A day out of Bun Throwing, Crazy Golf and Bar Billiards in Abingdon-on-Thames

Returning to Abingdon-on-Thames for a World Championship!

On Saturday 14th April we headed back to my hometown of Abingdon-on-Thames to compete in the first-ever World Bun Throwing Championships taking place at the Abingdon Vale Cricket Club.

The visit was the first-time I’ve been able to get back since the Royal Bun Throwing held last April and also the first-time I’ve been home since the town officially reverted back to its previous name of Abingdon-on-Thames!

Prior to the main-event in the World Bun Throwing Championships we had a quick wander around the town and had a drink in the Bun Throwing-themed cafe Throwing Buns and then headed to the Abbey Grounds.

Bun Throwing press cuttings at Throwing Buns cafe in Abingdon-on-Thames

The Abbey Grounds has some nice parks and gardens, some ‘ancient’ abbey ruins, the River Thames running through it, an outdoor swimming pool (due to re-open in the summer) and a Tennis and Golf Centre.

While we were there, and with 45 minutes until the 2pm start of the World Bun Throwing Championships, my brother Jon and I decided to have a Minigolf Challenge Match on the 10-hole Crazy Golf course.

The game was the first one we’ve had against each other since a holiday at Barry Island Holiday Camp in the 1990’s and the first on the Abingdon Abbey Meadows Crazy Golf Course since 1986, when a match between the six and five-year-old versions of us had fought to a draw (most likely to save any arguments).

The Abingdon Classic crazy golf competitors - Jon & Richard Gottfried

Emily and I have previously played the course (it became #31 on the Crazy World of Minigolf Tour in August 2007) and since our last visit in 2011 the layout has had a lick of paint and hole 6 has had a new half-pipe laid over the bridge obstacle.

I play a shot on hole 4 of the Abbey Meadows Crazy Golf course as my brother Jon strikes a 'Golf Pose'

In the 26-year anniversary match-up between us, Jon showed his natural Miniature Golf ability and took an early lead by winning the first hole with a three, to my four! Hole 2 saw us both score twos, but hole 3 (a very tricky hole with a nasty dip at the back of the ‘green’) saw Jon hit a five to my two.

Jon plays out hole 4 of the Abbey Meadows Crazy Golf course as Emily and Kim look on

The match continued in a back and forth manner and Jon was unfortunate to hit a five on the bridge hole (number 6) to finish with a total of 31(+11). I was victorious with a score of 28(+8). Neither of us scored any Aces – although with a ‘clause’ inserted into the rules by Jon part-way through the game it was a good thing neither of us scored a hole-in-one! The matchplay match ended in a tie. A return Abingdon-on-Thames Crazy Golf Classic tournament is already scheduled to take place in June prior to the Royal Bun Throwing for the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee.

I play a shot on hole 5

Jon tackles the trickiest hole on the course - hole 6 and the bridge

As he had played well Jon was 'allowed' an Ice Cream as we wandered back over the bridge and down to Culham Road for the day’s big Bun Throwing contest.

For a full report from the inaugural World Bun Throwing Championships please see the story “Competing in the first-ever World Bun Throwing Championships in Abingdon-on-Thames” on my World of Bun Throwing Blog.

Throwing a bun at the World Bun Throwing Championships in Abingdon-on-Thames

After the fun of the Bun Throwing we nipped to the bookies for Jon and Kim to put a bet on the Grand National and headed to the re-opened pub on Old Station Yard, The Harp. When I lived in the town it was known as The Plough. The pub is worth a visit, it’s nice and friendly with a big screen and there is also a dartboard in there.

We then headed over to the village of Drayton and The Red Lion pub where we’d heard there was a Bar Billiards table. There indeed was, so Jon and I had a two-game challenge where I introduced him to the game. After a quick run through of the rules I then watched him score a 400 with his first shot, having rebounded the Red (double) ball into the 200-hole!

Jon lines up a shot on the Bar Billiards table at The Red Lion pub in Drayton

In our first match-up I picked up the win 760 to Jon’s 680 after I shot a white ball into the 100-hole in the sudden-death shootout.

In the second match Jon built-up steadily and had a score of 850 to my 150 when we reached a sudden-death shootout. After both of us had taken a few shots at the 100-hole Jon managed to sink a white ball to win the match 950 to 150.

A return match of Bar Billiards is also on the cards later in the summer...

