World Art Day - Space Invader street art

Happy World Art Day!

These are a few of the Space Invaders by the street artist Invader I've found on my travels around Manchester, down in London and up in Newcastle.

I'm looking forward to getting out exploring and finding new street art when the coronavirus pandemic is over.

Related blog posts:
- Art
- Space Invaders
- Art and sculpture trails

A crazy golf postcard from Bridlington

A look at an old minigolf postcard from Bridlington.

One of the very nice old minigolf postcards we found at the Stockport postcard fair was this one showing the Crazy Golf course on Royal Princes Parade in Bridlington.

Royal Princes Parade and North Bay, Bridlington. B.2247, printed and published by E.T.W. Dennis & Sons Ltd, Scarborough & London

It was posted to a someone called Richard in Grimsby from his Auntie Nellie. Unfortunatley the stamp and postmark are missing so there's no date for when it was sent.

We really liked our visits to Bridlington. Time flies as we were last there in 2015. We must return in the future.

The World Bun Throwing Championships

A look back at the World Bun Throwing Championships held in Abingdon-on-Thames in 2012.

My home town has a very quirky tradition called bun throwing.

Townsfolk gather in the market place and attempt to catch currant buns thrown by the Mayor and other dignitaries from the top of the old County Hall.

The event dates back to 1761 when a bread dole / bun throw was held in the town to celebrate the coronation of King George III.

Since that first event there have been a further 34 bun throwings in the town. I've attended all of the bun throwings held in my lifetime.

In April 2012 the inaugural World Bun Throwing Championships were held to find the town's best bun throwers who would be invited to become bun throwers on the big day.

Throwing a currant bun at the World Bun Throwing Championships at Abingdon Vale Cricket Club

I was the second person from the town to step-up for a throw and had selected four fine currant buns for my attempt at the title. After a couple of throws between the 18 and 21 metre marks I hit a personal best of 25m 10cm to set (and temporarily hold) the new World Record and clubhouse lead. In the event report on the excellent Abingdon Blog, it's noted that the World Record was broken a number of times in this inaugural event!

I wonder when it will be possible to hold another bun throwing event?

As a mass gathering and celebration event it'd be nice to think a bun throwing could be held to mark the safe ending of the coronavirus pandemic once a vaccine is created, distributed and working.

Visit my World of Bun Throwing blog for more information.

A look at the 18-hole Splash Point Mini Golf course in Worthing

Revisiting the crazy golf course in Worthing's Denton Gardens.

Last April we revisited the brilliant Splash Point Mini Golf course at Denton Gardens in Worthing.

Here's a look at the front-9 holes.

Holes 1-9

Here are the back-9 holes of the layout.

Holes 10-18

The course was the 181st played on our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour back in July 2010.

Glo-Golf at the Riverside Bowl in Andover

A look at the indoor Glo-Golf course at the Riverside Bowl in Andover.

Last year we played the 9-hole round-the-world themed indoor glow-in-the-dark crazy golf course at the Riverside Bowl in Andover, Hampshire.

Our road-trip to Southampton last May saw us visit 18 courses on our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour.

Crazy Golf at The Bunker in Seahouses, Northumberland

A look at the Crazy Golf course in Seahouses, Northumberland.

In April 2012 we embarked on a huge trip on our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour and visited a 49 miniature golf courses!

One of those was the 18-hole Crazy Golf course at The Bunker on Seafield Road in Seahouses.

It was the 494th course visited overall and the 297th course played.

Adventure Golf at Rustington Golf Centre in Angmering

A look at the Out of Bounds Adventure Golf course at Rustington Golf Centre in Angmering, West Sussex.

This time last year we'd just returned from a trip down to West Sussex.

Driving between Worthing and Littlehampton we stopped off at Rustington Golf Centre in Angmering for a look at the Out of Bounds Adventure Golf course.

The 18-hole course was the 862nd visited on our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour.

A minigolf postcard from Rhos-on-Sea

A look at an old miniature golf course in Rhos-on-Sea.

