Greetings from Seacroft Holiday Club in Hemsby, Norfolk

Many thanks to our friend Steve from the On the Buses fan club who recently sent us this nice old postcard showing the Putting Green at the Seacroft Holiday Club in Hemsby, Norfolk. The card was posted in 1988 and is a very nice addition to our miniature golf postcard collection.

Greetings from Seacroft Holiday Club. Hemsby, Norfolk. By Fincom. Posted 1988

Looking online it appears that the Seacroft Holiday Club, also known as Seacroft Holiday Camp and Seacroft Holiday Village, was merged with its sister site Hemsby Beach Holiday Park in 2017. The current Richardson's holiday park is home to a Crazy Golf course.

We also have this nice postally used John Hinde card showing the Pontin's Seacroft Holiday Centre in our collection. It was posted on the 13th May 1985.

Pontin's Seacroft Holiday Centre, John Hinde (Dis.) Ltd. Postally used 13 May 1985

The latest issue of Picture Postcard Monthly magazine (July 2019) contains an article I wrote about Pontin's holiday camps.

We've enjoyed our trips to Hemsby on our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour. Hemsby is home to one of my all-time favourite courses - the Lost World Adventure Golf. We're looking forward to a return visit in the future.

Putting Green at the Charterhouse Christian Guest House in Teignmouth

In among the haul of old minigolf postcards we found at the collector's fair in Stockport on Sunday was this one showing two holes of the Putting Green at the Charterhouse Christian Guest House in Teignmouth, South Devon.

Charterhouse Christian Guest House, Teignmouth, South Devon. E.T.W. Dennis & Sons Ltd. Posted on 29 April 1980

We've been to  Teignmouth on our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour and played the Jurassic Adventure Golf course on the sea front.

Looking online it appears that the Charterhouse Christian Guest House has long since closed. In its later years the house was used as a residential care home.

We've played and visited a number of miniature golf courses at hotels on our travels, including those at the Thorpeness Golf Club & Hotel, The Imperial Hotel in Exmouth, The Victoria and The Belmont hotels in Sidmouth, The Imperial Hotel in Torquay, the Sutton Staithe Hotel in Norfolk, The Riviera Hotel in Weymouth and the Merlewood Hotel in Saundersfoot.

I wonder how many other hotels have minigolf or crazy golf courses 'hidden' in their grounds that we don't know about?

Putting Green at the Hotel Miramar in Bournemouth

Among the old minigolf postcards we found at a collector's fair in Stockport on Sunday was this one of the Hotel Miramar in Bournemouth.

You can see the flag for hole 3 on the far left of the postcard

We've been to Bournemouth a number of times over the years and are due a Crazy World of Minigolf Tour revisit to the town as some new courses have opened since our last trip to the south coast resort in 2013. I can't believe it's been six years since we were last down there!

Looking on the Hotel Miramar website it doesn't appear to have a minigolf course there anymore.

We've played and visited a few miniature golf courses at hotels on our travels, including those at The Imperial Hotel in Torquay, the Sutton Staithe Hotel in Norfolk, The Riviera Hotel in Weymouth, the Thorpeness Golf Club & Hotel, The Imperial Hotel in Exmouth, The Victoria and The Belmont hotels in Sidmouth and the Merlewood Hotel in Saundersfoot.

I wonder how many other hotels have minigolf or crazy golf courses 'hidden' in their grounds that we don't know about?

Pat Regan and Jack Nunn's Putting Green in Broadstairs

A look at postcards of Pat Regan and Jack Nunn's Putting Green in Broadstairs.

Since I first wrote about Pat Regan's Putting Green in Broadstairs, Kent last December I've found two more cards showing the course.

The first postcard I found of Pat Regan's Putting Green in Broadstairs

The postcard is postally unused, but interestingly is signed by Pat Regan himself

The postcard I have of Jack Nunn's Putting Green shows the same photo as the Pat Regard cards, albeit slightly larger

The second copy of the Pat Regan Putting Green postcard is in better condition that the one I bought last year

This time the card is signed by Pat Regan and certifies that a Mr David Somebody scored a hole-in-one o the 18th hole. It looks to be dated the 6th September 1969

The Putting Green in Broadstairs that once bore Pat Regan and Jack Nunn's names was in the same spot that is now Lillyputt Minigolf.

The Lillyputt Minigolf course in Broadstairs is a nice Arnold Palmer Putting Course layout

We visited and played the Lillyputt Minigolf course back in September 2007. It was the 35th course visited on our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour. We've now been to 911 courses.

You can find out more about the course on the Lillyputt Minigolf website. One of the photos in the gallery section shows the area as Jack Nunn's Putting Green.

