Sharks at Pirate Cove Adventure Golf in Aberavon, Port Talbot

A look at the sharks at Pirate Cove Adventure Golf in Aberavon, Port Talbot, Wales.

The 12-hole Pirate Cove Adventure Golf course became the 885th course visited and 516th played on our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour.

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An old Crazy Golf course in Pontypool Park

That time we found a derelict Crazy Golf course in a hedge.

You could see where the lanes of the miniature golf course used to be set up

This was back in August 2010.

The Eternit Miniature Golf course in Pontypool Park/Parc Pont-y-pŵl had been removed from its foundations and put in a hedge.

Such a sad sight to see.

We've played a number of Eternit Miniature Golf courses on our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour in a variety of conditions. But the one in Pontypool was the worst of the lot.

It was one of the oddest of the many lost, abandoned and derelict minigolf courses we've found on our travels.

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Minigolf in Cleethorpes

We were in Cleethorpes two years ago.

Time has flown by!

What a seaside.

There are five miniature golf courses there.

Clockwise from top left Terry's Traditional Crazy Golf (also home to a Putting Green), Oddball's Crazy Golf, Pirate Adventure Golf at the Fairworld Amusements and the Arnold Palmer Putting course 

We hope to return one day.

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Princess Parade Crazy Golf in Blackpool, May 2019

I was in Blackpool a year ago today!

I visited the seaside resort to meet with the teams at Blackpool Fulfilling Lives and Blackpool and the Fylde Street Angels.

The two groups have joined forces to refresh and reopen the Princess Parade Crazy Golf course on Blackpool's North Shore.

Princess Parade Crazy Golf in Blackpool, May 2019

The course has now received the green light from Blackpool Council and will be opening once the refurbishment work is complete and it is safe to do so.

The course will retain as many of the original obstacles as possible, with repairs made to damaged elements.

It's a pleasure to be a part of the Princess Parade Crazy Golf project and I've enjoyed working with the teams at Blackpool Fulfilling Lives and Blackpool & the Fylde Street Angels, Blackpool Council and the Blackpool Civic Trust.

More information on the project can be found on the Blackpool Princess Parade Crazy Golf Facebook Group and via Blackpool Fulfilling Lives and Blackpool and the Fylde Street Angels.

The area has been given a massive clean up by the project team. This is how the course looked in October last year.

Princess Parade Crazy Golf in Blackpool, October 2019

Results of the Putt18 4 Nations Cup

Results of the Putt18 4 Nations Cup international golf putting tournament.

We played in the inaugural Putt18 4 Nations Cup international miniature golf putting competition at the weekend.

The event saw us compete for the UK against pairs from Australia, New Zealand and the USA.

Each player had a 16-minute time limit to play four 18-hole rounds for a 72-hole total score.

The results of the Putt18 4 Nations Cup

The event was won by the New Zealand team of Cameron Couper and Matt Ansley with an 8-round total of 572.

The Australian duo of Josh Mars and Nathan Lamplough were runners-up with a total of 583.

The USA team of Pat Sheridan and Tom Loftus were in third place with a total of 604.

Emily and I shot an 8-round total of 658. Not too bad considering we only had a day to practice!

The low round of the event was shot by Australia's Josh Mars with a score of 65.

We're looking forward to playing some more competitions and friendlies on the Putt18 game mat. We'll be trying out the set in different spots around the house to find the optimum putting surface too.

Many thanks to the team at Putt18 for sending us the game mat and selecting us to play in the event.

Visit the Putt18 website for more information.

You can watch each player's four rounds in the videos in this blog post about the competition.

New Adventure Golf course could be built in Andover

There are plans for a new Adventure Golf course in Andover, Hampshire.

Plans have been submitted for a new Iron Age themed Adventure Golf course in Andover.

The course would be designed and built by Greenspan Leisure and is planned to replace the existing minigolf course at Charlton Leisure Centre.

The current Adventure Golf course there was the 255th we played on our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour back in July 2011.

Adventure Golf at Charlton Leisure Centre in Andover, July 2011

On that occasion we took a wrong turn en route to Wales and found the course was open to play!

The plans are the first I've heard about for a new course since before the coronavirus pandemic.

The last new course I'd heard about before lockdown was a new Crazy Golf course being created as part of a new adventure play centre in Dundee.

A holiday at Barry Island

A holiday at Barry Island, Wales.

