Wednesday, August 23, 2017

Flight Club Darts in London

A quick visit to Flight Club in London.


Flight Club Darts in London

While on a recent trip to London I called in at Flight Club to check out the Shoreditch darts venue. I'd heard good things about it and some friends have had a 'do' there before.

Flight Club Darts in London
One of the many dart boards set-up over the two levels at Flight Club in Shoreditch

I really liked the array of darts memorabilia and ephemera adorning the walls. It looked top notch.

A little bit of the old darts memorabilia to be found on the walls
A little bit of the old darts memorabilia to be found on the walls

There's a wall of dart boards at Flight Club. No Quadro board though
There's a wall of dart boards at Flight Club. No Quadro board though

I spotted a Pin-Bagatelle board next to one of the dart boards downstairs too
I spotted a Pin-Bagatelle board next to one of the dart boards downstairs too

It's always nice to see a celebrity leaderboard
It's always nice to see a celebrity leaderboard

Check out the Flight Club website for more info on the Shoreditch and Bloomsbury venues, opening times and prices.

Flight Club Darts in London
I had a nice welcome from the staff at Flight Club and look forward to throwing a few arrers there in the future

Related blog posts:
- Darts
- London

Tuesday, August 22, 2017

Pitch & Putt at Bishops Park in Oldham

A quick visit to the Pitch & Putt course at Bishops Park in Oldham.

Bishops Park Pitch & Putt course in Oldham
Bishops Park Pitch & Putt course in Oldham

There's not much that is likely to stand between Emily and I having a game of miniature golf. However, while taking a detour through Oldham en route to Leeds last Friday we swung by the Pitch & Putt course at Bishops Park and didn't have a game as there was a bull loose near the 1st tee!!!

Bishops Park Pitch & Putt course in Oldham
Spot the Bull

Bishops Park Pitch & Putt course in Oldham
The 761st miniature golf course we've visited. The first we've found to have a bull roaming on it

It's a nice looking 9-hole layout with some great views. There's also a driving range next door to the course.

Bishops Park Pitch & Putt course in Oldham
Hole 1 is actually played back down the course towards the club house

Bishops Park Pitch & Putt course in Oldham
The Rules. Nothing about errant bulls on there

Visit the Bishops Park Pitch & Putt course website for more information, opening times and prices.

Foot Bowl at MFA Bowl in Leeds

While in Leeds we had a couple of games of tenpin bowling at the MFA Bowl below the Merrion Centre. While there we spotted a new game - Foot Bowl.

Foot Bowl (or Footbowl) at MFA Bowl in Leeds
Foot Bowl (or Footbowl) at MFA Bowl in Leeds

The MFA Bowl in Leeds is home to the only Foot Bowl alley/pitch.

We didn't have time for a game, but we did see a few people giving it a go.

It's interesting to see how many variations of sports and games are being created at the moment, with the likes of Footgolf, Rugby Golf and Football Pool either growing in popularity or being tested. All good stuff to get people more active and having fun.

Londi's not Londis

Our detour through Oldham on Friday meant we were travelling through some new places and when we spotted the sign at a shop on the Ripponden Road we had to stop to grab a snap. You see, the shop used to be a Londis, but is now 'Londi's'! A brilliantly simple bit of 'rebranding'.

Londi's Londis shop on the Ripponden Road in Oldham
What do you call your shop when you're no longer a Londis...

Trivia: The name Londis is a contraction of 'London District Stores'.

What a 'coincidence' the name of the new owner of the shop in Oldham was Londi eh.

It's no Singhbury's though.

Related blog posts:
- Bootleg
- Oldham

Monday, August 21, 2017

Crazy Golf at Wellholme Park in Brighouse

Playing Crazy Golf at Wellholme Park in Brighouse, Yorkshire.

On Sunday 20th August we reached another milestone on our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour as we played our 450th course.

On hole 4

Emily playing the Wellholme Park Crazy Golf course in Brighouse
Hole 2 was very tricky

The 9-hole Crazy Golf course at Wellholme Park in Brighouse, Yorkshire was the 762nd course visited overall since September 2006.