I still haven't been able to find out anything further about Pat Regan or Jack Nunn or their tenures at the Broadstairs Putting Green. I would guess that they were the course owners. I'd love to know for sure.

Related blog posts:
- Postcard
- Postcards
- Broadstairs

Putting course at the Cober Hill Hotel in Scarborough

We bought some nice old minigolf postcards at a collector's fair in Stockport on Sunday, the first of which was found by Emily who spotted this card of the Cober Hill Guest House in Scarborough.

Cober Hill Guest House, Scarborough. E.T.W. Dennis & Sons Ltd. Undated and postally unused

It's now called the Cober Hill Hotel and look on the website they still have a grass Putting course there.

We were recently in Scarborough and visited all of the minigolf courses we knew about in the North Yorkshire seaside resort. The North Bay Mini Golf course was the 900th we've visited on our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour.

We'll have to swing by the Cober Hill Hotel on a return visit to Scarborough to see if we can have a game there too.

It's really fun and interesting to find new, old and forgotten courses and the multi-view postcard of the Cober Hill Guest House was a great way to find out about the Miniature Golf course.

The Metropole Hotel in Blackpool

A look at the Metropole Hotel in Blackpool.

We bought some superb old postcards at a collector's fair in Stockport yesterday. Among them was this card of the Metropole Hotel in Blackpool back when it was owned by Butlin's.

The Metropole Hotel in Blackpool is now operated by Britannia Hotels, the owners of Pontin's!

How the Metropole Hotel looked on my visit to Blackpool in May. Note the Pontin's flag to the right of the hotel

Originally built in 1776, the hotel was owned by Butlins from 1955 until 1998 when it was purchased by Grand Hotels. In 2004 the hotel was sold to Britannia Hotels.

I was recently at the seaside resort to visit the Crazy Golf course behind the hotel as part of the project to reopen the minigolf layout.

Mini Golf at Hotel Palma Nova, Mallorca

We found some old miniature golf postcards at a collector's fair in Stockport yesterday, including this very nice one showing the minigolf course at the Hotel Palma Nova in Mallorca.

Hotel Palma Nova, Mallorca. Postally used. Date unknown

Emily and I haven't been to Mallorca yet, but fellow Crazy World of Minigolf Tour member Christopher Gottfried has. He visited the minigolf course at Vista Alegre in Porto Cristo in 2015.

Looking at maps of the area it doesn't look like the hotel's course is still there. However, there is a large minigolf course at Golf Fantasia in Palma Nova.

Greetings from Pontin's Holiday Village, Camber Sands

We found this nice old Pontin's postcard at a collector's fair in Stockport yesterday.

Greetings from Pontin's Holiday Village, Camber Sands. Photo Precision Limited. Posted on 14 July 1975

The July 2019 issue of Picture Postcard Monthly magazine contains an article I wrote about Pontins postcards.

The Crazy Golf course at Pontin's Camber Sands is where the playground and grass is in the top left image of the postcard above

My family stayed at Pontin's Camber Sands in the 1990's and we swung by the holiday camp to play the Adventure Golf there in 2014.

The course was the 585th visited and 351st played on our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour.

Pontins postcards in Picture Postcard Monthly

Check out the feature on Pontins postcards in the new issue of Picture Postcard Monthly.

The July 2019 issue of Picture Postcard Monthly magazine contains an article I wrote about Pontins postcards.

The new issue of Picture Postcard Monthly is out now

Over the years I've collected quite a few postcards showing Pontins holiday camps dating back to the 1960s.

Greetings from Pontin's at Pakefield, Suffolk, Photo Precision Limited. PLC13118. Postally used on 28 Aug 1969

The majority of the cards I have are from the 1970s and 1980s and a lot of them show miniature golf courses.

One of my prized minigolf possessions and something of a crazy golf postcard holy grail as the sender wrote about the course depicted on the card

You can buy Picture Postcard Monthly magazine via the PPM website, or at postcard fairs around the country.

I'm a big fan of the seaside, holiday camps and crazy golf and have collected a large number of postcards showing various locations. In recent years we've also been on holiday to Pontins Prestatyn Sands for On the Buses fan club events.

Pontin's Holiday Centre Prestatyn, Bamforth & Co. Ltd. WT948. Postally used, date unknown

Growing up, my family went on holidays to camps at Barry Island, Minehead, Bognor Regis and Camber Sands. The November 2016 issue of Picture Postcard Monthly includes a feature I wrote about Butlin's cards.

Links:
- Picture Postcard Monthly magazine
- Pontins

Related blog posts:
- Postcards
- Pontins

A Crazy Golf postcard from Blackpool

A look at a 'new' old Crazy Golf postcard from Blackpool.

