Last Friday we visited the wonderful Eaton Park in Norwich. After we'd played the superb Crazy Golf course we went for a look at the Miniature Railway. It looked like a brilliant layout.
Another miniature railway visited on our travels
Eaton Park's Miniature Railway comprises two tracks - an elevated track and a longer ground level track.
The elevated track on the Larch End loop above the line out of Parkside station
Subject to weather conditions the miniature trains operate every Sunday and Bank Holiday Monday between 1 and 5pm (April to October).
The ground level track cutting through a park pathway
A view of Parkside station, a signal box and a tunnel
The turntable at Parkside station
Larch End station on the elevated track line
Hopefully next time we visit Eaton Park we'll be there on a day the miniature railway is open.
Jack Black & his Dog Silver in the Crazy Golf Mystery.
I've been a fan of Viz for many many years and eagerly await each issue and this month I was incredibly surprised to see a minigolf story! Get to the shops now and pick up issue 266 to read Jack Black & his Dog Silver in the Crazy Golf Mystery. The tale features Kim Jong-un on his visit to the seaside resort of Twilight-on-Sea!!!
The adventure is not all that far from the truth as the North Korean dictator does indeed have his own Miniature Golf course. Check out the blog post 'Mini Golf in Pyongyang, North Korea' to see snaps of the course my friend Dylan Harris took on a trip there in 2015.
The weather hadn't been great in the morning so we weren't sure if the courses would be open. As we parked up we noticed a sign on the side of the kiosk, thankfully it said 'Open'!
After collecting our putters, balls, scorecard and pencil from the man in the hut we hit the 18-hole course for a great, fun round of minigolf.
It was a close contest, but a disastrous five on the 17th did me in to gift Emily the victory with a 43 to 44 scoreline.
After our first round the man (Rob) was eager to hear our scores and was impressed we'd shot fairly low scores. Rob told us the course record stood at 36. If we'd played a few more rounds we could've got close and maybe even beaten it. The first three holes are great ace opportunities, although there are some holes you really need to concentrate on or else you could pick up a four or five.
As the course was so good we had a second round and this time tied on 40 shots apiece. Although that did mean Emily won by one-shot overall.
While we didn't have time to play the Putting course this time, we will head back for a round in the future.
The Crazy Golf course was the 432nd played on our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour. The layout was the 734th visited overall and the 707th we've been to in the UK.
Eaton Park Crazy Golf has the right mix of hole-in-one opportunities and tricky second putts. The skill-based layout was unique and well maintained, with each of the holes presenting a different challenge. It's one of those courses I could happily play all day long.
Check out the photos below to view the 18-hole Crazy Golf course and visit the Eaton Park Crazy Golf website for more info, opening times and prices.
Hole 1
Hole 2
Hole 3
Hole 4
Hole 5
Hole 6
Hole 6
Hole 7
Hole 7
Hole 8
Hole 9
Hole 9
Hole 10
Hole 11
Hole 12
Hole 12
Hole 13
Hole 14
Hole 14
Hole 15
Hole 16
Hole 17
Hole 18
Eaton Park itself is a large heritage park and is also home to a pitch & putt course, a miniature railway, cafe, bandstand, gardens and a very impressive pavilion.
