Happy National Retro Day

Today is National Retro Day.

What's your favourite throwback, retro or vintage thing?

I'm still a big fan of the 80's and 90's - the era's I grew up in.

As today is the 'official' day to celebrate all things retro then I recommend a visit to Teezers Retro Golf in Coventry, Joe Joe Jim's Crazy Crazy Golf course at Fletcher's Arcade in Cofton Hackett, Birmingham, Arcade Club in Bury and/or Leeds and Retro Arcade in Warrington.

Playing Mousetrap at Teezers Retro Golf in Coventry

Fletcher's retro arcade is home to a crazy Crazy Golf course

In Pole Position at Arcade Club in Bury

I enjoyed a trip to Pac-Land at Arcade Club in Leeds just before Christmas

There is a wonderful array of retro arcade cabinets in this old railway arch in Warrington

Playing Crazy Golf at Coal Drops Yard in King's Cross, London

A visit to the pop-up Crazy Golf course at Coal Drops Yard in King's Cross, London.

I called in to Coal Drops Yard in King's Cross to play the CLUB GOLF crazy golf pop-up in the shopping and dining area yesterday.

At the 948th course visited on the Crazy World of Minigolf Tour

Hole 1 by night

Artists Baker & Borowski created the 9-hole themed Crazy Golf layout inspired by the rave culture in the King's Cross area back in the 1980's and 90's.

There are a lot of signs for the course directing people all the way from King's Cross station

Players can tee-off on the course midday to 8pm Monday to Saturday, with games costing £5 (under 12s play for free). The layout opened on the 19th February and will close on the 29th March.

Hole 3's loop-di-loop

The course was the 948th visited on our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour.

Holes 7 and 9

In my round I shot a 23 - the scorecard noted that the maximum score allowed was 63! A seven on each hole.

Hole 1

Hole 1

Hole 2

Hole 3

Hole 4

Hole 5

Hole 6 begins on the balcony

The pipe then flows down to ground level

And onto the 'green'

The putting area of hole 6

Hole 7

Hole 8

Hole 8

Hole 9

Visit the Coal Drops Yard website for more information.

The Club House

The Rules

New Adventure Golf course in Scarborough

Pop-up Adventure Golf course opening on Scarborough seafront.

Scarborough's south bay seafront will be home to a new Adventure Golf course. The layout will be set up next to the observation wheel on the vacant site next to the Coney Island amusement arcade.

The summer pop-up Adventure Golf course will be located where the Futurist Theatre once stood.

On our travels we see minigolf courses everywhere - even where there aren't any. Last June I took this photo of the empty plot of land and we thought it'd be an ideal location for a course

Last summer we revisited Scarborough and had a brilliant long weekend playing minigolf on the seaside resort's courses.

The North Bay Crazy Golf course was the 900th course we've visited overall and the 861st in the British Isles.

Jurassic Putt Crazy Golf at Roarr! Dinosaur Adventure in Lenwade, Norwich

A look at the Jurassic Putt Crazy Golf course at Roarr! Dinosaur Adventure in Lenwade, Norwich, Norfolk.

My brother Christopher and his family recently visited Roarr! Dinosaur Adventure in Lenwade, Norwich and while there spotted the Jurassic Putt Crazy Golf course.

It's an 8-hole layout and play on the course is included with entry to the park.

Check out the Roarr! Dinosaur Adventure website for more information.

With Christopher's visit to Lenwade the combined total of the Crazy World of Minigolf Tour is now at 971 courses visited!

An old postcard from Bournemouth's Lower Gardens minigolf course

A look at an old postcard showing Bournemouth's Lower Gardens minigolf course.

After writing about the old J. Arthur Dixon postcard showing the Mini-Golf course at the Lower Gardens in Bournemouth, Dorset I had a look through our collection to find the earliest posting date we had on a card of the course.

It was this one, posted 40 years ago this year!

