Harcourt Sands derelict holiday camp in Ryde

A look at the abandoned Harcourt Sands holiday camp in Ryde on the Isle of Wight.

Back in October 2016 we visited the Isle of Wight and the first place we looked round was Ryde.

We're always looking for miniature golf courses and found the Pirate Adventure Golf course on the esplanade, the Mini Golf at Puckpool Park and a sign for a non-existent Pitch & Putt course at Appley Park.

While wandering back from Puckpool Park to the seafront we saw the remains of the derelict Harcourt Sands derelict holiday camp.

It's always a sad, but interesting, sight to see an abandoned holiday camp.

Harcourt Sands holiday camp closed its doors in 2006.

When the camp was open it was home to a Putting Green.

Blast off!

A look at some of the minigolf rocket-ship obstacles we've seen on our travels.

We've seen some quirky rocket-ships on our Crazy World of Minigolf Golf Tour travels.

Have you seen any interesting rocket obstacles on a course? Do let us know.

Happy 1st of October

The countdown to Halloween is on...

Are you looking forward to Halloween?

Check out my Halloween-themed blog post for details of upcoming events.

Related blog posts:
- Halloween
- Halloween-themed minigolf
- Halloween-themed minigolf at Minigolfnews

13 years of our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour

Marking 13 years of our crazy golf travels.

Today we're celebrating 13 years of our minigolfing adventures.

At our 900th minigolf course visit earlier this year

While we were visiting my brother Christopher at uni in Portsmouth back in 2006 we played the Victory Trail course at Treasure Island Adventure Golf in Southsea. At the end of our round on Saturday 30th September I won a free game by firing the cannon on the lucky last hole.

We last played the Treasure Island Adventure Golf course in Southsea on the 30th September 2016 to celebrate ten years of our travels. I won another free game then too. I also won a free game when we revisited the course on the fifth anniversary of our tour on the 30th September 2011. Incredibly I won again on the 7th August 2015

That was the beginning of our minigolf travels. We've now visited 925 courses, 39 of which have been overseas.

The first course we visited on what would become our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour

How different would our lives have been if I'd missed my shot on the final hole?

The lucky last hole at Treasure Island Adventure Golf

When our travels began there were around 600 courses in the UK. That number has grown massively in the last eight years. When we first set out to visit all the courses in the country there were only two indoor courses, one in Felixstowe and one in Great Yarmouth. Both are still open and have been joined by around 100 other indoor minigolf venues!

My brother Christopher has now been to 30 courses in the UK and nine overseas countries on his own branch of the Crazy World of Minigolf Tour. Altogether we've visited 947 courses.

Check out our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour list of courses for links to the courses we've been to.

Putting Greens at Altrincham Golf Course

A look at the two Putting Greens at Altrincham Golf Course.

While in Altrincham back in March 2018 we swung by Altrincham Golf Course as we'd spotted the pub there while driving along the Stockport Road.

Altrincham Golf Course has two Putting Greens, a 6-hole and a 9-hole.

The 19th hole is very good too.

The Swingers Open Crazy Golf tournament 2019

Enter The Swingers Open for a chance to win a trip to New York!

Entries are now open to the third annual Swingers Open minigolf tournament in London.

The event will see two qualifying events take place at the Swingers City Crazy Golf venue in October before the grand final takes place at Swingers West End in November.

The Swingers Open minigolf tournament is being run in association with Tanqueray No. Ten gin and the prize is a trip to New York for the four team members.

Check out the Swingers Crazy Golf website for more information and the event format.

Britain's Smallest Pub - The Lakeside Inn at Southport

Revisiting Britain's Smallest Pub, The Lakeside Inn at Southport.

We finished off our trip to Southport and Miniature Golf Day 2019 in the best way possible by visiting Britain's Smallest Pub, The Lakeside Inn.

The Lakeside Inn measures 22ft by 16ft and lays claim to being Britain's Smallest Pub.

We first visited it in October 2016.

We've also visited the Smallest Pub on the Planet. That's at the Cleethorpes Light Railway in Lincolnshire.

Pitch & Putt miniature golf course in Southport

A look at the Pitch & Putt miniature golf course in Southport.

We had a look at the Pitch & Putt golf course while in Southport on Miniature Golf Day.

Click for a view of the greens from a similar position in 2016

It looked quite different to when we first visited it in October 2016.

I wonder whether the course opened this season, or if it closed earlier in the year than previously as it looked quite overgrown

Only the 'F' remains on the GOLF sign atop the old Public Conveniences next to the course. All the letters were there the last time we visited

Related blog posts:
- Southport
- Pitch and Putt
- Southport Seafront Golf Classic Pitch & Putt course

Schär gluten free products in Düsseldorf, Germany

A look at Schär gluten free products on sale in Germany.

Lots of Schar gluten free food in Germany

Emily was recently in Düsseldorf, Germany and took these snaps of the Schär gluten free products available there. They are certainly different to the products available in the UK.

Savaiardi

Vollkornbrot

Pain Brioche

Knackebrod

Zwieback

Carrotinis

In 2017 Emily brought me back some Schär gluten free goodies from Spain.

