A Christmas Frog in Stockport

Stockport's Giant Leap continues...

We were in town yesterday evening to attend a wonderful performance of A Christmas Carol at the Garrick Theatre. On our wander from Redrock to the theatre we spotted there's a new Stockport Frog outside the Merseyway shopping centre!

The new Christmas frog in Stockport town centre

Totally Stockport, the team behind Stockport's Business Improvement District (BID), organised Stockport's Giant Leap art trail consisting of 22 decorated giant frog sculptures dotted around the town centre during the summer.

It was a nice surprise to see the Christmas frog in town.

Art and sculpture trails

A look at some of the art and and sculpture trails we've followed this year.

This summer we've seen a number of different art and sculpture trails pop-up in Greater Manchester and beyond.

Last year there was the Bee in the City trail in Manchester with 100 big bees and 130 little bees to spot. Some of those are still in situ.

A bee in Didsbury

There was also an ice sculpture trail in Stockport town centre last December and this summer the town has had a very popular frog trail with 22 decorated frogs to spot on the Giant Leap.

A froggy character was part of the Stockport Ice Trail last December

Edgeleap, the Stockport County frog

As fans of tickable lists, wandering and exploring we've enjoyed the different art and sculpture trails we've taken part in.

Earlier this summer the Trafford Centre had a Big Bug Tour and on a recent trip to the Lowry Outlet mall in Media City we saw there was a Bear Hunt.

Meadow grasshopper - number 8 on the Big Bug Tour

Sitting on a sitting Grizzly Bear - number 2 on the Lowry Outlet's Bear Hunt

The latest trail we followed was quite unexpected. On a trip to visit family and friends in Ipswich we noticed an elephant sculpture at the side of the road and soon noticed a lot more of them on the drive to our hotel.

Elephant number 1 - Pip - the first of the elephants we saw

They were part of Elmer's Big Parade Suffolk in aid of St Elizabeth Hospice with 139 placed around Ipswich. In the short time we were in town we managed to find 55 of them.

Nine of the elephants on parade in Ipswich

We've also found quite a few more of the Space Invader pieces of street art by the French artist Invader on our trips to London and Newcastle-upon-Tyne, as well as seeing some reactivated pieces in Manchester city centre.

The seven Invaders in Gateshead

A selection of the Invaders in Manchester

The various trails and maps we've followed have seen us explore new places, see different things and also rediscover parts of towns and cities.

They're a nice way to bring communities together, attract and retain visitors to towns, shopping centres and malls, as well as raising money for good causes.

Do you have a favourite art-trail, or know of others? Do let us know in the comments.

Related blog posts:
- Art
- Sculptures
- Tickable Lists

Stockport's Giant Leap

There's a new Frog Art Trail to follow around Stockport town centre.

Edgeleap, the Stockport County frog

Totally Stockport, the team behind Stockport's Business Improvement District (BID), rolled out a new art trail at the weekend, with Stockport's Giant Leap consisting of 19 decorated giant frog sculptures dotted around the town centre.

A frog decorated by Girlguiding Stockport

Each of the frogs has a different Stopfordian theme and have been designed by local artists, schools, businesses and community groups.

Stagecoach's 192 bus frog

I've managed to find 15 of the frogs in my two most recent wanders around town.

Sir Norman Frogster at the bottom of the infamous and historic Mealhouse Brow

Frog's were chosen as the 'things' to follow as they highlight the £1bn programme of investment and development that is regenerating Stockport, a giant leap forward for the town.

Strawberry Fields the frog, celebrating Strawberry Studios home in Stockport

The froggy art trail ends on the 28th September. Check out Stockport's Giant Leap website for more information.

Sir Hopsalot

  

Cornelius, the pyjamas wearing Holiday Inn frog

We're big fans of tickable lists and also followed the Totally Stockport Ice Trail last December. We're also ticking off the Invader pixel mosaic tile art in Manchester (and in London and Newcastle), as well as the Stockport green space list and the railway stations in the Metropolitan Borough of Stockport (two left to visit) and Greater Manchester (lots to go). There is one Stockport tickable list we won't be attempting to complete though!

This froggy character by Totally Stockport was part of the Ice Trail last December

Our main tickable list challenge is our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour - where we've now visited 911 courses. When we began there were around 600 in the UK!

Links:
- Totally Stockport
- Marketing Stockport

Adventure Island Golf in Mundesley, Norfolk

Back in May 2014 Charter Member of the Crazy World of Minigolf Tour Christopher Gottfried let us know about the Adventure Golf course in Mundesley, Norfolk.

Adventure Island Golf in Mundesley

Last week we finally got to visit and play the course.

Playing another brilliant course on our travels

The layout became the 406th played and 692nd visited overall on our tour.

It's a lovely setting for a game

Adventure Island Golf is a great 12-hole course, with plenty of tricky obstacles and some very nice theming. And for a 12-hole course there were certainly a lot of themes going on! With Pirates, Cannibals, Dinosaurs, Jungles and more.

Beyond the Dolmen...

...sat a miniature frog (or toad)

The 11th and 12th were tricky indeed

 

The island that gave the Adventure Golf course its name

A crocodile (or alligator) lurking

Some Easter Island heads

An alligator (or crocodile) lurks in the tar pit

Stuck in the ditch

Goading an obstacle

A lovely bit of derelict theming

  

I got to meet tiger too

It reminded us of the courses at Hemsby and Felixstowe - two of our favourites - and even though reading the greens at Mundesley could be tough, it was good fun.

Emily playing another great tee shot

In our match-up Emily won with a 34 to my 37 - getting off to a flying start with a great hole-in-one on the first.

Putting past some dino eggs

A round of minigolf at the course costs £3.50 for adults and it's worth a play.

On the last hole

Related blog posts:
- Mundesley Adventure Golf in Norfolk
- Norfolk
- Crazy World of Minigolf Tour

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