Crazy Golf at The Gaggle of Geese pub in Buckland Newton, Dorset

There's a new Crazy Golf course at The Gaggle of Geese pub in Buckland Newton, Dorchester, Dorset.

The team at The Gaggle of Geese pub in Buckland Newton, Dorset have spent some of the lockdown period building a Crazy Golf course.

We're looking forward to giving it a play on our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour in the future.

We've played a few pub minigolf courses - but there aren't nearly enough of them in our opinion.

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Crazy Golf at the Crown & Sceptre in Abergavenny

There's a Crazy Golf course at the Crown & Sceptre pub in Abergavenny, Wales.

Many thanks to my friend and minigolf rival Simon Brown for letting me know there's a Crazy Golf course at the Crown & Sceptre pub in Abergavenny.

He spotted the course listed on a sign at the pub on a recent trip to the town.

Unfortunately the pub is still closed due to the coronavirus pandemic so he wasn't able to see the course.

It's another interesting one for us to visit on our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour when we're next down in Y Fenni.

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Pubs of Stockport

A look at the pubs of Stockport during the coronavirus pandemic lockdown.

Pub number 1 - The Kings Tap on Station Road in Cheadle Hulme. A lovely Art Deco building. We'd never seen it shuttered before the lockdown

We've spent some of our new-found outdoor exercise time during the coronavirus pandemic lockdown visiting the pubs of Stockport.

Pub number 73 - The Crown Inn on Heaton Lane in Stockport town centre

It's been interesting to see the variety of architecture, different signage, parts of the town we haven't been to for a long time and other parts of the area we've never been to. I've been documenting them on Instagram using the #StopfordianPubs tag.

Pub number 222 - The Bull's Head Hotel in High Lane, Stockport. Our daily walks around the town took us to the borough's canals on a number of occasions

This is us outside pub number 265 - The Nursery Inn in Heaton Norris on Friday 3rd July 2020.

At the 265th pub on our lockdown 'pub crawl'. Not a drop was drunk on our daily walks in April, May, June and July

It was the last of all the pubs in the Metropolitan Borough of Stockport we visited on our daily outdoor exercise between Wednesday 1st April and before pubs were allowed to reopen with social distancing measures on Saturday 4th July.

Pub number 185 - The Crown in Hawk Green, Marple, a part of the borough we never knew existed before our walks began

We saw a real mixture of pubs, bars, club and social clubs, along with a few lost and closed pubs. There were also some new pubs getting ready to re-open post-lockdown.

Related blog posts:
- Pub
- Pubs
- Stockport
- Lockdown

Pubs of Stockport during the coronavirus pandemic lockdown

A look at Stockport's pubs during the lockdown.

I've been photographing the pubs of Stockport while out on my daily exercise.

This is No. 131 - The Jolly Sailor in Davenport.

The Jolly Sailor is the first of the pubs we've seen open during lockdown, albeit in a very limited manner. They are serving takeaway coffee and cakes.

Here are the social distancing signs and measures they have put in place.

You can see more of my Stopfordian Pub photos on Instagram.

We're looking forward to when pubs reopen and it's safe to visit them again.

We've missed going to the pub for pub quizzes, but have been doing quite a few during lockdown.

Pub quizzes during lockdown

Have you played a virtual pub quiz during lockdown?

Is anyone else missing that Friday feeling at their local as we all stay home?🍺🍻

Are any Stockport pubs hosting online pub quizzes? @TheVirtualPubQ1 are hosting an online pub quiz tomorrow evening: https://t.co/xA1JVtPqpy

📸@putting_gott pic.twitter.com/F762opT4rc

— Stockport Council (@StockportMBC) May 1, 2020

Our local The Micker Brook in Cheadle Hulme has been running a weekly online quiz with the excellent Mike Prince since lockdown began.

The Micker Brook in Cheadle Hulme

It's brilliant fun.

I've been taking snaps of the pubs of Stockport I pass while out on my daily exercise. You can see more on my Instagram.