One of the brilliant old minigolf postcards we bought at the Stcokport postcard fair was this one showing the Putting Course in Rhos-on-Sea.

Putting Course. Rhos-on-Sea. C1542. E.T.W. Dennis & Sons Ltd

Published by E.T.W. Dennis & Sons Ltd the postcard is postally unused and undated.

We've been to Rhos-on-Sea a couple of times on our travels. The first time was in 2009 and there was no sign of the course. The second time was in 2017 when we played the Crazy Golf course at the Rhos Fynach pub and restaurant on Miniature Golf Day. It was built on the site of the old Putting Course.

If you look past the course you can see the arched window on the seafront that also appears in the old postcard

Spotting a minigolf course in Oxford

Finding a minigolf course at the Fulbrook Centre at the Churchill Hospital in Oxford.

Many thanks to my friend Matt Roebuck for sending over some photos of a minigolf course he spotted on his daily lockdown exercise over the weekend.

I didn't recognise the course location when Matt sent me the photo

It's amazing what you see on your doorstep and find out doing a spot of urban exploration.

The path passing by the course

What a thing to spot while having a wander!

A look at the Crazy Golf course

Oxford's my home city and I never knew this particular course existed!

Back in 2011 a tournament was held on the course.

Interestingly it's a Swedish Felt B-Run minigolf course. While there are a few of them around the UK it's not the most common type of course. However, in Oxford we've visited three other Swedish Felt B-Run layouts. These were in Bury Knowle Park in Headington, Cutteslowe and Sunnymead Park and Florence Park in Cowley.

As far as we're aware the course in Bury Knowle Park is still there.

The one in Cutteslowe and Sunnymead Park has been replaced by Crazy Croc's Mini Golf.

Matt tells me that until six weeks ago the course in Florence Park was in place.

Florence Park in Oxford by Matt Roebuck 2020

Have you spotted a minigolf course during your daily lockdown outdoor exercise during the coronavirus pandemic? Do let us know. We might not have it on our To Visit list yet.

Matt is the author of The Other Olympics. It's a brilliant book and well worth a read. It covers a number of international multi-sports competitions.

Minigolf did you knows...?

Did you know?

• The world's first miniature golf course was set-up at St Andrews, Scotland in 1867.

Playing The Himalayas at St Andrews in April 2012

• James Barber opened the first minigolf course in the USA in 1916. The 'Lilliputian' miniature golf course was called 'Thistle Dhu' and located in Pinehurst, North Carolina.

• A Miniature Golf contest was part of the Olympic Games at the 1904 St Louis Games in the USA.

• Crazy Golf is 94 years old in 2020. The first course opened on South Parade in Skegness, Lincolnshire, England in 1926.

At The Original Crazy Golf in Skegness in May 2015

• 1926 also saw the first artificial miniature golf course open in the USA. Garnet Carter opened the 'Tom Thumb' miniature golf course near Lookout Mountain in Chattanooga, Tennessee.

• The first National Tom Thumb Golf Championship took place on the 23rd October 1930.

What are your favourite minigolf facts, stats and did you knows?

Minigolf Putting in Knaresborough

A look at the grass Putting course at Knaresborough's Castle Yard.

Time really does fly! Looking through our records it's been five years since we visited Knaresborough in North Yorkshire!

The last time we were there we enjoyed playing the grass Putting course at Knaresborough's Castle Yard. It was a course we missed on our first visit to the town in 2010.

The grass Putting course at Knaresborough's Castle Yard became the 357th course played and 591st visited on our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour. We've now been to 948 courses since our travels began in 2006.

The course is the first we've ever been to that had a sallyport and secret tunnel running underneath it!

The tunnel was built in the late 13th or mid 14th century and was large enough for a small group of armed men to leave the castle secretly at night and launch an attack on any besieging troops.

Knaresborough is definitely on our list of places to go to post-lockdown.

 

Around the world in 9 minigolf holes

A minigolf trip around the world.

