Humpty

Humpty Crazy Golf obstacles spotted on the Crazy World of Minigolf Tour 2007-2017!

Humpty at Haigh Woodland Park in Wigan

Travelling around as many Miniature Golf courses as we do it's inevitable that the same obstacle will be seen over and over again. One of these characters is 'Humpty', who we have spotted at ten courses on our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour! 

Humpty and me at Verulamium Park's Crazy Golf course in St Albans in 2007

Me and Humpty at the Lytham St Anne's Crazy Golf course in 2008

Me and Humpty at the Riverside Gardens Minigolf course in Maidenhead in 2009

Humpty and me at Tywyn Leisure Park on Marine Parade in Tywyn, Wales in 2009

Humpty and me at the Merrivale Model Village Crazy Golf course in Great Yarmouth in 2011

Humpty and me on the Crazy Golf course at Carlisle's Bitts Park in 2012

Humpty and me at Bainland Country Park's Crazy Golf course in Woodhall Spa in  2011

Playing the Humpty obstacle on the Crazy Golf course at the Vegas Amusement Arcade in Hunstanton in  2011

Me and the latest Humpty we've spotted at The Grove Park Crazy Golf course in Carshalton in 2013

If you know of any Miniature Golf courses with a Humpty on it do let us know!

On our travels around the UK we've found a number of courses with a Humpty on it. The obstacles and some of the courses themselves come from Minigolf course supplier DK Fibreglass. Check out the DK Fibreglass website for details of the range of Mini and Crazy Golf courses they offer and the novelty hazards they can supply. DK Fibreglass supplied the Crazy Golf course that is in Luton's Wardown Park, sadly it hasn't got a Humpty on it.

There are also some Octopus 'characters' on the DK Fibreglass Crazy Golf courses and we've spotted these in Eglwyswrw, Llanrhystud, Knaresborough, Smeeth and Wigan!

Me and an Octopus with a hat on at the Conyngham Hall Crazy Golf course in Knaresborough in 2010

Related Blog Posts:

- Crazy Golf at Verulamium Park in St Albans, Hertfordshire

- Crazy Golf at Lytham St Anne's

- Minigolf at Riverside Gardens in Maidenhead
- Minigolf at Tywyn Leisure Park

- Crazy Golf at Bitts Park in Carlisle

- 5 Star Crazy Golf at Bainland Country Park in Woodhall Spa

- Crazy Golf at the Vegas Amusement Arcade in Hunstanton

- Crazy Golf at Merrivale Model Village in Great Yarmouth

- Crazy Golf at The Grove Park in Carshalton
- Crazy Golf at Haigh Woodland Park in Wigan

- Crazy World of Minigolf Tour - List and links for all Miniature Golf courses visited to date

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

Paradise Island Adventure Golf in Derby

New Adventure Golf course opening at intu Derby this month.

The latest Paradise Island Adventure Golf venue is opening at intu Derby on Tuesday 11th April. The new Paradise Island Adventure Golf Derby layout will consist of two 18-hole courses.

The last Paradise Island Adventure Golf course we played was the Sheffield venue

It's great to see more courses opening. Our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour travels have taken us to Paradise Island Adventure Golf courses in Manchester, Glasgow and Sheffield.

Playing at a Paradise Island Adventure Golf course last year

We're yet to play the Livingston or Cheshire Oaks layouts - but they are on our 'To Play' list. Now we live up north the Manchester and Cheshire Oaks courses are our two local venues. Which reminds me, I need to organise a minigolf match up against the Paradise Island mascot, Maggie McCaw!

Lining up a shot on the Lucky Last Hole

Check out the Paradise Island Adventure Golf website and Paradise Island Adventure Golf Derby course Facebook page for more information.

Dogs take over Crazy Golf course in Oxford

Well, over the years we've heard a lot of crazy things in the world of minigolf, but this story in the Oxford Times certainly takes the (dog) biscuit!

Check out the online petition for more details of the plan to turn the old miniature golf course into a dog play area.

The course is of the Swedish Felt B-run variety

The Florence Park Crazy Golf course in Oxford was the 119th played on our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour when we swung into my home city back in August 2009.

On our travels we've seen dogs, cats and chickens on minigolf courses. But never a course purpose built for animals. It's a fascinating idea for an underused course.

Thinking about it, it'd be interesting to see a painting of dogs playing minigolf similar to those poker ones...

Related blog posts:
- Doggone Minigolf!
- Minigolf in Oxford, in December
- Minigolf Course Visits 118, 119 & 120 - Oxford Parks
- Oxford
- Dog

Post-Apocalyptic Minigolf at Somerset House

Play a Post-Apocalyptic Minigolf course at the Now Play This festival in London.

My mate and minigolf rival Gareth Holmes spotted a piece in Time Out about the Now Play This event taking place at Somerset House in London from the 7th to the 9th April. The festival of experimental games design will feature a post-apocalyptic minigolf course!

The Now Play This miniature golf course has been created by Gary Campbell and Jeannine Inglis Hall and is called 'Anthropo-Scenic Golf'. It will be available to play on Saturday 8th April.

