A lovely postcard view

We had a brilliant time at the recent North Wales Postcard Club's fair in Craig-y-Don, Llandudno.

The pick of the 19 miniature golf postcards we found at the event was this view of Kleingolfplatz Überlingen next to Lake Constance (Bodensee in German) and the Swiss Alps in the distance.

The postally unused postcard shows 'Bodensee-Promenade mit Schweisser Alpen' and 'Kleingolfplatz Überlingen'. Published by Erwin Burda, Freiburg

This postcard was just 10p!

A note on the unposted card says the visit took place on the 29th August 1960. It always amazes me to find cards in such excellent condition after so much time.

It's always marvellous to see views such as this. I wonder how many golf balls were lost in the lake over the years?

Related blog post:
- Postcards

Link:
- North Wales Postcard Club

What a postcard!

A look at a Blackpool beach scene in 1975.

We bought this great old postcard from a car boot sale yesterday. It was just 10p. What a scene.

Look at that sunburn!

We've been to Blackpool a fair few times over the years, but we've never seen the beach anything like that. Although it was sunburn weather on my visit to nearby St Annes on Sea last year.

The card has a nice special postmark on it with a list of the resorts that make up the 'Happy Holiday Coast'

We'll be heading back to Blackpool soon as we've heard there's an Adventure Golf course up the Blackpool Tower!

Related blog posts:
- Blackpool
- Postcards

Mini Golf in Picture Postcard Monthly

Check out the February 2018 edition of Picture Postcard Monthly to read a feature I wrote about minigolf and crazy golf in Aberystwyth.

Links:

- Picture Postcard Monthly

- Blog post from our visit to the two miniature golf courses in Aberystwyth

Craz-e-Golf at Skegness

I picked up this great minigolf card at a Postcard Fair in Stockport. The course in the photo is in the same location as England's first Crazy Golf course.

Craz-e-Golf is an interesting name for the game and not one we've seen before

The card was posted to Liverpool from Skegness on the 21st June 1977 (a Tuesday). Note the nice postcard cancellation on the card too. I wonder if May played the Crazy Golf while in Skeggy? 

The first Crazy Golf course in the country opened on South Parade in Skegness in 1926.

In May 2015 the course became the 363rd played on our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour.

A more recent look at the Crazy Golf course on South Parade in Skegness

Related blog posts:
- Crazy Golf on Skegness' South Parade
- The Original Crazy Golf in Skegness
- Postcards

The Gazeway 'All-Weather' Miniature Golf Course

Finding out about The Gazeway 'All-Weather' Miniature Golf Course from a minigolf postcard.

Emily and I enjoy a good mystery and after Emily found a great old minigolf postcard while browsing at the Room at the Top antique shop in Stockport Market's Produce Hall we had another bit of minigolf history to research.

The undated and postally unused card shows Room at The Gazeway 'All-Weather' Miniature Golf Course. A quick online search for this term returned no results!

The reverse of the postcard was no help

Luckily after a bit more digging we found details of the course in a 1930 issue of The Graphic magazine.

The Gazeway 'All-Weather' Miniature Golf Course was created by the company W.H. Gaze in 1930 and was located in Kingston-on-Thames, Surrey. The course was part of an old house on Portsmouth Road which the firm modernised, refurbished and furnished to showcase what the business did.

The company had its own miniature golf section, overseen by Mr H. C. Gaze and the Kingston-on-Thames course was created by a Captain G. B. Mallett - himself responsible for minigolf courses in Vancouver and Los Angeles.

Dating from 1930 the Gazeway 'All-Weather' Miniature Golf Course was one of the earliest artificial layouts in the UK. The first Crazy Golf course in England was created in Skegness in 1926.

At the time miniature golf was experiencing a boom period as the latest craze took hold. Portable and temporary courses could be found popping up in a number of different locations, including on the roof at Selfridges in London.

