Porthcawl

Ah to be at the seaside on a day like today.

Looking through my photos from last year I spotted this lovely view of the beach in Porthcawl, Wales.

I can't wait to be able to head back out on our travels and visit the coast.

It was slightly outside of the season so I couldn't have a game on the Putting Green in Griffin Park

Dastardly and Muttley in Their Flying Machines at Coney Beach

What are the 7 Dimensions?

Topcuts

Spotted in London on my last trip down to the capital earlier this year.

Fore Play Crazy Golf goody bags

We love seeing minigolf merchandise and the team at Fore Play Crazy Golf in Glasgow are offering the first 100 guests at the course a 'Baw Bag' containing a selection of items, including a branded face mask.

🎉 Be one of our first 100 golfers and get a Fore Play goody bag! 🎉

To welcome youse back on August 1st, our first 100 guests at our Glasgow venue will get their own Baw Bag.

Dinnae wait - you'll have to be fast!#ForePlayCrazyGolf #ReadyToPlay #ForePlayGlasgow #Glasgow pic.twitter.com/teGA8nEFFj

— Fore Play Crazy Golf (@4PlayCrazyGolf) July 24, 2020

Fore Play Crazy Golf reopens its doors on Saturday 1st August.

Visit the Fore Play Crazy Golf website for more information on the Glasgow and Edniburgh venues.

We're looking forward to playing at both locations on our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour in the future. Both sites opened since our last visits to the Scottish cities.

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Puttstars York

Puttstars opening at York Stadium in August.

The new Puttstars indoor minigolf centre at York Stadium is opening next month.

Puttstars is a new concept from the Hollywood Bowl Group and the York venue will feature three 9-hole minigolf courses, along with a bar and diner. It's scheduled to open on Monday 17th August.

Puttstars York will be the third of the brand's venues to open following Leeds and Rochdale.

Visit the Puttstars Mini Golf website for more information.

We're looking forward to giving the Puttstars Mini Golf courses a play on our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour in the future.

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I haven't got a Scooby Doo

We've seen quite a few things from Scooby Doo on our travels.

Scrappy Doo's in Prestatyn

The Mystery Machine in Skegness

The Mystery Machine in Stockport

Scrappy Doo is one of the dogs on this Muttley Crew sign in Stockport

Mr Mutleys in Blackpool

Muttley and Dick Dastardly on the sign at Mr Mutley's in Blackpool.

Tilting at Windmills: How I Tried to Stop Worrying and Love Sport

Tilting at Windmills: How I Tried to Stop Worrying and Love Sport by Andy Miller.

Tilting at Windmills: How I Tried to Stop Worrying and Love Sport by Andy Miller

Essential reading for every minigolfer.

It was the first book I read about crazy golf and one of the reasons I got into playing tournament minigolf. I joined the British Minigolf Association back in 2006 and made my debut in the 2007 season.

Visit Andy Miller's website for more information.

My first bun throwing in Abingdon

A Bun Throwing was held in my home town of Abingdon on this day in 1981. It was the first one I attended.

The curious tradition sees the mayor and other dignitaries climb to the top of the old County Hall to throw hundreds or thousands of currant buns down to the townsfolk gathered in the market place below.

The team at Abingdon Museum posted about the Bun Throwing that took place in Abingdon to celebrate the wedding of Prince Charles and Lady Diana Spencer on this day in 1981.

From our #bunthrowing #collection, here's a bun decorated with the initials CD to mark the wedding of Prince Charles and Lady Diana Spencer #onthisday 1981.#abingdon #traditions #museumfromhome pic.twitter.com/h4aJpp7b8Q

— Abingdon County Hall Museum (@AbingdonMuseum) July 29, 2020

At less than a year old I can't imagine I knew what was going on that first time, nor caught any buns! I probably did scoff some my mum and dad had caught though.

Abingdon County Hall Museum has a collection of buns preserved from bun throwings dating back many years. These are the currant buns from the Bun Throwing that celebrated the Diamond Jubilee of Elizabeth II in 2012. A total of 6,000 buns were thrown on that occasion

The last bun throwing held in the town to date was in 2018 to commemorate 100 years since the end of the First World War. That bun throwing was the 35th event since 1761.

There have been 15 Bun Throwing events in my lifetime.

Check out my World of Bun Throwing blog for more information.

Mini Golf at Lane7 in Newcastle upon Tyne

Playing the Mini Golf course at Lane7 in Newcastle upon Tyne.

While we were in Newcastle for the World Transplant Games last year we swung by Lane7 for a game of minigolf.

Visit the Lane7 website for more information.

