Jurassic Adventure Golf in Swanage

Visiting the 600th miniature golf course on our tour.

The Jurassic Adventure Golf course in Swanage

The Crazy Golfing part of our two-week road-trip around the South West coast of England began in Swanage, Dorset on Sunday 31st May with a visit to the Jurassic Adventure Golf course at the Santa-Fe Fun Park on the seafront.

You can find the course just above the seafront

The course became the landmark 600th visited by us on our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour since September 2006!

The Minigolf Explorers at the 600th course visit on the Crazy World of Minigolf Tour

It's a well themed layout with looped music from a certain film playing throughout your round. Check out the photos from our visit below.

In our minigolf match on the course I defeated Emily with a score of 34 to 39. I managed to notch up four holes-in-one and we both managed to score an ace on the tricky looking, but pleasing to play 18th hole.

You can find the 18-hole Jurassic Adventure Golf course at the Santa-Fe Adventure Park on Swanage seafront (Mermond Place or Shore Road, BH19 1DG). The cost of a round for adults was £4.00. As a bonus the winner of the game receives a medal! That's a real nice touch.

We really enjoyed our stay in Swanage. It's a great little seaside town with plenty to see and do.

Swanage in Dorset. A lovely seaside town

Visiting and playing crazy golf courses stems from our love of travelling around the UK. We began visiting different seasides when we got our first car in 2006 and after a trip to Southsea we found the MiniatureGolfer website where there were around 600 minigolf courses listed around the UK.

Our travels have also taken us overseas and we've visited a total of 21 courses outside the UK, which means that the 600th UK-specific course visit would be made during our South West of England road-trip too! Watch This Space...

Related blog posts:
- Crazy World of Minigolf Tour
- From the Vault - Southsea Minigolf 2006
- A Minigolf Visit to Wonderland in Telford (visit #500 in July 2012)
- Nearing the landmark 600th minigolf course visit on our tour

Videos:
- Emily scoring a hole-in-one at the Jurassic Adventure Golf course in Swanage
- Richard scoring a hole-in-one at the Jurassic Adventure Golf course in Swanage

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

Gluten Free in Plymouth

On our recent holiday in the South West of England we had a very nice time in Plymouth - especially as we were able to have a three-course meal together!

Ahead of our trip Emily and I had researched potential places to eat because dining out as a Coeliac can be a bl**dy nightmare. Thankfully we'd found at least two 100% gluten free places in Plymouth. One of which we'd booked a table at for dinner. We weren't disappointed.

A happy Coeliac diner

The Galley is the restaurant part of the The Maritime Inn in The Barbican area of Plymouth and the food there is brilliant.

The Crab Cakes were delicious

  

The meal was finished off with the Homemade Profiterole - it was MASSIVE!

Check out the menu online - all of the food is freshly prepared and there is NO gluten in the food or kitchen. This meant I was able to try some of Emily's meal too. The BBQ Chicken Wings were great.

The Galley gluten free restaurant in Plymouth gets the thumbs up from me

You can find The Galley at The Maritime Inn, 19 Southside Street, Barbican, Plymouth, PL1 2LD. The restaurant is open Tuesday to Sunday. Visit The Galley website for more information. The pub had a nice and friendly atmosphere and we enjoyed a few Gin & Tonics there after the meal.

We'd heard about The Galley from my fellow Coeliac Blogger Kevin Gollop's blog - Gluten Free by the Sea - the site is well worth a read and really good if you're heading down that way.

Earlier in the day I'd treated myself to a Chicken Pie and a Rocky Road Bar from The Ladybird Bakery in the Market. Another top tip from Kevin. I was well and truly stuffed by the end of the day - in a good way, which makes a change.

And elsewhere in the South West...

While we were away for a two week break I only managed to have nine hot meals. That's including breakfasts in the hotels and B&Bs we'd booked where breakfast was included (on these occasions I ordered the 'safe' option of boiled eggs - and even then my order was only right twice!?).

Other meals out included a very nice dinner at The Black Swan Inn in Swanage, a tasty late lunch in The Cobb Arms in Lyme Regis, takeaway fish & chips at Rockfish in Torquay and Brown's in Perranporth (and a horrific and eye-opening experience of how NOT to serve gluten free fish & chips in Dawlish - I didn't eat what I was served), and a meal out in Torquay (where I got glutened).

I did manage to find some gluten free pasties by Baked to Taste - in Dorset and Devon, but not in Cornwall!

