Miniature Railway at Abbotsfield Park in Manchester

A look at the model railway at Abbotsfield Park in Flixton, Manchester.

Last Saturday we were driving from the Trafford Centre to Altrincham and decided to take a 'scenic' route. It's always interesting exploring new places and over the years we've found a number of hidden and previously unknown miniature golf courses this way.

A lovely summer's day in Greater Manchester

This time however we spotted a miniature railway at Abbotsfield Park in Flixton.

A steam engine in action

The model railway at Abbotsfield Park is operated by the Urmston & District Model Engineering Society.

You can get rides around the park and there was a train running while we were there. But it was very very rainy so we didn't have a go on it.

Since we moved up to Greater Manchester we've found quite a few miniature railways. There are three in Stockport borough!

Related blog posts:
- Miniature Railways
- Manchester

Link:
- Urmston & District Model Engineering Society

The Waste Team in Leeds

On our recent trip to Leeds to visit the Collectorabilia event we spotted this nice advertising from The Waste Team.

If no one else can help, maybe you can hire...

We first became aware of The Waste Team after seeing one of their vans parked outside a hotel we were staying at.

The Waste Team van - no sign of anyone with Bad Attitude driving it

Related blog posts:

- Advertising

- Marketing

- The A-Team

Link:

- The Waste Team

Street art in Manchester

On Monday I managed to see two of the latest reactivated Invader street art pieces in Manchester.

The French street artist Invader visited Manchester in 2004 and put up 47 pieces of mosaic tile art with a total points value of 970. They look superb.

This Mario Invader is one of my favourites

Over the years some have been damaged, removed and stolen. While some have been lost because the building they were on was knocked down!

That was the case for MAN_15.

The new MAN_15 on a new building in Manchester city centre

A closer look at MAN_15

Invader has invaded 78 cities around the world, putting up 3779 pieces in total.

The reactivated Invader MAN_46. It's probably in the grubbiest location in Manchester

In the UK Invader has also invaded London and Newcastle and we've managed to find a few of his pieces on trips to the two cities.

During my latest trip to Manchester I also saw some of Mr Do Not's stickers in town.

No Space Invaders

No Monopoly

No photos and no love

And I noticed a new sticker has been added to the large Invader piece MAN_45.

The wall around MAN_45 has got increasingly busy in the last year or so

Kim Chunk Un!

Mattie 5's minigolf movie

There are plans for a new miniature golf movie from Putt-Putt and Mini Golf Champion Mattie 5.

Our friend and Putt-Putt fanatic Matt 'Mattie 5' Bellner has just launched a GoFundMe campaign for his minigolf movie.

We're looking forward to seeing the end result!

Putt-Putt Pro Matt Bellner playing the course in Arlington, Texas

Are Clacton-on-Sea and Bognor Regis the worst seasides in the country?

Clacton-on-Sea and Bognor Regis have been voted as the worst seaside resorts in the UK. 

Bognor Regis seafront from the pier

We're big fans of the seaside and have visited many coastal towns and resorts, including Clacton-on-Sea and Bognor Regis, on our minigolf travels over the last 13 years.

Clacton-on-Sea pier from the seafront

Seaside resorts were rated in ten categories in the Which? survey. Clacton-on-Sea and Bognor Regis were both rated poorly for their attractions, peace and quiet, scenery and value for money.

Bognor Regis pier from the seafront

Bamburgh, Northumberland was rated as top of the 100 seasides. We haven't been there, but did drive past it on our way to nearby Seahouses as that was more our cup of tea.

In 2011 Clacton Pier was home to a pop-up Adventure Golf course

As with most things, it really does depend what you want from a trip to a seaside. If you want a sedate place then Clacton and Bognor are probably not for you, but even saying that I have some nice memories of picnicking in the gardens near the seafront in Clacton and there are some very good spots for a more tranquil wander in Bognor Regis.

The Crazy Golf course on Waterloo Place in Bognor Regis in 2011

We've been to some seasides that other people rave about and haven't been impressed at all. That could be down to us being us, or it could be because of the time of year we visited, the weather on the day, or a number of other factors.