The 9-hole indoor minigolf course at Lane7 was the 840th course visited and 495th played on our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour.

Since our last visit to the North East the team behind Lane7 opened up a new venue called Gutterball Alley. The centre in North Shields is home to tenpin bowling, Guttergolf crazy golf, arcades, karaoke and Ping Pong.

We're looking forward to playing there in the future.

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Landmark Golf in Wolsingham

Last year we played the Landmark Golf course in Wolsingham, County Durham.

We were on our way up to Newcastle upon Tyne for the World Transplant Games and called in to Wolsingham Sports Hall to play the pop-up Landmark Golf course.

We had a fun round on the nice layout

Visit the Landmark Golf website for more information.

The Landmark Golf course was the 919th we visited and 525th played on our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour.

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The British Transplant Games

A look ahead to the 2021 British Transplant Games in Leeds.

We were due to be heading down to Coventry this week to support our friend (and minigolf rival) John Moore in the British Transplant Games. Unfortunately the 2020 Games in Coventry have been postponed to 2023 due to the Coronavirus pandemic.

However, plans are well underway for the 2021 British Transplant Games that will be taking place in Leeds next August. We love visiting Leeds and are really looking forward to the event.

Transplant Sport’s flagship event aims to raise awareness of the life-saving benefits of transplantation.

The Westfield Health British Transplant Games have been running for over 40 years. Each year the games sees teams from hospitals across the UK come together to compete in a number of sports. The four-day event attracts around 1,000 transplant athletes and more than 1,500 supporters.

Find out more on the British Transplant Games and Transplant Sport websites.

We've attended the British Transplant Games in Newcastle Gateshead (2015), Liverpool (2016) and Birmingham (2018).

Last summer we were at the 2019 World Transplant Games in Newcastle Gateshead. They were the 22nd edition and the first held in the UK since the Manchester Games in 1995.

I've run in two races at the transplant games - The Gift of Life Run last year was my second 5k, after the Donor Run at the 2018 British Transplant Games in Birmingham.

The Westfield Health British Transplant Games, organised on behalf of the charity Transplant Sport, will take place in venues across Leeds from the 5th to 8th August 2021.

Visit the NHS website to join the NHS Organ Donor Register.

Farnworth Market Precinct

A look at Farnworth Market Precinct in Farnworth, Bolton.

The former shopping area is due to be demolished soon. It was quite eerie to find the abandoned area between the main precinct and the new bus station.

Pizza Shark

I spotted this fun Pizza Shark sticker art by Samuel B Thorne at Elephant & Castle in London last year.

Crazy Golf at The Gaggle of Geese pub in Buckland Newton, Dorset

There's a new Crazy Golf course at The Gaggle of Geese pub in Buckland Newton, Dorchester, Dorset.

The team at The Gaggle of Geese pub in Buckland Newton, Dorset have spent some of the lockdown period building a Crazy Golf course.

We're looking forward to giving it a play on our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour in the future.

We've played a few pub minigolf courses - but there aren't nearly enough of them in our opinion.

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Congo Falls Adventure Golf at Stockwood Vale Golf Club in Bristol

A new Adventure Golf course is now open at Stockwood Vale Golf Club in Bristol.

The new 18-hole Congo Falls Adventure Golf course opened at Stockwood Vale Golf Club in Keynsham, Bristol last week.

Visit the Congo Falls Adventure Golf website for more information.

Many thanks to our friend and fellow fan of minigolf Claudia the Caddy from the Filwood Fantastic Mini Golf Club and Knowle West Beaches in Knowle West, Bristol for letting us know about the new course.

Check out the photos from Claudia's visit to play the course.

The Rules

Social distancing in action at the course

A water hazard

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Plans for a new Crazy Golf in Bideford, Devon

There are plans for a new Crazy Golf course in Bideford, Devon.

The new business would also include a cafe, bounce area and arcade games.

We visited Bideford on our tour of the South West of England back in 2015. We had a look for the Crazy Golf course in Park Avenue but it was long-gone.

We did however visit the Pebble Ridge Adventure Golf course in Westward Ho!.

It'll be nice to get back down to visit the South West of England on our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour in the future.

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Captain Jack's Adventure Golf in Scarborough

New Adventure Golf course now open in Scarborough, North Yorkshire.

Captain Jack's Adventure Golf is now open next to the observation wheel in Scarborough's South Bay.

Visit Captain Jack's Adventure Golf website for more information.

The new Adventure Golf course is located where the Futurist Theatre once stood.

On our travels we see minigolf courses everywhere - even where there aren't any. Last June I took this photo of the empty plot of land and we thought it'd be an ideal location for a course.