Crazy Golf at the Horse & Harrow Pub in West Hagbourne, Oxfordshire

Thirteen years ago today we visited the 10th course on our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour.

On a bitterly cold 23rd December 2006 Emily, Christopher and I headed along to the Horse & Harrow Pub in West Hagbourne, Oxfordshire to have a game on the beer garden Crazy Golf course there.

In all the years and hundreds upon hundreds of courses we've seen since, none have been anything quite like the 9-hole course.

Crazy

Back in 2006 we never realised how BIG our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour would become. To date we've visited 942 courses!

We popped back to the pub for a look at the course in April 2011.

How the course looked five years later

Looking online it doesn't look like the course is in the pub's beer garden anymore.

Crazy Golf at The Whitehouse Inn, Truro

There's a Crazy Golf course at The Whitehouse Inn, Truro, Cornwall.

I believe the minigolf course at The Whitehouse Inn is a fairly new addition to the pub. It's great to see a pub beer garden including the activity.

The course is a fibreglass layout made by the team at DK Fibreglass. I wonder if it's got a Humpty on it?

The course at The Whitehouse Inn is similar to this fibreglass layout we've seen a number of times on our travels

We've always been surprised at how few pubs have a miniature golf course set-up for customers. We'd certainly be inclined to visit more pubs and spend longer in them if they had fun activities too.

The last pub beer garden Crazy Golf course we visited was at The Railway Hotel in Garswood, St Helens

We're looking forward to having a game on The Whitehouse Inn's Krazy Golf course when we're next down that way.

Back in 2015 we spent two weeks exploring the south west coast and visited 62 minigolf courses. Only one of those was at a pub.

Beer garden Crazy Golf at The Alexandra Inn in Penzance, Cornwall

Minigolf is certainly booming at the moment and we have seen an increase in venues opening up as alternatives to the pub by offering a crazy, mini or adventure golf course combined with a bar, food and cocktails.

My Minigolf and Crazy Golf courses in Pub Beer Gardens blog post is due an update too as there have been a few more pub courses open up around the country.

Visit The Whitehouse Inn website for more information on the course.

Related blog posts:
- Pub
- Pubs
- Cornwall
- Crazy Golf

Putting Greens at Altrincham Golf Course

A look at the two Putting Greens at Altrincham Golf Course.

While in Altrincham back in March 2018 we swung by Altrincham Golf Course as we'd spotted the pub there while driving along the Stockport Road.

Altrincham Golf Course has two Putting Greens, a 6-hole and a 9-hole.

The 19th hole is very good too.

Britain's Smallest Pub - The Lakeside Inn at Southport

Revisiting Britain's Smallest Pub, The Lakeside Inn at Southport.

We finished off our trip to Southport and Miniature Golf Day 2019 in the best way possible by visiting Britain's Smallest Pub, The Lakeside Inn.

The Lakeside Inn measures 22ft by 16ft and lays claim to being Britain's Smallest Pub.

We first visited it in October 2016.

We've also visited the Smallest Pub on the Planet. That's at the Cleethorpes Light Railway in Lincolnshire.

New indoor Crazy Golf venue opening in Cambridge

Two new indoor Crazy Golf courses will open in an old pub in Cambridge.

Plans have been approved to allow the City Pub Group to turn an old fire-damaged pub into a Crazy Golf venue.

The site on Chesterton Road in Cambridge will be home to two 9-hole Crazy Golf layouts.

Crazy Golf at The Railway Hotel in Garswood, St Helens

A visit to the Crazy Golf course at The Railway Hotel in Garswood, St Helens.

Last Saturday we visited Garswood in St Helens, Merseyside as Emily had recently spotted what looked like a Crazy Golf course in a pub beer garden. The sighting was correct and The Railway Hotel in the St Helens village did indeed have a course!

Sadly the 9-hole Crazy Golf course was no longer in use. While we didn't get to have a game, we did however enjoy sitting in the sun in the beer garden before moving on to our next location.

