Findar in Stockport's Parks

Checking out the new Findar app at Adswood Park in Cheadle Hulme.

This morning we popped over the road to our local park for a wander and to try out the new Findar app.

Starting this Bank Holiday weekend 15 parks in the borough will feature in a trial of a new  Augmented Reality app, similar to Pokemon Go, which allows park visitors to spot four characters. The pilot will last until June.

The first of the Findar characters we found on our visit to Adswood Park

On our 'thorough' walk around and through Adswood Park we found three of the four characters. We can't think where number four is!

We spotted this sign from the other side of the park. Emily found a witch there

The app has been created by Stockport resident Chris Hunt and is a UK first. Chris has said “There’s a number of great, examples of Augmented Reality, such as Pokemon Go,the Gruffalo Trail and Snapchat but none have crossed over into the mainstream to help bring people in to public areas."

Emily and a unicorn in Adswood Park

The 15 parks featuring the Findar app are:

• Abney Hall Park, Cheadle
• Adswood Park, Cheadle Hulme
• Alexandra Park, Edgeley
• Bramhall Park, Bramhall
• Brinnington Park, Brinnington
• Bruntwood Park, Cheadle,
• Cale Green Park, Stockport
• Great Moor Park, Stockport
• Heaton Moor Park, Heaton Moor
• Marple Memorial Park, Marple
• Reddish Vale Country Park, Reddish
• Romiley Park, Romiley
• Torkington Park, Hazel Grove
• Vernon Park, Stockport
• Woodbank Park, Offerton

Check out the news item on Stockport Council's website for more information.

You can download the Findar app on the Google Play Store.

Adswood Park is a nice small park straddling the Cheadle Hulme / Cheadle border close to Cheadle Heath. Last year we found out the park used to be home to a Miniature Golf course!

We're also part-way through visiting all the parks and green spaces in the Metropolitan Borough of Stockport after the Friends of Alexandra Park suggested it as a pleasant way to pass the time. We've been to eleven out of the 33 listed so far, plus eight that were not on the list.

Related blog posts:
- Adswood Park
- Cheadle Hulme
- Stockport
- App

Check out my latest guest blog post on Minigolfnews

Visit Minigolfnews to read my latest guest blog post for the site. It's about us reaching another big minigolf milestone - the 800th course visit on the Crazy World of Minigolf Tour.

At Swing by Golfbaren in Stockholm, Sweden last month. The course became the 800th visited on our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour. Read all about the visit in my guest blog post on Minigolfnews

New Mighty Claws Adventure Golf course at Playgolf Colchester

The team at Mighty Claws Adventure Golf are almost ready for play to tee-off at their new second site and storyline in Colchester - A Roman Ruckus!

The new dinosaur adventure golf course, Mighty Claws Adventures: a Roman Ruckus is set to open in Colchester in mid April, featuring state-of-the-art, animatronic large scale dinosaurs, a thundering waterfall and an ancient Roman fortress.

The brand is the brainchild of Allan Saud, and the interactive, 18-hole Mighty Claws Adventure Golf course is an immersive play environment, adapted from the children's story book series 'Mighty Claws Adventures' by Nat Luurtsema.

The first Mighty Claws Adventure Golf course opened at Playgolf Bournemouth last Spring. The courses feature giant dinosaurs including Troodon, Ankylosaurus, Stegosaurus and Parasaurolophus as well as a small herd of Velociraptors and big, intimidating T-Rex.

This time players find themselves in an exciting Roman adventure - appropriate for such a centre of Roman history as Colchester.

The 18-hole Mighty Claws Adventure Golf course will be open from 10am until dusk, seven days a week at Playgolf Colchester.

Check out the Mighty Claws Adventure Golf website for more information.

We're looking forward to playing the course on our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour. We've been to Colchester quite a few times and visited the minigolf courses in the town's Castle Park and Gardens. Sadly we've never played a single shot there as the courses were never open when we swung by.

This was one of the minigolf courses we visited in Colchester. We never once saw it open to play. It was removed in 2015

Links:
- Mighty Claws Adventure Golf
- Playgolf Colchester

Related blog posts:
- Mighty Claws Adventure Golf
- Adventure Golf
- Colchester
- Playgolf
- Essex

Pirate Bay Easter Open minigolf competition in Guernsey

The Pirate Bay Adventure Golf course in Guernsey is hosting the inaugural Pirate Bay Easter Open minigolf competition this week until the 10th April.

The tournament is open to all, with players submitting their scores between the 24th March and the 10th April. 20 children and 20 adults will then make 'the cut' and be invited to compete in the grand final on the 15th April.

Thanks to my mate and minigolf rival Tiger Pragnell for letting me know about the event.

Find out more on the Pirate Bay Adventure Golf website.

We're looking forward to visiting Guernsey and having a round on the new course. My fellow minigolf enthusiast played the course last year and guest blogged about it here on the Ham and Egger Files.

Pirate Bay Adventure Golf is located at The Golf Club @ St Pierre Park, Guernsey.

Bognor Regis Mini Golf is 25 years old

Many congratulations to the team at Bognor Regis Mini Golf on reaching the BIG minigolf milestone of 25 years in business!

Emily and I played the 18-hole Arnold Palmer Crazy Golf course at Waterloo Gardens in Bognor Regis back in October 2011. It became the 275th course played on our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour.

