Video Rental at Parker's Power & Electricals in Stockport

The new series of BBC comedy The Power of Parker is filming in Stockport.

We noticed the former Bright House shop on Princes Street was opened up and being filled with old electrical items earlier this week and guessed that The Power of Parker was going to be filming there again. The first series of the show was set in Stockport in November 1990, and the shop unit was used as the location of 'Parker's Power & Electricals' electrical goods shop.

The shop window displays include some TV's from the era, as well as Video Rental cases!

Last year we found out there was a ghost sign from an old Tandy shop in Stockport, as it appeared in the background of a scene in the first series of The Power of Parker.

Stockport's streets are a familiar sight on screen as parts of the town have appeared in a range of TV shows, films, and adverts.

We're looking forward to watching the new series of The Power of Parker when it airs.

The A-Team in Hale Barns

Seeing two of The A-Team's vehicles at Robs Car Fest in Hale Barns.

Face parks however he likes!

It was brilliant to see The A-Team van and Face's Chevrolet Corvette at the charity event held at The Bulls Head pub in Hale Barns near Altrincham, Greater Manchester.

I love it when a plan comes together

Robs Car Fest was due to be held at the Hale Barns Carnival, however that event was cancelled due to weather conditions. Luckily the pub was able to host the car show in aid of Macmillan Cancer Support.

The A-Team vehicles at the pub

The A-Team's GMC Vandura van

Templeton Peck's Corvette

Check out the Robs Car Fest Facebook Group for more information.

Crazy Fool

K.A.R.R. not K.I.T.T.

Seeing something a bit different in Hale Barns.

One of the other vehicles at Robs Car Fest at The Bulls Head pub in Hale Barns was K.A.R.R - the prototype evil talking clone version of K.I.T.T. from Knight Rider!

K.A.R.R. from Knight Rider

Robs Car Fest was due to be held at the Hale Barns Carnival, however that event was cancelled due to weather conditions. Luckily the pub was able to host the car show in aid of Macmillan Cancer Support.

A look inside K.A.R.R.

Check out the Robs Car Fest Facebook Group for more information.

Happy Shopper shops

Looking back at our visits to Happy Shopper shops since 2020.

A Happy Shopper shop sign in Ormesby St Margaret, Norfolk

We felt very nostalgic during the coronavirus pandemic and one of the old brands from our childhood we thought about was 'Happy Shopper' - the name alone conjures up images of the 1980's.

A sign at the Pleasant News Happy Shopper in Wisbech (2021)

Emily's first job was at a Happy Shopper in Ipswich and I remember seeing the Happy Shopper shops and branded products a lot when I was growing up in Oxfordshire back in the 1980's and 1990's.

We didn't think there would be many - or any - of the original orange and yellow branded shops still around, but we were proven wrong when we saw one in Preston in September 2020.

A Happy Shopper shop in Preston

Visiting a fully branded Happy Shopper shop is like stepping back in time

The Happy Shopper branding was changed in the year 2000 and I think it lost a lot of its charm and individuality. Many of the former Happy Shopper shops have since been rebranded as Premier shops.

You could still see the 'newer' Happy Shopper branding on Pleasant News in Wisbech in 2021

The shelves inside the store were still the classic orange and yellow design

Since spotting the old shop in Preston we've been lucky enough to spot and snap a few more.

The Happy Shopper on Page Hall Road in Sheffield in 2020

Here's a list of posts about other Happy Shopper shops in:

• Preston
• Sheffield (Sharrow Lane)
• Sheffield (Page Hall Road)
• Ilkeston
• Hitchin
• Fallowfield, Manchester
• Ashwellthorpe
• Ormesby St Margaret
• Lowestoft (2011)
• Lowestoft (2021)
• Wisbech
• Sittingbourne
• Burton-on-Trent 1
• Burton-on-Trent 2

At the Happy Shopper shop on Chaucer Road in Sittingbourne

You can view my YouTube Playlist of Happy Shopper shop videos here.

