Two more great meals at The Oxford Place in Leeds

Dining 100% gluten free at The Oxford Place in Leeds.

We recently dined at The Oxford Place in Leeds for the first time since the restaurant changed hands. I'm very pleased to report that it is still offering excellent and 100% gluten free food.

I had the Ham Hock Terrine starter

We first dined there when it was called 2 Oxford Place in February last year and have tried to visit the restaurant and Leeds as often as possible since then. It really is that good.

The meal was preceded by an appetiser / amuse-bouche of Gazpacho soup

Once again we had two superb meals. After having starters and mains on Friday were were unable to fit in a dessert. But we did leave room for pudding on the Saturday.

Not the most summery of desserts - but the Sticky Toffee Pudding was absolutely delicious. It was a giant portion too

It was brilliant to feast, safe in the knowledge that the meals were 100% gluten free.

Look at the size of the crackling that came with my Pork Belly main course

Some fresh Oysters to start my second meal at 2 Oxford Place

The best burger I've had in years

There are very few places which offer 100% gluten free options and so it's brilliant to find a restaurant able to cater for people with Coeliac Disease.

Little things like NOT having to explain to the waiting staff that I have a medical condition before ordering, or asking to see a 'special' menu, makes a BIG difference. And eating with the knowledge that there is no risk of cross contamination with any gluten containing ingredients is a relief.

Long may The Oxford Place continue offering diners - Coeliac and otherwise - superb food and service. I really hope some other restaurants take a leaf out of The Oxford Place's book and make the switch to 100% gluten free.

Visit The Oxford Place website for more information, opening times and menus.

We are really looking forward to our next meal there later this summer.

Bench at the end of Saint Annes Pier

As well as having a Crazy Golf course at the end of Saint Annes Pier there is a wide bench to have a nice sit down on.

The sea always seems to be a long way away in Saint Annes on the Sea

The view looks back towards the rest of the pier and the seafront itself, rather than out to sea.

Behind this fence there is a Crazy Golf course

A view to the left

And to the right

Over the left shoulder

And a turn to the right

Just before you head out on the deck to walk to the end of the pier there's another bench to have a sit down on. Nice to see the Crazy Golf course advertised at this point too

Related blog posts:
- Bench
- Crazy Golf at Saint Annes Pier

Minigolf litter

Spotting some minigolf ephemera on the streets of London.

My mate and minigolf rival Gareth Holmes has turned up another piece of minigolf ephemera - this one quite literally from the streets of London - as he found a discarded scorecard from the Battersea Putt in the Park course on the pavement outside The Latchmere Pub at 7am!

The front of the abandoned scorecard that Gareth found on his travels

Looking at Player 2's score we think they should consider turning pro.

The scores from the AME vs CON match-up played sometime before 7am on the 22nd June 2017...

Gareth has also recently spotted minigolf adverts on the tube and at bus stops in the capital. He's now the official Principal Public Transport Minigolf Advertisement Spotter of the blog and The Crazy Golf Museum.

Gareth lending our friend and minigolf rival Alan 'Stormin' Norman a helping hand to retrieve a golf ball at Wandsworth Park

There are three Putt in the Park minigolf courses in London. We've played the Wandsworth Park and Battersea Park courses, but have yet to hit the Acton layout.

The Battersea Park minigolf course

Link:
- Putt in the Park

Related blog posts:
- Gareth Holmes
- Crazy Golf in London
- Putt in the Park Minigolf at Wandsworth Park, London
- Minigolf with The Putting Penguin at Putt in the Park
- Putt In The Park Mini Golf at Battersea Park in London

New Adventure Golf course to open in Leicester

New Adventure Golf course heading to the Highcross Shopping Centre in Leicester.

The team behind Treetop Adventure Golf in Cardiff are opening a brand new Adventure Golf course to the Highcross Shopping Centre in Leicester. The new indoor minigolf course is planned to open by the end of 2018.

Check out the Treetop Adventure Golf and Highcross Shopping Centre websites to keep up to date with news of the course.

We're looking forward to playing the new course on our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour in the future.

Minigolf is most certainly booming!

Crazy Golf at Fairhaven Lake in Lytham Saint Annes

A revisit to the Crazy Golf course at Fairhaven Lake in Lytham Saint Annes.

