The Japanese Garden at Walkden Gardens in Sale

A walk through the Japanese Garden at Walkden Gardens in Sale, Greater Manchester in March 2025.

We had a pleasant wander through the Japanese Garden at Walkden Gardens in Sale recently.

Find out more about the gardens on the Walkden Gardens website.

Eaton Park Crazy Golf in Norwich

A look back at our visit to the Eaton Park Crazy Golf course in Norwich, Norfolk in May 2017.

The 18-hole Crazy Golf course was the 432nd played on our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour. The layout was the 734th visited overall and the 707th we'd been to in the UK.

Holes 1-9

Holes 10-18

It's one of my all-time favourite courses and a course I could have stayed to play on all day long.

Visit the Eaton Park Crazy Golf course website for more information.

Handforth Miniature Railway at Meriton Road Park

We found a miniature railway at one of our local parks at the weekend!

We've spent a lot of lockdown visiting different parks and outdoor spaces in and around Stockport. On Easter Sunday we went for a walk in Handforth where we found a miniature railway at Meriton Road Park.

Two trains were running!

We're big fans of miniature railways and even though we've lived nearby for almost five years never knew it existed! We've never seen any signs for it even though we've walked and parked near to it many many times before.

There was a Scarecrow Trail in the town - this was The (not so) Fat Controller

Visit the Handforth Model Engineering Society website and Handforth Miniature Railway Facebook Page for more information.

End of the line

Nearby miniature railways

Handforth is in Cheshire East and borders the Metropolitan Borough of Stockport. The borough is home to three miniature railways - at South Park in Cheadle Hulme, Brookside Miniature Railway at the Garden Centre in Poynton and the Dragon Miniature Railway at the Garden Centre in Marple.

Related blog posts:

• Miniature Railways
• Handforth

Leisure Orienteering at Bruntwood Park in Cheadle

While having a walk round Bruntwood Park in Cheadle on New Year's Day we spotted this nice old sign for Leisure Orienteering at the park.

The sign is at the Pitch & Putt kiosk in the park

It's one of the few remaining signs in the borough that carries the old council logo. We've seen others near the Stockport Pyramid, at Woodford Recreation Ground and on Adswood Road.

The logo for Stockport Leisure Services

Petanque at the Memorial Park in Marple

A look at the Petanque piste at Memorial Park in Marple, Stockport.

We found another Petanque piste while out on our daily walk on Friday. It's at Memorial Park in Marple, Stockport.

It's in a nice setting

We're looking forward to playing Petanque on the piste in the future. We haven't had a game in a while

Last month we saw a sign for a Boules area at Bramhall Park. But couldn't find any trace of the terrain itself.

We play for the Woodstock Petanque Club at Alexandra Park in Edgeley, Stockport.

Eaton Park Crazy Golf in Norwich (May 2017)

A look at the Eaton Park Crazy Golf course in Norwich, Norfolk.

The 18-hole Crazy Golf course was the 432nd played on our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour. The layout was the 734th visited overall and the 707th we'd been to in the UK.

Holes 1-9

Holes 10-18

It's one of my all-time favourite courses.

Visit the Eaton Park Crazy Golf course website for more information.

We've now been to 948 courses since September 2006.

Check out the Crazy World of Minigolf Tour Newsletter archive and sign-up to receive future editions

Social Distancing Miniature Golf

Seeing social distancing miniature golf in Cheadle.

We saw social distancing measures in place at a miniature golf course in person for the first time today.

The additional rules of Pitch & Putt during the current 'new normal'

It was at Bruntwood Pitch & Putt in Bruntwood Park, Cheadle, Stockport.

Spacing lines for queuing at the course

We were out on a bike ride for our daily exercise and cycled through the park.

The green of hole 1

The lady at the course said they'd had a good morning with players enjoying a game on the 18-hole layout.

A view of one of the holes at Bruntwood Park's Pitch & Putt course

We saw a couple of pairs out on the course just after a downpour.

You can just make out two golfers playing the course in the distance

There was clear signage and spacing marked out for queuing to the kiosk. There were also spaces marked out on the approach to the first tee.

Social distancing signage at the entrance

Spacing marked out on the approach to the first tee

Playing at Bruntwood Pitch & Putt

Bruntwood Park's Pitch & Putt was the 695th course we visited and 414th played on our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour. We played there on Miniature Golf Day 2016.