Captain Jack's Adventure Golf course landed on this spot

Minigolf in Scarborough

Last summer we revisited Scarborough and had a brilliant long weekend playing minigolf on the seaside resort's courses.

The North Bay Crazy Golf course was the 900th course we've visited overall and the 861st in the British Isles.

Scarborough's two bays have got a lot of choice for fans of minigolf, with a nice mix of Crazy Golf, Putting Greens, Pitch & Putt and Adventure Golf.

We're looking forward to returning on our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour in the future.

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Puttstars Rochdale

A walk-by look at the new Puttstars minigolf venue at Rochdale Riverside.

The new Puttstars indoor minigolf centre at Rochdale Riverside entertainment, leisure and shopping centre is opening in August. It had been due to open in April but was delayed by the Coronavirus pandemic.

Puttstars is a new concept from the Hollywood Bowl Group and the Rochdale venue will feature three 9-hole minigolf courses.

The first Puttstars location opened at the Thorpe Park shopping and entertainment site in Leeds in March this year.

A third Puttstars location is opening up in York next month too.

Visit the Puttstars Mini Golf website for more information.

At Puttstars a week too early. The doors are closed, but the signs are up and social distancing / Covid-19 measures are in place

We're looking forward to playing the Puttstars Mini Golf courses on our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour in the future.

Related blog posts:
- Puttstars
- Rochdale

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Adventure Island Crazy Golf in Mundesley, Norfolk

A look at the Adventure Island Golf course in Mundesley. July 2016.

The 12-hole layout became the 406th played and 692nd visited overall on our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour.

We've now been to 949 courses since 2006.

Visit the Adventure Island Golf Mundesley Facebook Page for more information.

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Hi Doctor Nick!

It's always fun spotting Simpsons-related stuff while out and about.

I saw this sticker for the Kings Cross Tattoo Parlour while down in London last year.

What a strapline!

Related blog posts:
- The Simpsons

The Godfather in Rhyl

Not the first Godfather takeaway we've seen on our travels.

The Godfather takeaway in Rhyl

Putt18 World Pro League - Week 2 Results

Results from week 2 of the Putt18 World Pro League.

Play has been completed in the second week of the Putt18 World Pro League.

New Zealand's Matt Ansley once again won the week, this time with a four-round total score of 253 after rounds of 65, 62, 62 and 64.

Great Britain's Dave Gomm was second with a total of 256 after rounds of 66, 67, 64 and 59. The round of 59 was, at the time made, the lowest competitive round scored, the lowest Putt18 World Pro League round and the British record.

However, New Zealand's John Ansley finished the week in third place scoring 263 with rounds of 70, 72, 58 and 63. The 58 setting the bar for the other competitors.

A total of 21 players from four countries are competing in the inaugural Putt18 World Pro League.

I finished this week's competition in 11th place having shot rounds of 69, 73, 76 and 72 for a total of 290 and 42 points. A nice improvement after my shaky start to the tournament with rounds of 81, 79, 84 and 84 for a 328 total last week.

Putt18 World Pro League Table after 2 events

1 - Matt Ansley (NZL) 215 (2)
2 - Dave Gomm (GBR) 178 (2)
3 - Cameron Couper (NZL) 150 (2)
4 - John Ansley (NZL) 149 (2)
5 - Nathan Lamplough (AUS) 125 (2)
6 - Faye Ansley (NZL) 120 (2)
7 - Steve Lovell (GBR) 117 (2)
8 - Luke Lord (AUS) 108.5 (2)
9 - Josh Mars (AUS) 105 (2)
10 - Pat Sheridan (USA) 99 (2)
11 - Allan Cox (AUS) 92.5 (2)
12 - Cameron Fincher (GBR) 70 (2)
13 - Tom Loftus (USA) 55 (2)
14 - Matt Roadhouse (USA) 46 (2)
15 - Aaron Kaminski (USA) 44 (2)
16 - Richard Gottfried (GBR) 43 (2)
17 - Shelley Cooper (GBR) 40 (2)
18 - Randy Rice (USA) 31 (2)
19 - Gary P Shiff (USA) 14 (2)
20 - Karl R Barth (USA) 7 (2)
21 - James Gilderdale (NZL) 5 (2)

Week 3 of the Putt18 World Pro League tees-off next Wednesday.

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More information on the Putt18 golf game mat can be found on the Putt18 website.

Remnants of Blockbuster Video

Finding some more traces of the lost brand.

We've always enjoyed exploring our surroundings, looking for and hunting out interesting things. We've seen quite a few ghost signs on our travels and many of these are hangovers from another time, some even dating back over a hundred years.

