South Park Miniature Railway in Cheadle Hulme

Revisiting the Miniature Railway at South Park in Cheadle Hulme.

We took part of our outdoor daily exercise at South Park in Cheadle Hulme and had a look at the excellent miniature railway there.

South Park is home to Stockport & District Society of Model Engineers

It's a real treat to ride the model railway and I highly recommend a visit in the future when it is once again safe to do so.

To the trains

Old arrows at the entrance - they look well spaced out in the times of social distancing

The turntable

A view of the loop

A pair of park benches with a fine view of the miniature railway

We first found out about it back in May 2017, a year after we moved up here! 

End of the line

The Metropolitan Borough of Stockport is home to three miniature railways - the one at South Park, Brookside Miniature Railway at the Garden Centre in Poynton and the Dragon Miniature Railway at the Garden Centre in Marple.

Related blog posts:

• Miniature Railways
• Cheadle Hulme

Link:

• Stockport & District Society of Model Engineers

Wac-Man Crazy Golf

A look at the 'Wac-Man' minigolf hole at Joe Joe Jim's Crazy Crazy Golf course inside Fletcher's Arcade in Cofton Hackett, South Birmingham.

We played Joe Joe Jim's Crazy Crazy Golf course in August 2018. The 9-hole indoor layout was the 829th visited on our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour.

The course at Fletcher's Arcade and game-play has to be seen and experienced to be believed. It really is Crazy Crazy Golf!

Finding a lost Golf Centre in Stockport

We found a lost golf centre yesterday!

We went to Heaton Mersey for our daily exercise and while having a wander we took a turn into a side road we hadn't been down before.

Half way along it we spotted a gate with the word GOLF on it so had to take a closer look.

Cranford Golf Centre was a golf driving range. It closed down on the 31st October 2014.

Looking online there were plans for the area to be turned into housing.

It's amazing how much we've still got to explore of the Metropolitan Borough of Stockport.

Guest minigolf blog at Putter Madness

Check out my guest blog post on the Putter Madness website where I look at the crazy world of miniature golf and what the future holds for the game.

Happy 40th birthday Pac-Man

Pac-Man was first released in Japan on this day in 1980.

A small selection of my Pac-Man collection

I like to celebrate the brilliant video game character as often as possible!

Playing Pac-Man in Morecambe last summer

Related blog posts:
- Pac-Man

Minigolf in Stoke Park, Guildford, May 2016

A look at Stoke Park's Crazy Golf course in Guildford, May 2016.

We played the minigolf course at Stoke Park in Guildford, Surrey on National Miniature Golf Day 2016.

It's a Swedish Felt B-Run Minigolf course.

The 18-hole minigolf course was the 399th played on our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour.

Crazy Golf in Woking Park, May 2016

A look at Woking Park's Crazy Golf course, May 2016.

We played the Crazy Golf course at Woking Park in Woking, Surrey on National Miniature Golf Day 2016.

It was a felted version of an Eternit Miniature Golf course.

The 9-hole minigolf course was the 398th played on our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour.

Bladerunner 2009

Finding a futuristic barbers in Stockport.

On our daily exercise in the Reddish area of Stockport yesterday we spotted a fun shop sign.

Blade Runner is set in dystopian Los Angeles in the year 2019. It's crazy to think we're living through our own dystopian times with the coronavirus pandemic and ongoing lockdown.

I wonder what life will be like in 2049...?

Mario Mini Market in Reddish, Stockport

Finding a super market in South Reddish.

We took our daily exercise in the Reddish area of Stockport yesterday and while having a wander we spotted Mario Mini Market on Gorton Road.

There's another branch in Levenshulme, Manchester.

I've also seen Mario and Luigi ice cream vans in Buxton and Hathersage, Mario movers in Newcastle, Mario's takeaway in Barnsley, and three Mario, Luigi and Mario & Luigi takeaways in Blackpool!

L is for Luton

We took our daily exercise in the Reddish area of Stockport yesterday and swung by Luton Road.

We lived in Luton for 16 years before moving north to Stockport.

Interestingly both towns are famous in the hat industry and have hat musuems. In fact it was the growth of the hat trade in Luton that contributed to the decline of the hat industry in Stockport. While millinery is not as big a trade in either town nowadays, the history lives on in the nickname of Luton Town and Stockport County football clubs as they are both 'The Hatters'.

Crazy World of Minigolf Tour enewsletter

Check out our latest minigolf enewsletter and please do sign-up to receive future editions.

Our latest newsletter is about the project to refurbish and reopen the Princess Parade Crazy Golf course in Blackpool

Happy International Tea Day

Today is International Tea Day.

Hole 1 of Putters Adventure Golf at Superbowl Warrington is 'tea cup'-themed. Albeit of the fairground ride variety.

There's a fun Crazy Golf course at Rylstone Tea Gardens on the Isle of Wight.

Our local minigolf course when we lived in Luton was at Tea Green Golf at Wandon End.

We played the Crazy Golf course at Selfridges a lot in 2012 as part of the Big Rooftop Tea & Golf Party. I won two tournaments, including the grand final, up there.

The last cup of tea I drank was a nice one down in Weymouth during a break in the 2011 Weymouth Open minigolf tournament.

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.

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

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.

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

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.

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

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.