As is so often the case, history repeats itself and we're currently experiencing a high level of new course openings, as well as refurbishment of old courses and enjoyment of the more than 600 layouts in the UK.

Related blog posts:
- Postcards
- Miniature Golf

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Some new old minigolf postcards

A look at minigolf postcards from Woolacombe, Droitwich and Margate.

I recently bought some excellent old postcards from one of my favourite dealers and the batch included many we'd never seen before.

One was from the Once Upon a Time theme park in Woolacombe, Devon and features the attraction's mascot Pippa Pig enjoying the activities that were on offer - including an interesting looking Crazy Golf. Checking online, the Once Upon a Time theme park is long gone, having closed at the end of the 2005 season. The park had opened in the early 1990's and was based in the old Mortehoe and Woolacombe railway station.

Pippa Pig at Once Upon a Time Children's Theme Park, Woolacombe, N. Devon. Postally unused postcard published by Dowland Press Ltd,. Frome, Somerset. No date

Another of the brilliant cards shows the Putting Greens at the Raven Hotel in Droitwich, Worcestershire. It's the first minigolf card I've seen from Droitwich. Unfortunately I can't find any information on the exact location of the hotel but I'm fairly certain it's not there now. There are a number of other hotels in the area that are, or were, called the Raven. The closest looking one is the St Andrews Town Hotel.

The Putting Greens, Raven Hotel, Droitwich, Worcs. Postally unused 'Gravure' postcard by Lucas Engraving Co. Ltd., Birmingham. No date

The card showing The Oval in Cliftonville is the first I've seen that contains a full view of all 36-holes which used to form the Little Oasis Crazy Golf course. Luckily we managed to play both of the classic Arnold Palmer Putting Courses before they were removed in 2014.

The Oval, Cliftonville, PT4419. Postally used postcard postmarked from Thanet, Kent on the 24 September 1975. By Photo Precision Limited, St. Ives, Huntingdon

Related blog posts:
- Postcards
- Crazy World of Minigolf Tour

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Rylstone Tea Gardens and Crazy Golf course

A revisit to the Rylstone Tea Gardens and Crazy Golf course on the Isle of Wight.

While on the Isle of Wight in October we revisited the Crazy Golf course at Rylstone Gardens in Shanklin.

The course was originally the 65th played on our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour back in 2008. It was incredibly well signposted then, and still is today.

As we'd packed in a lot on our day trip to the Isle of Wight we arrived at the course just as the gates were closing. However, the owners were kind enough to let us in for a look around and a revisit to see what was new.

They'd also been waiting for our visit(!) so they could give us one of their new Crazy Golf postcards. Marvellous.

Posting the course postcards in The Pillarbox obstacle

The course is well worth a visit and it's a unique layout. The obstacles that are around 50 years old are still in use, but the old 'tables' they used to sit on have been replaced by a concrete base.

The Rylstone Tea Gardens Crazy Golf course

It really is a quirky course. Nice and colourful and madcap like a good British seaside Crazy Golf course should be. Some of the holes are named and themed after local landmarks, such as The Needles and Shanklin Old Village.

Hole 1

Hole 2

Hole 3

Hole 3

Hole 4

Hole 5

Hole 6

Hole 6

Hole 7

Hole 7

Hole 8

Hole 9

Hole 9

Hole 10

Hole 11

 

Hole 12

Hole 13

Hole 14

Hole 15

Hole 16

Hole 16

Hole 17

Hole 17

Hole 18

Hole 18

  

Hole 18

If you're visiting the Isle of Wight then Rylstone Tea Gardens and Crazy Golf course is well worth a visit.

A nice touch in case of weather

I wonder how many people have scored over 101 on the course!

The original Crazy Golf tables and obstacles were used in the 1973 film That'll be the Day starring David Essex and Ringo Starr! Check out this video to see the course in use in the film.

Below are some snaps of how the course looked on our first visit in 2008.