Playing hole 1

Visit the Bruntwood Pitch & Putt website for more information.

I always keep my minigolf scorecards, but someone had discarded theirs elsewhere in the park. Sad to see

Related blog posts:

• Cheadle
• Stockport
• Coronavirus
• Social Distancing
• Bruntwood Pitch & Putt
• Crazy World of Minigolf Tour
• The next normal rules of minigolf
• Competitive socialising in isolation
• The Coronavirus (Ham & Egger) Files

Check out the Crazy World of Minigolf Tour Newsletter archive and sign-up to receive future editions

Boules at Bramhall Park in Stockport

Spotting a sign for Boulles (sic) in Stockport.

We visited Bramhall Park for the first time yesterday. Crazy really as it's more or less on our doorstep!

We've been to so many other parts of the Metropolitan Borough of Stockport and surrounding areas since moving here in 2016 but have never got round to go going.

While there we saw a sign for a 'Boulles Court'.

It should be 'Boules' with one l. And it's a terrain or piste rather than 'Court'.

And really it should be called 'Petanque'.

We couldn't find the 'court' and we got a bit lost in the woods too

Petanque in Stockport

We play for the Woodstock Petanque Club at Alexandra Park in Edgeley, Stockport.

Bramall Hall

We're looking forward to visiting Bramall Hall when it reopens. In the meantime we'll spend some of our outdoor exercise time exploring the grounds during lockdown.

Bramall Hall

Related blog posts:

• Petanque
• Boules
• Bramhall

The Crazy Golf course in Church Stretton, Shropshire

A look at the Crazy Golf course in Church Stretton, Shropshire.

Last month we visited the 913th course on our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour when we swung by the Crazy Golf at the town park in Church Stretton, Shropshire.

Unfortunately the gates were locked so we couldn't have a game. A shame as it looked like a nice and interesting layout.

The course appeared to be a mixture of 'Eternit' miniature golf and 'Beton' concrete styles. They are types of course more commonly found in continental Europe.

Related blog posts:

- Shropshire
- Church Stretton
- Crazy World of Minigolf Tour

Crazy Golf at Riverside Park in St Neots

A look at the Ambiance Cafe Crazy Golf course at Riverside Park in St Neots, Cambridgeshire.

Thanks to our friend and minigolf rival Steve Gow for letting us know about the Crazy Golf course at the Ambiance Cafe in Riverside Park, St Neots, Cambridgeshire.

Crazy Golf at Riverside Park in St Neots. Photo by Steve Gow

The course has been there for a few years, but it was the first we'd heard about it.

It's mad how there are still so many undiscovered minigolf courses out there.

Check out the Ambiance Cafe website for more info.

Crazy Golf at Riverside Park in St Neots. Photo by Steve Gow

Also have a look at the course's location on a satellite image for an interesting sight!

It'll be nice to visit the park as there's a miniature railway there too.

Riverside Park's miniature railway. Photo by Steve Gow

Buxton Miniature Railway

A visit to the Pavilion Gardens Miniature Railway in Buxton.

This way to the Miniature Railway

On our recent trip to Buxton we had a nice wander around the Pavilion Gardens. We didn't have any luck in finding the Crazy Golf and Putting courses we had heard were there, but we did find a miniature railway.

The platform

The line to the storage tunnel

Some carriages

The engine under cover

The miniature train

The lines out of the tunnel

The track runs over the bridge

We've found quite a few miniature railways on our travels. There are a lot up here in the north west, including three in Stockport borough.

Related blog posts:
- Miniature Railways

Link:
- Miniature Train at Pavilion Gardens

Petanque and a Miniature Railway at Greenhead Park in Huddersfield

A look at the Miniature Railway and Petanque Club at Greenhead Park in Huddersfield.

Earlier this summer we had a nice day out in Huddersfield. While driving home we saw a sign for the petanque club at the town's Greenhead Park so stopped for a look.

We enjoy a game of petanque and the Huddersfield Petanque Club has one of the nicest venues we've ever seen

When we parked up we also saw there was a miniature railway. A double-hit for two of our interests.

Since we moved up to the North West we've found quite a few miniature railways. There are three in Stockport borough itself!

I would've had a long wait until the next service

Related blog posts:
- Miniature Railways
- Huddersfield
- Petanque

Links:
- Greenhead Park Miniature Railway
- Huddersfield Petanque Club