While the outdoor playing part of our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour is on hiatus because of the coronavirus pandemic it doesn't stop us taking a trip around the world by looking back at the Glo-Golf course in Andover.

Our road-trip to Southampton last May saw us visit 18 more courses, playing eight of them. One of those was the 9-hole indoor Glo-Golf course at the Riverside Bowl in Andover.

Each of the holes on the Glo-Golf course is themed on a certain city or country.

Hole 1 - the Netherlands

Hole 2 - London, England

Hole 3 - Paris, France

Hole 4 - Parts Unknown! What country is this? That looks like the Italian flag. But Leopards aren't native to Italy

Hole 5 - The Great Wall of China

Hole 6 - Where is this? Could it by Thailand? Or is it Japan? Or somewhere else in South East Asia? The flag on the building to the left is part of the Thailand flag, but missing the red lines above the white lines

Hole 7 - Australia

Hole 8 - Brazil

Hole 9 - New York City, USA

Visit the Riverside Bowl website for more information.

Putting at Highcliffe-on-Sea

A look at an old minigolf postcard from Highcliffe-on-Sea.

We bought this nice old postcard showing a Putting Green while we were at the most recent Stockport postcard fair.

The Isle of Wight from Highcliffe-on-Sea. PT3098

We hadn't seen this particular card before and had never heard of Highcliffe-on-Sea.

The town is part of Christchurch borough in Dorset.

The card is postally unused, undated and has no publisher details on it. There is a code of PT3098 on it though. The details on the reverse say "The Isle of Wight from Highcliffe-on-Sea".

It's always nice to see old minigolf postcards. Some give us clues of new places to play, while others show long lost miniature golf layouts.

We had planned to visit Dorset at the end of this month, but that trip has been postponed until after the UK coronavirus lockdown. We'll have to go to Highcliffe-on-Sea and see what's at the same spot now.

I'd be very interested to hear from anyone who remembers the course and knows exactly where it was.

Looking online to see if there's still a course there my eye was drawn to the nearby Hoburne Naish Holiday Park in Barton on Sea where I noticed a minigolf course! Another one to add to our list...

Playing Crazy Golf at Haigh Woodland Park in Wigan

A visit to the Crazy Golf course at Haigh Woodland Park in Wigan.

On Saturday 8th April 2017 we headed to Haigh Woodland Park in Wigan to compete in the Great Northern Minigolf Open tournament played out on the two miniature golf courses in the park.

The second course played was the old Crazy Golf layout operated by the Friends of Haigh Country Park group.

At just £1 per game the course was the lowest price we'd ever found for an 18-hole course on our travels. Amazing value for money. We still haven't anywhere charging less than a quid.

Celebrating an ace on the labyrinth hole

The 18-holes are a real hotch potch as the courses has been added to and refurbished by different people and groups over the years. It certainly made for a fun and challenging round.

It was also nice to see a Humpty on the course.

The Haigh Woodland Park Crazy Golf course was the 728th visited on our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour and the 701st in the UK. It became the 428th played on our travels since September 2006.

We've now been to 948 courses overall.

I'd first visited the Country Park back in December 2012 when the course was partially derelict.

Playing Adventure Golf at Haigh Woodland Park in Wigan

Visiting the Adventure Golf course at Haigh Woodland Park in Wigan.

Three years ago we headed to Haigh Woodland Park in Wigan to contest the Great Northern Minigolf Open tournament on the two minigolf courses in the park.

First up was the Adventure Golf course.

It was the 700th course we visited in the British Isles and 727th overall. We've now been to 909 in the British Isles and 948 overall since 2006.

The Adventure Golf at Haigh Woodland Park in Wigan is a very large layout with some long holes and big obstacles.

Visit the Haigh Adventure Golf website for further information about the course.

The layout was designed and built by the team at HM Adventure Golf. Visit their website for more details on their work.

MuseumWeek 2020

MuseumWeek 2020 runs from the 11th to the 17th May.