Links:

- Crazy World of Minigolf Tour

- World of Bun Throwing
- Abingdon Blog - "The Saving of Crazy Golf"

Related Blog Posts:

- Links to all Bar Billiards Blog Posts on The Ham & Egger Files

- Crazy Golf in Abingdon, Oxfordshire

- The Crazy Golf course in Abingdon's Abbey Meadows

- Abingdon Abbey Meadows Crazy Golf Course Replay on a Crazy World of Minigolf Tour Revisit

Visiting a further 49 Minigolf and Crazy Golf courses in England and Scotland

Exploring the north west of England, some of Scotland and the north east coast.

The latest leg on our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour has seen us visit a further 49 miniature golf courses in England and Scotland bringing the total course location visits to date since September 2006 to 495!

Of the 49 courses we stopped at on our roadtrip we managed to play thirteen of them. Some of the courses were not yet open for the season, while others were either in a derelict state or had been demolished. A few of the courses we didn’t play were open, but unfortunately we didn’t have enough time to play them all.

The 1,178 mile roadtrip took us to Miniature Golf, Crazy Golf, Putting and Adventure Golf courses in Forton, Garstang, Bispham, Morecambe, Bowness-on-Windermere, Brockhole, Ambleside, Keswick, Maryport, Silloth-on-Solway, Carlisle, Helensburgh, Bannockburn, Perth, Broughty Ferry, St Andrews, Kirkaldy, Dunfermline, North Berwick, Gullane, Dunbar, Berwick-upon-Tweed, Spittal, Seahouses and Sunderland.

North West England, Scotland & North East England Tour Challenge - List of courses played (click to enlarge)

On the trip Emily and I contested an Irregular Mini Golf Tour tournament played over 13 rounds and 201 different minigolf holes – the North West England, Scotland & North East England Tour Challenge. The competition was won by me with a total of 518 to Emily’s 554.

Our visit to St Andrews in Scotland also saw us visit and play the World’s First Miniature Golf course at The Himalayas Putting Course – a terrific minigolf location where there is a pair of testing courses – an 18 and a 9-hole Grass Putting layout.

With the 49 Minigolf/Crazy Golf/Adventure Golf/Putting courses taken in on our journey we have now made 495 course location visits since 2006 and played 297 courses!

Richard at the Zumo Cafe Crazy Golf course in Forton

Emily playing the very crazy Crazy Golf course at Brockhole in the Lake District

Richard playing the Crazy Golf in Ambleside

Richard lining up a Putt in Keswick

Richard and Humpty on the Crazy Golf course in Carlisle

Richard on the outdoor section of the Adventure Golf Putting at Noahs Ark Golf Centre in Perth

Richard plays a shot on the Broughty Ferry Crazy Golf course

Richard plays a shot on the 9-hole Himalayas Putting Course in St Andrews

Emily on Hole 17 at Adventure Golf Island in Dunfermline

Richard on the East Links Putting course in North Berwick

Richard on the Crazy Golf course in a very wet and cold Seahouses

According to the excellent Miniature Golf resource – MiniatureGolfer.com – there are 57 miniature golf courses in Scotland (and 618 in the UK) and in the few days we had available we managed to visit 20 courses there. We also spotted a few new unlisted courses in England and Scotland that can be added for future visits and visitors.

Related blog posts:

- Crazy World of Minigolf Tour
- Unplayed Minigolf Courses on our Roadtrip to Scotland & Back

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

The Polo Tower in Morecambe

One of the remnants of the old Frontierland Theme Park in Morecambe, Lancashire is the Polo Tower.

It's one of the first things you spot when arriving in Morecambe!

The "Wild West" theme is still evident on the faux shopfronts near to the Polo Tower.

These buns are not for throwing!

A batch of gluten free Hot Cross Buns.

With 2012 seeing two very special Bun Throwing events taking place in my hometown of Abingdon-on-Thames, Emily made eleven Hot Cross Buns to start the celebrations early.

Very tasty they are too.



The eleven gluten free Hot Cross Buns



Unfortunately, as a Coeliac, if I am lucky enough to catch any buns at the Abingdon Bun Throwing I won't be able to eat them, but I will be still getting in the mix trying to catch some.

Related Blog Post:

- World of Bun Throwing - Blog Updates

My Other Blog:

- World of Bun Throwing

Bollards of Britain...: A Chimpanzee, Bike and a Policeman...

Bollards of Britain...: A Chimpanzee, Bike and a Policeman...: The Bollard... We are in Luton Town Centre thanks to @putting_gott who just happened to send me a couple of photographs of some new bo...


Check out the link above to view my Guest Bollard contribution to the Bollards of Britain website.

Inventing a New Game with Food Allergens

Discovering a dodgy looking condiment.

While dining in a pub restaurant in Seahouses, Northumberland I discovered a condiment packet of 'generic' Mint Sauce.