Back in 2012 our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour took us to East London where we played at the Golf Apocalypse. That was indeed a crazy game of minigolf.

Playing the 'Golf Apocalypse' Mini Golf course at London's Pleasure Gardens, near Pontoon Dock

Now Play This coincides with the city-wide games initiative, the London Games Festival. Check out the Now Play This, London Games Festival and Somerset House websites for more information.

If you're visiting the event you may want to check out some of the other miniature golf courses in London while you're in the city.

Buccaneer Bay Adventure Golf in Littlehampton

Buccaneer Bay Adventure Golf reopening in Littlehampton.

The team at ISS Lifestyle have got in touch to tell me the refurbished Adventure Golf course at Norfolk Gardens in Littlehampton is reopening at 11am on Tuesday 11th April. The course is now pirate-themed and called Buccaneer Bay Adventure Golf.

The course became the 381st played on our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour when we visited Littlehampton in July 2015. I'd first visited the course out of season in 2012.

Norfolk Gardens had one of the longest minigolf holes we've played on our travels!

The green of the very looooooooooooooong hole at Norfolk Gardens

Over the last few months the team at HM Adventure Golf have given the course a substantial and piratey makeover.

Playing the Norfolk Gardens Adventure Golf course in Littlehampton

Littlehampton has some brilliant places to play minigolf, crazy golf, adventure golf, grass putting and Pit-Pat. So it's great to see investment in leisure facilities.

Check out the ISS Lifestyle and HM Adventure Golf websites for more information.

Is Skegness as bad as Pyongyang?

Skegness rated as one of the world's worst holiday destinations.

As a fan of the British seaside experience I was shocked to read that Skegness had been rated amongst the world's worst holiday destinations.

Skegness in May 2015

The list of 11 Worst Travel Destinations in the World You Should Skip was published by the Destination Tips website in November 2014 and recently picked up by news outlets and social media.

Playing the classic Arnold Palmer Crazy Golf course in Skegness on Miniature Golf Day in May 2015

We've been to Skegness - aka Skeg-Vegas - on our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour travels and we love it there. There's no other town in the UK with as many miniature golf courses as Skeggy. On our last visit in 2015 we counted nine Crazy Golf, Putting, Adventure Golf and Pitch & Putt courses on the seafront alone, not to mention those in holiday camps and caravan parks in the area and the neighbouring resort at Ingoldmells.

Skegness was also the site of England's first-ever Crazy Golf course. There's still a playable course on the same spot on South Parade.

The site of England's first-ever Crazy Golf course. The game has been played on this spot since 1926

In addition to Skegness and Pyongyang, Destination Tips also suggests you give a wide berth to:
- Bogota, Colombia
- Ciudad Juarez, Mexico
- Damascus, Syria
- Dhaka, Bangladesh
- Kiev, Ukraine
- Mogadishu, Somalia
- Moscow, Russia
- Port au Prince, Haiti
- Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea

My friend Dylan Harris runs Lupine Travel, a company which takes adventurous tourists to far-flung and often troubled destinations. On one of Lupine's excursions to North Korea the holidaymakers played in the first Pyongyang Minigolf Open Tournament.

Pyongyang's Miniature Golf course

Maybe there are comparisons to be drawn after all...

Related blog posts:
- Skegness
- Skeg-Vegas!
- Mini Golf in Skegness
- Mini Golf in Pyongyang, North Korea

Link:
- Destination Tips website

Top trainspotting

Well done to Emily who wins this week's prize for trainspotting having seen this Pacer Railbus at Manchester Piccadilly yesterday.

A Class 142 Pacer Railbus at Manchester Piccadilly. Yesterday

What's so special you may ask? Well, take a look at the number. It's the James Bond of Pacers!

Last year we traveled on the old London Underground tube trains in use on the Isle of Wight's Island Line and were carried to Shanklin in number 007.

Yes Pieminister

Emily spotted some new gluten free pies from Pieminister on sale at Sainsbury's and bought the Ranger and Heidi varieties for me. There was also one called Moo, however the gluten-free craft ale in it contained oats and barley so that was a no-go.

I had the Ranger - Chicken, Ham, Leek & Thyme - pie for tea last night. It was delicious.

The pie has had some recommendations on Twitter. It gets this blog's endorsement too

The Pieminister Ranger pie was one of the best I've tasted - gluten free or otherwise - and I'll definitely buy more in the future.

Check out the Pieminister website for more information.

Bell's Scotch Whisky token from a Scottish Open Golf tournament

Many thanks to my sister-in-law Annette who gave me this brilliant Bell's Scotch Whisky token from a Scottish Open Golf tournament. It's a great addition to my collection of tokens.

One side contains a message to the bearer, the other to the licensee.

To the bearer: On surrender of this medal you may purchase a single measure of Bell's Extra Special for 1 penny. Valid until 30th September.

To the licensee: This medal entitles the bearer to purchase a single measure of Bell's Extra Special for 1 penny. Valid until 30th September.

