2 million pageviews on the Ham & Egger Files

My blog has received 2 million pageviews as of today!

Thank you to everyone for reading and contributing to the site since my first post back on the 21st December 2006.

4,813 posts published and counting...

What a year of blogging

Blimey, that was quite a year of blogging here on the Ham & Egger Files!

Thank you for reading.

Many thanks to everyone who has contributed photos, info and guest posts too.

It's all much appreciated.

All the very best for 2021.

Blogiversary of the Ham and Egger Files

Today marks thirteen years since the Ham and Egger Files began.

Thirteen years ago today I began blogging - where has the time gone!

People often ask me how a blog that is mostly about minigolf has the name the 'Ham and Egger Files'? The answer is that it didn't initially start out life as a minigolf blog.

On the 21st December 2006 I published my first post about how I planned to participate in as many obscure and minority sports as I could and see what would happen with the limited sporting ability I have!

The term 'ham and egger' has connotations ranging from that of 'ordinary person' to that of 'loser'. The origin of the term comes from prize fighters whose modest skills wouldn’t let them win large purses. Therefore, the fighter or their manager - who received a percentage of purses won - were never able to afford to eat better than ham and eggs.

Since that first post I have gone on to publish more than 3,500 posts! Admittedly most of them have been about minigolf.

At our 900th minigolf course - the North Bay Crazy Golf course in Scarborough

Our interest in minigolf and what would soon become our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour had actually begun on the 30th September 2006, but I didn't publish a post about the sport until the 29th January 2007 when I announced that I had joined the British Minigolf Association - a tournament circuit I made my actual debut on in Southend-on-Sea on the 28th April 2007.

Since my first year of blogging Emily and I have now visited 940 miniature golf courses, played in hundreds of tournaments and competed in lots of different sports and games. I've won quite a few titles along the way too, not too bad for a Ham n' Egger.

Back in 2006 we were still playing dodgeball and we ran leagues into 2007. I've dipped (dodged and dived) back into the sport intermittently over the years and just recently have got back into playing the ultimate underdog sport.

Dodgeballing at the Cheadle & Gatley Griffins Dodgeball Club

A massive thank you goes out to everyone who has ever read one of my posts, commented, shared, or guest blogged on the site, it's very much appreciated.

Emily and I are always happy to hear about new minigolf courses, new sports and games, new places to visit and interesting things to write about. Please do get in touch if you have any ideas or suggestions for future blog posts.

Give the Crazy World of Minigolf Tour a Like on Facebook, watch our YouTube channel and follow us on Twitter @putting_gott and @Ems_Lems. Please do sign-up to receive our miniature golf newsletter too.

666 views on my Halloween minigolf guest blog post at Minigolfnews

Spooky!

My Halloween-themed minigolf guest blog post has had 666 views so far!

My bloggiest year to date

2019 is my bloggiest year since I first posted on the 21st December 2006. I've published 451 posts, including this one, so far this year.

My previous best was 448 posts in 2011.

It's not really surprising I've written so much this year when you consider all of the new minigolf courses opening, new gluten free places to eat at, miniature railways we've found and courses we've visited.

The Ham & Egger Files now contains 3,387 posts and has received more than 1.5 million page views.

At the Victoria Park Crazy Golf course in Scarborough. We hit our milestone 900th minigolf course visit while in the seaside town this summer

Thank you to everyone who reads the blog, shares links on social media, comments on posts, contributes and guest blogs here. It's all very much appreciated.

I wonder if 2019 will be the first year I reach 500 blog posts?

Please do give our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour a Like on Facebook, watch our YouTube channel, follow us on Twitter @putting_gott and @Ems_Lems, and subscribe to our minigolf newsletter.

The crazy world of UK minigolf - a guest blog post

Check out my new guest post on the Putterfingers Crazy Golf blog where I look at the increasing popularity of minigolf in the UK.

My guest blog post for Putterfingers is about the increasing popularity of Crazy Golf in the UK

Blogiversary of the Ham and Egger Files

Today marks twelve years since the Ham and Egger Files began.

Twelve years ago today I began blogging - time has certainly flown by!

I've loved blogging for the last decade and a bit. Writing about the interesting places and weird and wonderful things we've done has been marvellous

I'm often asked how a blog that is mostly about minigolf has the name the 'Ham and Egger Files'? Well, it didn't initially start out life as a minigolf blog.

