the residents of the area declared themselves independent from Hastings and the 24th US State!

You can read more on the roots of the America Ground on the America Ground Hastings website.

Links:
- America Ground Hastings

Related blog posts:
- Hastings
- Plaque-ing Interesting
- The Piece of Cheese Cottage in Hastings

A hidden plaque in Woodbridge

On a recent trip to Woodbridge, Suffolk we had a walk along the banks of the River Deben. With our eyes always peeled for interesting things we noticed an old plaque on a shelter.

The wind shelter on the banks of the River Deben in Woodbridge

The old, painted over, plaque on the shelter in Woodbridge

We really enjoyed our visit to Woodbridge. We've been to pubs and restaurants in the town before, but had never had a wander there. We're looking forward to returning again.

Related blog posts:
- Plaque
- Plaques
- Suffolk
- Woodbridge
- Plaque-ing Interesting

Revisit to Rye's Mini Golf course

The Putting Green in Rye remains unplayed by us.

The Putting Green on Fishmarket Road, Rye wasn't open. Again

Back in 2010 we visited Rye in East Sussex and spotted a Mini Golf Putting course on Fishmarket Road. On our recent visit the area looked to have changed a bit, most notably in the removal of the hut/kiosk and the brick backs that were on some of the elevated greens.

A view of the Putting course layout in Rye

We did get some good views of the putting and bowling green from the lookout in the town centre though.

A view of the Bowling and Putting Greens in Rye from the lookout point

The plaque on the lookout point in Rye

Related blog posts:
- Minigolf course visited but not played - Rye - Putting Course - Closed for the day
- Crazy World of Minigolf Tour

Crazy Golf in Seahouses, Northumberland

A visit to Seahouses to play Crazy Golf.

Back in April 2012 we embarked on a mammoth leg of our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour and visited a bumper crop of 49 miniature golf courses!

At Beaches Crazy Golf in Seahouses

On re-entering England the 18-hole Crazy Golf course at The Bunker on Seafield Road in Seahouses, Northumberland became the 494th course visited overall when we arrived in the town on the 9 April, and the next day became the 297th course played.

A view of the Seahouses Crazy Golf course

Driving through the town you can't miss the course as its sat right next to the road!

The Beaches Crazy Golf course is right next to Seafield Road in Seahouses. Note the historic plaque built into the wall - the public gardens were opened in April 1980

Each of the holes on the Beaches Crazy Golf course have a local landmark theme and name. The course is well worth a play, with some interesting, tricky obstacles and hole layouts.

Crazy Golf in Seahouses

In damp weather conditions on the 10 April 2012 we played a match-up on the course as part of our 'North West England, Scotland & North East England Tour Challenge' . In the contest I defeated Emily with a score of 36(par) to 45(+9).

Emily playing a criss-cross of two holes at the Seahouses Crazy Golf course!

The course was the last of the thirteen we were able to play on our roadtrip, and the 48th visited overall during the holiday.

For more information, photos and prices for the Seahouses Crazy Golf course check out The Bunker website.

The Crazy Golf course and The Bunker clubhouse in Seahouses

During the trip we managed to play the world's first miniature golf course - at St Andrews.

Link:
- The Bunker Seahouses

Related blog posts:
- Crazy World of Minigolf Tour - List and links for all Miniature Golf courses visited to date
- Visiting a further 49 Minigolf and Crazy Golf courses in England and Scotland

Videos:
- View of the course 1
- View of the course 2