Tandy in Stockport

Finding a Tandy ghost sign thanks to The Power of Parker!

A recent post in the excellent Tandy UK (InterTAN Ltd) Facebook Group alerted me to the fact that there's a ghost sign from an old Tandy shop in Stockport. A fellow group member had spotted in the background of a scene in the new BBC comedy The Power of Parker. The show is set in Stockport in November 1990.

Tandy lives on!

The store used to be at 111 Prince's Street. It's now home to a Betfred.

The former Tandy shop in Stockport as it is today

My first job was at a Tandy franchise shop in Abingdon, Oxfordshire back in 1996 where I remember selling a number of electronic products bearing the 'RadioShack', 'Genexxa' and 'Realistic' brand names.

Over the years I've found a few more remains of the brand on the UK high street.

A RadioShack Tandy sign at a shop in Whitstable, Kent (September 2012)

It's crazy to think this Tandy signage has been hidden in (relatively) plain sight in my new hometown!

A Tandy ghost sign in Stockport

Related blog posts:

• Tandy
• Tandy in Hitchin (June 2021)
• Lost Shops - RadioShack in Saint Annes on the Sea (August 2020)
• Long Lost High Street Shops - Tandy (July 2020)
• Tandy in Hitchin (January 2019)
• RadioShack in Lytham Saint Annes (June 2017)

Blockbuster on Netflix

There's a new Blockbuster Video comedy out on Netflix! Will you be watching it?

The new show is about the last (operating) Blockbuster Video store in the world. This is a sign we snapped at our old local (abandoned) Blockbuster Video store in Manchester

Check out my blog posts about Blockbuster.

Reliant Regals

It's crazy how many Reliant Regal Supervans we've seen on our minigolf travels.

With a Del Boy van in Ayr in 2014

What a bargain!

An Only Fools and Horses themed crazy golf at Teezers in Coventry

At Junkyard Golf in Manchester

At Junkyard Golf in London

  

The last hole at That Funky Golf Place in Birmingham has a Reliant Regal on it

You have to putt into the van for a hole in one

The end of the course

Del Boys van in Milton Keynes back in February 2012

Del Boy parked up at Great Yarmouth

I've also seen there are also Reliant Regal gimmicks on a few other courses we're yet to visit on our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour!

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Hardcore Mini Golf

A look at the new Hardcore Mini Golf show.

Taking a nod from the Holey Moley TV series and reminding me of the classic Extreme Dodgeball show Hardcore Mini Golf is a new online minigolf tournament series taking place in the USA.

Hardcore Mini Golf has certainly put its own twist on competitive minigolf and the show features a cast of colourful characters.

The Hardcore Mini Golf tournament sees 16-players battle it out over four rounds on the Peter Pan Mini-Golf course in Austin, Texas.

Check out the trailer and episode one in the videos below.

Visit the Rooster Teeth and Hardcore Mini Golf websites for more information.

On The Chase. Again

My episode of The Chase is going to be on Challenge TV again.

Series 5, episode 16 is scheduled to be on at:

8pm today, Monday 17th February.

9am on Tuesday 18th February.

1am on Wednesday 19th February.

The Chase

My episode of The Chase was on Pick at 5pm on Saturday, 28th December 2019. Did you catch it?

The episode was listed as Series 5, Episode 16. My episode has also previously been listed as Series 5, Episode 39.

It was recorded back in 2011 and aired on ITV in March 2012. Since then it's aired multiple times on ITV and Challenge TV. To my knowledge this was the first time it'd been on Pick.

This was almost a decade ago now!

I wonder when and where it'll be shown next...?

The Chase is on. Again. Possibly

It's possible my episode of The Chase will be on Pick at 5pm this Saturday, 28th December.

Facing The Beast

That's if the episode number hasn't been changed again.

The episode scheduled is listed as Series 5, Episode 16.

My episode has been listed as that before. As well as Series 5, Episode 39.

Shambles

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