I was very surprised to see that, while lacking an ingredients list, it had a comprehensive list of allergens it may contain!?

The 'Mint Sauce' that is best avoided if you have an allergy/intolerance

The Salad Cream, Mayonnaise and Tomato Sauce (or Tomato Ketchup - what's the difference?) weren't much better on the ingredients/allergen front!

I was wondering if spotting this sachet could create a new game - Intolerance Top Trumps, Allergy Snap or Aversion Bingo perhaps...?

Spotting two other boats called 'Titanic'

Not to be ghoulish, but with a lot of media attention centreing on the 100th Anniversary of the ill-fated maiden voyage of RMS Titanic I thought I'd post a couple of snaps of two boats I've spotted on my travels that have been named Titanic!

Now, I'm not much of a seafarer, but if I was I don't think I'd be inclined to name my boat after it! I don't suppose it's a good idea to name a boat or ship The Mary Celeste either.

A Titanic spotted in Stockholm, Sweden in June 2011

A Titanic spotted in Leigh on Sea, Essex in December 2011

Link:

- Wikipedia Page for the RMS Titanic

New Personal Best at Stockwood Park's Mini Golf course

Latest scores at 9-hole Pitch & Putt Miniature Golf in Luton.

I recently headed up to the Mini Golf course, Driving Range and Putting Green at Stockwood Park Golf Centre in Luton for a bit of practice and a game on the 9-hole Pitch & Putt course against my friend Oxana Nikandrova.

A view of the 9-hole Mini Golf course

The round of golf was Oxana's first-ever game and she scored an excellent 46(+19) on the par-27 course. I managed a new personal best round of 27(par) on the course.

The Putting Green at Stockwood Park

The course is well worth a visit, especially in lovely sunny weather. The Stockwood Park Golf Centre aslo has a good Driving Range and a Putting Green facility.

A view of the 18th hole on the BIG Golf course at Stockwood Park

Related Blog Posts:

- Crazy World of Minigolf Tour - Course Played #30 Luton (Stockwood Park) - Mini Golf/Pitch & Putt

- Crazy Golf & Minigolf Courses in and around Luton, Bedfordshire

- Crazy World of Minigolf Tour

- Pitch & Putt Par 3 Golf at Stockwood Park
- Stockwood Park Big Mini Golf Match-up - Gottfried vs. Hall
- "A very British “keep calm and carry on” brown sign…." at the Follow The Brown Signs Blog

Link:

- Stockwood Park Golf Centre

Gluten Free Food & Beer (and Bar Billiards) in Baldock

Coeliac-friendly Fish & Chips and Beer. And a game or three of Bar Billiards.

The Fish 'n' Chick'n' fish & chip shop in Baldock, Hertfordshire caters for Coeliacs on the last Tuesday of the month when many of the items on the menu can be made Gluten Free. Emily and I revisited recently and once again found the food and service to be very good. It's well worth a visit.

We also visited the Orange Tree pub in the town for a few games of our new favourite pub game - Bar Billiards. I had previously played the table at the pub in February and on this visit we had a chat to the landlord Rob, who inbetween running the Pub Quiz, showed us the new extension to the pub (host to a pub games sporting event later this summer!) and also told us about the Gluten Free food and drinks they offer. The beer they have is the Hambleton's Gluten Free Ale and Gluten Free Lager.

In our games of Bar Billiards Emily defeated me two games to one. In Game one I picked up a win 980 to nil after Emily had wiped-out her score of 350 and I scored a white ball to the 200 hole on the sudden-death shoot-out.

In game two Emily shot her highest score to date to pick up a victory 1,160 points to 320, with Emily hitting a red ball to 20 and a white to a 50 hole to finish.

In the final game of the series Emily won a close game 580 to 430, scoring 100 in the sudden-death shoot-out.

A different view of the Bar Billiards table at The Orange Tree

Knocking down two mushrooms with one shot

Related Blog Posts:

- Bar Billiards in Baldock & Knebworth

- All Bar Billiards Blog Posts on The Ham & Egger Files

- Gluten Free Fish & Chips that we've found on our travels

- Gluten Free Ales, Beers and Lagers

Links:

- The Orange Tree Baldock

- Fish 'n' Chick'n' Baldock

- Coeliac UK

Knight School at Urquhart Castle

One of my Minigolf rivals, John 'Thighs' Moore, informed me of a class that he thought may be of interest to me as a 'Squire' - the Knight School at Urquhart Castle in Scotland!

For £7.40 you can join a Squire as he is being trained for Knight Hood at the castle, situated on the banks of Loch Ness, and see if you have what it takes to be a Knight and learn the chivalric code! Sounds like a bargain.