Back on the 21st December 2006 I published my first post about how I planned to participate in as many obscure and minority sports as I could and see what would happen with the limited sporting ability I have!

The term 'ham and egger' has connotations ranging from that of 'ordinary person' to that of 'loser'. The origin of the term comes from prize fighters whose modest skills wouldn’t let them win large purses. Therefore, the fighter or their manager - who received a percentage of purses won - were never able to afford to eat better than ham and eggs.

Since that first post I have gone on to publish 2,933 posts! Most of them have been about minigolf.

Our interest in minigolf and what would soon become our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour had actually begun on the 30th September 2006, but I didn't publish a post about the sport until the 29th January 2007 when I announced that I had joined the British Minigolf Association - a competition circuit I made my actual debut on in Southend-on-Sea on the 28th April 2007.

Since my first year of blogging Emily and I have now visited 859 miniature golf courses, played in hundreds of tournaments and competed in lots of different sports and games. I've won quite a few titles along the way too, not too bad for a Ham n' Egger.

This year I won the Paradise Island Adventure Golf Open - a title I'd wanted to win for years

A BIG thank you goes out to everyone who has ever read one of my posts, commented, shared, or guest blogged on the site, it's very much appreciated.

Emily and I are happy to hear about new minigolf courses, new sports and games, new places to visit and interesting things to write about. Get in touch if you have any ideas or suggestions for future posts.

Give the Crazy World of Minigolf Tour a Like on Facebook, watch our YouTube channel and follow us on Twitter @putting_gott and @Ems_Lems. Please do sign-up to receive our miniature golf newsletter too.

Blogging on Minigolfnews

At the end of last year I began guest blogging at Minigolfnews and the team at the site are keen for more minigolfers to get involved.

There's plenty of great stuff to shout about in the world of minigolf

Check out the blog section of Minigolfnews to see more posts and find out more.

Minigolf bloggers

To celebrate my eleventh year of blogging at the Ham and Egger Files I wanted to highlight the hard work and dedication of others involved in the promotion and support of minigolf through their blogging.

Back in March 2015 we met up with fellow pro minigolf, blogger and course reviewer Pat Sheridan of The Putting Penguin. We had a fun round at Putt in the Park in Wandsworth, London

Some of the bloggers post regularly, others for specific events and others on a mixture of channels and platforms. Here's a list of the active blogs I know about:

• Adventures in Minigolfing by Marion Homer
• Mini Golf App
• Mini Golf Guide
• Minigolfnews.com
• Putterfingers
• Putting Edge
• The Ham and Egger Files by Richard and Emily Gottfried
• Two Crazy Golfers
• UrbanCrazy
• Waddling to the Top - The Putting Penguin blog by Pat Sheridan

These are four great minigolf review websites that aren't technically blogs, but are brilliant resources:

• A Couple of Putts
• Mini Golf Review Site
• Mini Golf Reviews
• The Putting Penguin

There are also two Vlogs I know of:

• Allan Cox - The Putter King
• Rainforest Adventure Golf's Vlog

And there's one minigolf podcast:

• Mini Putthead podcast

There are also a number of minigolf players and courses out there who use their own websites, Twitter, Facebook and Instagram to post about their activities. Check out the Minigolf List I curate on Twitter, there are more than 1,100 accounts in it.

Matt Bellner, aka Mattie 5, is another Pro Putter worth a follow on social media.

There are also a number of blogs that have become dormant over the years and they are listed below:

• Forever Pushing Buttons by Seth Thomas
• Have Putter Will Travel by Jon Drexler
• Mini Ballin'
• Mini-Golf Adventures
• Putt Putt Long Island
• The Force Report by Marc Chapman
• The Minigolfer by Oliver Florence
• The Putter King
• The Putting Predictor
• Tiger World by Tiger Pragnell
• Minigolf Blog by Will Donnelly

If you know of any other minigolf blogs I may have missed, do get in touch!

Do check out the guest blogs posted here on the Ham and Egger Files too.

Blogiversary of the Ham and Egger Files

Today marks eleven years since the Ham and Egger Files began.