A nice spot to spend a while on a sunny Saturday afternoon

We'd love to know more about the history of the pub beer garden Crazy Golf course. It looked like it had been there for quite some time. It's the sort of course a minigolf time machine would be perfect for so we could see what it was like when it was first built.

The course was the 906th visited on our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour.

Hole 1

Hole 2

Hole 3 - 'Middle Hill', an obstacle found on Eternit Miniature Golf courses

Hole 3

Hole 4 also has a hint of an Eternit course about it

Hole 5

Hole 6

Hole 7

Hole 7

Hole 8

Hole 9

Hole 9 - we reckon this was a very tricky last hole to play

We've visited a few pubs with minigolf courses. The Railway's course reminded us most of the old concrete course at The Dolphin pub in Melbourn, Cambridgeshire.

Related blog posts:
- What a weekend of minigolf!
- Crazy World of Minigolf Tour

Bar Billiards at The Railway pub in Stockport

Finding a Bar Billiards table at The Railway pub in Stockport.

We're big fans of the old pub game of Bar Billiards so were very pleased to find a table at The Railway pub in Stockport on Saturday!

Unfortunately we didn't get a chance to play it as the pub had problems with its water supply and had to close while the emergency works were completed.

Bar Billiards Rules

We're looking forward to returning for a game or two in the future.

The Railway Pub in Stockport - you can see the table if you look in through this window

In 2017 we played the Bar Billiards table at The Blossoms pub on the A6. Like The Blossoms, the table at The Railway uses the four peg arrangement.

The table looks to be popular!

Coming from down south we're more used to seeing three pegs. We haven't seen too many four-peg tables on our Barmy Bar Billiards Trail. The ones at The Cheshire Cheese pub in London and The Chequers Inn at Knebworth spring to mind.

The nice and 'easy' 50-point holes are guarded by the white mushrooms in the four peg game

Related blog posts:
- Bar Billiards
- Pub Games
- Stockport
- Pubs

100% gluten free at The Compass Inn at Winsor

Finding a 100% gluten free pub restaurant in Winsor, Hampshire.

Our friend Cat recently heard about The Compass Inn at Winsor and by chance we found it was near to where we were staying for a wedding so we had to call in.

As someone with Coeliac Disease I must adhere to a strict gluten free diet. Dining out can be incredibly complicated and stressful and there are very often risks of cross-contamination in food preparation, cooking and serving - even in places with 'gluten free' menus.

I've been diagnosed with Coeliac Disease for eleven years and I now only dine out at places that are 100% gluten free that are suitable for people with diagnosed Coeliac Disease.

Luckily I've found a few new 100% gluten free places, so in the last month I've actually dined out a fair bit. In comparison to recent years this is really lavish.

As it was a Sunday Emily and I both opted for the Roast Dinners. It's been years since I had a Roast Dinner so it was a real treat.

My 100% gluten free roast dinner

While dining out should be a nice, easy and natural thing to do, it can be stressful for people with Coeliac Disease. Especially so when trying somewhere for the first time.

I enjoyed the meal at The Compass Inn and would return. What was really nice about the experience was that it was great to be able to pop in for a meal, be served a tasty plate of food and then be on our where with very little fuss or stress. It felt almost normal!

Check out The Compass Inn website for more info.

Related blog posts:
- 100% gluten free places in the UK
- Gluten free
- Coeliac

Link:
- The Compass Inn

Cheers II Worthing

The pub where everybody probably doesn't know your name.

Cheers II in Worthing

100% gluten free at The Eltisley in Cambridgeshire

A visit to The Eltisley gastropub near St Neots.

It was brilliant to have a meal out yesterday and such a novelty.

There are only a handful of 100% gluten free places in the UK so it was marvellous to visit The Eltisley for lunch.

They do a cracking Banoffee Pie

The menu is 100% gluten free and safe for Coeliacs, you can find out more on The Eltisley's website.

Update (2021): The Eltisley no longer offers a 100% gluten free menu.