I've been to seven of the seasides ranked in the top ten. Only one of those, Southwold, would possibly rank in my top ten.

Top ten:

• Bamburgh
• Portmeirion
• Dartmouth
• North Berwick
• St Mawes
• Beer
• St Andrews
• Aldeburgh
• Southwold
• Tenby

Looking at the bottom ten seaside resorts I've been to all of them, many multiple times. I'd select some of them for my top ten.

Bottom ten:

• Bognor Regis
• Clacton-on-Sea
• Burnham-on-Sea
• Skegness
• Fleetwood
• Weston-Super-Mare
• Great Yarmouth
• Margate
• Morecambe
• Minehead

A few years ago another poll rated the Lincolnshire seaside resort of Skegness as one of the world's worst holiday destinations, on a par with Pyongyang, North Korea. I disagree with that result. Pyongyang only has one minigolf course, whereas Skegness has ten courses on the seafront so it is head and shoulders above the North Korean city.

A view of Bognor Regis Pier from the Crazy Golf course

Emily playing Crazy Golf in Bognor Regis

  

Playing Adventure Golf on Clacton Pier in 2011

We're looking forward to return visits to both Bognor Regis and Clacton-on-Sea. The towns have new minigolf courses we've yet to play too, an even better reason to go again.

Do you agree with the results of the survey?

Have you been to Clacton-on-Sea or Bognor Regis? What did you think?

What's your favourite / least favourite seaside?

Related blog posts:
- Bognor Regis
- Clacton-on-Sea

Cathedral Crazy Golf in Rochester

There's a new Crazy Golf course at Rochester Cathedral in Kent.

Plans for the temporary Crazy Golf installation were announced earlier this year and the new course is now open to play.

The 9-hole Crazy Golf course is free to play and is a partnership between Rochester Cathedral and Rochester Bridge Trust. The layout has been supplied by HM Adventure Golf.

It's fair to say the pop-up Crazy Golf course's appearance in a religious setting has caused some controversy.

However, it's not the first time minigolf and cathedrals have mixed. Back in 2017 a complaint was made about a devil obstacle on a Crazy Golf course at the Winchester Hat Fair. That course was set-up in the grounds of Winchester Cathedral.

The Rochester Cathedral Crazy Golf course is from the same range as the course I recently played at The Palace Fun Centre in Rhyl.

 The HM Adventure Golf course at the Palace Fun Centre in Rhyl

You can play the Rochester Cathedral Crazy Golf course until the 1st September.

The Crazy Golf course at Onchan Pleasure Park on the Isle of Man

Visiting the Crazy Golf course at Onchan Pleasure Park on the Isle of Man.

Last summer we had a holiday on the Isle of Man and notched up five more course visits on our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour. One of which was the Crazy Golf course at Onchan Pleasure Park.

This is how the course looked on the 30th July last year. We also visited the course on the 28th July, but didn't get to actually play it until the 31st July

 

The 9-hole Crazy Golf course at Onchan Pleasure Park was the 825th visited and 490th played on our travels.

Related blog posts:
- Isle of Man
- Mini Golf on the Isle of Man
- Crazy World of Minigolf Tour

Torre Abbey Pitch 'n' Putt course in Torquay

A look back at our visit to the Torre Abbey Pitch 'n' Putt course in Torquay, Devon.

On our summer holiday around the South West of England back in 2015 we visited 62 miniature golf courses on our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour.

One of those courses was the Torre Abbey Pitch 'n' Putt course in Torquay, Devon.

The course was the 623rd visited on our travels.

Squeezing 62 course visits into two-weeks was a BIG task and it wasn't possible to stop at, or play all of the Mini, Crazy and Adventure Golf courses, or all the Putting Greens and Pitch & Putts we saw on the trip, or those we'd heard about beforehand.

Related blog posts:
- Crazy World of Minigolf Tour
- Mini Golf in the South West of England

Minigolfnews blog: Bringing an old minigolf course back to life

My latest blog post at Minigolfnews is about the work of Blackpool Fulfilling Lives and Blackpool & the Fylde Street Angels and the project bringing an old Crazy Golf course back to life.