The events are running at Urquhart Castle this Easter and are running on Friday 6th April and Saturday 7th April.

Perhaps I'll attend a session in the future ...

Video of a Finger Jousting Match between me (Squire Richard of Surleigh) and my arch-rival Sir Myles of Hampshire in a point play rules Finger Jousting match at the Luton Finger Jousting Arena on the 25th March 2007.

Links:

- Knight School at Urquhart Castle

- Urquhart Castle

Related Blog Posts:

- Minigolf Nicknames

- Finger Jousting for four years

- Squire Richard of Surleigh's Coat of Arms, with Motto (translation: Through effort to the stars)

We Spotted a Brown Tourist Sign for a Milestones Museum in Basingstoke...

One of the Brown Tourist Signs we spotted on our way to the launch of the new minigolf course at Basingstoke Golf Centre

...although the museum is of the living history variety, rather than a museum of milestones!

Another brown tourist sign spotted for the Follow the Brown Signs website though!

We didn't have time to visit on this occasion as we were heading down to Southsea.

Links:
- The Milestone Society
- Follow the Brown Signs
- The Milestones Museum, Basingstoke

Related Blog Posts:
- A Landmark On Our Travels - Photographing Our First Milestone
- The Brown Sign Way - A Website and Blog Dedicated to Tourist Attraction Signs

Not getting stang off of a fake wasp on a bollard

Someone had stuck a fake wasp onto the top of a bollard in hightown, Luton last week!?

Recently I spotted some interesting (if you're a fan of Bollards) links to the Bollards of London website in The Sun newspaper. You can also follow Bollards of London and Bollards of Britain on Twitter.

Links:
- Bollards of London
- Bollards of Britain

Last chance to watch me on The Chase on the ITV Player

Check out my latest TV Quiz Show Appearance online.

You can watch my appearance on The Chase from 5pm on Friday 2nd March 2012 at the ITV Player.

You can read a news story about my appearance on The Chase in the Herald & Post e-edition - "Richard is chasing a quiz-show dream"

Blog Post:

- Appearing on ITV's The Chase!

'Squire' Richard Gottfried receives O.B.E. Honour

Services to Crazy Golf pay off for Luton Minigolfer.

Luton Minigolfer 'Squire' Richard Gottfried has received the prestigious honour of being bestowed with an O.B.E.!

The award was announced today in a letter passed On By Emily.

'Squire' Richard Gottfried - Out Standing in his Field

Attending a Wrestling event for the first time in five years!

Last Friday night I headed to a Power Trip Wrestling event in Luton. I haven’t been to a Wrestling event since I went to the WWE TV Tapings for ECW, Raw and Smackdown at Earl’s Court back in April 2007.

I used to be a big wrestling fan and a bunch of us used to go and watch a lot of the All Star Wrestling shows back in Oxford in the 90’s. Nowadays I’m more likely to fast forward WWE Superstars and the WWE Experience but as it was PTW’s 5th Birthday show I thought I’d check it out.

I wasn’t disappointed, it was really good fun!

My favourite match saw El Technico Supremo (a Hulk Hogan-inspired Mexican wrestler gimmick – with an Italian accent) take on Shane Stevens in a great battle which was a mixture of some hard hitting action, high spots and comedy. It had the near capacity crowd of over 50 people cheering loudly. You can watch the match on the PTW YouTube Channel.

El Technico Supremo 'Hulks-up' in his match against Shane Stevens

The rest of the card saw a mix of tag-team and singles bouts, along with a 10-man Battle Royal and a PTW World title match between 'Sexy' Zizou Middoux w/ the PTW Wildcard Champion 'Perfect' P.T. Player vs. 'The Renegade' Marcus Phayer. I also enjoyed the opening bout between Chris Sharpe and the dastardly heel 'The Earl of Excellence' Robert Rochester-Rose!

The PTW show was raising funds for the Teenage Cancer Trust and was great fun and well worth the £5 entry fee for a good two and half hours of wrestling!

Links:

- Power Trip Wrestling on YouTube

- Power Trip Wrestling on Twitter

'Tenuously Linked to Wrestling' Blog Posts on The Ham & Egger Files:

- Richard & Emily Gottfried Compete in the 2011 UK Thumb Wrestling Championships

- Arm Champs II, Turks and Jobbing - a revisit to Great Yarmouth's Best Arcade Machine

- Jobbing to Arm Champs - the original Arm Wrestling Arcade Game

- Richard Gottfried - Next 'Broski of the Week' Woo Woo Woo, You Know It!

A revisit to Southsea on a lovely sunny day

A mini pub games crawl at the seaside.