Emily and Richard Gottfried at the Wellholme Park Crazy Golf course in Brighouse
Another crazy golf course visited on our minigolfing adventures

Wellholme Park Crazy Golf course in Brighouse
Emily on hole 1

We had a fun round on the tricky little layout and in our match-up I picked up the win 19 to Emily's 25.

Emily playing the Wellholme Park Crazy Golf course in Brighouse
The slightly uphill 7th hole

The course was well maintained and you get a nice scorecard too. A game was just £2 per player.

Crazy Golf at Wellholme Park in Brighouse
Hole 1

Crazy Golf at Wellholme Park in Brighouse
Hole 2

Crazy Golf at Wellholme Park in Brighouse
The first tunnel was easy(ish), but getting the ball through both tunnels first time would take some effort!

Crazy Golf at Wellholme Park in Brighouse
Hole 2's green

Crazy Golf at Wellholme Park in Brighouse
Hole 3

Crazy Golf at Wellholme Park in Brighouse
The ditch

Crazy Golf at Wellholme Park in Brighouse
Hole 4

Crazy Golf at Wellholme Park in Brighouse
The bridge - looks like it's themed after the River Calder

Crazy Golf at Wellholme Park in Brighouse
The green on hole 4

Crazy Golf at Wellholme Park in Brighouse
Hole 5

Crazy Golf at Wellholme Park in Brighouse
Hole 5's green

Crazy Golf at Wellholme Park in Brighouse
Hole 6

Crazy Golf at Wellholme Park in Brighouse
Hole 6

Crazy Golf at Wellholme Park in Brighouse
The green on hole 6

Crazy Golf at Wellholme Park in Brighouse
Hole 7

Crazy Golf at Wellholme Park in Brighouse
Hole 7

Crazy Golf at Wellholme Park in Brighouse
A mini-volcano 'middle hill' hole

Crazy Golf at Wellholme Park in Brighouse
Tricky

Crazy Golf at Wellholme Park in Brighouse
Hole 9 - snaily

Crazy Golf at Wellholme Park in Brighouse
A lovely last hole

For more information on the course and Wellholme Park in Brighouse visit the Calderdale Council website.

Emily playing the Wellholme Park Crazy Golf course in Brighouse
Emily playing the 8th

We liked the scorecard too. It's nice, big and colourful and contains some interesting rules i.e. a 10-shot limit per hole!

Brighouse Crazy Golf course scorecard from Wellholme Park

Brighouse Crazy Golf course scorecard from Wellholme Park

We've seen similar courses to the one at Wellholme Park in Wimbledon, Motspur Park, Wythenshawe and Tonbridge.

Throughout our travels we've found a number of courses to be unplayable for one reason or another. The reason for not playing the 761st course visited was quite strange indeed. More of that in this blog post.

Link:
- Calderdale Council

Related blog post:
Crazy World of Minigolf Tour

Videos:
- Crazy Golf at Wellholme Park in Brighouse - introduction
- Crazy Golf at Wellholme Park in Brighouse - Hole 1 - Emily
Crazy Golf at Wellholme Park in Brighouse - Hole 1 - Richard
- Crazy Golf at Wellholme Park in Brighouse - Hole 3 - Emily
- Crazy Golf at Wellholme Park in Brighouse - Hole 3 - Richard
- Crazy Golf at Wellholme Park in Brighouse - Hole 4 - Emily
- Crazy Golf at Wellholme Park in Brighouse - Hole 4 - Richard
- Crazy Golf at Wellholme Park in Brighouse - Hole 5 - Emily
- Crazy Golf at Wellholme Park in Brighouse - Hole 6 - Emily
- Crazy Golf at Wellholme Park in Brighouse - Hole 6 - Richard
- Crazy Golf at Wellholme Park in Brighouse - Hole 8 - Richard Hole-in-One
- Crazy Golf at Wellholme Park in Brighouse - Hole 9 - Richard

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.

Crazy Golf course at the Ipswich Maritime Festival

My brother-in-law Rob Harper was at the Ipswich Maritime Festival over the weekend and spotted they had a Crazy Golf course there! Minigolf courses certainly do pop up everywhere!