There were some other places we noticed on the trip that had 'gluten free' options. But these were not safe for Coeliacs due to cross-contamination.

So it's absolutely marvellous when we find places that are really serious about serving safe (and tasty) gluten free food to people on strict and lifelong gluten free diets because of Coeliac Disease.

Links:
- Gluten Free by the Sea
- The Galley
- The Ladybird Bakery
- Coeliac UK

Related blog posts:
- Gluten Free
- Coeliac
- Funny things about being a Coeliac

Buzzworks Scottish Open Putting Championship in Prestwick

Putting Plus miniature golf course in Prestwick to host the Buzzworks Scottish Open Putting Championship.

John Hunter at the Putting Plus Putting Green in Prestwick, Scotland has let me know that the course will be hosting the Inaugural Scottish Open Putting Championship on the weekend of the 1st and 2nd August 2015.

The first-ever Scottish Open Putting Championship is sponsored by Buzzworks and there is a £1000 prize up for grabs (conditions apply, please see the poster, or contact the organisers for details).

The Buzzworks Scottish Open Putting Championship tees-off with qualification on Saturday 1st August, with the final taking place on Sunday 2nd.

The competition is open to all. Check out the Putting Plus Facebook page for more information about the event.

Good luck to all the competitors taking part. It's always great to see new minigolf competitions being set-up.

You can find the seafront Putting Green on Prestwick's Promenade.

A view of the Prestwick Putting Course in 2014

Links:

- Putting Plus on Facebook
- Putting Plus on Google+
- Buzzworks

Related blog posts:
- Golf Putting Green in Prestwick
- UK Mini Golf Competitions in 2015

Adventure Golf Island's Wednesday Night League

Adventure Golf Island at Fife Leisure Park in Dunfermline, Scotland is starting up a new Minigolf League this week.

Emily and I played the Adventure Golf Island courses in 2012

From Wednesday 17 June players players will be able to compete in a weekly league night at Adventure Golf Island with the chance to win up to £50.

Every Wednesday competitors will play both the Treasure Island and Pirates Cove courses. For more information check out the Adventure Golf Island Facebook page.

League nights are great fun and it's nice to see a course putting together a regular competition.

Back in 2008 I played in the Star City Adventure Golf League in Birmingham where I finished the season as runner-up.

Adventure Golf Island will also be hosting a British Minigolf Association tournament on Sunday 28 June. The third edition of the Scottish Open will be played on both courses with an 8.30am tee-off time. More information is available on the BMGA website.

The Adventure Golf Island courses were the 294th and 295th courses played on our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour in 2012 while we were on a roadtrip exploring the north west of England, some of Scotland and the north east coast.

Emily playing the Adventure Golf Island course on our tour of Scotland

Links:
- Adventure Golf Island website
- Adventure Golf Island on Twitter
- Adventure Golf Island on Facebook

Shibden Park Crazy Golf course

Many thanks to my friend and minigolf rival Brad 'The Fist' Shepherd for sending along these photos of the 4-hole(!) Crazy Golf course at Shibden Park in Halifax, West Yorkshire.

The course costs 50p a go - for which you get to play the four-holes three times each.

Brad's a frugal sort of character and wasn't swayed by the price of a round, so I've no idea what the course plays like. If we're up that way we'll swing by to have a look and a quick play on our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour.

The UK's first Gluten Free BBQ Meal Deal on Ocado

Special Gluten Free Barbecue Meal Deal announced by CELIA Lager.

The team at CELIA Lager have let me know about a new barbecue meal deal they've set up with some other gluten free brands.

Until the 30th June 2015 you can order the UK's first Gluten Free BBQ Meal Deal on Ocado.

For £15 you'll get 4 burgers, 4 buns and 4 bottles of beer. The price is a saving of over 20%.

Obviously I've tried CELIA Lager before (although I haven't had the new CELIA Dark yet) and I've eaten many Genius gluten free products, but I hadn't heard of Dee's or Muddy Boots until this deal.

Find out more about the offer at the Gluten Free Burger Meal Deal for £15 on the Ocado website, and the brands on the links below.

Emily and I are always looking for new gluten and wheat free brands and recently found some savoury treats on our holiday on the south west coast. When we came home we noticed that some of those products (and a few others) are on sale via Ocado. We'll be looking to do an order...

Links:
- CELIA Lager
- Genius
- Dee's
- Muddy Boots
- Ocado

Related blog posts:
- Gluten Free
- Coeliac
- CELIA Lager
- Genius Gluten Free

Mini Golf in Skegness

Details of Adventure Golf, Crazy Golf and Minigolf courses in Skegness.