As a collector of minigolf postcards I've found quite a few over the years. Among the most photographed location in my collection is the Crazy Golf course at Blackpool's North Shore and at the recent Stockport Postcard Fair I managed to find a new view of the course.

I've got 21 postcards showing the North Shore Crazy Golf course with ten different views. Some of the cards have been postally used, while others are unused.

The card below is the earliest posted example I have of the course and was sent to Manchester on the 4th June 1969.

The latest posted card of the course was sent to Porthmadog on the 6th August 1986.

Plans are underway to bring the North Shore Crazy Golf course back to life as it's been in a dormant state for a few years now.

How the North Shore Crazy Golf course looked on the 20th May 2019

I'm looking forward to seeing and playing the bright and fresh refurbished course.

Related blog posts:
- Postcards
- Blackpool
- Crazy Golf
- The North Shore Crazy Golf course in Blackpool
- Renovation of the North Shore Crazy Golf course in Blackpool

Renovation of the North Shore Crazy Golf course in Blackpool

The old Crazy Golf course behind the Metropole Hotel in Blackpool is re-opening soon.

The North Shore Crazy Golf course last August

Blackpool Fulfilling Lives and Blackpool and Fylde Street Angels have come together on a new project to breathe life into the old North Shore Crazy Golf course in Blackpool.

The project will help homeless people in Blackpool by giving them a chance to work on the Crazy Golf course so it is playable and then staffing it for the upcoming summer season and beyond. It sounds like a brilliant plan to give people the opportunity to receive work experience, while also bringing a disused minigolf course back to life.

You can find out more about the project on the Blackpool Fulfilling Lives and Blackpool and Fylde Street Angels websites and social media channels.

We always enjoy visiting Blackpool and have wanted to play the North Shore Crazy Golf course since we first saw it back in 2009. We've been back a number of times since and it's always been so sad to see it closed. We're looking forward to playing the refurbished course on our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour.

Even though we've never played the course we have collected a large number of old postcards showing the course over the years. Here are four of them.

Crazy Golf at Blackpool. B.1531. A Dennis Postcard. Postally used and sent from Oldham to Luton. Undated

Crazy Golf, North Shore, Blackpool. Bamforth Postcard. Postally unused, but the words 'Visited 14th April 1979' are on the reverse

Princess Parade, Blackpool PT18819. Publisher unknown. Posted 15 September 1970

Sending you lots of LUCK from Blackpool. Bamforth Postcard. Postally used 6 August 1986

Related blog posts:
- Blackpool
- Crazy World of Minigolf Tour
- North Shore Crazy Golf in Blackpool in 2018
- North Shore Crazy Golf in Blackpool in 2016
- North Shore Crazy Golf in Blackpool in 2009

Penguin Park at a Mini-Golf course on an old Newquay postcard

Finding another great scene on an old minigolf postcard.

I'm always on the look out for old minigolf postcards and I found a cracker at an antiques fair in Stockport today for just 25p.

No sign of the Mini-Golf course on this card, except on the caption

The Harvey Barton Viewcard shows the Penguin Park at the Mini-Golf Course, Newquay, Cornwall and was sent from Newquay on the 27 July 1970.

We played the course - now called Gilmore's Golf - during our two-week holiday around the coast of South West England back in 2015.

Gilmore's Golf in Newquay was the 639th course visited on our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour

There was no sign of the Penguin Park when we were there, however the course itself is largely unchanged from its original construction in the 1960's.

If you look at the right of the card you can see a man in a striped jumper paying for his round. This same man appears in the postcard below. The hole the ladies are playing and the one to the left of it can be seen in the photo we took when we visited the course in 2015

Gilmore's Crazy Golf course as it looked in the summer of 2015. Not much has changed since it was built in the 1960's. The course is something of a rarity on these shores as it's of the Beton / Concrete variety more commonly found in continental Europe

If you look closely you can see the ladies in the purple jackets from the other postcard in the middle of this card

I'm sure the old postcard will be of interest to our friends over at The Putting Penguin minigolf review site.

Related blog posts:
- Newquay
- Postcards
- Crazy World of Minigolf Tour
- Mini Golf in the South West of England

Butlin's Postcards - minigolf and monorails

A look at some superb old Butlin's postcards.

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've got brilliant memories of the monorail, funfair, laser tag and arcades there. It's little wonder that even now I'm such a big fan of the British seaside, monorails, crazy golf and video-games.

My brother Christopher was recently looking through some old family photos and spotted this snap of us riding the monorail at Butlin's Minehead back in the early 90's

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 thirteen years travelling around the UK 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.

Butlin's Holidays postcard from Somerwest World Minehead. Postally unused. Undated

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 many happy memories.

