Games and fun at the King Pins Arndale Summer Mixer

Attending the King Pins Arndale Summer Mixer event in Manchester.

I attended the King Pins Arndale Summer Mixer business networking event at King Pins in the Manchester Arndale Centre yesterday for an evening of competitive fun and games.

King Pins Arndale recently celebrated the venue's first birthday and I've previously been there to play the minigolf course on my Crazy World of Minigolf Tour (in October last year in a match-up versus my fellow minigolf adventurer Tom Loftus from the USA), and Emily and I have swung by for drinks and a bite to eat there too.

The indoor Mini Golf course at King Pins

This time I got to play Tenpin Bowling, Ice-Free Curling and Tech Darts - what a triathlon!

I hadn't had a game of tenpin bowling for ages, and while I only got one strike I did hit quite a few nines and spares.

One of the two Ice-Free Curling rinks

I'd never played Ice-Free Curling before and I really enjoyed it.

Ice-Free Curling gets the thumbs-up from me

King Pins has two curling sheets in their rink! Playing in two teams the match got very competitive, with plenty of strategy and tactics brought into play.

A well placed stone

Curling is similar to boules/petanque in the scoring and gameplay - another one of those games that is easy to pick up and play, but very tricky to master!

There was plenty of drama and action in our curling match-up!

We finished the evening with the Tech Darts where we were able to play a range of different games, as well as games of 201 and 501, with the tech taking care of the scoring for us. It was a reminder for me to get my dartboard up at home as I haven't played for quite a while and my 'arrers were pretty rusty!

King Pins is a nicely set-up space with plenty of room to enjoy the games with your group, without knocking into or overlapping with others. While me and the other attendees of the event were playing there were lots of other groups, couples and families visiting the venue for a game or two.

Ten needed...

...double 5 got

As well as the tenpin bowling, tech darts and ice-free curling King Pins Arndale also offers a packed arcade in the basement, shuffleboard (and bank shot shuffleboard and tech shuffle), a batting cage, duck pin bowling, wild west shooting, and karaoke booths!

I'm looking forward to playing more Ice-Free Curling in the future

The darts area has three tech dart boards and plenty of space around the oche

If you haven't yet been, I recommend a visit to King Pins for yourself. Even if you're not playing any games it's a chilled out spot to get a drink and relax for a while during a shopping trip at the Arndale.

As well as the Arndale Centre venue in Manchester, you can find King Pins locations at the Trafford Palazzo in Manchester and Bristol. The new Glasgow King Pins opens later this month, with the Leeds location opening in August, and a Belfast King Pins opening soon!

I'm still yet to have a go on the Hungry Hungry Hippos arcade game - it looks very cool

Check out the King Pins website for more information.

Many thanks to the team at King Pins for organising the free Summer Mixer event. It's always nice to get out and about, meet new people, and network. And it's a real bonus if the venue is as fun as King Pins!

Whisked Away gluten free bakery opening in Stockport

There's a new gluten free bakery opening in Stockport.

I found out about a dedicated gluten free bakery opening in Stockport soon!

Whisked Away is opening at St Petersgate in Stockport town centre.

Check out the Whisked Away Facebook page for more information.

I'm looking forward to finding out more when they open.

Scarborough's North Bay Crazy Golf - the 900th course we visited

We visited our 900th minigolf course back in June 2019.

At our 900th minigolf course!

We made the landmark 900th course visit on our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour when we had a round at the North Bay Mini Golf course in Scarborough, North Yorkshire on the 7th June 2019.

We were staying near Peasholm Park and had seen a number of the other courses in the North Bay area shortly after arriving in the town. As it was a Friday - and a rainy one at that - none were open.

While walking along the clifftop we spied the North Bay Crazy Golf course and I couldn't run down the hill quickly enough to get a closer look at the 12-hole course.

Luckily for us the course was open

It's always brilliant to find unique courses and the North Bay Crazy Golf course was just that. There were some very nice hole-in-one opportunities and a few tricky second putts on the colourful course. What was really great to see was that the borders had felt on them that allowed skilful shots to be rewarded.

  

In our round I shot a 24 to take the win, with Emily scoring a 26 and our friend Cat Patterson hitting a 33.

Hole 1

Hole 1

Hole 2

Hole 3

Hole 3

Hole 4

Hole 5

Hole 6

Hole 7

Hole 8

Hole 8

Hole 8

Hole 9

Hole 10

Hole 10

Hole 11

Hole 12

Our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour.

The North Bay Crazy Golf course in Scarborough was the 900th visited on our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour since September 2006. When our travels began there were around 600 courses in the UK.

As at January 2025 there are approximately 1,370 minigolf courses around the UK and British Isles (including Jersey, Guernsey, Isle of Man, and other islands). This includes public courses, as well as those at pay to enter attractions, holiday parks, hotels and other 'non-standard' locations. And there are new courses being planned, in development, and opening all the time!

We've now been to a total of 1,083 miniature golf courses on our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour, with 1,022 of them in the British Isles. Our travels have been recognised by the Guinness World Records, and I'm a record holder for "Most miniature golf courses visited" (902 at the time of going to press). Check out the Guinness World Records 2024 book and the Guinness World Records website to see a lot more minigolf records too!

Of the original list of 600 course we've still got to visit 39 of the public courses. In addition there are a further 150 courses at pay to enter attractions, hotels and holiday parks that we've not yet been to.

Drinking in a 'video shop'

Recalling a visit to what is now Rewind NQ in Manchester's Northern Quarter.

Rewind NQ in 2024

Time certainly flies - it's been three years since we first went to Rewind NQ in the Northern Quarter.

The theming is really well done and the bar had a chilled atmosphere. It's worth a visit.

Visit the Rewind NQ website for more information on the speakeasy bar and nightclub.

Video shop hunting in 2025

We're big fans of video, videos stores, retail history and retro stuff and have been visiting and documenting the last remaining traces of the Blockbuster brand in the UK over the last few years. We've seen a number of the brand's shopfronts, signs and QuikDrop boxes. As well as some other video shops.

Video rental shops in the UK

It's very nice to see there are still businesses active in the 'video rental' sector!

Check out this blog post for more info.