In May 2011 we visited Skegness as part of a road trip along the Lincolnshire coast. In May 2015 we returned for some more fun and games in the seaside resort. Here's a list of the courses we know of in Skegness.

- Arnold Palmer Putting Courses on North Parade - includes two Crazy Golf courses (one 9-hole, one 18-hole) and an 18-hole grass Putting course.

The start of the 9-hole Crazy Golf course at the Arnold Palmer Putting course. The rocket ship in the top right of the photo is an obstacle on the 18-hole course

The excellent grass Putting Mini Golf course at the Arnold Palmer site

- Gold Mine Adventure Golf course at the Pleasure Beach - a 9-hole course.

Hole 2 of the Gold Mine Adventure Golf course at the Pleasure Beach. You can see part of the Cactus Canyon River Ride to the right of the photo

- Jolly Roger Adventure Golf course on Grand Parade - includes two 9-hole layouts.

A view of one of the two courses at the Jolly Roger Adventure Golf. We played them both in May 2011

- Miniature Golf at the North Shore Holiday Centre and Caravan Park - an 8-hole course.

One of the holes of the Miniature Golf courses at the North Shore Holiday Centre. It's not too far from the seafront or town centre and is worth a play. The nearby pub is called The Pitch & Putt Inn

- Pitch and Putt course on Princes Parade - a 9-hole course.

We're yet to play the Pitch & Putt course and on our most recent visit we were there too early in the season

- Pebble Beach Adventure Golf course at the Pleasure Beach - a 9-hole course.

We were able to play the Pebble Beach Adventure Golf course on our second visit to the seaside resort. It's well worth a play

- The Original Crazy Golf course on South Parade - a 12-hole layout.

This is the site of England's first-ever Crazy Golf course. The game has been played in the town since 1926!

We've also visited and played a number of other courses in Lincolnshire.

Related blog posts:
- Minigolf, Crazy Golf and Adventure Golf Courses on the Lincolnshire Coast

- Crazy World of Minigolf Tour

- Skegness

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

Home Counties Gluten Free Food Fair 2015

The Home Counties Gluten Free Food Fair 2015 will be taking place on Saturday 5th September.

Dozens of gluten free food businesses and hundreds of Coeliacs will be descending on The Weatherley Centre in Biggleswade, Bedfordshire for this year's Home Counties Gluten Free Food Fair on Saturday 5th September.

Poster for the Home Counties Gluten Free Food Fair taking place on Saturday 5th September

The 2015 event will take place from 10am until 2pm, with a £1 admission fee (that also includes entry into a prize draw).

The group organises a number of events throughout the year, and the last large food fair was in 2013. That event had 30 exhibitors and over 600 visitors.

As well as food and drink available to sample and purchase from many of the exhibitors there will also be refreshments for sale including gluten free fish and chips, sausage and chips, and fritters together with tea, coffee and other gluten free snacks.

If the 2013 event was anything to go by there will be more than enough visitors for the exhibitors to promote to. Other Coeliac Groups in the Home Counties and London areas will be advertising the event, and it will be advertised in Coeliac UK's Crossed Grain Magazine.

I enjoyed the 2013 event and it was nice to catch up with fellow members of the group. It was also great to find out about new gluten and wheat free food and drink (including beers). Most of the exhibitors were offering samples for eager Coeliacs to try out. Although I did notice that some of the exhibitors were not giving out any samples - this always seems strange to me as I like to try before I buy. And I've certainly bought my fair share of those gluten free products from brands that weren't stingy with their samples at the fair.

The Beds and Mid Herts Coeliac UK group has over 750 members in Bedfordshire, Hertfordshire and parts of Essex. I've been a member since shortly after my diagnosis in 2008 and have found the information in the newsletters to be useful. Attending a newly diagnosed Coeliacs event was very helpful in the early days of living life gluten free. I've also made some great friends from being a part of the group.

For more information check out the Coeliac UK Beds and Mid Herts local group page.

The 2015 Home Counties Gluten Free Food Fair will be held at The Weatherley Centre, Eagle Farm Road, Biggleswade, Bedfordshire, SG18 8JH.

I'm always keen to find out about gluten and wheat free brands that are suitable for people with Coeliac Disease so please do get in touch if you know of any, or are a producer/supplier.