Running from the 11th to 17th May, MuseumWeek is back for a seventh edition. This year MuseumWeek celebrates togetherness. The theme was adopted earlier this year and with the coronavirus pandemic reaching almost all areas of the world the idea of togetherness has come to take on more meaning in these times of social and physical distancing.



Over the week there are seven different hashtags focusing on a different area, with the overall theme of togetherness.

The hashtags are:
#HeroesMW
#CultureInQuarantineMW
#TogetherMW
#MuseumMomentsMW
#ClimateMW
#TechnologyMW
#DreamsMW
#MuseumWeek

Find out more on the MuseumWeek website.

The Crazy Golf Museum is celebrating it's tenth year in 2020. The worldwide archive of miniature golf memories, histories and ephemera opened it's online doors to the world on the 15th July 2010.

Buccaneer Bay Adventure Golf course in Littlehampton

Playing at Buccaneer Bay Adventure Golf in Norfolk Gardens, Littlehampton.

While we were down on the south coast last year we revisited the seaside town of Littlehampton and called in to Norfolk Gardens for a game on the Buccaneer Bay Adventure Golf course.

Playing hole 4 as 'His Excellency' Anthony Pope looks on

The course was the 381st played on our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour back in 2015 and I first visited it in 2012. We've now been to 948 courses since September 2006.

Since our first visits the course has been given a refurb, with fresh felt, new borders and a new pirate-theme.

Hole 9

The 9-hole course is really really big and has some very long holes on it.

Check out the course website for more information.

Splash Point Mini Golf at Denton Gardens, Worthing

A revisit to the Splash Point Mini Golf course in Worthing's Denton Gardens.

A year ago we'd just got back home from a brilliant weekend away down on the south coast. We stayed in sunny Worthing and of course had to have a game at the excellent Splash Point Mini Golf at Denton Gardens.

The hardest hole on the course

As we were up early we were the first to play the course that day. Marvellous.

In 2010 the 18-hole course in became the 181st course visited on our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour. At this time last year we'd been to 862 courses. We've now visited 948 courses since September 2006.

Visit the Splash Point Mini Golf website and follow the course on Twitter and Instagram for more info.

Miniature Golf was first played in Denton Gardens on Tuesday 1st July 1924.

We've got a number of nice old postcards showing the park over the years.

A postcard from Butlin's Bognor Regis

The most recent Stockport postcard fair was a goldmine of nice old miniature golf postcards.

One of which was this John Hinde Ltd multi-view card showing The Putting Green at Butlin's Bognor Regis.

Butlin's Bognor Regis. John Hinde Ltd. Posted on 3 Aug 1981

The card was posted from the camp on 3rd August 1981 by Babs & Fred who were "Having a nice time." It was sent to Brightlingsea in Essex.

I always keep my eye out for old holiday camp postcards. They're fairly easy to spot as they tend to be nice and brightly coloured. There's also a good chance that minigolf or crazy golf will feature on them.

I wrote an article about Butlin's postcards in the November 2016 issue of Picture Postcard Monthly magazine. That piece was to celebrate the 80th birthday of Butlin's.

My family often went on holiday to the Butlin's holiday camp in Minehead. We also had one stay at the Bognor Regis and Ayr camps. I spent many summers in the 80's and 90's at the Barry Island Holiday Camp, itself a former Butlin's camp.

Dates for your (gluten free) diary

National Coeliac awareness days, weeks and months in 2020.

Upcoming important dates for your (gluten free) diary:

• May is Celiac Awareness Month.
• In the UK Coeliac Awareness Week 2020 (aka Gluten Free Community Week) runs from the 11th to the 17th May.
• International Coeliac Day is on Saturday 16th May.
• National Celiac Disease Awareness Day is on the 13th September this year.
• The week before Christmas is Gluten Free Baking Week.

Coeliac Disease (Celiac in the US and Canada) is a lifelong autoimmune disease caused by intolerance to gluten and the only treatment is to adhere to a strict lifelong gluten free diet.

In the UK it's estimated that 1 in 100 people have the condition.