Crazy Golf course at the Ipswich Maritime Festival. Photo by Rob Harper, 20th August 2017
It looked like an interesting 9-hole layout - hole 7 appears to be Stonehenge!

Crazy Golf course at the Ipswich Maritime Festival. Photo by Rob Harper, 20th August 2017
Always nice to see a windmill on a Crazy Golf course

Crazy Golf course at the Ipswich Maritime Festival. Photo by Rob Harper, 20th August 2017
Not the Orwell Bridge

Related blog posts:
- Ipswich
- Crazy Golf

I love it when a bootleg comes together

While in Leeds at the weekend I spotted The Waste Team's car outside our hotel. Looking on their website I've seen they've got a whole fleet of branded vehicles! Brilliant.

The Waste Team 'van' in Leeds
What a gimmick!

Sunday, August 20, 2017

Pizzaman - Winner of the European Gluten Free Pizza Championships

My mate Gareth Holmes was recently travelling on a number 21 bus through New Cross and spotted a sign for gluten free pizza! It was quite a specific sign too - proclaiming that the takeaway was the Winner of the European Gluten Free Pizza Championships 2015.

I never knew such a tournament existed!

Pizzaman - Winner of the European Gluten Free Pizza Championships. Photo taken by Gareth Holmes while sitting on the top deck of a bus on the 18th August 2017
Pizzaman - Championship winning pizza

Although having had a cursory glance on the Internet I can't find the full results of the competition...

You can find Pizzaman at 207 Lewisham Way, New Cross, London.

Friday, August 18, 2017

760 minigolf courses visited

A round-up from our latest minigolf travels.


It's amazing to think in a month and a half we've gone from 743 minigolf course visits to 760. The sheer variety of the miniature golf courses we've played in that time is amazing too. From courses built in the 1970s to courses that are only a year or so old, we've see a wide-range of different layouts.

Crazy Golf at Lowther Gardens in Lytham
Course visit number 753 at Lowther Gardens in Lytham

Since we hit the magic milestone of 750 courses - at Coate Water Country Park in Swindon, Wiltshire - we've been to Lytham on the Fylde coast and London.

MiniLinks Golf in St Annes on the Sea
Emily Putting at MiniLinks Golf in St Annes on the Sea

On our recent trip to St Annes on the Sea to play in the last Mini Major tournament of the season at MiniLinks Golf we'd noticed that Lowther Park in Lytham was home to a Crazy Golf course - how we'd previously missed it we don't know as we've been going to Blackpool and the surrounding seasides since 2008!

The Crazy Golf course at the end of St Annes Pier
The Crazy Golf course at the end of St Annes Pier

As well as playing the 'new' old Crazy Golf course at Lytham, searching for a Putting course in the same park, having a wander to the Crazy Golf course on the pier and revisiting three courses at MiniLinks (a Par-3 Pitch & Putt, Pennines Putting and Crazy Golf) we also swung by the miniature golf courses at Fairhaven Lakes in Lytham and St Annes, the remnants of the Arnold Palmer Putting Course at Starr Gate, the Adventure Golf course at the Pleasure Beach, Merlin Pirate Adventure Golf on the promenade and the old Crazy Golf course behind The Metropole Hotel on the North Shore. we also took a look at how Gynn Gardens in Blackpool has changed since it is no longer home to a Crazy Golf and Putting courses. Finally we drove passed Stanley Park, home to a Krazy Golf course and a grass Putting layout. It certainly is a bit of a hotspot for minigolf!

The Crazy Golf course at Fairhaven Lakes in Lytham and St Annes
The Crazy Golf course at Fairhaven Lakes in Lytham and St Annes

My trip to London saw me tick off visits to six courses, with great visits to play the two indoor courses at Swingers Crazy Golf next to the Gherkin, as well as the four indoor courses at Junkyard Golf on Brick Lane.

Swingers Crazy Golf course in London. Photo by Gareth Holmes
Playing at the excellent Swingers Crazy Golf course in London

Full blog posts from our recent Crazy World of Minigolf Tour travels will follow soon.

Crazy Golf at Junkyard Golf in London
One of the 36 ludicrous Crazy Golf holes at Junkyard Golf in London

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.