After our visit to the new Minigolf course at Basingstoke Golf Centre Emily and I decided to make the most of the lovely sunny day by heading 45 minutes down the road to one of our favourite seasides – Southsea.

Outside the Treasure Island Adventure Golf course in Southsea

We had a nice wander around the town and seafront, headed to the amusement arcades for some rattin’ and tattin’ and also had a quick look at the Treasure Island Adventure Golf course (location of the genesis of the Crazy World of Minigolf Tour). Having played a fair bit of minigolf already during the day we decided not to play anymore, but instead grab some food and head to a few pubs.

Treasure Island Adventure Golf course in Southsea

Ahead of meeting up with my brother who lives in the town we went to the Barley Mow pub to check out the pub games they have on offer. The pub has some great signage on the wall outside advertising their games.

Pub games sign at the Barley Mow

We found a Bar Billiards table in the lounge bar, with a Pool table and Dartboard in the games room next door. The pub also has a nice little Patio/Beer Garden.

The Barley Mow's Bar Billiards table

In our game of Bar Billiards at the Barley Mow Emily and I tied on zero points when I wiped-out my 750 points on the black peg shoot-out.

The table was in great condition and very tricky too. There were also three posters detailing the rules of the game – one of which called it ‘Pokey Pokey’! On this rulesheet it called the pegs 'soldiers'! This is the first time I've seen the pegs on the table called this - they do look a bit like people with their arms outstretched. I haven't seen the game called 'Pokey Pokey' before either. I wonder what the origin of the name is?

The Barley Mow also had a sign-up sheet calling for people to join the pub team to take on others from The Eldon Arms, the White Horse and the King Street Tavern. We’ll definitely be heading back to the Barley Mow for a few drinks on our next visit to Southsea; it’s a great spot to spend some time and is just a short walk away from the seafront.

I line-up a shot

Emily playing Bar Billiards at the Barley Mow

The Simplified Rules of 'Pokey Pokey'!

Some of the signage at the Barley Mow

The Dartboard at the Barley Mow

After having a quick throw of some darts our next stop was to The White Horse. The Bar Billiards table here was the first one I never laid my eyes on when we had previously had a meal there. At that point I had no idea what the game was and it is only since watching Indoor League on DVD that I got bitten by the Bar Billiards Bug!

The Bar Billiards table at The White Horse pub

In our match Emily picked up a win 610 to 590 in an incredibly close game, which was finished when Emily scored 50, 30 and 30 with her last shot!

Emily makes a break

After the game at The White Horse we met up with my brother and headed to the King Street Tavern, only to find that they no longer have a Bar Billiards table. The pub did look nice enough and there was a selection of games on the bar and some local history books available for customers to read. As an aside, one of the books was 'Is Britain Great? 2' by the team at The Caravan Gallery based in the town - the book is well worth a look and includes a photo of the old Mushroom Hut on the now demolished Crazy Golf course at Felixstowe. We’ll head back to the pub for a pint there next time we’re in town.

The final stop on our mini-pub crawl on the Barmy Bar Billiards Trail in Southsea was to The Eldon Arms, the next pub along from the King Street Tavern. Here we found the Bar Billiards table to the left of the bar and in an area next to the Pool table and a dartboard. On Sundays the pub has free play Pool so that table was very busy.

The Bar Billiards table at The Eldon Arms

In me and Emily’s final match of our best-of-three series in Southsea I picked up a win 1,350 to 330 – my highest score to date. I managed to hit the 100 hole in the sudden-death shootout. This did however mean that our Southsea match ended at one win apiece, with the other match a draw. A re-match is on the cards next time we head to Southsea!

Christopher watches Emily playing Bar Billiards

Emily making a sudden-death shot

The final game of Bar Billiards saw me introduce Christopher to the game. He took to it like a duck to water and defeated me 840 to 710 in a close match that went the distance. In the sudden-death shootout he hit the 100 hole with a white ball to take the win. We also chatted to a few of the punters who were watching us play and explained the rules of Bar Billiards to them, they seemed intrigued by the game and thought it sounded more fun than Pool. It's a shame the pub didn't have a rulesheet available to let interested people know how to play the game. 

Christopher playing his first game of Bar Billiards

All in all a great finish to a long day out of fun and games in Basingstoke and Southsea!

Links and Related Blog Posts:

- Bar Billiards Blog Posts
- Minigolf Revisit - Treasure Island Adventure Golf in Southsea - Five Years Later...
- Five years on the Crazy World of Minigolf Tour
- From the Vault - Southsea Minigolf 2006
- Crazy World of Minigolf Tour

- The Barley Mow
- All England Bar Billiards Association