Crazy Golf in Dovercourt, Essex

Looking back at our minigolf visit to Dovercourt.

Back in 2009 we visited the seaside town of Dovercourt in Essex where we played the Swedish Felt B-Run Minigolf course at Low Road.

Emily playing hole 6 in Dovercourt

The 6-hole course was the 92nd played on our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour. We've now played 423 and visited a total of 723 since we began our travels in 2006.

A view of the 6-hole minigolf course

We played three rounds of the 6-hole course while in Dovercourt and the overall result was a 49 to 54 victory to me.

Hole 1

Hole 2

Hole 3

Hole 4

Hole 5

Hole 6

Emily putting on hole 3

The Low Road venue is also home to a grass Putting course, Croquet and a Petanque piste. We didn't have time to play the other games on our visit.

Lots of games to play

The Putting Green

Crazy Golf and Croquet

The Petanque terrain, Crazy Golf course and Croquet lawn

Our visit to Dovercourt was part of a roadtrip which saw us also visit minigolf courses at Stonham Barns, Felixstowe, Clacton on Sea, Blake End near Braintree and Hemel Hempstead.

Since our visit to Dovercourt eight years ago we've also seen there's an Adventure Golf course at Dovercourt Caravan Park. The Jungle Rock Golf course is open to both caravan owners and the general public. It's another course for us to visit on our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour when we next get back to Essex.

Related blog posts:
- Dovercourt Crazy Golf
- Minigolf courses in Essex
- Crazy World of Minigolf Tour

Videos:
- Playing Dovercourt Crazy Golf 1
- Playing Dovercourt Crazy Golf 2

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. Please do sign-up to receive our miniature golf newsletter too.

Abingdon to host first-ever World Championship Egg and Spoon Race

First-ever World Championship Egg and Spoon Race to take place in Abingdon.

My home town of Abingdon-on-Thames is famous for its curious tradition of Bun Throwing, but this year a new World Title will be contested in the town's Abbey Gardens over the Easter weekend - the World Championship Egg & Spoon Race!

A world championship winning egg in 2012

A view of the Abbey Grounds on a frosty December day in 2014

I'm quite tempted to enter the event as I have a bit of a pedigree in egg and odd athletics based sports. In 2012 Jas Kukielka and I won the World Alternative Games Egg Throwing Championship in Wales and I also took part in the first-ever Ripping Yarns Hopathon in London. The World Championship Egg & Spoon Race title - and trophy presumably - would be a great addition to my sporting CV.

En route to an egg-based world title victory in Llanwrtyd Wells, Wales

In a hopping race on Hampstead Heath

Abingdon's World Championship Egg & Spoon Race has been inspired by Paul Gustafson, the award winning local author of the children’s ‘Eggbert’s Adventure’ books.

Many thanks to my mate Adam Dewar for letting me know about the event which is taking place on Saturday 15th April. Further details are available on the Visit Abingdon website.

Link:
- Visit Abingdon website

Related blog posts:
- Abingdon
- Eggs

Crazy Golf course in Southwold, Suffolk

Photos and details of the Crazy Golf course in Southwold.

My sister-in-law Jo and niece Kate were in the seaside town of Southwold today and spotted a Crazy Golf course there! It's a course we didn't know about and one we'll have to visit on our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour when we're back in Suffolk.

You can find the Crazy Golf course at Southwold Boating Lake & Cafe, North Parade, Southwold, Suffolk IP18 6BN. I love the description of Crazy Golf as an 'ancient art' on the Tea Room's website.

Back in 2009 Emily and I visited Southwold, but found out we were two days early to play the grass Putting Green near the pier.

The Putting Green - 200 yards from the Boating Lake. It wasn't open on our visit in 2009. But the man was prepping the grass ready for the season ahead

Jo has also found Crazy Golf courses on her travels, notably in Puerto del Carmen, Lanzarote and in Bury St Edmunds.