The course wasn't in great condition before the project got underway

The teams at the two organisations in the seaside resort have joined forces to refresh and reopen the Princess Parade Crazy Golf course on Blackpool's North Shore.

You can view my guest blog posts at Minigolfnews.

Lost minigolf courses - the Arnold Palmer Putting Course in Exmouth

A look at the Arnold Palmer Putting Course in Exmouth, Devon.

We stayed in Exmouth, Devon for part of our summer holiday in June 2015 so we could visit the Arnold Palmer Putting Course on the seafront.

Sadly the course wasn't open when we swung by in June 2015

Unfortunately the course wasn't open on the day we visited and even more unfortunate is the fact that the course is now consigned to history as it was demolished in 2016.

A view of the 10-hole course

I'm a BIG fan of Arnold Palmer Putting Courses and the Exmouth layout looked superb.

The classic windmill obstacle was on hole 3 at Exmouth

It was a 10-hole course, with a lucky 11th hole where you could win a free game if you rang the bell with your shot.

Hole 1

Hole 2

Hole 4

Hole 5

The Arnold Palmer Putting Course in Exmouth was the 611th course visited on our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour.

Hole 10 was a waterwheel obstacle

The venue in Exmouth was also home to a grass Putting course

The first Arnold Palmer Putting Course in the UK opened in Coventry in 1965 and was part of an Arnold Palmer Driving Range. A course was also located at a Driving Range in Sheffield.

A classic Arnold Palmer Putting Course sign

Sadly over the years a number of Arnold Palmer Putting Courses in the UK have been closed, abandoned, demolished or converted beyond recognition.

As well as the loss of the Exmouth Arnold Palmer course, the two Arnold Palmer courses in Great Yarmouth have been replaced by one Adventure Golf course. The two courses in Cliftonville, Margate were closed in 2014 and removed shortly after. The course that was once in Folkestone is no longer playable - as it was used to make an art installation on the promenade.

Luckily you can still find playable examples of Arnold Palmer Putting Courses - in varying conditions and some with modifications - in the following locations:

• Bognor Regis - built in 1993
• Broadstairs - built in 1995
• Caister-on-Sea (Haven Holiday Park)
• Canvey Island (9 holes of an 18 hole course remain)
• Cleethorpes
• Filey (Primrose Valley Holiday Park)
• Gorleston-on-Sea
• Hastings
• Mablethorpe (Haven Golden Sands Caravan Holiday Park)
• Mablethorpe (Hooks Island)
• Prestatyn
• Skegness x2 (9 and 18 hole courses)
• Southend-on-Sea (1 of 2 courses remain - the 'East' course) - upgraded
• Southport
• Weston-Super-Mare
• Whitby

A scorecard from the Arnold Palmer Putting Courses in Skegness - this has a wonderful listing of other courses. Some of these still exist, while others have closed

Lost Arnold Palmer Putting Courses:

• Ayr (Haven Craig Tara Holiday Park, formerly Butlin's)
• Battersea
• Blackpool, Starr Gate
• Bognor Regis (Butlin's)
• Camber Sands - now a Car Park
• Cliftonville, Margate (2 courses)
• Coventry
• Eastbourne
• Exmouth
• Folkestone - now an Art Installation on Beach Huts!
• Goodrington
• Great Yarmouth (2 courses) - turned into Castaway Adventure Golf
• Hornsea Potteries
• Hove
• Ladram Bay
• Leicester
• Manchester
• Minehead (Butlin's)
• Nottingham
• Prestatyn
• Pwhelli (Butlin's)
• Rhyl
• Scarborough
• Sheffield
• South Shields
• Southend-on-Sea ('West' course demolished)
• Tynemouth
• Weymouth
• Whitley Bay
• Withernsea

If you know of any Arnold Palmer Putting Courses missing from the lists above please do get in touch.

Of the 912 courses we've visited since September 2006, 25 have been Arnold Palmer Putting Course locations.

Related blog posts:
- Arnold Palmer Putting Courses in the UK
- Crazy World of Minigolf Tour
- Exmouth

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