In our match-up Emily beat me 39-42 with a start of two Aces in a row. However this was followed by two 3's, but she still scored an 'out' of 18. Some superb play on a superb Crazy Golf course.

Check out the Bognor Regis Mini Golf Facebook Page for more info.

Minigolf Summit 2018

The first-ever Minigolf Summit is taking place in Costa Nova, Portugal this May.

The team at Minigolfe in Portugal are incredibly keen to get the word out about minigolf and are putting in a lot of effort to promote the sport. Last year saw Portugal's first-ever Minigolf Tour take place over three events at courses in the Azores, Vilamoura and Costa Nova.

This year the team are organising the first-ever Minigolf Summit in Costa Nova. The summit will see events take place between the 19th and 29th of May, including:

• The 22nd edition of the XXII Palheiros da Costa Nova tournament
• Meetings and events to discuss inclusion of players of all ages and abilities
• The European Deaf Minigolf Open tournament
• Minigolf School Sports Challenge
• The first-ever minigolf tournament for the blind

Check out the Minigolf Summit website for more information.

Mini Golf at FTW in Chicago

Checking out the indoor minigolf course at FTW in Chicago.

The Water Tower first hole at FTW in Chicago

While in Chicago Emily made course visit #807 on our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour when she swung by FTW Chicago at 322 East Illinois Street.

The indoor minigolf course at FTW - known as City Golf - is a 6-hole course themed on the Windy City.

Hole 1 - Water Tower

Hole 2 - Lake Shore Drive

Hole 2

Hole 2

Hole 3 - the Legendary Chicago Theatre

Hole 4

Hole 4 - Museum Campus

Hole 4

Hole 4

Hole 5 - Comiskey Park

Hole 5

Hole 5

Hole 6 - The Willis Tower

Hole 6

As well as the miniature golf course FTW aka For The Win is home to over 130 arcade and prize games, four private party rooms, a 104 sq ft HD LED wall, a full bar and gastropub.

Check out the FTW website for more information, opening times and prices.

There are also For The Win locations in Albany, New York and Denver, Colorado. Back in 2009 I actually played tenpin bowling at FTW's Lucky Strike Lanes!

We've now visited 807 minigolf courses on our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour, 38 of them have been overseas.

Link:
- FTW Chicago

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

The start, middle and end of Crazy Golf

A look back at the old Crazy Golf course at King's Parade Gardens in New Brighton.

The start hole of the colourful old concrete Crazy Golf course in New Brighton

I love minigolf history and the stories in the game. While looking back through our photo archive some snaps from a visit to New Brighton caught my eye and I thought the course was worth posting about again.

The 9th

On our 12 year journey around the UK we've seen a lot of minigolf courses, some of which are no longer there. The King's Parade Gardens Crazy Golf course is one of them.

End of the line

There are now two 18-hole Adventure Golf course in King's Parade Gardens, they are certainly worth a play and very different to the old course.

Related blog posts:
- New Brighton
- Crazy Golf
- Kings Parade Gardens - Crazy Golf & Mini Golf - New Brighton

Swing by Golfbaren in Stockholm, Sweden

Visiting our 800th minigolf course on the Crazy World of Minigolf Tour.

Swing by Golfbaren

In September 2006 we began what would become our epic quest to visit every miniature golf course in the UK. Back then there were approximately 600 courses. We're now up to 806 course visits, 37 of which have been overseas.

The upstairs main course

The game is booming in the UK and our friends in Sweden are also experiencing a rise in popularity. Our 800th course visit was to the Swing by Golfbaren indoor minigolf course and speakeasy in Stockholm.

Emily in the Art Deco swing of things

Swing by Golfbaren recently celebrated its first anniversary and our friend, minigolf rival and legend of the sport Hans Olofsson invited us to be guests at the party. We had a marvellous time and must say Swing by Golfbaren is one of the best minigolf venues we've visited.

Acing hole 12

The green of the 12th and final hole can be a round wrecker

The course has a 1920's theme and is a truly unique layout. There's an 'upstairs' 12-holes open for all to play, while hidden 'downstairs' are a further 6-holes which can be booked for private events.

Playing minigolf in the 'Living Room'

Throughout the venue you can find out about the history of miniature golf, with displays, ephemera, stories and memorabilia from the 1800's to the modern day.

A fine display of minigolf history

 

A close up look at some of the merch and ephemera

The early years

The 50's

The modern era

More memorabilia in the Living Room

Swing's balls

A nice set of scorecards - and branded pencils

If you like minigolf you will love Swing by Golfbaren.

Holing out for a two

There's a wonderful Wall of Fame at Swing by Golfbaren

Hole 9 in the spotlight

Check out the Swing by Golfbaren website for more information. It really is a must visit course.

Swing by Golfbaren can be found at Surbrunnsgatan

The Swing by Golfbaren branded - and turfed - vans!

While we were in Sweden we managed to visit nine minigolf courses - including another two of Hans' Golfbaren courses in Kristineberg and Aspudden. You can see more in our blog post 'From Stockport to Stockholm on our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour'.

Related blog posts:
- Swing by Golfbaren
- Stockholm
- Sweden
- From Stockport to Stockholm on our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour

Links:
- Swing by Golfbaren website
- Golfbaren website