Related blog posts:
- Southwold
- Jo Tubby
- Crazy World of Minigolf Tour

Links:
- Southwold Boating Lake & Cafe website
- Southwold Boating Lake & Cafe on Facebook
- Southwold Boating Lake & Cafe on Twitter

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. Please do sign-up to receive our miniature golf newsletter too.

Crazy Golf at Seawick Holiday Park in St Osyth

Details of the Crazy Golf course at Seawick Holiday Park in St Osyth, near Clacton-on-Sea, Essex.

My cousins were recently at Seawick Holiday Park St Osyth near Clacton-on-Sea in Essex and sent me some snaps of them playing the Crazy Golf course. It certainly looks like a unique layout!

A view of the Crazy Golf course at Seawick Holiday Park

I've never played a course laid out on sand before!

Adam tells me the sand was very we too. It can't have made for easy putting!

Visit the Seawick Holiday Park website for more details of the Park Holidays venue.

We've visited Clacton-on-Sea a few times on our travels, most recently in 2015, and always enjoy spending time in the seaside town.

Link:
- Seawick Holiday Park website

Related blog posts:
- Essex
- Clacton
- Minigolf and Crazy Golf in Essex

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. Please do sign-up to receive our miniature golf newsletter too.

Interesting benches at Vernon Park in Stockport

A visit to Stockport's Vernon Park.

Last weekend we were in the Offerton area of Stockport for the first time since moving to the Borough last summer and so headed along to have a wander around Vernon Park - the town's oldest public park. While there we spotted some park benches which may be of interest to the Park Bench Appreciation Society.

The centrepiece of the Sunken Rose Garden in Vernon Park

The Sunken Rose Garden is home to a number of wooden benches, with a special bench at the far end of what was once the 'Top Pond' in the park, prior to its drainage in the 1930s.

The path to the benches

The special bench at the end

Left bench

Right bench

  

The middle benches from outside the Sunken Rose Garden

One side of the special bench

The other side of the special bench

Having a nice sit down

Vernon Park Museum behind the bench

One of the other park benches. Home to a lost jacket. Also note the two dogs having a bit of a set-to in the photo

Vernon Park was opened in 1858 and was known variously as Pinch Belly Park or the People’s Park.

Related blog posts:
- Dull Men's Club
- Park Bench Appreciation Society
- Stockport
- Park

Links:
- Park Bench Appreciation Society
- Vernon Park, Stockport

Free Jaffa Cake... if you buy a tyre

What a sales promotion!

While in Altrincham I spotted this great bit of advertising for The Tyre Warehouse.

A free Jaffa Cake with every tyre at The Tyre Warehouse in Altrincham. Why yes, I'll take a dozen!

I wonder how many people take up the offer?

Related blog posts:
- Marketing
- Funny sign

Link:
- The Tyre Warehouse

Amaze Miniature Park and a model village of Abingdon

Abingdon in Miniature and a minigolf course.

My mum and dad read about a model village in Australia based on Abingdon in Wednesday's Oxford Mail. Amaze Miniature Park in Western Australia also has a minigolf course.

Among the town landmarks featured at Amaze Miniature Park are the County Hall Museum (from which buns are thrown on special occasions), St Nicholas Church and the Old Anchor Inn.

Abingdon's County Hall and Museum during the last Bun Throwing

I grew up in Abingdon (renamed Abingdon-on-Thames in February 2012) and always revisit the town to take part in the Bun Throwing spectacle.

Check out the story about Amaze Miniature Park (formerly Abingdon Miniature Village) near Mandurah in Western Australia on the Oxford Mail website.

It's funny that Amaze Miniature Park has a minigolf course too as the Crazy Golf course in Abingdon's Abbey Meadows closed at the end of last season following many many years of use.

A photo taken on my very last visit to the very first Crazy Golf course I ever played

Emily has played the Glow Golf indoor minigolf course in Melbourne, Australia. If we both visit the country in the future we'll have to visit Amaze Miniature Park.