The 'Miniature Golf in Central Gardens, Bournemouth' postcard by The Photographic Greetings Cards Co Ltd, London was posted from Bournemouth to Cleveleys in Lancashire on the 24th July 1970

You can see what the Lower Gardens Mini Golf course looks like now on the course's Facebook Page.

We're looking forward to replaying the course later this year.

New minigolf courses in the UK

Details of new miniature golf courses opening in the UK.

Do you want to have a guess where the next new minigolf course will be opening in the UK?

So far this year new miniature golf courses have been announced to be opening / have opened in Walsall, Pembrey, Crawley, Northampton, Edinburgh, Newcastle upon Tyne, Norwich, Hull (two venues), Rochdale, York, Leeds (two venues), King's Cross London, Harrow in London, Reading, Milton Keynes and Glasgow.

There's also going to be a new adventure golf course at Les Mielles Golf & Country Club in Jersey.

If you know of a new minigolf course opening do let us know in the comments.

If you are interested in installing or building a minigolf course and would like to receive specialist help, Richard Gottfried is able to provide experience, knowledge and support for all aspects of minigolf business, at any stage of the process. Get in touch to find out more.

Minigolf in Glasgow

A look at the miniature golf courses in Glasgow, Scotland.

We were last up in Glasgow for the Commonwealth Games in 2014 and a lot has changed on the crazy golf scene since then.

The first course we played in the city on a visit in 2009 was a grass Putting Course set up on a Bowling Green in Victoria Park. That course was the 89th on our travels. We've now been to 947 in total.

On that trip we also found an abandoned Crazy Golf course in another part of the park.

There are two indoor 18-hole courses at Paradise Island Adventure Golf at intu Braehead. They were among some of the first indoor minigolf courses that opened in the UK.

There is a Jungle Rumble Adventure Golf venue in the city centre where you will find two indoor 18-hole courses.

Fore Play Crazy Golf has two 9-hole indoor courses at the venue in the city centre.

Outside the city centre is Jurassic Parrr Adventure Golf, an 18-hole course at Great Western Golf

Jungle Creek Adventure Golf is a 12-hole indoor course located at SoccerWorld Glasgow.

Queen's Park is home to a Pitch & Putt miniature golf course.

There will be a new indoor minigolf course when Ghetto Golf Glasgow opens its doors later this year.

There are also plans for a Treetop Adventure Golf course to open in the city.

We're looking forward to a return visit to Glasgow and playing the courses on our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour.

If you know of any other minigolf courses in Glasgow do let us know in the comments below.

Ghetto Golf opening in Glasgow

Glasgow Ghetto Golf course opening soon.

The team at Ghetto Golf are opening a new venue in Glasgow.

The indoor crazy golf course will be the first from Ghetto Golf in Scotland following Liverpool, Birmingham and Newcastle upon Tyne.

There will be another of the adults-only courses opening in Leeds this year too.

Visit the Ghetto Golf website and Glasgow Ghetto Golf Facebook Page for more info.

A postcard from Rylstone Crazy Golf and Tea Gardens in Shanklin on the Isle of Wight

A look at an old postcard from the Rylstone Crazy Golf and Tea Gardens in Shanklin, Isle of Wight.

While browsing through the many boxes at the Stockport Postcard Fair we spotted this nice old postcard showing the Rylstone Crazy Golf course and Tea Gardens at Shanklin on the Isle of Wight.

Rylstone Crazy Golf and Tea Gardens, Shanklin, Isle of Wight. Jarrold Publishing, Norwich postcard CKIW 2309

The card is un-posted but has had the year 1999 written on the reverse. The photo on the card was taken a long time before then.

We visited the course on our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour back in 2008. It was incredibly well signposted then, and still was on our return in 2016.

Rylstone Tea Gardens Crazy Golf course in Shanklin, Isle of Wight in 2016

In 2008 the course still looked very much like it does on the postcard. However due to decades of wear and tear the base of the 'tables' meant that a new concrete layout had to be created to house the original obstacles.