Since we found the remains of Blockbuster Video just up the road from us in Fallowfield, Manchester we had a look to see if there were any other former branches still showing signs of the brand.

We were in luck as on our walks around Cheadle Hulme and Marple we spotted the ghostly outline of a sign, as well as an old QuikDrop box.

The outline of the old big ticket logo of Blockbuster is still visible behind the Majestic Wine sign. A modern day ghost sign

The QuikDrop slot is the only part of the former Blockbuster Video Express in Marple that hasn't been painted over. It's now a Post Office

It'll be interesting to see if we spot any other traces of the brand once we're back out on the road on Crazy World of Minigolf Tour travels.

You can actually play a Blockbuster Video crazy golf hole at Ghetto Golf in Digbeth, Birmingham!

The Blockbuster shop hole at Ghetto Golf Birmingham

Judging the Filwood Fantastic Mini Golf Club PUTT PARTY contest

We had a brilliant time judging all of the entries into the Filwood Fantastic Mini Golf Club's PUTT PARTY contest on Saturday morning.

Putting at home with the Filwood Fantastic Mini Golf Club

The PUTT PARTY was a Show & Tell of the Mini Golf holes created by residents of Knowle West in Bristol and the culmination of a lot of hard work and crazy golfing fun.

During lockdown and over summer the Filwood Fantastic Mini Golf Club has created a home-based minigolf club for local residents. Having received supplies of arts and crafts materials the club members were challenged to create their own crazy golf holes.

It was superb seeing the innovations, classic styles, wild, wacky and mega minigolf constructions and tricky to pick a winner.

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Yesterday was our finale Putt Party, where Knowle West-ers showcased our DIY Mini Golf Hole’s with one another over zoom, drawing the virtual ClubHouse meetings to a temporary pause. We can’t thank our in-house Mini Golf VIP’s @emslemsgottfried & @richard_gottfried all the way from Stockport enough. What a tricky judging time they had. They fed back beautiful comments on all the houses holes, really respected our community with words of encouragement and praise for our different skillsets and mini golf crafting skills. Comments included ‘wow, I wasn’t expecting that!’ & ‘you had it all!’ 949 Mini Golf Holes 🕳 visited. We cannot wait for you to visit us in Knowle West (when restrictions allow). #superstars #mr&mrs #minigolfchamps #thankyousomuch #diygolfcourse #communityfirst

A post shared by #FilwoodFantastic Mini Golf (@filwoodfantasticminigolf) on Jul 26, 2020 at 5:39am PDT

After everyone had demonstrated their crazy golf layout and talked through the ideas behind it we entered into deliberation before declaring the Alford family the winners of the Mini Golf Artists Award 2020 for their excellent Crocodile hole.

You can see the winning design in the Filwood Fantastic Mini Golf Club Facebook Group and Instagram.

View this post on Instagram

HUGE congratulations to @thegurtlife Dan, Lucy & Rowan for their Winning design at our Finale Putty Party on Saturday morning. Novers (g)Nasher came from no-where and stole first place with a cranking automated croc mouth, a slide for the ball and a direct swift hole in one action. Unbelievable!!! Dan’s family holds the title of The Mini Golf Artist 2020! He’ll be collecting his trophy and prize set from the Filwood Fantastic market next Saturday at @filwoodcentre #welldone #expecttheunexpected #communityforthewin #welldonedan #aloveofcrocs

A post shared by #FilwoodFantastic Mini Golf (@filwoodfantasticminigolf) on Jul 26, 2020 at 5:48am PDT

The multi-level layout had moving parts to open the croc's mouth, a ramp, tunnel, a playable tee-off point and a nice green.

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I may have got a little carried away with the build for today’s @filwoodfantasticminigolf inaugural diy hole building competition. Chuffed to take the win with our entry, The Novers Gnasher! A run down of the materials used: The shell of the croc was from our neighbours old To Let sign and covered with an old yoga mat. The hand crank is from some random screws, bottle tops and left over wood from a garden project. The ball goes through the crocs mouth Into a cardboard tube before travelling down a 2 metre slope, through an old drainage pipe (to slow the ball down), arriving on finishing green. The only cost was £1 for the hinges in the crocs mouth! #lockdownproject #minigolf #knowlewest #diygolfcourse

A post shared by The Gurt Life (@thegurtlife) on Jul 25, 2020 at 12:02pm PDT

We're looking forward to seeing the creation scaled-up and included in the full-size Crazy Golf course being built at the Filwood Community Centre later this year.

Visit the Filwood Fantastic Mini Golf Club's Facebook Group and the Filwood Community Centre website for more information.

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