Link:
- Schär gluten free

Related blog posts:
- Schär
- Gluten free

Pac-Man ghost street art in Düsseldorf, Germany

Spotting the Pac-Man ghost stickers in Düsseldorf.

Emily recently returned from Düsseldorf, Germany and while there noticed a lot of Pac-Man ghosts stuck up around the city.

This was the first Pac-Man ghost Emily spotted

The Pac-Man ghost stickers are the work of the street artist known as Pdot who has put up 2,000 of the stickers in Düsseldorf!

We're big fans of video games, Pac-Man and street art, so it was a nice surprise for Emily to see them on her trip.

A yellow ghost. The stickers by Pdot are only found on the back of street signs

A red ghost. And oh look, a tram too!

They're hidden in plain sight everywhere!

Related blog posts:
- Pac-Man
- Germany
- Street Art

Miniature Golf Day dates for your diary

Dates of Mini Golf Days in 2020.

With both of this year's Miniature Golf Days now celebrated it's worth noting the dates for next year's Mini Golf Days.

I played the Pirate Cove Adventure Golf course in Aberavon, Port Talbot, Wales on National Miniature Golf Day 2019

The first of the year is National Miniature Golf Day which is on the second Saturday in May. In 2020 that is Saturday 9th May.

We played the Crazy Golf course at Southport's Botanic Gardens on Miniature Golf Day 2019

The second, Miniature Golf Day, is always on the 21st September. Next year that will be a Monday.

The Masters Putting Green in Southport

A revisit to The Masters Putting Green in Southport.

Last Saturday we had a wonderful day out in Southport and it was brilliant to see so many people playing The Masters Putting Green at King's Gardens.

The Masters Putting Green in Southport was the 150th course we played on our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour. We've revisited the course in October and November 2016, and January and October 2018.

Playing hole 10

A hole-in-one on hole 9 of The Masters Putting Green in Southport

The course was so busy this time that we didn't have time to queue up to play a round. We did however have a game on the Crazy Golf course at Southport's Botanic Gardens to celebrate Miniature Golf Day.

A day out in Rhyl

I had a lovely day out in Rhyl, North Wales yesterday. Once the torrential rain had cleared it was a pleasant afternoon for a wander.

Rhyl beach

I met up with my friend and minigolf partner Peter 'The Crazy Aced Assassin' Jones. While we didn't get to play any minigolf we did have a couple of games of Air Hockey. Peter is renowned in the minigolf world for his skills on the Air Hockey table and he comprehensively defeated me two-nil in games, with wins of 7-3 and 21-3!

Air Hockey in Rhyl

I've never known a game go beyond nine-points, so how we got to play a match for 24-points I'll never know. I was 18-nil down before I got a point on the board. Still, at least I drew the last six-points of the game.

The Air Hockey I lost 21-3 on had the paddles secured to the table!

We had a walk around the town and seafront and took a look at the miniature golf courses there.

Drift Park Crazy Golf course

Indoor Mini Golf at The Palace Amusements

The Welsh Dragon Adventure Golf course

Rhylated blog posts:
- Mini Golf courses in Rhyl, Wales
- Rhyl

Al's Diner in Southport

Or is it Popeye's?

Related blog posts:
- Popeye
- Southport
- Popeyes Take Away in Blackpool
- Popeye, Bluto and Olive - in Edinburgh

Junkyard Golf London is on the move

London's Junkyard Golf Club is moving to Shoreditch.

Junkyard Golf Club's new venue will be opening in November

Junkyard Golf Club's London venue is moving with a new four-course venue opening at the Broadgate Quarter near Liverpool Street. 

I played the Brick Lane Junkyard Golf courses in 2017.

Check out the Junkyard Golf website for more information.

You can find Junkyard Golf courses in Manchester, London, Oxford, Leeds and Liverpool.

Link:
- Junkyard Golf

Related blog posts:
- Junkyard Golf
- London

The Summer Mini Golf Checklist 2019

Now's it's autumn it's time to see who ticked off the most on the 2019 Summer Mini Golf Checklist.

As big fans of minigolf and the summer we created a Summer Mini Golf Checklist containing 18 fun minigolf 'things to do', plus a 19th hole activity.

I managed to complete 13 of the 19, including numbers 1, 2, 3, 4, 6, 7, 8, 12, 13, 16, 17, 18, 19. The last course we played in the summer was at Southport's Botanic Gardens on Miniature Golf Day.

Nobody managed to complete ALL 19 items, but the top four who came closest to completing the checklist and so 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), are:
1. Putt Putt Bros (USA)
2. Andy Collins (USA)
3. The Putting Penguin (USA)
4. Putter Madness (UK)

Summer in the Northern Hemisphere began on the 21st June and ended on the 23rd September. During that time we challenged minigolfers worldwide to complete the 19 activities on the Summer Mini Golf Checklist:
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!

Related blog posts:
- Summer Mini Golf Checklist
- Summer

Dizzy Land

It's no Disney Land.

Spotted in Rhyl