Rylstone Tea Gardens Crazy Golf course in Shanklin, Isle of Wight in 2008

Visit the Rylstone Tea Gardens & Crazy Golf course on Facebook for more info, opening times, events and prices.

It's the second copy of the postcard we've got as we received one in the post from the Isle of Wight itself after our friend Cat - aka WightHot on Twitter - found some in a charity shop on the island.

A mini-golf postcard from Bournemouth

A look at an old mini-golf postcard from Bournemouth.

One of the old postcards we found at the recent Stockport Postcard Fair was this J. Arthur Dixon card showing the Mini-Golf course at the Lower Gardens in Bournemouth, Dorset.

Mini-Golf at the Lower Gardens, Bournemouth, Dorset. J. Arthur Dixon postcard. PDO/89332 Posted August 1990

It was sent from Bournemouth to Uttoxeter, Staffordshire in August 1990.

It's one of a number of postcards we've got that show the Lower Gardens minigolf course. By the look of the card the photo is from at least the early 80's.

We'll be down in Dorset soon and are looking forward to replaying the course.

The Bournemouth Gardens Classic Mini Golf course in the Lower Gardens has been in the gardens for decades. It re-opened following a refurbishment a few years ago. We first visited in 2009 and returned in 2013. The Lower Gardens have been home to miniature golf courses since 1931 when the first Putting Green was introduced to the park.

Minigolf at Bournemouth Lower Gardens

A Crazy Golf postcard from Sandbanks

A look at a long-gone Crazy Golf course in Sandbanks, Poole.

We found some brilliant old postcards at the recent Stockport Postcard Fair in the Town Hall.

One of which was this Dennis Publications postcard showing the Crazy Golf and Rockery in Sandbanks, Poole, Dorset.

Crazy Golf and Rockery, Sandbanks, Poole. P.2674 Dennis Productions Postcard. Postally used. Date unknown

The card was sent from Bournemouth to Winchester.

While that particular Crazy Golf course is no longer there, you can still play minigolf in Sandbanks on a much larger layout.

Sandbanks Crazy Golf is an fun and tricky 18-hole course. We've played tournaments there in the past.

Sandbanks Crazy Golf

We're looking forward to visiting and playing the courses down in the Bournemouth, Boscombe, Southbourne, Poole and Sandbanks areas in the Spring.

Savage Golf scorecard from the minigolf pop-up in Norwich

Many thanks to my brother and Crazy World of Minigolf Tour member Christopher Gottfried for saving me a scorecard from his visit to the Savage Golf minigolf pop-up in Norwich last December.

The Savage Golf pop-up crazy golf course was only open for a month last year.

Savage Golf minigolf pop-up in Norwich. Photo by Christopher Gottfried

Adventure Golf at Furzton Lake in Milton Keynes

New Adventure Golf course opening in MK.

A new 27-hole Adventure Golf course is being built at Furzton Lake in Milton Keynes.

Work is due to begin later this year.

We've played minigolf in Milton Keynes quite a bit over the years. When we lived down in Luton we popped over to the Centre MK when they had pop-up courses.

We also played Adventure Golf at Willen Lakes and Mr Mulligan's Pirate Golf at the Abbey Hill Golf Centre.

You can also find two indoor minigolf courses at Mr Mulligan's Lost World Golf and a Construction Golf course in the JCB Zone at Gulliver's Land in MK. We're yet to play those courses on our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour.

Three years of Swing by Golfbaren

A look at the Swing by Golfbaren minigolf course and speakeasy in Stockholm, Sweden.

We visited Swing by Golfbaren in February 2018 to celebrate the first birthday of the course.

It was the landmark 800th course visit overall and our 31st overseas.

We're looking forward to playing at the course again in the future. There are a number of other Golfbaren courses we want to play too.

Check out the Swing by Golfbaren website for more information.

During our trip to Sweden we managed to visit nine courses in 42 hours.