Links:
- Amaze Miniature Park
- World of Bun Throwing

Related blog posts:
- Abingdon
- Australia
- Crazy World of Minigolf Tour
- Model Village
- Last visit to Abingdon's Crazy Golf course
- Photos of Abingdon's Crazy Golf course
- Crazy Golf in Abingdon, Oxfordshire

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. Please do sign-up to receive our miniature golf newsletter too.

Time Machine Minigolf in Warsaw, Poland

Visiting the indoor UV blacklight minigolf course at Blue City in Warsaw.

Emily recently made the Crazy World of Minigolf Tour's 27th minigolf course visit overseas when she swung by Time Machine Minigolf at Blue City in Warsaw, Poland. It looks superb.

Time Travel Minigolf in Warsaw

The 18-hole minigolf course takes players through a fantastic time travelling adventure - from the big bang, to the jurassic era, through mankind's achievements and a vision of the future!

The loop-di-loop obstacle is also a time machine!

We have now visited 723 miniature golf courses since September 2006. 696 of those were in the UK, with 27 overseas.

You get to play through the Wild West at Time Travel Minigolf

Check out the Time Machine Minigolf website for more information, opening times and prices.

What a BIG minigolf ball!

We've visited a number of indoor minigolf courses on our travels and they're becoming more and more popular around the world.

Some of the dinosaur theming at the course

2017 could very well be the year of Time Travel as charter member of the Crazy World of Minigolf Tour Christopher Gottfried visited the time travel themed GlowGolf minigolf course in Amsterdam in January.

The closest I've been to a minigolf time machine recently was hitting the Doomsday Device at Mr Mulligan's Lost World Adventure Golf in Stevenage last year. Although back in 2012 I did play a Time Machine hole at the Golf Apocalypse in London.

Links:
- Time Machine Minigolf website
- Time Machine Minigolf on Facebook

Related blog posts:
- Crazy World of Minigolf Tour
- Indoor Minigolf

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. Please do sign-up to receive our miniature golf newsletter too.

The first and last bench in Cheadle Hulme

A look at a bench, and a view from it, in Cheadle Hulme.

While having a walk around my local park this morning I thought the views below may be of interest to my fellow members of the Dull Men's Club and the Park Bench Appreciation Society.

There are some nice flowers in Adswood Park

Adswood Park straddles the Cheadle Hulme and Cheadle border. It's also very close to Cheadle Heath. The park bench to the left of the photo is the first and last in Cheadle Hulme

A view of the park bench from the Cheadle Hulme side

Lidl - located in Cheadle - can be seen in the background of this photo

A closer look at the park bench. And a Stockport Council bin

As well as watching planes coming in to land at Manchester Airport you can also hear and see trains on the Cheadle Hulme to Stockport line while sat on the bench (trains not pictured)

Related blog posts:
- Dull Men's Club
- Park Bench Appreciation Society

New Free From range at Morrisons

Morrisons launches new Free From products.

Towards the end of last month Morrisons expanded its range of Free From products and the news sent ripples of excitement through the Coeliac and Gluten Free communities. I was particularly excited to hear that there were going to be new Curly Fries in the range, along with a number of other sweet and savoury treats.

The Curly Fries and Mini Hash Browns are only £1 a bag. Bargain

The updated branding, word of mouth buzz and excitement and the promise of new gluten and wheat free products at Morrisons means I've been spending a lot more time (and money) at my local store in Cheadle Heath. Much of the last two weeks has been spent keeping an eye out for the Curly Fries and Hash Browns. Luckily I managed to track some down on my dinner break today. I know what I'll be having for tea tonight!

The freezer section has a number of new Free From products

Looking in the Free From section I noticed a number of other gluten free products from brands outside of the Morrisons own-brand range, which is great to see.

A selection of the new gluten free cereals in the Free From section at Morrisons

Last year Morrisons expanded the range of Free From products available in store and so it's brilliant they are continuing to provide products that are safe and suitable for people with allergies, intolerances and autoimmune diseases (such as Coeliac Disease).

Check out the Morrisons website for details of their Free From range.

Related blog posts:
- Morrisons
- Gluten Free
- Coeliac

Link:
- Morrisons

Trams in Warsaw, Poland

A view of some trams in Warsaw.