Playing hole 5 of the 11-hole Crazy Golf course at York Golf Range in Towthorpe near Strensall earlier this year. The course was #764 on our travels

I'm often asked how a blog that is (predominantly) about minigolf has the name the Ham and Egger Files? Well, it didn't initially start out life as a minigolf blog.

Back on the 21st December 2006 I published my first post about how I planned to participate in as many obscure and minority sports as I could and see what would happen with the modicum of sporting ability I have!

The term 'ham and egger' has connotations ranging from that of 'ordinary person' to that of 'loser'. The origin of the term stems from prize fighters whose modest skills wouldn’t let them win large purses. Therefore, the fighter or their manager (who received a percentage of purses won) were never able to afford to eat better than ham and eggs.

My second ever blog post was also on the 21st December and about the fine sport of Finger Jousting.

This post is the 2,750th!

Last year I celebrated my blogiversary by playing the Lost Valley Adventure Golf course at Amazonia in Bolton. The course was #720

Our interest in minigolf and what would become our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour had actually begun on the 30th September 2006, but I didn't publish a post about the sport until the 29th January 2007 when I announced my joining of the British Minigolf Association - a competition circuit I made my actual debut on in Southend-on-Sea on the 28th April.

Emily putting at the 11-hole Pirate-themed Adventure Golf course at the Funland Themepark in 2008. The course was the 69th played on our tour. The blog post about our visit doesn't include a single photo of me, that's a rarity!

Since my first year of blogging Emily and I have visited nearly 800 miniature golf courses, played in hundreds of tournaments and competed in lots of different sports and games. I've won quite a few titles along the way too, not too bad for a Ham n' Egger.

This year I won The Butler Cup Holiday on the Buses Crazy Golf tournament in Prestatyn, one of two tournaments I won in Wales

Thank you to everyone who has ever read a post, commented, shared, or guest blogged on the site, it's very much appreciated.

Give the Crazy World of Minigolf Tour a Like on Facebook, watch our YouTube channel and follow us on Twitter @putting_gott and @Ems_Lems. Please do sign-up to receive our miniature golf newsletter too.

Ten years of The Ham & Egger Files

Today marks the tenth anniversary of The Ham & Egger Files blog.

On the 21st December 2006 I wrote the first post introducing the blog and outlining my participation in many obscure and minority sports with the aim of having as much fun as possible with the modicum of sporting ability I have! The second post was about Finger Jousting.

I've had a lot of FUN blogging over the last ten years

Since then the 2,381 posts I've written have received 1.1 million page views from people in 110 countries.

Our travels have taken Emily and I to twelve countries, 500+ places in the UK, 220+ seasides and 719 miniature golf courses.

While many of my blog posts have been about Crazy Golf and Minigolf, I've also blogged about Coeliac Disease and living on a lifelong gluten free diet, travel, social history and a lot of other sports and games.

Related blog posts:
- My most viewed blog post - Minigolf and Crazy Golf courses in and around London
- Sports and Games played

Give the Crazy World of Minigolf Tour a Like on Facebook, watch our YouTube channel and follow us on Twitter @putting_gott and @Ems_Lems. Please do sign-up to receive our miniature golf newsletter too.

The Game That Got Away sports blog

My friend and minigolf rival Marc 'The Roller' Bazeley has started up a new sports blog.

The Game That Got Away is dedicated to Rugby League and will include opinion, analysis and features on the sport.

Marc (left) and me outside the now demolished Greyfriars Bus Station in Northampton during the epic year of sport that was 2012

Find out more about Marc's blog here.

Links:
- The Game That Got Away blog
- The Game That Got Away on Twitter

Related blog posts:
- Marc Bazeley
- Blog
- Blogging

Sparkle City Mini Putt in Spartanburg, South Carolina

I recently received a nice surprise in the post - some great merchandise and ephemera from my fellow minigolf bloggers at A Couple of Putts!

What a fine array of minigolf merch

This year Robin Schwartzman, one half of the A Couple of Putts team, has been the Hub-Bub Artist-in-Residence and created a brilliant looking and free to play miniature golf course called Sparkle City Mini Putt in downtown Spartanburg in South Carolina, USA.

The scorecard from Sparkle City Mini Putt looks great

Sparkle City Mini Putt sounds like a marvelous idea. Hopefully one day we'll get to play the layout on our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour.