The Golf Tables at Rylstone Tea Gardens

Hole 12 - Skittles - has been replaced by a Windmill

The Funnel is still on the course

Check out the Rylstone Tea Gardens & Crazy Golf course on Facebook for more information, opening times, events and prices.

Related blog posts:
- Isle of Wight
- Crazy World of Minigolf Tour

Link:
- Rylstone Tea Gardens & Crazy Golf

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Butlin's postcards in November's Picture Postcard Monthly magazine

Check out the November issue of Picture Postcard Monthly magazine to read my article celebrating the 80th birthday of Butlin's.

I love the British seaside with all its quirks, eccentricity and traditional entertainment. My family often went on holiday to Butlin's holiday camps in Minehead, Bognor Regis and Ayr - and I spent many summers in the 80's and 90's at the Barry Island Holiday Camp, which was formerly a Butlin's camp.

The Chalets, Butlins Holiday Camp, Skegness - Valentine's G.7241. A postally unused and undated card from my collection

As an avid collector of miniature golf postcards I've picked up a fair few Butlin's cards along the way - the courses at the camps featured some very big golf balls and tees and make for quite a striking image.

Holiday camps, miniature golf and monorails - three of my favourite subjects

As you can see, cards featuring monorails are a popular theme. In fact it was Butlin’s that introduced the UK’s first commercial monorail system, opening the loop at the Skegness holiday camp in 1965. The second monorail opened at Minehead in 1967 and that's the one I have great memories of.

Check out the Hi-di-Hi! feature in Picture Postcard Monthly magazine, available via the PPM website.

Links:
- Picture Postcard Monthly magazine
- Butlin's

Related blog posts:
- Postcards
- Butlin's
- Happy Birthday Butlin's

Happy Birthday Butlin's!

Today marks the 80th birthday of Butlin's Holiday Camps. On the 11th April 1936 Billy Butlin opened his first camp in Skegness, Lincolnshire - and the business is still going strong today.

I love the British seaside with all its quirks, eccentricity and traditional entertainment. I grew up on holidays at Butlin's holiday camps in Minehead, Bognor Regis and Ayr - and spent many summers in the 80's and 90's at the Barry Island Holiday Camp which used to be a Butlin's camp.

I spent many great holidays at Butlin's Minehead. It was nice finding these badges at Hitchin Market recently

In fact my parents met at a Butlin's! At the Clacton-on-Sea camp way back in 1975 and this year they are celebrating their ruby wedding anniversary.

It's probably in no small part because of our childhood stays at holiday camps - and all the fun they had to offer - that Emily and I have spent the last ten years travelling around the UK coast on our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour. We also visited Butlin's Minehead (formerly Somerwest World) on one of our first holidays together in 2004.

As well as being home to the first Butlin's holiday camp, Skegness is also the site of England's first Crazy Golf course.
It opened in 1926

Over the years we've built up a great collection of miniature golf postcards, and we always keep an eye out for Butlin's cards. They're such colourful and fun cards, and seeing the monorail at Minehead brings back so many happy memories.

Within our postcard collection we've got a great selection of old and new Butlin's postcards. The images on the classic John Hinde are fantastic and it's been great to receive cards from our family when they've been to the camps in recent years. The oldest Butlin's card we have was posted on the 4th June 1951. It shows the Putting Green at Butlin's Luxury Holiday Camp in Pwllheli, Wales

Look at the size of the golf ball on the tee at the Butlin's Putting Greens. The monorails were marvellous too

Last summer we visited Skegness, and while we've not been inside that camp (yet) our friend Peter Jones was coincidently there at the same time for a Five Star concert and managed to buy me a stack of great badges for my collection.

Good luck to Butlin's and all the best for the next 80 years...

Links:
- Butlin's
- Butlin's blog
- John Hinde postcards

Related blog posts:
- Crazy World of Minigolf Tour
- Postcards

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