Links:
- Coeliac UK
- Coeliac UK local group page for Beds and Mid Herts

Related blog posts:
- Coeliac
- Gluten Free

Spot the Difference

Spot the Differences between our visits to the Original Crazy Golf course in Skegness.

We've visited the Original Crazy Golf course on South Parade in Skegness, Lincolnshire twice on our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour. The first time was in May 2011, followed by a return trip to the seaside resort in May 2015. On both occasions we found the Crazy Golf course that stands on the site of England's first-ever Crazy Golf layout to be closed.

Spot the Differences

Check out the posts from our visit in 2011 and 2015 to see how the course has changed in the past few years.

Related blog posts:

- Skegness (South Parade) - Crazy Golf - Closed on Visit
- Crazy Golf on South Parade in Skegness

- Skegness
- Minigolf, Crazy Golf and Adventure Golf Courses on the Lincolnshire Coast

- Crazy World of Minigolf Tour

Mini Golf at Lightwater Valley Theme Park

An old Crazy Golf postcard and a new Adventure Golf course.

I recently noticed that the Lightwater Valley Theme Park in North Yorkshire has opened a brand new Jurassic Adventure Golf course ready for the 2015 season.

Our friend Emma lives in nearby Northallerton and visited the theme park last year. She let us know they had a Crazy Golf course there and we'd added it to our places to visit list.

As a fan of all things miniature golf-related I've collected quite a few mini and crazy golf postcards over the years. One of my recent finds was a late 1970's card from Lightwater Valley showing the concrete Crazy Golf course being played.

A postcard showing one of the old Crazy Golf courses at Lightwater Valley Theme Park. The card is postally unused and undated. The reverse shows the text 'LIGHTWATER VALLEY' and the address, along with 'No.7'. There is no date on the card, but with the amount of flares on show it's got to be from the late 1970s

We look forward to visiting and playing the new 18-hole course on our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour.

More information on the Jurassic Adventure Golf course can be found on the Lightwater Valley website.

Links:
- Lightwater Valley website
- Lightwater Valley on Twitter
- Lightwater Valley on Facebook

Related blog posts:
- Postcards
- Adventure Golf
- North Yorkshire

Doug Fishbone's Leisure Land Golf

Minigolf blog post about "The BEST Mini Golf Course in Venice".

Doug Fishbone's Leisure Land Golf in Venice

Running from May to July 2015 Doug Fishbone's Leisure Land Golf is a fully playable art-installation minigolf course in Venice.

The layout is is described as "The BEST Mini Golf Course in Venice"

While Emily and I won't be able to make it over to play this time, our friends Gareth and Lhurlyn Holmes were recently on holiday in Venice and luckily for them they were able to play the course on the trip!

Crazy Golf controversy with a Costa Concordia hole!

Lhurlyn plays tees-off on hole 4 - John Akomfrah's 'The Turkey Shoot Galactico'

  

While Gareth is a Pro-Putter it was Lhurlyn who came out the winner. by one-point. Gareth informs me that he had been playing while refreshed from a few beers. Here he is playing the 'Pleasure Seekers' hole by Candice Jacobs

Gareth and Lhurlyn both took a dreaded seven on the last hole (Ellie Harrison's 'Life Raft') as they hit their balls into the water

The EM15 project is a collaboration between artist-led organisations and institutions including the Beacon Art Project in Lincolnshire, One Thoresby Street in Nottingham, New Art Exchange in Nottingham, QUAD in Derby, Nottingham Trent University and The University of Nottingham.

The holes in Doug Fishbone's Leisure Land Golf have been designed by John Akomfrah, Yara El-Sherbini, Doug Fishbone, Ellie Harrison, Candice Jacobs, Hetain Patel, Lindsay Seers, Yinka Shonibare MBE and Eyal Weizman.

So, why was Mini Golf chosen for the art installation? Well, the 56th Venice Biennale called for responses to 'The Leisure Principle' - and what better way to spend your leisure time than putting around a miniature golf course.

The Leisure Principle considers the concept of tourism and trade as a metaphor to explore current global economic complexities through one of the defining principles of leisure - that of consumption - and how this consumption shapes our identity.

EM15 is a collective from the East Midlands region of the UK and aims to inspire a new generation of artists, curators and audiences, as well as representing diverse cultures and perspectives, and creating long-lasting impacts for the arts ecology in the Midlands and throughout the UK. For more information visit the EM15 website.

For more information on Doug Fishbone's Leisure Land Golf and the Venice Biennale check out the links below.

Minigolf is a popular theme for artists, so whilst on our travels we've played a few art-installation pop-up crazy golf courses.