Emily knows me so well and brought me back this great snap of some trams in Warsaw, Poland following her recent trip to the country.

The older of the two trams could well be the Polish tram equivalent of the dreaded Pacer Railbuses we have here.

You can see how efficiently the trams and traffic operates in Warsaw in the video below.



We haven't got any trams in the Metropolitan Borough of Stockport yet, but we're surrounded by areas of Greater Manchester that do have tram lines. Some stations share both heavy and light rail operations.



We've seen quite a few trams on our travels over the years.

One of the trams next to the abandoned Crazy Golf course at Starr Gate in Blackpool

Related videos:
- ABC Weekend Television Tram at Blackpool Illuminations October 2016
- Tram at Manchester Victoria railway station January 2017
- Two minutes of Trams in Warsaw, Poland February 2017

Related blog posts:
- Train nerdery

Krynica Morska Minigolf Open tournament in Poland

Details of the Krynica Morska Minigolf Open competition in Poland.

My friend Paweł Larus has sent over details of the 2017 Krynica Morska Minigolf Open tournament taking place in Poland this summer.

A view of the venue in Krynica Morska (photo by Sopot Minigolf Club)

The two-day competition is the 5th edition and will take place on the 18-hole Miniaturegolf (Eternit) course at Krynica Morska on the 24th and 25th June. The nearest airport is Gdansk. You can find out more details on the event on the Sopot Minigolf Club website.

There will be prizes in Open, Seniors, Juniors, Men, Women and Team categories and all participants will play 5 rounds on the Saturday and 3 rounds on Sunday. Competition in each category, except Open, will finish after 8 rounds. The 9th round is played by the best 8 players of the Open category. Entry to the tournament is 60PLN (€15) per player and registration closes on the 15th June.

Emily playing the Eternit Miniaturegolf course in Stockholm, Sweden during the WMF Nations Cip

We've played a number of Eternit Miniature Golf courses on our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour, includng two in overseas tournaments. Emily has shot a 24 in competition on an Eternit course - at the 2011 WMF Nations Cup in Sweden - which is still a national women's record score on the Miniaturegolf format of the game.

The World Minigolf Sport Federation (WMF) is the umbrella organisation of 63 Minigolf sports associations worldwide and recognises four types of minigolf - MOS, Concrete, Miniaturegolf and Feltgolf.

Links:
- Minigolf Club Sopot website
- World Minigolf Sport Federation website

Related blog posts:
- Eternit
- Eternite

Happy March

Find out about the Cumberland Pencil Museum in the Dull Men's Club 2017 Calendar.

The star of March in the Dull Men's Club 2017 Calendar is Dawn Walker, the Curator of the Cumberland Pencil Museum in Keswick.

March 2017

Back in 2012 we visited Keswick but didn't have time to visit the Cumberland Pencil Museum as we played the minigolf course at Hope Park instead.

Keswick was a wonderful spot for an afternoon of miniature golf

As well as being addicted to minigolf, we also run a museum dedicated to the world of Crazy Golf. We've got a lot of pencils in the archives. They've been an essential part of the game since it was invented in 1867.

Two of the many minigolf pencils stashed in the vaults of the Crazy Golf Museum

Our obsession with miniature golf has also got us included in the Dull Men's Club 2017 Calendar. You can see us in the month of July.

The Dull Men's Club is a place where dull men, and women who appreciate dull men, share thoughts and experiences about ordinary things

The Dull Men's Club 2017 calendar also features a cutlery sculptor, tombstone traveller, prefabricated buildings fan, lost glove spotter, a bubbleologist, giant pumpkin growers, a barbed wire enthusiast, a brown sign follower, village pump spotter, a vintage radio collector, and a couple who built a life-size railway station in their back garden.

Visit the Cumberland Pencil Museum website for more information.

Links:
- Dull Men's Club
- Cumberland Pencil Museum
- The Crazy Golf Museum

Related blog posts:
- Dull Men's Club
- Pencils
- Keswick