A view of Nell's Point from the beach in Barry Island. The area was once home to a brilliant holiday camp

My family used to go on holiday to Barry Island in the late 80's and 90's and loved it there. The holiday camp was absolutely marvellous, with everything from swimming to Crazy Golf, to snooker and darts, to the fun fair and more - all free of charge once you had checked in.

The slides on the outdoor pool at Barry Island

My brothers and I would spend hours going from one activity to another and then spend the evening in the arcades on the camp and on the seafront playing games such as Blasteroids, Xybots, Double Dragon and Wardner. Halcyon days.

A view towards the fun fair outside the camp looking across the outdoor pool

A view of the outdoor pool area and indoor pool building

We were lucky that on our first few holidays there we were able to ride the chair lifts too as they were removed in 1989.

The Chair Lifts at Barry Island holiday camp

I recently had my family's cinefilm footage digitised and it was wonderful to see there was film from our holiday to the camp in 1989.

On holiday, from l-r my brother Jon, my mum, my brother Christopher and me on holiday at Barry Island in 1989. This photo was taken near the outdoor pool and and the entrance to the main arcade

Old postcards of the camp

Barry Island holiday camp opened as a Butlin's site in 1966. In 1986 the camp on Nell's Point closed as a Butlin's and re-opened the next year under the new ownership of Majestic Holidays.

I've only got a couple of postcards of the camp, but I always keep my eyes peeled for more.

Butlin's Outdoor Pool and Playhouse Theatre, Barry Island. PT28469. Photo Precision Limited. Posted. Date unknown

The final season for the camp came in 1996 and it was eventually demolished to make way for housing.

Butlinland Barry Island. The Pig and Whistle Bar and Stage. John Hinde Limited. 12 August 1980

A look at the site, May 2019

I returned to Barry Island for only the third time since the 1990's while heading home from a weekend in Aberavon last year.

Pointing out where the holiday camp once was

I first went back to the town in 2009 during our road-trip around the Welsh coast and then swung by the following year for a brief visit while visiting friends nearby.

The entrance to the holiday camp

It was nice that Barry Island was still recognisable from my time there 30 years ago, even though the holiday camp has been knocked down to make way for housing and a public car park.

The exit view

Walking up through the old gates at the entrance to the holiday camp brought back so many memories and I could still picture the swimming pool to the left, the main building and walkway/arcade ahead of me and the chalets to the right.

Walking up towards where the camp once stood. On the left is where the swimming pool was

This spot was once home to the outdoor swimming pool and slides

  

The approach to the main arcade. The photo of me, my mum and my brothers was taken in the area just to the left of the yellow barrier 

A view of the seaside resort from inside what was once a thriving holiday camp

A look at the seafront

On the prom

A view of the beach

The distinctive building and shelter housing a number of takeaways, shops and arcades on the promenade

Barry Island Resort Information & Entertainment Guide

As a big fan of the British seaside and traditional holiday entertainment I was pleased to find a Barry Island Resort 1995 Information & Entertainment Guide while sorting through some paperwork at home.

Seeing the Barry Island Resort 1995 Information & Entertainment Guide brought back many happy memories.

Check out the six-page Barry Island Resort 1995 Information & Entertainment Guide. As a former holidaymaker at the camp, fan of the British seaside, postcard collector and marketer it makes for interesting reading - especially some of the adverts!

More old postcards of Barry Island

Looking at the postcards I've collected of Barry Island I noticed all of them were sent in August during the peak summer season.

Figure 8 Railway, Barry Island. Posted 24 August 1915

The oldest card I have of Barry Island is also one of the oldest postcards I have. It shows the Figure 8 Railway and was posted on the 24th August 1915. I bought it at the North Wales Postcard Club Fair in Llandudno a couple of years ago and it only cost me ten pence!

Crazy Golf Course & Eastern Shelter, Barry Island. P47856. Plastichrome by Colourpicture Publishers Inc. Posted 27 August. Year unknown

Promenade and Gardens, Barry Island. PT28091. Posted 14 August 1968

What a summer holiday scene!

Promenade and Gardens, Barry Island. WT.665R. By Valentine. Posted 2 August 1969

Jungle Safari Adventure Golf at Ravenmeadow Golf Centre in Worcester

A look at the Jungle Safari Adventure Golf course at Ravenmeadow Golf Centre in Worcester.

We played the course last May.

The 18-hole layout was the 868th visited on our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour.

Results of the Putt18 4 Nations Cup

Report from the Putt18 4 Nations Cup international miniature golf tournament.

We played in the first Putt18 4 Nations Cup international miniature golf tournament at the weekend.

