Merrivale in Great Yarmouth - Model Village, Crazy Golf, Gluten Free Food and an Old Arcade Museum!

A trip to Great Yarmouth uncovered a great spot for Crazy Golf, Gluten Free Food and more!

On Sunday 7th August 2011 Emily and I visited the Merrivale Model Village in Great Yarmouth. It was the first Model Village we'd been to together, and the first visited in years. On our Lincolnshire roadtrip earlier this year the Model Village in Skegness wasn't open, and on the 5th of June this year we also visited Great Yarmouth, however on that occasion the Model Village had already closed for the day.

As well as the Model Village, there is also an Old Penny Arcade Museum, a 'modern' amusement arcade, and a great Tea Room that serves an extensive menu of Gluten Free items!

And there's a Crazy Golf course there too, with Free Play included in the ticket price for the Model Village!

Perfect.

Photos of the Merrivale Model Village

A miniature Golf Course

A Police Station and Crime Scene

A Miniature Great Yarmouth Stadium

One of the adverts in the miniature stadium was advertising the Crazy Golf course!

Some Morris Dancing

A fun fair

A Shooting Shack on the miniature fun fair

The 9-hole Crazy Golf was the 265th course played on our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour, and in our match Emily and I tied on scores of 22(+4).

Richard & Humpty

The menu at the Merrivale Tea Rooms shows lots of items marked ‘GF’ and when ordering we found out that other dishes could be adapted if necessary. The Gluten Free cakes, pies and pastries etc. were home made, and all of the cooking was done in separate cookers/fryers, meaning I was able to have Fish & Chips (which was also served with a good side-salad and lots of peas), it was a very big portion indeed.

As there were so many GF options available I was greedy and also ordered the Mushroom, Potato, Tomato and Onion Pasty, which was very well made and very very tasty.

Richard attempting to scoff a Pasty AND a big portion of Fish & Chips!

After our food had settled we headed off for a paddle in the sea and a wander around the Pleasure Beach and then went back to the Merrivale Tea Rooms for a Cake. The choice again was huge and I opted for the Chocolate Cake.

It made our trip to Great Yarmouth extra special to visit such a nice Tea Room, with excellent service and a wide-range of GF options! It was such a pleasant spot to have a nice lunch.

The Merrivale Tea Rooms were established in 1903 and this year won the Tea Room of the Year Award! Well deserved indeed.

Related blog posts:
- Crazy World of Minigolf Tour
- Great Yarmouth
- Gluten free

Links:
- Merrivale Model Village
- Merrivale Tea Rooms

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Fritton Minigolf and Crazy Golf - Not Played on the Crazy World of Minigolf Tour

On our way from Lowestoft to Great Yarmouth on our recent roadtrip we made a detour to visit Fritton to see if we could find the two Minigolf courses there.

Our first stop was to the Golf Course at the Caldecott Hall Leisure Complex to play the Crazy Golf, however we found out that it had been removed as land was needed to extend the Golf Course

Next up was a flying visit to Fritton Lake to visit the Putting course, however the park was far too busy for us to make a stop as we wanted to spend plenty of time in Great Yarmouth.

Crazy World of Minigolf Tour

Kirkley Cliff Putting Green - Course Revisit and First Play #264 - Lowestoft, Suffolk

On our visit to Lowestoft on the 6th of August 2011 we were finally able to play the Kirkley Cliff Putting Green.

On our previous visits in February and June 2007 the Minigolf course had been closed. Happily for us the course was open on this occasion and the course became the 264th played on the Crazy World of Minigolf Tour.

In our Irregular Mini Golf Tour Match-up Emily defeated me 43-45 scoring a Hole-in-One on the 18th after I had scored the first four of the match.

The 18-hole layout is in great condition, and at £2.25 a round for adults is great value.

Related blog post:
- Crazy World of Minigolf Tour

Then & Now - Minigolf at the East Point Family Adventure Golf in Lowestoft, Suffolk - #20 on the Crazy World of Minigolf Tour

On our first Crazy World of Minigolf Tour visit to Lowestoft Suffolk in February 2007 we had found the Eastpoint Family Golf Adventure Golf course there to be closed (as well as every other one we visited in Great Yarmouth).

However, when we returned on the 9th of June 2007 we were able to play the course, which was nice. Review Here. In our Irregular Mini Golf Tour Match-up I defeated Emily 37-40.

On the 6th of August 2011 we were once again in Lowestoft and had a round on the course. This time Emily defeated me 32-34.

An interesting fact is that the course lies at the Easternmost point of the British Isles!

Photos from August 2011.

Photos from June 2007.









Photos when the course was closed/out-of-season in February 2007.













More courses visited and played on the Crazy World of Minigolf Tour.

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A Landmark On Our Travels - Photographing Our First Milestone

On a recent visit to Luton's Wardown Park Museum I picked up a leaflet about The Milestone Society and joined their Facebook group. Upon joining I was asked to keep my eye out and photograph any Milestones as they may be unknown to the society.

So, on our recent roadtrip to Lowestoft and Great Yarmouth, by way of Sudbury and Ipswich, I took the landmark first photo of a Milestone on our travels. The Milestone is on Ipswich's Albion Road (the A1071) and gives distances to London, Yarmouth, Woodbridge, St Margaret and Colchester.

Upon joining The Milsetone Society's Facebook Group my minigolf rival Anthony Pope quipped "You were their 10,000th member but sadly they were unable to think of any suitable measurement to recognise it by."

Link to The Milestone Society

The North Suffolk & South Norfolk Invitational Challenge Minigolf Tournament 2011

Last weekend intrepid Crazy Minigolfers Richard & Emily Gottfried competed in the Quadrennial Irregular Mini Golf Tour Competition known as the Irregular Mini Golf Tour North Suffolk & South Norfolk Invitational Challenge.