In 2012/13 Doug Fishbone and friends created a 9-hole Crazy Golf course called 'Adventure Land' which was playable at music & art festivals and galleries around the UK. Unfortunately we were never able to make it. Although we were at The Arnolfini in Bristol just before the controversial course arrived.

Doug Fishbone's Leisure Land Golf course has got a great scorecard, branded pencil and button badge.

Links:
- EM15 website
- EM15 on Twitter
- EM15 on Facebook
- Venice Biennale / la Biennale di Venezia website
- Venice Biennale / la Biennale di Venezia on Twitter
- Venice Biennale / la Biennale di Venezia on Facebook
- Doug Fishbone's Leisure Land Golf

Related blog posts:
- Art
- Gareth Holmes
- Crazy World of Minigolf Tour

Photos courtesy of Gareth and Lhurlyn Holmes.

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.

You can also now sign-up to receive our miniature golf newsletter.

Mini Golf Sharks

Catching sight of some Crazy Golf Sharks on our minigolfing travels.

An animatronic shark on the Pirate Mini Golf course in Hatfield

The first 'actual' shark obstacle we found on a minigolf course was at Pendine Bay in Wales on a mammoth road trip in 2009.

The shark hole at the Crazy Golf course in Pendine Sands

Preceding our trip to Pendine Bay we'd visited and played the excellent Strokes Adventure Golf course in Margate. The 16th hole there is called 'Shark's Teeth'.

Playing the Shark's Teeth hole during the 2007 Kent Open tournament at Strokes Adventure Golf course

Playing the 16th hole at Strokes in 2014

The kiosk of the Pirate Mini Golf at the Galleria in Hatfield has a big bitey shark above the counter!

Kiosk shark

The Great White shark is basking on the minigolf course in Hatfield

We often visit Felixstowe in Suffolk and a recent addition to the indoor Adventure Golf course at Manning's Amusement Arcade is a shark!

Emily and a minigolf shark in Felixstowe

I've been to Littlehampton twice. On the second occasion I managed to play the Sharksville Adventure Golf course.

At Sharksville

The shark on the advertising board was a different type of character

The one that didn't get away was a different species of shark too

Look closely at the shark at Sharksville and you'll see he's wearing a bow tie!

The 231st course we played on the Crazy World of Minigolf Tour was the 'Sea Dwellers Crazy Golf' at the Golden Palm Resort in Chapel St Leonards, Lincolnshire. However, none of the holes had a shark on it.

We spotted this shark bin at a seafood shop in Whitstable in 2014

Shelley at Putterfingers also spotted a shark obstacle on a miniature golf course - it was on a Disney TV show called Shake It Up!

On our travels we've seen a lot of crocodiles and alligators lurking on courses too.

If you see any sharks on a minigolf course do let me know!

Related blog posts:
- Sharks
- Crazy World of Minigolf Tour
- Strokes Adventure Golf in Margate
- Crazy Golf at Pendine Sands
- Sharksville Adventure Golf at Harbour Park in Littlehampton
- Pirate Mini Golf at the Galleria Shopping Centre in Hatfield

Happy National BBQ Week

National BBQ Week is running from the 25th to the 31st of May.

I heard on Twitter that this year is the 19th National BBQ Week. A time to celebrate all things BBQ!

Check out the National BBQ Week website for more information, facts and top tips about barbecuing.

Have a happy National BBQ Week!

As someone with Coeliac Disease eating safely at barbeques can be a problem. Whenever I go to a BBQ I always take my own disposable BBQ and utensils. If you are cooking gluten free food on a shared grill then use foil to separate your gluten free meat and food from anything containing gluten. Even if the grill has been cleaned thoroughly there may be trace elements of gluten.

Also, check where the gluten free buns are being warmed. Make sure they are kept and heated separately from other bread and buns.

Another thing to remember at BBQs is to check whether any of the soft drinks contain gluten? I remember being caught out by own-brand colas when I was first diagnosed - they contain barley gluten! So always check the labels.

Thankfully I have found more and more products are being made gluten free, only recently I spotted that Asda have a new range of gluten free sausages, hot dogs and toppings.

Foot long and gluten free!

But above all else do remember to have fun, eat well and enjoy the sun!

Links:
- National BBQ Week website
- National BBQ Week on Twitter
- National BBQ Week on Facebook

Related blog posts:
- BBQ
- Hot Dog
- Gluten Free
- Coeliac
- My life as a Coeliac in LEGO form