The event saw us compete for the UK against pairs from Australia, New Zealand and the USA.

Each player had a 16-minute time limit to play four 18-hole rounds for a 72-hole total score.

The results of the Putt18 4 Nations Cup

The event was won by the New Zealand team of Cameron Couper and Matt Ansley with an 8-round total of 572.

The Australian duo of Josh Mars and Nathan Lamplough were runners-up with a total of 583.

The USA team of Pat Sheridan and Tom Loftus were in third place with a total of 604.

Emily and I shot an 8-round total of 656. Not too bad considering we only had a day to practice!

The low round of the event was shot by Australia's Josh Mars with a score of 65.

We're looking forward to playing some more competitions and friendlies on the Putt18 game mat. We'll be trying out the set in different spots around the house to find the optimum putting surface too.

Many thanks to the team at Putt18 for sending us the game mat and selecting us to play in the event.

Visit the Putt18 website for more information.

You can watch each player's four rounds in the videos below.

New Zealand

Cameron Couper

Matt Ansley

Australia

Josh Mars

Nathan Lamplough

Video link.

USA

Tom Loftus

Pat Sheridan

UK

Richard Gottfried

Emily Gottfried

Link:

- Putt18

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Happy International Museum Day

Today is International Museum Day 2020.

International Museum Day is organised by the International Council of Museums (ICOM) and has been held each year since 1977.

The objective of International Museum Day is to raise awareness about the fact that “Museums are an important means of cultural exchange, enrichment of cultures and development of mutual understanding, cooperation and peace among peoples.”

The Crazy Golf Museum

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.

Visit the Crazy Golf Museum website, Facebook Page & Group, Twitter and Instagram to see more.

Dragon's Quest Mini Golf at Fontygary Leisure Park in Wales

A look at the Dragon's Quest Mini Golf course at Fontygary Leisure Park in Rhoose, Barry, Wales.

I played the 18-hole Dragon's Quest Mini Golf course at Fontygary Leisure Park in Rhoose, Barry, Wales a year ago.

The course at Fontygary Leisure Park was the 887th visited and 517th played on our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour since September 2006.

Check out the Fontygary Leisure Park website for more information.

Check out the Crazy World of Minigolf Tour Newsletter archive and sign-up to receive future editions.

A look back at a Delightfully Dull, Brilliantly Boring Evening in Preston

A look back at the Delightfully Dull, Brilliantly Boring Evening in Preston, May 2018.

Back in May 2018 I was invited to be a speaker at the Dull Men's Club's 'Delightfully Dull, Brilliantly Boring Evening' at the University of Central Lancashire (UCLan) in Preston.

The Dull Men's Club is where dull men — and women who appreciate dull men — share experiences of enjoying everyday, mundane things, far from glitz and glam — "Celebrating the Ordinary".

The keynote speaker at the event was Dr Sandi Mann, aka ‘Dr Boredom’, author of The Science of Boredom: The Upside of Downtime, who spoke to the attendees about the benefits of boredom and her research on the Thirty Habits of Boring People.

My speech at the summit centred on the world of miniature golf.

Talking crazy golf at the Dull Men's Club Summit in 2018

Some highlights of my presentation covered my travels on the Crazy World of Minigolf Tour and how I, along with Emily, had - up to that point - visited 815 miniature golf courses since 2006.

Some of the intricacies of the sport were also discussed, with the show & tell element on minigolf balls being a particular highlight.

Check out the latest posts and interviews from the Dull Men's Club.

In November last year we had an enjoyable evening of mild excitement at the Dull Men's Club Anorak of the Year Award event in Manchester.

Related blog posts:
- Dull Men's Club
- A Delightfully Dull, Brilliantly Boring Evening in Preston
- A dull evening in Manchester

Links:
- Dull Men's Club website 
- Dull Men's Club blog "We’ve been trendsetters all along? Our way of life is now the ‘new normal’?"

Putt18 Home Putting Challenge 4 Nations Cup practice round

Practice for the Putt18 Home Putting Challenge 4 Nations Cup international event.

Here's a practice round on the Putt18 Golf Putting Mat Game ahead of the Putt18 4 Nations Cup tournament.

The Putt18 Home Putting Challenge 4 Nations Cup international competition tees-off at 8pm (UK time) on Saturday 16th May and will see us face-off against teams from Australia, New Zealand and the USA.

Richard tees-off at 8pm.

Emily tees-off at 8.30pm.

Many thanks to the team at Putt18 for sending us the game mat and selecting us to play in the event.