Back in 2008 we made a flying visit to Lytham Saint Annes after a weekend in Blackpool. On that occasion we didn't have the time to play the Crazy Golf course at Fairhaven Lake. Something I put right on my recent proper visit to the seaside town.

A view of the course from the Inner Promenade

The 9-hole Crazy Golf course at Fairhaven Lake is a fibreglass type of layout with a number of obstacles on it. It's nicely set-out on a flat surface which aids putting.

A fun course for a game of minigolf

The course became the 436th course played on the Crazy World of Minigolf Tour. It was previously the 4th of (to date) 305 courses we've been unable to play on our travels.

A bit of the lake

I played two rounds of 9-holes and scored 22 on each of them. I aced the 6th hole in both rounds and also managed a hole-in-one on the 5th in round two.

Hole 1 

Hole 1

Hole 2

Hole 3

Hole 4 - the clown again

Hole 5

Hole 5 - a nice ace opportunity

Hole 6 - another good place for a hole-in-one

Hole 7 - not Humpty

Hole 8 - the bullet / rocket again

Hole 9

For more information, opening times and prices visit the Fairhaven Lake and Gardens website.

Related blog posts:
- Minigolfing in Lytham Saint Annes
- Crazy World of Minigolf Tour
- Lytham Saint Annes

A view of Wardown Park in Luton

A look at an old Crazy Golf location in Luton.

My mate and Lutonian Martin Morrin recently sent me a snap from Luton's Wardown Park showing the site of the old miniature golf courses. There used to be a grass Putting course and a Crazy Golf layout in the park.

The shed has been replaced with a different wooden structure. The bench is looking a little wonky these days

In 2015 the two courses were removed to make way for a year-long project to monitor how local Luton residents and insects reacted to a variety of new meadows.

Over the years we played the minigolf courses in the park a fair bit. The Crazy Golf course that used to be in Wardown Park was the 18th played on our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour way back on the 5th May 2007. The Grass Putting Miniature Golf layout became the 19th played on the 19th May. Until the meadows were planted minigolf had been played in the park since the 19th June 1934.

A remnant of hole one of the old Wardown Park Crazy Golf course

It's a shame to see the area isn't being used for anything anymore.

You can see what the courses used to look like in our Crazy Golf in Wardown Park blog post.

Happy Summerween!

Happy Summerween 2017.

Today is Summerween. Unless, like some people, you celebrate the summer version of Halloween on the second to last Friday of June. In which case happy Summerween for tomorrow.

Related blog posts:
- Watermelons
- Halloween

Bar Billiards at The Goose in Jersey

Spotting a Bar Billiards table at The Goose in Beaumont.

I haven't blogged about Bar Billiards for a while so it was nice that Emily sent over a snap of the table at The Goose in Beaumont in Jersey. Unfortunately she was unable to play it though as it was broken.

Jersey is a hotbed for Bar Billiards and the venue for World Championship tournaments. Although we struggled to find any tables there during our holiday last summer!?

Related blog posts:
- Bar Billiards in Jersey
- Bar Billiards
- Jersey

Another Crazy Golf advert in London

Another minigolf advert spotted on London's public transport network.

Gareth Holmes has done it again, this time he's spotted an advert for the Minigolf course at Columbus Courtyard in Canary Wharf, London.

The course was originally open until the end of June, but on the website it's an ongoing activity

The Minigolf course at Columbus Courtyard opened in May this year. The 9-hole course is FREE to play! Check out the Canary Wharf website for more info.

Related blog post:
- Crazy Golf in London

Minigolfing in Lytham Saint Annes

A return visit to the seaside at Lytham Saint Annes.

Yesterday I returned to the Fylde coast for a bit of minigolf fun in the sun. That bit turned into a LOT of minigolf as I ended up playing eight rounds on five courses in Lytham Saint Annes - a total of 79 holes.

Course one was a replay of the Crazy Golf at MiniLinks on the sea front. Good to see Humpty was still there

Course two was the new Pennines Putting layout on the sea front

Course three was an unexpected one as I didn't know there was a Crazy Golf course on the pier until I saw the sign for it!

The trip to Lytham Saint Annes has helped push the Crazy World of Minigolf Tour up to 742 course visits.