Visit the A Couple of Putts blog to follow the travels of Tom Loftus (aka Mr. Tee) and Robin Schwartzman (aka The Pink Putter) on their minigolf travels.

Check out the links below for more details on the 9-hole minigolf course. To play the course you can take along your own putter and ball, or call in at one of five local business where you can borrow some equipment for free.

Links:
- A Couple of Putts blog
- Sparkle City Mini Putt website
- Sparkle City Mini Putt on Facebook
- Sparkle City Mini Putt / Hub-Bub on Twitter
- Sparkle City Mini Putt – Spartanburg, SC blog post on A Couple of Putts

Like the Crazy World of Minigolf Tour on Facebook, check out our YouTube channel and follow me and Emily on Twitter.

Crazy World of Minigolf Tour is now on Facebook too

Check out the Crazy World of Minigolf Tour on Facebook.

We've started a Facebook page to share our blogging and adventures around the UK's mini, crazy and adventure golf courses.

Check out the Crazy World of Minigolf Tour page.

Playing the Arnold Palmer Crazy Golf course in Skegness, Lincolnshire. Course #234 on our tour

Related blog posts:
- Crazy World of Minigolf Tour
- List of courses visited and played on the Crazy World of Minigolf Tour

Blogging for eight years today

As of today I've been blogging for eight years!

Richard Gottfried, veteran blogger

I've written 1,931 blog posts.

The blog has received almost 700,000 page views.

With readers from over 100 countries.

In that time Emily and I have travelled to 193 seasides.

We've played more than 30 different sports and games.

And visited 588 minigolf, crazy golf, putting and adventure golf courses.

Plus, I've found, tried and reviewed lots of gluten free food & drink.

Thank you all for reading, liking, commenting, tweeting, RT'ing, sharing and +1'ing :-)

Related blog posts:
- My first blog post "The Ham & Egger Files – An Introduction"
- My most viewed blog post "Minigolf and Crazy Golf courses in and around London"
- Behold...

Great gluten free food & drink at the Gluugle launch party

Great food and drink at the Gluugle gluten free review website and app launch party.

The gluten free review site Gluugle held a launch party at The Truscott Arms in Maida Vale, London last night and as one of the reviewers I was invited along to meet the team and fellow coeliacs & gluten intolerants, and sample some of the great gluten free food available at the pub.

Upon arriving I was very impressed by the menu at The Truscott Arms, as the vast majority of it is gluten free, or has a GF option available. I'll be heading back there for a full meal soon and I heard the Sunday Roast dinner is brilliant.

Its always great to meet with fellow coeliacs to share tips and especially so when you can also scoff some great food and beer!

The beer at the Gluugle launch was supplied by Celia lager, a beverage I am a big fan of. The food included a selection of what's available on the menu at the pub, with fish & chips, beef shin chips, 'fake rye bread' bruschetta and black pudding scotch eggs!

Some of the Fish & Chips and Celia lager from the Gluugle launch event - I was too busy eating to get photos of all the food!

I also noticed that the pub serve Pork Scratchings too! Another snack I'm a big fan of.

It was a shame that my appetite and capacity to eat more has been somewhat decimated by being a Coeliac or I would've eaten a LOT more of the fantastic food laid on by The Truscott Arms and the brilliant Doughnuts from Wild Thexton - the first Doughnuts I've had since 2009!

A selection of the brilliant doughnuts from Wild Thexton - a shame I'd filled up on savoury food else I would've scoffed a fair few more of these tasty treats

Gluugle.com - the ultimate place to share and discover great gluten free places - is packed full of reviews and recommendations of places to dine out gluten free. You can also download the Gluugle iphone app for free.

Gluugle links:

- Gluugle

- Gluugle on Twitter

- Gluugle on Facebook

- The Gluten Free Foodie

Other links:

- The Truscott Arms

- Celia lager

- Wild Thexton bakery

- Simply Cook

- Gluten Free for Tea

- Gluten-free Gorging

Related blog posts:

- Check out Gluugle for Gluten Free Reviews

- Gluten Free

- Coeliac

- Gluten Free Lager at CELIA Time in London

- Gluten Free Fish & Chips that we've found on our travels

- Gluten Free Ales, Beers & Lagers