Butlin's Minehead postcard M13. The Monorail. Postally unused. Undated

Butlin's Minehead postcard M15. Monorail over a Main Avenue. Postally unused. Undated

Butlin's Minehead - Monorail over Outdoor Swimming Pool by John Hinde Studios. Postally unused. Undated

A Typical Butlin Monorail. Postcard S25. I also have a variation of this postcard with the caption 'BUTLIN'S SKEGNESS Monorail'. That card was posted on 27 July 1971

It's brilliant collecting old postcards of minigolf courses, monorails and holiday camps as they are superb pieces of social history.

Butlin's Minehead postcard M 28. The Chair Lift. Postally unused. Undated

Back in the 1970's the minigolf courses at Butlin's holiday camps featured some very big golf balls and tees and make for a striking image.

Butlinland Skegness - Putting Green and Monorail by John Hinde Studios. Sent on 4 Aug 1980

Butlin's Bognor Regis postcard B39. Putting Green. Postally used 29 Sep 1975

Butlin's Bognor Regis postcard by Golden Shield. Postally used on 2 Sep 1985

Butlin's Holiday Worlds - Southcoast World (Bognor Regis). Printed by E.T.W. Dennis & Sons Ltd. Posted. Date unknown

Visit the John Hinde Collection postcard website for more information on Butlin's postcards and their history and follow them on Twitter to see lots more examples of their brilliant postcards.

Check out the Butlin's website for more information on the holiday camps.

Links:
- John Hinde postcards
- Butlin's

Related blog posts:
- Butlin's
- Postcards
- Happy Birthday Butlin's!
- Crazy World of Minigolf Tour
- Monorails and Minigolf at Butlin's Minehead
- Butlin's postcards in November's Picture Postcard Monthly magazine

Monorails and Minigolf at Butlin's Minehead

A look back at the Monorails and Minigolf course at Butlin's Somerwest World holiday camp in Minehead.

My brother Christopher was recently looking through some old family photos and spotted this snap of us riding the monorail at Butlin's Minehead back in the early 90's.

Riding the Tango branded Monorail at Butlin's Minehead in the early 1990's

My family holidayed at the camp a number of times in the late 80's and early 90's and I've got brilliant memories of the monorail, funfair, laser tag and arcades there. It's little wonder that even now I'm such a big fan of the British seaside, monorails, crazy golf and video-games.

Emily and I also had one of our first holidays together at the camp in 2004 and we remember playing the Arnold Palmer Putting Course you can see in the postcard below. This card is from the time the camp was known as Butlin's Somerwest World from 1987 to 1999. Sadly we haven't got any photos of us from our pre-Crazy World of Minigolf Tour game on the course.

A Butlin's Holidays postcard of Somerwest World. Postally unused. Undated

While looking at the history of Butlin's for a feature in Picture Postcard Monthly to mark the 80th birthday of Butlin's in 2016 I found that the UK's first commercial monorail was opened at Butlin's Skegness in 1965! The Skegness holiday resort is the one remaining camp I haven't been to.

It's brilliant collecting old postcards of minigolf courses, monorails and holiday camps as they are superb pieces of social history, as well as bringing back some great memories.

Related blog posts:
- Butlin's
- Postcards

Link:
- Butlin's

A Crazy Golf postcard from Boscombe

A look at an old Crazy Golf postcard from Boscombe.

I recently bought 50 more postcards for my collection and among them was this card of the Crazy Golf course near Boscombe Pier.

A Boscombe Crazy Golf postcard. JH 40 Plastichrome by Colourpicture. Pub. by J. Hammersley, Boscombe, Bournemouth. Posted in 1967

The course on the postcard is long gone, but Boscombe Pier itself does now have it's own Crazy Golf course.

We haven't played the Boscombe Pier course yet, however we have played the course at Boscombe Chine Gardens a number of times over the years.

Related blog posts:

- Boscombe

- Postcards

A Crazy Golf postcard from Skegness

A look at a minigolf postcard from Skegness sent in 1946.

I recently bought 50 more postcards for my collection of minigolf cards and among them was this nice old postcard showing the waterways and pier in Skegness. Also clearly in view is a Crazy Golf course.

The Waterways and Pier, Skegness. The Graphic Series postcard. Postally used on 14 August 1946

The course in the card was on North Parade. On our last visit to Skegness in 2015 we found an abandoned Indoor Jungle 3D Mini Golf course at the Lost World Adventure Park. A world away from the course in the postcard that was on more or less the same spot 70 years before!

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

There are a number of miniature golf courses in Skegness with 102-holes spread across nine seafront courses

Related blog posts:
- Skegness
- Postcards
- Craz-e-Golf at Skegness