The biggest of the five courses I played was the Par-3 MiniLinks course

More blogs to follow about the three courses at MiniLinks (Pennines Putting, Crazy Golf and a lovely Par-3 layout), Crazy Golf at Fairhaven Lake and a Minigolf course I wasn't expecting to find at the end of St Annes pier!

I finally got to properly visit the Crazy Golf course at Fairhaven Lakes. Nine years after my first brief stop there!

Tenpin bowling at Parrs Wood in Manchester

Spotting some fun new posters at the Tenpin bowling centre at Parrs Wood.

We enjoy a game of bowling and last week we visited the Tenpin bowling centre at Parrs Wood for the first time in what seemed like ages. Walking through the entrance we spotted some new posters that made us smile.

I'd like to see these warning posters in more places

It's always nice to see some added FUN - especially somewhere like a bowling alley where the game SHOULD DEFINITELY BE FUN.

I've done 'The Robot' as a celebration after scoring a minigolf hole-in-one

In our match-up I picked up the win and we both got some Strikes. I wasn't far off getting a Turkey at one point too.

What do you call 'Tag'? Emily calls it 'It' or 'Tag', while I know the game as 'Tig'

We'll be back for some more FUN at the Parrs Wood entertainment complex soon. We've still got to play the Sector 7 Laser Tag game they've got there!

We were lucky enough to get magic Lane 13 on our visit. We also beat the rush and played in 'Haunted Bowling Alley' conditions like something out of Scooby Doo

In the meantime I'll be wasting some time popping bubble-wrap and other stuff on the Don't be a groan up website.

Perfect bowling conditions

Links:
- Tenpin Parrs Wood
- Parrs Wood Manchester

Related blog posts:
- Tenpin bowling
- Parrs Wood

New Pirate Adventure Golf course heading to Bents Garden and Home

Second course set to open at Bents Garden and Home in 2018.

The Jurassic Cove Adventure Golf course at Bents Garden and Home has proven to be incredibly popular. So much so that a new Pirate-themed minigolf course will be opening there next Spring!

The second 9-hole course will be a pirate-themed one

Check out the blog post from Emily's recent Crazy World of Minigolf Tour visit to the Jurassic Cove Adventure Golf course.

Emily in action on the dinosaur-themed course at Bents Garden and Home

Visit the Bents Garden and Home website for more information.

Link:
- Bents Garden and Home

Related blog posts:
- Crazy World of Minigolf Tour
- Adventure Golf at Bents Garden and Home
- Jurassic Cove Adventure Golf at Bents Garden and Home in Glazebury

RadioShack in Lytham Saint Annes

Last April I blogged about Tandy after my memory was jogged seeing an old sign for the brand at the back of an electronics shop in Hitchin.

Well, at the weekend I found another remnant of the once prominent high street brand - a RadioShack shop in Lytham Saint Annes!

RadioShack on the Fylde coast high street - still weathering the stormy retail sector 

My first job was at a Tandy franchise shop in Abingdon, Oxfordshire, where I remember selling a number of electronic products bearing the 'RadioShack', 'Genexxa' and 'Realistic' brand names.

Great to see the Tandy logo still on display

Stepping into the RadioShack in Lytham Saint Annes was like a time warp. It was brilliant having a chat to the man behind the counter about Tandy and RadioShack too.

They stock a lot of formats of tape at RadioShack

Looking online there are only three RadioShack shops left in the UK. The others are in Chester and Wrexham. As a fan of 'tickable list' challenges I fancy visiting the other two stores to complete the list.

They've got a lot of VHS tapes in stock at RadioShack

Visiting the shop was a bit like the classic shopping trip Alan Partridge makes to the Tandy in Norwich in Knowing Me Knowing Yule.

I treated myself to a new blank VHS tape

In 2001 Tandy said goodbye to the UK high street as the last of the shops were converted after their acquisition by Carphone Warehouse.

I thought the Tandy brand name was still defunct, but no - a search found that Tandy lives on as an online retailer of electronic components and kits!

Interestingly the name Tandy comes from one of the founders of a leather goods company called Tandy Leather - a business that later became RadioShack.

You can find the RadioShack at 47 St Anne's Road West, Lytham Saint Annes, FY8 1SB.