Photo: Emily tees-off at the most easterly Adventure Golf course in the country

Last held on the 9th and 10th of June 2007 the 2011 Irregular Mini Golf Tour NS&SN IC event saw five rounds and a total of 63-holes of Minigolf, Crazy Golf, Putting and Adventure Golf played.

The winner of the marathon event was Emily 'Nine Lives' Gottfried who led from start to finish and ended with a an eight shot winning margin over the 2007 Irregular Mini Golf Tour NS&SN IC Champion 'Squire' Richard Gottfried.

Day 1 - 6th August 2011
In the 12-hole first round at the most easterly Adventure Golf course in the British Isles - East Point Family Golf in Lowestoft, Suffolk - Emily won 32-34.

On the 18-hole Links Putting Course at Kirkley Cliffs in Lowestoft, Emily was the round winner once again with a score of 43 to Richard's 45, acing the final hole, while Richard carded a poor four.

Day 2 - 7th August 2011
At the 9-hole Crazy Golf course at the Merrivale Model Village both players tied on scores of 22.

Emily was the winner once again on the (now) 12-hole Windmill Theatre Adventure Golf course, carding a score of 25, to Richard's 29.

The final round was played out on the Pleasure Beach Adventure Golf course and saw both Richard and Emily score rounds of 30 on the 12-hole course.

The final scores were:
Emily - 152
Richard - 160

Emily retained her Aces Champion title at the event, scoring five holes-in-one compared to Richard's two Aces.

Commenting on her big Minigolf win Emily 'Nine Lives' Gottfried said "As the ‘local’ in the tournament I knew I had the edge. The Lowestoft mini-golf course was fun and the putting green was excellent- a win with an Ace following a poor 4 by Squire was the highlight. The Great Yarmouth courses are always well kept, and great to play. Squire put up a good fight, but I always knew I would win this weekend.”

From the Archives:

Results of the 2007 North Suffolk & South Norfolk Invitational Challenge Minigolf Tournament

The mammoth two-day, 11 round, 134-hole Irregular Mini Golf Tour North Suffolk & South Norfolk Invitational Challenge tournament was played out over seven courses in Lowestoft and Great Yarmouth. It had been planned to include the Crazy Golf, Adventure Golf and Golf FX courses in Felixstowe, Suffolk, however these were closed on our visit.

The seven courses played were:

1. East Point Family Golf - Lowestoft
2. Pirates Cove Adventure Golf - Great Yarmouth
3. Arnold Palmer Putting Course 18-hole - Great Yarmouth
4. Arnold Palmer Putting Course 9-hole - Great Yarmouth
5. Pleasure Beach Adventure Golf - Great Yarmouth
6. Jungle Golf at the Gardens - Great Yarmouth
7. Hollywood Adventure Golf - Great Yarmouth

The final scores were as follows
Richard - 338
Emily - 361

Photo: Richard & the 2007 Irregular Mini Golf Tour North Suffolk & South Norfolk Invitational Challenge Trophy

Despite coming second in the main tournament Emily did win the 'Aces Championship' by scoring 10 holes-in-one over the weekend.


The Future of Minigolf...

The next Irregular Mini Golf Tour North Suffolk & South Norfolk Invitational Challenge tournament is scheduled to take place in June or August 2015.

Blog link:
- Crazy World of Minigolf Tour

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

2011 UK Rock Paper Scissors Championships in London on Saturday 22nd October

The team at Wacky Nation have announced the date for the 2011 UK Rock Paper Scissors Championships. The 5th Edition of the Tournament will take place in London on Saturday 22nd October at the Knights Templar pub on Chancery Lane.

You can find all the details of the 2011 UK Rock Paper Scissors Championships at the dedicated website here.

Report from the 2010 UK Rock Paper Scissors Championships (including photos and videos from a selection of matches). Last year Emily reached the third round and finished with a record of Played 3, Won 2, Lost 1. I crashed out in round two and ended with a record of Played 2, Won 1, Lost 1.

The 2011 tournament will also feature a Team Event, one that the Guild of Rock Paper Scissors (GoRPS) will surely be entering!

Links:
Wacky Nation Website
UK RPS Official Website
The Rules of Rock Paper Scissors
GoRPS Rock Paper Scissors Championships in Birmingham
Rock Paper Scissors Tournament at The Crown in Bristol
RPS-101

Ipswich Building Society Crazy Golf Course - In Sudbury, Suffolk - Course Played 263 and a Third!

On our way to Lowestoft for the 2011 UK Thumb Wrestling Championships we made a stop off in Sudbury, Suffolk as I had heard via twitter that the local branch of the Ipswich Building Society had one of their Crazy Golf holes there for the week!

The 'Tax Man' Hole is one-third of a set that are touring the Ipswich Building Society Branches over the summer. The Tax Man is Hole 1 (Par 3), Hole 2 is a Par 5 called 'Uphill Struggle, with a Par 4 third hole called 'Steering clear of the rocks of risk' which features a lighthouse and a hole on an island.

The Crazy Golf Challenge sees visitors to their branches and other events the Ipswich Building Society has a stand at, Putting their way around the holes and "making use of rainy day savings, avoiding the tax man and steering clear of the rocks of risk along the way."

From a promotional point of view it's an interesting way to engage with customers and potential customers, as players are also asked to complete a short survey and/or answer questions about a particular financial topic/concern.

I managed to score a hole-in-one with my one 'go'!

The UrbanCrazy built 'course' was the 263rd (& a third) visited and played on our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour.