Free Crazy Golf at Affinity Outlet Staffordshire

There's a free to play Crazy Golf course at Affinity Outlet Staffordshire this summer.

A free 6-hole miniature crazy golf course has been set up at Affinity Outlet Staffordshire for the summer.

More information can be found on the Affinity Outlet Staffordshire website.

New Crazy Golf course at Touchwood Shopping Centre in Solihull

There's a new Scrap Yard Golf course at Touchwood Shopping Centre in Solihull.

Touchwood Shopping Centre in Solihull has a 9-hole Crazy Golf course set-up for the summer.

The Crazy Golf course - known as Scrap Yard Golf - has been created as part of Touchwood’s Costa-Del-Solihull summer activities at the shopping centre.

More information can be found on the Touchwood Shopping Centre website.

Summer Mini Golf Checklist 2019

As we're BIG fans of minigolf and the summer we've created a Summer Mini Golf Checklist containing 18 fun minigolf 'things to do' to get as many people playing the great game as possible.

1. Play at five different minigolf courses
2. Score par or better on a course
3. Compete in a miniature golf tournament
4. Score seven holes-in-one
5. Play a game of Pitch & Putt miniature golf
6. Play at a Pirate Adventure Golf course
7. Play a course with a Jungle-theme
8. Play a dinosaur-themed course
9. Play three windmill obstacles
10. Play at a space-themed course
11. Read a book about minigolf
12. Play a portable or pop-up course
13. Play at an indoor course (it doesn't have to be on a rainy day)
14. Play a course on a pier
15. Find and post a minigolf postcard
16. Post about minigolf on social media and use the hashtags #minigolf and #summerminigolf19
17. Play three loop-di-loop obstacles
18. Play minigolf at a garden centre
19th hole – Win a FREE GAME on a Lucky Last Hole!

We hope you enjoy ticking off the activities on the Summer Mini Golf Checklist wherever you are in the world.

The first three people to complete the Summer Mini Golf Checklist 2019 will win a free game with us, either at their local course (if we're in the area), or at one of our local courses (if they're in the area).

Paradise Island Adventure Golf at the Trafford Centre in Manchester

Last Saturday we visited Paradise Island Adventure Golf at the Trafford Centre in Manchester for a couple of games against our friend and minigolf rival Seth 'Clockwork Orange' Thomas.

Having recently won the PIAG Open championship Emily was the one to beat and in the first round, played on the Tiki Hut Trail, Emily took the win with a score of 37. Seth was second with a 39, while I hit a 40.

Emily playing hole 5 of the Tiki Hut Trail Adventure Golf course

Round two took place on the Temple Ruins layout. I scored a round of 35, including seven holes-in-one! Emily was second with a 38, while Seth was one-shot back to finish third.

Seth playing hole 4 of the Tiki Hut Trail Adventure Golf course

Emily and I tied for the win on 75 shots each, with Seth on a combined score of 78.

Emily playing hole 17 of the Temple Ruins Adventure Golf course

Link:
- Paradise Island Adventure Golf

Related blog posts:
- PIAG
- Paradise Island Adventure Golf

Minigolf Rockets

A look at some rocket obstacles from our Crazy Golf travels.

Putting through the rocket at Prestatyn Crazy Golf

My recent blog post about the Crazy Golf course in Ilfracombe included some snaps of one of the most unique rocket obstacles we've seen on a course.

What a ship!

It looked like quite a tricky hole to play

The green in Ilfracombe

It reminded me we'd also see another quirky rocket-ship on the Crazy Golf course at Hesketh Park in Southport.

The rocket-ship in Southport

It looks like it's been on some tough missions!

But the none of the rockets have anything on the one we saw at the Crazy Golf course on Canvey Island in 2009!

The rocket is listing more than it is lifting off!

My favourite rocket obstacle is the nice one on hole 6 at the Crazy Golf course in Prestatyn.

Hole 6 at Prestatyn Crazy Golf

The Original Crazy Golf on South Parade in Skegness is home to a very angular rocket. That hole is also number six.

Probably not the first minigolf rocket obstacle, but it is on a hole on the site of England's first Crazy Golf course

There's a rocket on The Masters Crazy Golf course in Southport too.

A rocket obstacle on the popular Southport Crazy Golf course

We haven't played that many space-themed courses on our travels, mostly because there aren't a lot of them.

Gravitee Golf in Oxford is one of the few space-themed minigolf courses in the UK

Have you seen an interesting rocket obstacle on a miniature golf course? Are they your favourite type of obstacle? Do let us know.

Emily playing the rocket hole on the Arnold Palmer Putting Course in Whitby

New Puttshack opening in Watford

A new Puttshack indoor crazy golf course is opening at intu Watford in 2020.

A new Puttshack indoor minigolf centre is planned to open at the intu Watford shopping centre next summer.

Puttshack at Westfield London last Christmas

Puttshack's first venue opened at Westfield London in White City in 2018. The second Puttshack will be opening at intu Lakeside this month.

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.