What a bargain.

There's also no year on the token. I wonder if it's still valid?

Back at Hastings Adventure Golf

A revisit to Hastings Adventure Golf.

Last weekend we headed to Hastings Adventure Golf for the first time since 2015. It's a minigolf venue we've spent many, many, many hours at over the years.

The Crazy World of Minigolf Tour swung back into Hastings

Hastings Adventure Golf has three 18-hole courses to choose from - a traditional Arnold Palmer Crazy Golf, a themed Adventure Golf, and a Pirate Golf layout.

A view of the Crazy Golf course

There's a nice seating area next to the Crazy Golf course

The toughest hole on the Pirate Golf course

A pair of seagulls chilling out in one of the pirate ships 

A view of the Adventure Golf course

The Crazy Golf has been there the longest, while the Pirate Golf replaced a Miniature Golf course when it opened in 2011. The Adventure Golf course has had some changes made to it over the years and we played two new holes on this visit - getting a hole-in-one on one of them first time!

One of the new holes on the Adventure Golf course

The green

The second of the new holes

A close up of the tunnel

The plateau on the new green

A view from the other side of the green

Hastings Adventure Golf's courses are approved by the World Minigolf Sport Federation

Visit the Hastings Adventure Golf website for more information, opening times and prices.

Once you've finished your round you can play the Lucky Last Hole for a chance to win a FREE GAME

The team at Hastings Adventure Golf have also created a new free mobile App you can download for the iPhone and Android. It's well worth a download as it gives you tips for playing each of the 54-holes there, a mobile scorecard, as well as rewards and offers when you sign-up and play.

"Last pick in a gang draft"

"Last pick in a gang draft" a portrait by Emily Gottfried

Happy April Fools' Day

Were you taken in by this morning's blog posts about a forced name change for minigolf and the banning of trainspotting, or did you see through them straight away?

Let me know if you fell for any other stories, or played some great pranks of your own.

What's in a name - from Minigolf to Crazy Golf

The triggering of Article 50 and the UK's divorce from the European Union will have an unexpected consequence for UK minigolfers. In 24-months from today all UK 'minigolf' courses will need to be renamed 'Crazy Golf' courses, regardless of whether or not they have wacky theming and obstacles including windmills and clown mouths.

Crazy Golf was invented in England in 1926. Here's the sign that proves it

The move is sure to divide fans of the miniature game.

The Crazy Golf course in Aberystwyth, Wales. In Europe this type of course is known as Swedish Felt, or Feltgolf. From 2019 it'll only be known as Crazy Golf on these shores

Crazy Golf is often used as a generic name for the game in the UK, and while some of our more serious European neighbours prefer to call it Minigolf, there are parts of Europe where you can still get a game of Crazy Golf. However, with the UK regaining its sovereignty it means these non-UK courses will also lose the right to be called 'Crazy Golf' or any variant of the name, such as Krazy with a 'K'.

No matter how crazy Minigolf courses like this one in Vista Alegre in Porto Cristo, Majorca look, they'll have to be called 'Minigolf'

2017 marks the 150th anniversary of the game's invention and the UK's first Miniature Golf course is still in operation at The Himalayas in St Andrews, Scotland. Quite what they'll make of the decision to rebrand the course as Crazy Golf I don't know!

It's hilly at The Himalayas in St Andrews, but it's not crazy. But it'll soon have to be

On our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour we've seen a lot of types and variants of the game. We're glad we managed to chalk up so many synonyms since 2006 as the British landscape is about to get a lot more boring.

Laying down the law. One of the many ways to say Crazy Golf in Welsh

Wales is perhaps going to be the hardest hit of the home nations. As a dual language country there are a lot of different ways to describe the game. We've visited almost all the courses in Wales and seen it called Golff Gwyllt, Golff Giamocs, Golff Gwallgof, Golff Gwirion, Minigolff, Golff Bach, Golff Mini, Maes Golff, Golf Byr, Cwrs Golff and Golff Anturus. That's a lot of signage which will need to be changed to say 'Golff Gwyllt'. It's all rather gwirion if you ask me.

No more trainspotting

In what could spell the end for my train nerdery I've heard word that trainspotting is to be banned next year!

Don't walk this way. Trainspotting ban to be enforced next year

Until recently train nerds were more than welcome to indulge in their passion for spotting the wide variety of different engines and rolling stock on our rails, no more so than at Stockport station.

Signs like these will be a thing of the past in a year today

But from 1st April 2018 - the same year the withdrawal of Pacer Railbuses is due to begin - Northern, along with other rail operators, will not allow non-travellers on the platform, bringing an end to a much loved (though often maligned) pastime.

Two things of the past - no more railbuses and no more train nerds in 2018

At least my YouTube Channel is well stocked with vids of the wide range of trains we get up north. Enjoy them while you can, as you won't see the likes of this cracker from next year.



I'll have to take up a new pursuit - any suggestions on what is a step-up/down from trainspotting or minigolf course hunting?

Related blog posts:
- Train Nerdery
- Dull Men's Club